Updating Stewart and Wells injuries in Orioles camp

SARASOTA, Fla. - Kohl Stewart's bid to win a spot in the Orioles rotation should get underway within the next few days.

Stewart has been sidelined with a sore right biceps muscle, but he played catch yesterday and will repeat the activity this morning. He's scheduled for a bullpen session on Friday while the team is in Bradenton to play the Pirates.

The exhibition debut could happen by Sunday or Monday.

"I feel really good. They were just extra cautious, honestly," Stewart said.

"It happens sometimes. When you're getting ramped up, just a little bit of biceps soreness. That was really all it was. I told them about it and I think they just wanted, before it became an issue, to kind of nip it in the bud and that's all it was."

Stewart could have hidden the injury and fought through the pain, the fear of falling behind gnawing at him. He sought the advice of teammates, however, and made the right call.

"Obviously, I want to pitch," he said. "The worst thing to do is go out there and get yourself in a worse situation and get yourself more sore, then you need more time. And some of these older guys, I was telling some older guys and they were like, 'Look, the worst thing you can do is pitch through that in spring training and then April 1 comes around and you're really hurting and you're down for however long.' But they knew that I probably just needed a few days, and we kind of stuck with that plan.

"I'm thankful because yesterday I played catch and today I'm going to play catch and I felt really good yesterday. I felt like I was more fresh than I was even when I showed up. The treatment we've been doing is working, so I'm happy."

Stewart has plenty of time to make an impression and fill one of the vacancies at the back end of the rotation. He was the first major league free agent signed by the Orioles over the winter, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. A pitcher with promise.

He's just getting a late start on his first outing.

"I'd much rather it be two days off and we're good," he said. "I don't have to take a whole bunch of time off or take a whole bunch of time ramping back up. I've thrown two two-inning live BPs. It's not like it's a huge deal. It's going to end up being seven or eight days in between what a start would have been, so that's not a big deal.

"If I have some soreness like that that's bothering me, if I could pick a situation and it only be two or three days down instead of it lingering and being an issue all year, probably a better situation. It really wasn't that big of a deal. I think I probably needed just some time off, maybe a couple days without throwing, let my arm recover and get some extra treatment. That's all it was. It wasn't a big deal. But I think Broc (Doug Brocail) was just, 'Hey, let's not push this.'

"He'd rather me be healthy all year than push something early. That's not very smart."

Minor league left-hander Alex Wells has been held back due to a sore right oblique muscle, but his activity also is increasing over the weekend.

"I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "I'm getting back in the throwing program. I've got a bullpen on Saturday, so looking forward to getting that in and, hopefully, no nibbles or nothing and hopefully get back into a game soon."

The soreness cropped up early in spring training. No warnings.

"Just came in one day and felt a little tight, so went in and said something and they gave me a couple days off just to get it back," Wells said.

"Very frustrating, especially being my first camp. I wanted to come in healthy, all guns blazing, ready to go, but a little setback. But it's all right. We'll hopefully get back out there soon and be ready to roll."