masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla.- It feels like I just left the Ed Smith Stadium complex about 45 minutes ago, and I’m already back here. I’ll be heading to Clearwater for today’s game against the Phillies. I may take a few Sun reporters with me, just for laughs.

The Orioles haven’t posted their lineup. Cesar Izturis won’t make the trip, which must be causing the delay. He apparently rolled his ankle last night, but it’s nothing serious.

Justin Duchscherer and Brian Matusz are pitching today.

Here’s…SARASOTA, Fla.- It feels like I just left the Ed Smith Stadium complex about 45 minutes ago, and I’m already back here. I’ll be heading to Clearwater for today’s game against the Phillies. I may take a few Sun reporters with me, just for laughs.

The Orioles haven’t posted their lineup. Cesar Izturis won’t make the trip, which must be causing the delay. He apparently rolled his ankle last night, but it’s nothing serious.

Justin Duchscherer and Brian Matusz are pitching today.

Here’s what you can expect from the Phillies:
Victorino CF
Polanco 3B
Rollins SS
Howard 1B
Ibanez LF
Francisco RF
Mayberry DH
Ruiz C
Barfield 2B

Hamels LHP

Koji Uehara still hasn’t thrown since receiving a cortisone injection in his right elbow on Friday. He’s hoping to pitch this Friday, but he doesn’t know whether that will happen.

“No big change,” he said through his interpreter.

Asked if the elbow is feeling any better, Uehara replied, “I’m going to have to pitch before I can determine that.”

This isn’t anything serious. Just some needed downtime for Uehara to make sure he’s healthy on opening day.

First baseman Derrek Lee still doesn’t know when he’ll debut with the Orioles. He’s wearing a wrap on his sore right wrist and looked like he was preparing to hit soft toss.

“There’s really nothing new,” he said, adding that the wrist feels better and his thumb isn’t bothering him.

Lee estimated that he’ll need 20 to 30 at-bats to get ready.

“That’s just a guess. I don’t know the exact number,” he said.

“You’d like to get some at-bats before the season gets going. I don’t think you need the 60 you normally get. I don’t know, 20 or 30 sounds about right.”

Asked if there’s a level of frustration, Lee said, “It’s just a process. It’s unexpected. It’s a process I’ve never been through. I thought once my thumb was fine, I was in the clear. But even this morning, the doctor said, ‘Yeah, this is just part of it.’ You start doing activities and it’s going to happen.”