Tyler Wilson in prime real estate in Orioles clubhouse

The left side of the Orioles clubhouse belongs to the pitchers, the row broken up into two sections to allow access to the shower area. There's light spillage to other areas, with Ubaldo Jimenez on the opposite side and Vance Worley against the back wall, but the left dominates.

To find rookie Tyler Wilson, you must go all the way to the end of the row before reaching the cafeteria. He's tucked in a corner beside Chris Tillman, a spot he wouldn't dare surrender.

Tyler Wilson throws white.jpg"Tilly's awesome," said Wilson, who's still adapting to life, however temporary, as a reliever. "He's been so great to me. All of these guys have been so great to me as far as answering questions and helping me assimilate to the whole process. And that is truly invaluable to have chemistry like that between veteran guys and younger guys. That they're open and willing to allow you to learn from them is amazing. So, yeah, obviously I'm really fortunate to be beside him.

"I'm looking forward to spending a season beside Tilly and picking his brain and learning from him. But more importantly, I'm just looking forward to watching him. He was fun to watch the other night and it's really, really good to see him throwing the ball the way he is. It's lights out."

Wilson could join Tillman in the rotation. The Orioles need a fifth starter on Sunday unless rain brings another adjustment.

"No idea. Still no idea," he said. "That old adage, like I tell you guys, I take it when they give it to me and I'm content with that. I'll go out and get my skill work in and I'll work on something to make it better and they'll decide how they want to use me after that."

Manager Buck Showalter had Wilson and Vance Worley available in the bullpen last night. He's still listing Sunday as TBA, again due to the forecast.

"I could be ready to go at any time," said Wilson, who's made five starts among his nine major league appearances. "If there are moments where they tell me the night before or they tell me a couple hours before, I genuinely feel like I'd be ready to go because I truly trust that they wouldn't put me in harm's way and they would never put me in a position to not succeed."

Wilson said he was available last night despite going three innings on opening day and throwing 36 pitches.

"I feel great, I feel great," he said. "Obviously, the off-day is really nice to allow you to kind of rest and recover and everything, but like we talked about in spring training, I'm just looking forward to seeing how my body reacts to stuff like this and when I will be able to get back on the mound. So I feel really good. I feel like if we go into an extra-inning game, I'll be ready."

It probably would have taken extras for Showalter to bring back Wilson. He had Worley and T.J. McFarland as long men.

"They manage the bullpen so well here," Wilson said. "Obviously, I have minimal experience in that, but watching on TV and talking to other guys, they're very highly regarded for the way they respect the arms in the bullpen. And it shows with how well the guys have performed over the years."

Jimenez, who starts tonight, is 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA in nine career games against the Twins. Brian Dozier is 6-for-15 with a double and five strikeouts, Trevor Plouffe is 2-for-13 with a double and eight strikeouts, and Joe Mauer is 1-for-14.

Caleb Joseph is catching tonight. Jimenez has a 2.98 ERA in 32 games with Joseph behind the plate and a 7.02 ERA in 14 games with Matt Wieters catching.

Phil Hughes is 8-5 with a 4.57 ERA in 23 games (20 starts) against the Orioles. He's 3-2 with a 4.60 ERA in nine games (eight starts) at Camden Yards.

Adam Jones is 9-for-54 (.167) with two doubles and three home runs, J.J. Hardy is 6-for-35 (.171) with a double and home run, and Manny Machado is 8-for-18 with a home run.




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