Orioles invite 16 to Spring Training

The Orioles today announced that they have signed and invited 16 non-roster players to their major league spring training camp. Pitchers invited to camp include: LHPs Mark Hendrickson and Clay Rapada and RHPs Mitch Atkins, Ryan Drese, Armando Gabino, Wynn Pelzer, Raul Rivero and Josh Rupe. Position players invited include CAs Adam Donachie, Michel Hernandez and Caleb Joseph; OFs Tyler Henson and Randy Winn; and INFs Ryan Adams, Nick Green and Brendan Harris. Of the pitchers invited, six have major league experience, with five spending at least part of 2010 in the major leagues. Hendrickson has spent the last two seasons with the Orioles, going 7-11 with a 4.74 ERA in 105 games (12 starts) in that time. Gabino pitched at three levels last season, including the majors, spending the majority of the season with Triple-A Norfolk, where he went 7-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 30 games (eight starts). Atkins, 25, appeared in five games for the Cubs last season after going 8-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 28 games (15 starts) with Triple-A Iowa. Rapada, 29, made 13 appearances for Texas in addition to 50 appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he posted a 1.82 ERA in 59.1 innings for the RedHawks. Rupe, 28, posted a 2.92 ERA in 40 appearances for Triple-A Omaha and made 11 relief appearances for Kansas City, posting a 5.59 ERA. Drese, 34, last pitched in the major leagues in 2006 for Washington, his sixth big league season. He pitched for Mexicali of the Mexican Winter League in 2010, going 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in nine starts. Pelzer receives his first invite after being acquired from San Diego on July 29 in exchange for Miguel Tejada. He went 1-0 and pitched to a 4.50 ERA, striking out a batter per inning in 10 games with Double-A Bowie. Rivero also receives his first invite after splitting 2010 with Class-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, where he combined to go 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 37 relief appearances. Rivero struck out 60 while walking 25, and recorded an almost 3-to-1 groundball-to-flyball ratio (104:35) between the two levels. Donachie, Hernandez and Joseph all return as invitees after they were in big league camp in 2010. Donachie spent the majority of last season with Triple-A Norfolk (78 games) but also appeared in five games for Double-A Bowie. Hernandez appeared in 58 games for Norfolk, batting .263. He has previous major league experience with the Yankees (2003) and Tampa Bay (2008-09). Joseph spent 2010 with Bowie, batting .235 with 11 home runs in 106 games. Winn, 36, has played in the major leagues for the last 13 seasons, batting .284 with 110 home runs for five different teams (Tampa Bay, Seattle, San Francisco, the Yankees and St. Louis). He was an All-Star in 2002 with the Rays. Harris, 30, is entering his 11th professional season and is a career .260 hitter in 485 major league games with Montreal, Washington, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and Minnesota. He was acquired from Minnesota with J.J. Hardy in December. Green, 32, is entering his 13th professional season and is a career .237 hitter in 392 big league games with Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the Yankees, Seattle, Boston, the Dodgers and Toronto. Adams receives his first invite to camp after batting .298 with a club record 43 doubles in 134 games with Double-A Bowie in 2010. He was named the Orioles #8 prospect by Baseball America. Henson is also receiving his first invite on the strength of batting .278 with 52 extra-base hits for Bowie last season. Orioles pitchers and catchers will hold their first workout in Sarasota on February 14, and the first full squad workout will take place February 21. The Orioles will open the 2011 Grapefruit League schedule with a split squad game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 28 at 1:05 p.m. The home schedule at the new Ed Smith Stadium opens against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 1 at 1:05 p.m. O's minor league pitchers will hold their first workout in Sarasota on Monday, March 7. The first minor league full squad workout will take place on Friday, March 11. Minor league games begin Wednesday, March 16.