masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgTAMPA – The first round of cuts for the Orioles are coming later today.
They’ll probably arrive while the beat crew is back on the road after the Orioles’ 7-1 loss to the Yankees.
The cuts will continue through Sunday.
“It’s a pretty good number,” said manager Buck Showalter. “Same (list) I’ve been carrying around for three or four days.
“The innings are going away for the pitchers. You see a guy get stretched out three or four innings now. The relief innings for guys aren’t…

TAMPA – The first round of cuts for the Orioles are coming later today.

They’ll probably arrive while the beat crew is back on the road after the Orioles’ 7-1 loss to the Yankees.

The cuts will continue through Sunday.

“It’s a pretty good number,” said manager Buck Showalter. “Same (list) I’ve been carrying around for three or four days.

“The innings are going away for the pitchers. You see a guy get stretched out three or four innings now. The relief innings for guys aren’t there.”

Catcher Caleb Joseph wasn’t available the past two days because of flu-like symptoms. Showalter is hoping to get him back on the field Saturday afternoon against the Twins in Sarasota.

joseph-looking-in-distance-white-sidebar.jpgJoseph is 1-for-13 this spring.

“He probably could have limped in today, but we decided to keep him back one more day to make sure he isn’t (contagious),” Showalter said. “Hopefully, Caleb will be back tomorrow.”

Showalter wanted Francisco Pena to catch today, since his father, Tony, is here as a Yankees coach. Showalter texted Tony Pena last night with the news.

Showalter agreed with Mike Wright’s assessment that the right-hander had good stuff today.

“He was crisp,” Showalter said. “It looked like he was going to have a couple of crisp innings. Just couldn’t quite finish them off.

“We didn’t help him defensively. We had two or three plays that let them extend the inning that are normally made. I think of their 12 or 13 hits, I think eight of them were flares over the bases, so you try to keep that in mind. He pitched pretty well.”

Odrisamer Despaigne didn’t allow a run in 2 1/3 innings.

“He’s been a lot crisper each time out,” Showalter said. “That’s good to see.”

Despaigne’s four appearances have come out of the bullpen. His first start will have to wait. There’s a pecking order and limited innings.

“Obviously, guys like (Chris) Tillman and Ubaldo (Jimenez) and (Yovani) Gallardo and those guys, (Kevin) Gausman, are ahead of him, and we make sure they’re a priority and see where it falls. But we can create that,” Showalter said.

“We can’t do anything until the Triple-A and Double-A games start. They don’t start until the 16th, so that could happen after the 16th, whether he takes the place of someone in the A game or he goes there. But it’s probably something we’re going to do.”

The Orioles are 0-10-2. According to STATS, the last team with a longer winless streak to start spring training was the 2009 Astros at 0-16-3.