Cesar Izturis

Cesar Izturis hopes to begin a rehabilitation assignment within the next week. Manager Dave Trembley thinks late July is more realistic for the starting shortstop’s return. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / May 30, 2009)

By Dan Connolly | dan.connolly@baltsun.com

June 30, 2009
Orioles manager Dave Trembley doesn't expect to get Cesar Izturis back until late July at the earliest, but the club's starting shortstop is hoping for a quicker recovery from a June 5 attack of appendicitis.

Izturis jogged and sprinted in the outfield Monday and took 30 swings off a tee, a first step toward returning to the club.

"Big progress," said Izturis, who has batted .260 in 45 games this season. "I'm feeling stronger, and today was a big day."

He said he hopes to field some balls and participate in soft-toss hitting drills today with an eye toward hitting live pitching perhaps as early as Wednesday.

After he passes those tests, Izturis said he would expect to do a minor league rehab assignment for "a couple days to see pitches - I don't think it is going to be [for] long."

"I don't think it's going to be a big number [of at-bats] in rehab," Izturis said. "[Just] until I'm able to swing good and throw from the hole."

Trembley, however, believes Izturis is "a ways away." He thinks an optimistic timetable would be starting a rehab assignment during the All-Star break, July 13-16, with a return some time after that.

"That's how I kind of see it right now," Trembley said. "I don't know if it would be any sooner than that, [but] it could be. But I think that's kind of stretching it."

Base-running blunders
During the club's regular pre-series meeting Monday afternoon, Trembley addressed the team about its propensity for making errors on the base paths. He said he supports aggressive play, to a point.

"They've all been aggressive mistakes, but they've been aggressive mistakes that have been out of control and they've been wrong decisions," Trembley said. "I don't hold it against anybody for making the wrong decision, but I'd like to see less of the same mistake being made on a repetitive basis."

The Orioles had two more mistakes Sunday, when Aubrey Huff attempted to turn a two-out single in the eighth into a double and was easily thrown out and when Luke Scott was nabbed leaning too far off third base on a groundout to first.

"Hopefully [Sunday] was the last hurrah, and get it flushed out of your system because it has been hard," Trembley said. "I think it has been addressed. Hopefully it gets better."

Bring back the NL East
Sunday marked the end of interleague play for 2009, and the Orioles nearly made a little history: Their 11-7 record against the National League East tied the franchise's best mark against the NL (2008 and 1999). Overall, the Orioles are still 101-128 all time in interleague play.

Why have they done well in consecutive years against the National League after struggling for so long?

"I think we have more versatile players. I think our bench is deeper. I think we are able to match up better," Trembley said. "We have some very good situational guys in the bullpen. I think those are the reasons."

Around the horn
Ty Wigginton extended his hitting streak to nine games with a second-inning single. ... Pitching coach Rick Kranitz returned to the team after leaving for a few days after the death of his father-in-law. ... OriolesREACH and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society will host 80 kids from the 13-to-15 year-old division of the Baltimore RBI League as part of the National P.L.A.Y. Campaign today from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Orioles athletic trainers Richie Bancells and Brian Ebel and outfielder Luke Scott will run drills and participate in Q&A sessions. ... On Monday, Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis and his wife Christina played host to 21 kids from the Ronald McDonald House at the Inner Harbor ESPN Zone and National Aquarium in Baltimore in their first event for the "Fun for 21" program.