masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – Pitcher Justin Duchscherer is waiting for the results of yesterday’s MRA, but he struck an ominous tone this morning when he compared the stiffness in his left hip to the way it felt before his most recent surgery.

“The best I can describe it is it felt like it did last year before I had to have it operated on, so I thought the smart thing to do was not go out there and try to throw three innings when it was already hurting in warmup,” he said. “Get some images on it and…SARASOTA, Fla. – Pitcher Justin Duchscherer is waiting for the results of yesterday’s MRA, but he struck an ominous tone this morning when he compared the stiffness in his left hip to the way it felt before his most recent surgery.

“The best I can describe it is it felt like it did last year before I had to have it operated on, so I thought the smart thing to do was not go out there and try to throw three innings when it was already hurting in warmup,” he said. “Get some images on it and see what’s going on in there and go on from there.”

Duchscherer said the hip is still a little stiff after undergoing an arthrogram yesterday and having dye shot into it.

“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun,” he said.

Duchscherer’s only pitched once this spring, going two innings in Clearwater last Tuesday. He didn’t participate in Sunday’s simulated game after throwing on flat ground and experiencing more discomfort.

Asked about his frustration, he said, “I’ve got to find out what’s going on before I have any level of frustration. I’ve got to go talk to the trainers. I think by the end of the day I’ll know more and I’ll have a better idea.”

Here’s the Orioles’ lineup for today’s game against the Astros:

Felix Pie RF
Adam Jones CF
Luke Scott LF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Jake Fox C
J.J. Hardy SS
Brendan Harris 2B
Josh Bell 3B
Brandon Snyder 1B

Brad Bergesen RHP

A reminder that Jeremy Guthrie will pitch in a minor league game tomorrow while the Orioles travel to Tampa to play the Yankees. He’ll stay on schedule by pitching in an intrasquad game next Monday, which was supposed to be the only off-day of the spring.