masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgO’s pitching coach Rick Kranitz is sitting a few rows behind home plate here in Bowie and watched Koji Uehara pitch. Now he is getting an up close look at lefty Zach Britton as Erie leads Bowie 4-0 in the fifth.

Kranitz indicated it is likely Koji will make at least one more minor league appearance.

“It was a quick look. He’s a strike-thrower and we are just looking for him to get his arm strength back and feel back and get some innings under his belt,” Kranitz said.

I asked him if…O’s pitching coach Rick Kranitz is sitting a few rows behind home plate here in Bowie and watched Koji Uehara pitch. Now he is getting an up close look at lefty Zach Britton as Erie leads Bowie 4-0 in the fifth.

Kranitz indicated it is likely Koji will make at least one more minor league appearance.

“It was a quick look. He’s a strike-thrower and we are just looking for him to get his arm strength back and feel back and get some innings under his belt,” Kranitz said.

I asked him if Koji is ready to return to the Orioles.

“We’ll see, we are going to talk about it. He may go out (in the minors) a couple of more times. We’ll get with Andy (MacPhail) and see where we go next.”

Koji was scheduled to throw just one inning today and he will probably only throw one inning the next time he pitches.

“When he gets recalled to us, he will probably end up being just a one-inning guy. He’s coming along good and having him back pitching in games is a good thing for us.

“Any time you are doing a rehab with a guy you need to get him comfortable with his delivery. We need to get him some big league balls to throw them. We need to really test him, because when you go to the big leagues to pitch it’s a different story.”

Kranitz is taking in today’s game with John Stockstill, the club’s director of player development and Matt Klentak, the O’s director, baseball operations.

By the way, I have been busy writing and not able to get a good look at Britton’s outing today. He has given up three runs in the fifth.