Wilkerson "thrilled" to be back in utility mix

What a week for Stevie Wilkerson.

Get discharged from physical therapy on Thursday, drive from Chicago to Sarasota on Friday - accompanied by his wife and dog - and sign a minor league deal with the Orioles on Saturday.

The guy was due for some good fortune. He earned it after missing the 2020 season with a fractured finger on his left hand and later being released.

The sides reached agreement over the weekend on a split contract. Wilkerson will report to spring training in February and try to win a job as a super-utility player.

"I'm really, really, really happy about it," he said. "I'm looking forward to working with everybody again. It's been an exciting few days for sure."

Wilkerson described himself as "good to go" after his last session in physical therapy.

"Cleared for all activity," he said.

"I think it was the timeline that the therapist and the doctor were anticipating. I, of course, was hoping that it was going to be sooner than that, but really the first week or two that I started therapy, I kind of had an idea that it was going to take a bit longer than I anticipated. It was super stiff and the scar tissue was built up pretty good in there and it was a little more painful than I thought it was going to be. But according to them, I think everything was on schedule."

So what's next for Wilkerson, who fractured the finger three months ago while making a diving catch in Philadelphia?

"Basically it's kind of like what I did with the oblique injury a couple years ago," he said. "Just starting a hitting progression, pretty standard stuff. Starting off on a tee at a certain percentage and working my way up to full-go, which will only take a couple weeks. So that will begin this week and I'm looking forward to it."

Wilkerson apparently can't work out at the Ed Smith Stadium complex during the fall instructional league, which runs through the end of October.

"This offseason will be different than previous offseasons," he said. "I've spent every offseason since I've been in pro ball up in Chicago, so this one will be a bit different. I was hoping the facility would be open, but I've made a few connections down here and have some facilities to train at and get everything in that I need to. And it's nice having Chance Sisco down here, as well. We're really good buddies. Hung out (Saturday). It will be nice to kind of navigate it with him, too."

The Orioles seemed intent on bringing back Wilkerson after letting him go in order to create an opening in the 60-man player pool. He wasn't able to play this summer and it made no sense to hold onto him at that point. But the sides remained in contact and a reunion seemed inevitable.

"I was optimistic, but I know that these are uncharted waters for everybody," he said. "There's not really another offseason that's going to be comparable to this one and that's on all fronts. And when it comes to free agents, I'm sure it will be a little bit different than previous years as well. So I was optimistic, but it's definitely settling to have in on paper, you know?"

Wilkerson can play everywhere in the field and pitch in emergencies, a valuable commodity on a team that seeks versatility. He's going to get an honest look, but the competition figures to be stiff.

"I'm just obviously at this point just thrilled to be back in the mix," he said. "I think they treat everyone fairly in general and if you do your job, you get rewarded, so just looking forward to being back in the mix."

And having a normal year.

"I think we're all looking forward to that," he said, laughing.

The injury occurred as Wilkerson laid out to rob Jean Segura in an exhibition game at Citizens Bank Park. He questioned later whether he should have let the ball drop rather than subject his body to the punishment and risk ruining his bid to make the opening day roster.

"That was a freak one and I've been really healthy over the last few years," he said. "Obviously don't anticipate anything like that happening again. But. yeah, that was a freak accident, but my body and everything has felt great. Been in great shape for a few years now, so as long as we can avoid the stupid little ones like that, we're good to go."

Having a permanent residence in Sarasota is going to come in handy. Though he says the complex wasn't a consideration.

"My wife was actually down here when I broke my finger. She had been down here for two weeks, so I lucked out and didn't have to move all the stuff down. She got to do all that. But, yeah, since then we've set up shop down here and it's our new home. We love it. It's great," Wilkerson said.

"That wasn't the reason we decided to move down here, just because our facility is down here. That wasn't the reason whatsoever, but we've both spent a decent amount of time down here over the last five years. We've always really liked it and for whatever reason never really considered it like a place that we would move to for no reason, but we were actually stuck down here at the beginning of quarantine in the house that we rented for spring training and up in Chicago we just had a little apartment.

"With all the quarantining and uncertainty at the time especially, it was just nice to have space and have a house instead of going up to an apartment on the 11th floor where everyone's packed in. So we stayed down here for even longer than the lease was and we were like, 'Why don't we just move here?' And we started looking. Pretty cool."

Same as the last few days, which led to Wilkerson's return to the Orioles.

"I'm just looking forward to reuniting with everybody," he said. "Very happy."