Wieters has eyesight set on 2015 season

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Nick Hundley was behind the plate for the Orioles yesterday after Caleb Joseph started Friday night's series opener against the Rays. He had two hits, missing a home run by inches, but the walk-off passed ball defined his day. Baseball, like life itself, isn't always fair. We could flip a coin to decide today's starter, though manager Buck Showalter may have more sophisticated methods. It won't be Matt Wieters, of course, since he's recovering from ligament-reconstructive surgery. But enough about that procedure. Let's talk about his eyes. Wieters recently had LASIK surgery, which is used to correct vision in people who are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism. It's not done to make those baby blues really pop. Why is it referred to as LASIK? Because the actually name is laser in-situ keratomileusis. Stick with the acronym. "It's something I wanted to do for a while and offseasons always seem to have come and gone too quick, and I had a little bit extra time this year," Wieters said, finding the silver lining in his elbow surgery. "Playing in games, especially in Baltimore when it's nice and hot and humid, there are a few at-bats where the contacts will get a little blurry and you may give away a pitch or give away two pitches before you can kind of put your focus back. And on top of that, it's always nice in the middle of the night when you wake up and you can find the alarm clock or find your tooth brush to brush your teeth. And any time we get a late plane flight like (Thursday) night and be able to take a nap without worrying about the contacts drying up on you." Wieters still wasn't able to drive during the last homestand. "The type that I did," he explained, "it's normally one to three months before you'll get your full success off it, where you'll really know what your vision has gotten back to." Pretty soon, he'll be able to see how many fingers he's putting down. See what I did there? And see what I did by using "see?" I'm on such a nice roll, I should come with condiments. As for today's game, Bud Norris will make his 25th start and 14th on the road. He's 6-6 with a 4.73 ERA away from Camden Yards. Norris is 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA in six games (five starts) against the Rays. He's allowed six earned runs in 11 2/3 innings in two starts against them in 2014. David DeJesus is 8-for-15 (.533) with three home runs against Norris, James Loney is 11-for-21 (.524) with three doubles, and Matt Joyce is 4-for-9 (.444). Tampa Bay's Jeremy Hellickson is 9-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 career appearances (16 starts) against the Orioles. It feels like 180. I swear, it seems as though I've looked up this guy's stats and splits every week. Hellickson is 6-2 with a 1.98 ERA against the Orioles at The Trop. He faced them at Camden Yards on Aug. 28 and was charged with four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Hellickson registered a 2.30 ERA against the Orioles from 2010 to 2012. He had a 5.81 ERA in six games since the beginning of 2013. Chris Davis is 11-for-29 (.379) with three doubles and two home runs against Hellickson. Adam Jones is 16-for-44 (.364) with a double and four home runs. Showalter expected J.J. Hardy to return to the lineup today. Hardy is 11-for-39 (.282) with two doubles and two home runs against Hellickson. Chris Davis hit his 26th home run yesterday and his first on the road since Aug. 6 in Toronto. He's on pace for 30 homers and begins today batting .196. Davis could join Mark Reynolds (2010) as the only players in major league history with 30-plus home runs and a sub-.200 average.