masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgPORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold will begin the 2014 season on the 15-day disabled list.

Reimold was scratched from tonight’s game against the Rays in Port Charlotte. He hasn’t been able to play the outfield comfortably following corrective surgery on his neck In January to fuse two vertebrae.

Reimold played yesterday and collected a hit, so his assignment will be backdated to today.

Manager Buck Showalter stressed that Reimold didn’t experience a setback. He can…PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold will begin the 2014 season on the 15-day disabled list.

Reimold was scratched from tonight’s game against the Rays in Port Charlotte. He hasn’t been able to play the outfield comfortably following corrective surgery on his neck In January to fuse two vertebrae.

Reimold played yesterday and collected a hit, so his assignment will be backdated to today.

Manager Buck Showalter stressed that Reimold didn’t experience a setback. He can bat without restrictions, but still has difficulty tilting his head to track fly balls.

Showalter said Reimold, who will take off a couple of days, is “light years ahead” of where he’s been physically.

“We’re trying to get him all the way healthy,” Showalter said. “Nolan agrees this is the right thing to do.”

Placing Reimold on the DL increases the chances that Steve Pearce and Delmon Young make the 25-man roster unless there’s a trade.

The 25-man roster has to be set by 3 p.m. Sunday.

Also, Rule 5 pick Michael Almanzar is headed to the disabled list with left patella tendinitis.

“We’ve got to wait for him to be healthy,” Showalter said. “It shouldn’t be too long.”

Miguel Gonzalez will start the fourth game April 4 in Detroit. The Orioles haven’t made the announcement, but there’s a “strong possibility,” according to Showalter.

That’s a “yes.”

Alexi Casilla, reassigned earlier today, will play shortstop at Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles won’t make any cuts after tonight’s game.