Ondrusek frustrated by latest injury

SARASOTA, Fla. - Logan Ondrusek came to Orioles camp trying to make them forget about his struggles in 2016. He just needs to stay on the mound to implement his plan.

Ondrusek was shut down during workouts after rolling his right ankle, and he's been unavailable since Monday due to soreness in his right elbow.

The latest discomfort cropped up after Ondrusek surrendered a two-run homer to Dominic Ficociello in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 7-2 win over the Tigers.

"It's a little tender, so taking a couple days and treating it and seeing how it progresses and going from there. Don't really have much. Just one of those things that popped up," he said this morning.

"It was the last hitter I faced. I threw a pitch and kind of felt it a little bit, but I finished the inning out and threw some pitches after it and didn't really think that much about it. But then during the night, it kind of just started getting a little more sore. I came and had them check it and decided better look at it now and figure out if there's something going on instead of waiting around and trying to do something else and maybe hurt it worse."

The Orioles haven't scheduled X-rays or an MRI, though it would happen later if there's no improvement.

"Kind of treating it and going from there," he said.

The Orioles signed Ondrusek out of Japan last summer after he spent parts of five seasons with the Reds and he registered a 9.95 ERA and 1.895 WHIP in seven appearances, with seven runs and nine hits allowed in 6 1/3 innings. Left-handers went 6-for-11 with three doubles, a home run and two walks.

The club declined Ondrusek's option, but re-signed him in December to a one-year deal with an option for 2018. There are a couple of openings in the bullpen, but he can't compete for a spot while injured.

"I feel snakebit right now," he said. "The ankle was kind of a fluke deal. Just trying to avoid a collision and ended up hurting myself and as soon as I get better and starting to feel really good, I go out and been throwing the ball OK and then this happened. It's frustrating right now. It's the way it goes and just trying to get back healthy as soon as I can and get back out there.

"It's never good to have any kind of pain or any kind of soreness or anything like that there, but until further things are done and as soon as we take more time and see what's going on, you start to think a little more about it. But right now it's just do the treatment and try to get it better as soon as possible."

Ondrusek, 32, has been limited to two outings, including his scoreless inning against the Pirates on March 3. By comparison, Mychal Givens, Donnie Hart, Oliver Drake, Parker Bridwell and Jesus Liranzo each have made four appearances.

It could work to Ondrusek's advantage that he's not a brand-new pitcher in camp. The Orioles already are familiar with him and liked him enough to offer another contract and a place on their 40-man roster. However, there are still the lingering memories of the 9.95 ERA.

"Unfortunately, the impression I left last year wasn't too great," he said, "but I've had success before and the fact that they've seen me have success before, that kind of bodes well for me. But at the same time, it sucks coming in and being hurt. That's not what I was hoping for, planning on, anything like that. I was hoping to come in and be healthy and show them why they signed me in the first place instead of the little bit that I showed last year.

"Right now, it's just more frustration than anything."