masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBrad Bergesen threw 35 pitches in the bullpen today, emptying his bag of tricks, and will increase that total to 45-50 before possibly facing live hitters on Friday.

The dead ones always get the “take” sign.

Bergesen said his tempo improved over his first mound session on Saturday. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn told Bergesen that his arm angle looked “normal.”

“Today was my first day throwing breaking stuff,” Bergesen said. “Obviously, the first couple…Brad Bergesen threw 35 pitches in the bullpen today, emptying his bag of tricks, and will increase that total to 45-50 before possibly facing live hitters on Friday.

The dead ones always get the “take” sign.

Bergesen said his tempo improved over his first mound session on Saturday. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn told Bergesen that his arm angle looked “normal.”

“Today was my first day throwing breaking stuff,” Bergesen said. “Obviously, the first couple you’ve got to kind of get the feeling back, but I made the adjustment about halfway through and I started seeing some of the pitches come back a little bit. It’s just really having to work on my secondary stuff at this point.”

As for the way his shoulder is responding, Bergesen said, “It’s feeling that much better each and every time.”

Caleb Joseph caught Bergesen for the first time and was impressed with the sink on his fastball.

“That’s my biggest thing,” Bergesen said. “I need to get that going first.”

Bergesen remains confident that he’ll be ready by Opening Day. It’s hard to argue after seeing the amount of progress he’s made since reporting to camp.

“I do feel like I could be game-ready right now, but I know they want to take it slow,” he said. “It’s a process that you have to go through.”

As Bergesen spoke, Mark Hendrickson shattered Brandon Snyder’s bat during a live BP session.

A teammate planted the barrel end in the dirt with a batting helmet propped on top of it. The broken-bat graveyard.