Minor league news on Erbe, Mickolio and Joseph

Norfolk Tides pitcher Brandon Erbe, who made four injury rehab starts for the Aberdeen IronBirds last year, will be back at Ripken Stadium tonight, beginning another injury rehab assignment. He'll be joined by Norfolk and former O's reliever Kam Mickolio. Erbe has been on the DL since June 25 and has not pitched since June 20 due to right shoulder soreness. He is 0-10, 5.73 in 14 Triple-A starts this year. Mickolio, who pitched in three O's games back in April, hasn't pitched since June 11 due to a right shoulder strain. He is 2-2, 8.05 in 18 Norfolk games this year. Erbe is expected to make three starts for the IronBirds. Tonight he is expected to throw 35 to 45 pitches and work his way up to 70 over three outings in the Aberdeen rotation. Mickolio is expected to pitch an inning tonight, take a day off, throw another, then take another day off and then pitch a third inning for Aberdeen. After that both should return to Triple-A. Meanwhile, the injury to Bowie catcher Caleb Joseph does not appear serious. He suffered a sprained shoulder in a home-plate collision in Bowie last night. X-rays were negative, but Joseph did go on the seven-day DL. He will see a doctor in a few days to get a further exam. At this point, there appears a decent chance that his DL stay could be short. Joseph is batting .243-10-44 in 84 Baysox games. Catcher Luis Bernardo moved up from Delmarva to take his roster spot, but should return to the Shorebirds when Joseph is re-activated. As we mentioned earlier, the Orioles today moved hot-hitting first baseman Tyler Townsend from Delmarva to Frederick. Keys first baseman Jacob Julius is going on the DL with a nagging thumb injury that has bothered him in the past. With Julius hurt, the time was right to move Townsend, last year's third-round pick, up a level to the Keys. But that was already something the O's were considering.