Hyun Soo Kim on his "better at-bats"

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles haven't posted their lineup for tonight's trip to Tampa. However, packed bags in front of lockers provide clues.

Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop and Dylan Bundy are hitting the road. Hyun Soo Kim and Pedro Alvarez are staying back at the complex for an early workout.

Kim is 6-for-37 this spring, but he's collected six hits in his last 14 at-bats.

"I think that I'm having better at-bats," Kim said through interpreter Danny Lee. "I've freed my mind and I'm not thinking too much at the plate and I'm definitely getting my mechanisms back to where I was before."

Kim singled to left field last night and drove another ball to the fence, twice going to the opposite field in three at-bats. Exactly what the Orioles expected to see after signing him to a two-year, $7 million contract.

"For me, what I was concerned more about wasn't the direction or the location of my hits, but it was mainly my mechanics," he said. "It used to be compact. It got too big when I first started the spring, so now I'm going back to the compact form to get the swings out as quickly as possible."

Manager Buck Showalter recently sat down with Kim and watched video of his games in Korea, hoping that something would click.

"I've been aware before Buck showed me," Kim said, "but definitely going over it with him actually helped a lot, to see myself that I used to be a compact hitter who was able to drive the ball to different fields in a compact way. In a very short swing. I was able to see that with Buck and it kind of gave me more of an idea about what I should do."

Note: Ubaldo Jimenez worked five innings yesterday against the Red Sox's Triple-A team and allowed one run and one hit, with one walk and seven strikeouts. He threw 75 pitches, 50 for strikes.