Workout day notes on Beckham, Mancini, Davis, lineup and more

Today's rain forced the Orioles inside to take batting practice after the Twins were able to hit on the field. Pitchers squeezed in some defensive drills before heading for cover.

"The weather is getting progressively worse," said manager Buck Showalter. "It's supposed to be good tomorrow, or better temperature-wise. I'd like for that snow to melt. That's not a good look."

Showalter won't reveal his lineup for opening day until rosters are submitted, with a noon deadline on Thursday.

"Dan (Duquette) has got some things going, like always, so hopefully we'll be able to get that done shortly," he said. "Obviously, we've got a pretty good idea what we're going right now unless something changes with something he's got going on."

Third baseman Tim Beckham expects to be in the lineup. He played in a simulated game on Tuesday and didn't experience any discomfort in his groin.

"I'm going to play tomorrow," he said. "Everything went well. I'd say seven or eight at-bats. Felt good. Ready to go."

Showalter confirmed that Beckham is fine after tweaking the groin last Thursday.

"Good," he said. "Looks like he's a player and I feel confident he's going to be active player for us tomorrow."

Trey Mancini is expected to be in left field after tweaking his right hamstring during Sunday's game in Clearwater and sitting out Monday's exhibition in Norfolk as a precaution.

"It was very minor," he said. "I never injured or hurt a muscle before, but it just felt a little tight. I came in yesterday and got treatment and ran, and ran today. Totally fine. Got full strength of it. Doesn't bother me when I run or do anything, so it feels good. I feel ready to go."

Mancini felt the hamstring grab while running out a ground ball and Showalter removed him from the game. Mancini would have continued to play in the regular season.

"Oh, totally," he said. "I could have played in Norfolk, too, but it was the last game of spring training and decided to take me out. Definitely something I could have played through. I feel good and ready to go for tomorrow."

Showalter fielded a bunch of questions about Chris Davis as leadoff hitter and didn't offer confirmation or a denial. He said they spoke about a week ago.

"I asked four or five people, talking about it," Showalter said. "It's a possibility. It's not for sure. It's as much his as ours, something he's talked about."

Davis is on record as saying he's happy to do it. He wasn't just seeking the extra at-bats in spring training when he moved to the top of the order.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty neat," he said, adding that he hasn't been told whether he's leading off on Thursday.

"It was something that's obviously a little different for me, but I think Buck kind of hit the nail on the head when he said there's not really your prototypical leadoff hitter in the game anymore. You don't have a lot of guys like Brian Roberts ... trying to think of the last true leadoff hitter. Maybe Juan Pierre. You don't really have those guys anymore.

"I guess maybe Billy Hamilton would be that guy, but in the American League, I feel like it's kind of a lost role, So, yeah, I'm up for it. Give me as many at-bats as I can get."

Davis laid down bunts multiple times late in spring training while trying to combat the shifts that are waiting for him during the regular season.

"I think even if I hadn't been put in the leadoff spot, that was something I worked a lot on in the offseason," he said. "I talked to you guys about making some adjustments mechanically and making some adjustments mentally and I think that goes into it.

"I'm tired of hitting .200. You've got to find a way to combat that and that's part of the game. If they're going to give me the entire left side of the infield, then I'm going to make them pay for it. We have enough guys in our lineup who can do damage behind me that the more guys we can get on, the better we're going to be as a team."

"I think that being in the leadoff spot, it makes it a little more intriguing, but I think the reason I was put in the leadoff spot was my ability to see some pitches, my ability to get on base. And it's kind of a lost art. I've never led off in my life other than the spring training games, and to be honest with you, the first time he did it, I thought he was just messing with me because I've been trying to get him to put me there for seven years and I was like, 'Now he's just giving me a hard time,' but I don't know. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited about it."

Davis reminded the media at his locker that Brady Anderson hit 50 home runs for the Orioles while batting leadoff in 1996. He wouldn't be the first power hitter to sit atop the order.

"I don't think it really has anything to do with being a power guy, being a contact guy," Davis said. "I think just for the sake of the game and what's best for the team, you're going to put somebody in that role that you think can get on base. And even though strikeouts have been an issue throughout the course of my career, I think I've been at the top or led the team in walks almost every year in the past few years.

"I don't know, it's going to be interesting. It's something I've definitely embraced in spring training. I understand what's at stake here, I understand the window is closing. I hate saying that, but it's true. There's a sense of urgency here. Whatever I can do to help the team be successful, whether that's batting leadoff, batting in the middle of the lineup or batting in the bottom of the order, I'm open to anything."

That sense of urgency will become more pronounced as the club and the season move forward.

"I don't think it's really set in yet," Davis said. "I think tomorrow it will be a little more realistic. I think it will feel a little bit more real tomorrow. It's kind of hard when you're flying. You start in Florida, you go to Virginia, then you play a game. By the time you get here you're pretty beat, so I think for me especially it takes the day of opening day to kind of get everything flowing and to really have the emotions set in."

Showalter would prefer to settle on one leadoff hitter for the entire season, but he knows it's unlikely to happen. The roster isn't really set up for it and circumstances always can change.

"I'd like to do it one through nine, but we're going to play everybody the first week. Everybody's going to get their feet wet. We're going to get them out there," Showalter said.

"The issue you've got a little bit is (Jake) Odorizzi is the strongest reverse split in all of baseball. I know in the American League he is, so a little bit of a different look there. But it's going to happen all season long where you're going to see some things that you want to take advantage of one way or the other, so it makes it tough to stay with one and also keep everybody in the flow and keep them playing. So, we'll see.

"I think sometimes production and what have you doesn't allow you to stay with the same one. To think that we're going to have nine people productive every night for the whole season, we all know that's not going to happen."

The Orioles usually go the unconventional route, whether it's Davis, Mancini, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones or Manny Machado.

"There's a lot of things to think about there," Showalter said. "I think the batting order is sometimes made way too much out of, but in this case I think it's something that has a little more bearing. There are some private things I've talked with Chris about. Some things that if we did that that he'd have to be sure he was on top of.

"I know he's very intent on being a more consistent contributor this year like he has been in the past. What position that's in ..."

Alex Cobb will run down the orange carpet before flying back to Sarasota. Zach Britton and Mark Trumbo are expected to walk out of the dugout, allowing all three players to participate in the festivities despite not being on the active roster.

"I think it's important that they have that presentation, so to speak," Showalter said. "They're going to be on our team and they're going be major contributors, we think, and I think it's important, especially with a new player like Alex that he gets to see ...

"I'm sure he appreciates Baltimore when you come in as a visiting team, but I don't think you get the full effect of it like you do on opening day or say the playoffs, And I want him to be exposed to that and our fans to be exposed to him."

Cobb and Chris Tillman threw in the bullpen this afternoon before the rain arrived.

Trumbo, headed to the 10-day disabled list with a strained right quadriceps muscle, has his schedule laid out that includes when and where he can start playing.

"There are no setbacks," Showalter said.

Rule 5 pitcher Pedro Araujo is wearing No. 38 after donning No. 75 in spring training.

The scoreboard at Camden Yards includes a new column that reads MVR, which stands for "Mound Visits Remaining." It's next to LOB for "Left on Base" and before the balls, strikes and outs.