Wieters on catching, Tillman on outing today against Puerto Rico

SARASOTA, Fla. - The opponent was not close to being on the level of a major league team and it was on a back field, but Matt Wieters got behind the plate and caught six innings today as the Orioles played the Puerto Rico Development Team.

Puerto Rico agreed to not steal bases, even though they had very few baserunners to even try anyway.

Wieters' time to try and throw out runners is coming. But today he had to settle for a toss to second base before the top of the first when Tillman was warming up. O's bench coach John Russell was there to monitor the game and let Wieters know that was not part of today's game plan.

"Yeah, he told me to knock it off," Wieters said. "I just wanted to see. Wasn't going to be anything stressful, but just wanted to get one down there."

Despite the fact he didn't try to throw anyone out, Wieters' comeback from Tommy John surgery took another positive step this afternoon on Field 4. Wieters had previously caught three innings in an intrasquad game and went six this afternoon. On Tuesday, he will catch in an O's exhibition game and face potential base stealers for the first time.

"It was good to get behind the plate and catch Tilly (Chris Tillman), Tommy (Hunter) and Darren (O'Day) and get the view behind the plate again," Wieters said.

At last check, the Orioles were routing the youngsters from Puerto Rico and they had shut them out through the first six innings, as Tillman went three frames, Hunter two and O'Day one.

"Those guys were around the zone so it wasn't too taxing back there," Wieters said. "But you're still squatting for six innings, so you have to get used to it. Nothing like playing a game, that is what gets you ready for the season.

"It was good to get in the whole warm-up and run out on the field. Even though it was on the back field, it will still going to battle with the guys in this clubhouse. Was fun to run out there with them and catch Chris. Nothing like a regular game would be, but it's nice to get back there where you are going to have a little bit of extra adrenaline to fuel you a bit."

Wieters said there will be some mental hurdles for him to clear over the next few weeks as he tries to get ready to play by opening day.

"I think there will be," he said. "Any time where I am actually throwing to bases and someone takes off, and to be able to feel like I don't think about it when I go to throw is the biggest thing. Hopefully, that will come sooner rather than later."

Wieters said he and manager Buck Showalter have not set an exact schedule for the next few weeks. But his next step will be to catch Kevin Gausman in tomorrow's B game here at Ed Smith Stadium.

Today's outing certainly wasn't a difficult one for Tillman. But as they say, he got his work in.

Slated to throw 55 pitches, he got in about 50 as he went three scoreless innings against a somewhat overmatched Puerto Rico team.

"I felt good. It was good to get up three times. Got to throw all my pitches and work out of the stretch. Same thing as a normal game," Tillman said.

He faced one batter over the minimum and struck out six, including the side in the third. Tillman did not allow a hit and walked one batter in his second spring outing. He went two scoreless innings on Monday against the Phillies.

Was he looking to work on any specific pitches today?

"No, I kind of just go off what is going on in the game, but today I had to adjust and mix them just to mix them in," he said. "It was challenging - it was, but I was able to work out of the stretch and I threw all my pitches in the bullpen and here."

And he got to pitch to No. 32 today. It was a nice sight for Tillman to see Wieters in back of the plate.

"It was good. It was fun, refreshing. Getting to talk between innings was fun, it really was. Especially for him, waiting that long to get to do that. Got to be cool for him," Tillman said.