Wieters: "I expect to be available later tonight"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters doesn't have a term for the condition of his right elbow. He's just relieved that the word "surgery" wasn't attached to it. "You'd have to call Dr. (James) Andrews," Wieters said, smiling. "Just discomfort." That's pretty much what Andrews told Wieters and the Orioles. "He's just kind of said that everybody's elbow looks different," Wieters said. "It's more about going by feel, and all the tests we did tested fine for normal pain tolerance for a good elbow." Wieters isn't in the lineup tonight against the Rays, but he expects to serve as the designated hitter on Thursday in the series finale. "For sure," he said. "Got back here just recently, but I expect to be available later tonight." The news coming from Andrews' office was precisely want the Orioles wanted to hear - confirmation of the diagnosis from their own doctors. "Definitely," Wieters said. "Any time there's a positive outlook to where we definitely see getting back on the field sooner rather than later. You ultimately hope for, 'Hey, you're good to go,' but I think we've got to be smarter than that and make sure we let everything kind of heal and calm down before we push it again." The discomfort first cropped up in Wieters' forearm and biceps after he made a throw in Boston, and he missed a game in Toronto because of it. "I think those symptoms we got a hold of and got control of, and then it kind of set into the elbow a little bit, and that's when the real concern happens that you want to make sure you get it checked out and looked at," said Wieters, who has thrown out only one of 12 runners attempting to steal. "I'm not going to say it was hindering my throwing. It just didn't feel as comfortable as it normally does when throwing to second base. It wasn't really pain, but at the same time just knowing that something is not quite right. "You don't really know how to treat it and take care of it until you get a good look at it and the opinion from the expert."