Updates on Rogers, Stewart, Karns, Lucas and more (O's up 9-0)

Orioles rookie pitcher Josh Rogers will receive the second opinion on his left elbow Tuesday morning in Arlington, Texas, while bracing for confirmation that he'll need a second Tommy John surgery.

Rogers also underwent the procedure as a high school senior in 2013. He had a bone spur removed from the elbow four years later.

He's no stranger to elbow surgeries. Not that it gets any easier for him.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Timothy Kremcheck performed the first two surgeries, but Rogers is visiting Dr. Keith Meister next week.

Rogers had an MRI on his elbow Wednesday in Baltimore that showed some structural damage and he could undergo surgery the morning after Meister examines him.

"Any injury right now on the pitching staff is obviously tough, especially a guy that we were hoping would give us some innings and give us some length in our bullpen or whatever it may be," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"I'm hoping for the best when he goes for his second opinion and we'll see what happens."

Outfielder DJ Stewart played right field again today in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, going 0-for-3 with two walks and a run scored, and is close to joining a higher affiliate on an injury rehab assignment.

Nate Karns started again today for the GCL team and worked a scoreless inning with one strikeout. He also pitched Tuesday.

Reliever Josh Lucas threw a bullpen session today. He remains on the injured list with a right shoulder strain.

Hyde is going to monitor John Means closely tonight as the left-hander comes off the injured list to face the Indians.

"I don't want him to have a ton of stressful innings," Hyde said. "I'm not going to ride his pitch count very high."

Hanser Alberto, playing second base tonight, has cracked the list of league batting leaders with a .315 average that ranks sixth.

"Bert's definitely playing well. There's no doubt about it," Hyde said.

"I didn't want him to prove anything to me, I wanted him to prove to the league that he's a big league player and he's somebody that deserves a lot of playing time on a major league club. And he's done that. He's top (six) in batting average in the American League and has been doing an unbelievable job off left-handed pitching all year long and is versatile. Can play different positions. So, yeah, I think Bert's putting his name out there that this is a guy that is a major league player.

"I think (Pedro) Severino's done that. I think Shawn Armstrong's done that even though he had a tough game the other day. A guy that got let go from an organization and pitched well for us for the most part. I think we continue to throw these guys out there to let them establish themselves and certain guys are taking advantage of it. Bert's one of them."

Hyde congratulated pitchers DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez for being chosen to the All-Star Futures Game and pitcher Keegan Akin and infielder Ryan Mountcastle for making the International League All-Star team.

"I think there are a lot of good things happening in our minor league system right now, especially at the lower levels," he said. "We're pitching really well, striking a bunch of guys out, and I think there's excitement about that. It's not right around the corner, but I think anytime we have guys in our organization that are performing well and being recognized in the Futures Game, that's a big deal. That's going to be awesome, on national TV.

"Those kinds of things are great and you want to see a healthy organization. Mike (Elias) has talked about getting more talent in the organization. We talked about getting waves of talent to come through and it sounds like some pitching in the lower levels is doing fantastic, so it's great news for us."

Update: Chance Sisco hit a two-run homer in the first inning, the 99th ball to land on Eutaw Street, and the Orioles led 2-0. Two more runs scored on Alberto's double.

Update II: Dwight Smith Jr. had a sacrifice fly in the second, Sisco had an RBI single to chase Mike Clevinger and Anthony Santander hit a two-run shot off Tyler Olson for an 8-0 lead. Seven runs are charged to Clevinger.

Update III: Rio Ruiz's RBI single in the seventh increased the lead to 9-0.