Second baseman Brian Roberts is heading out to the field to resume baseball activities today, which is a good sign. He said he'll know in three or four days whether he has made enough progress to get into the exhibition lineup.
"I'm going to get out there and do some stuff,'' he said.
Earlier in the day, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said that there had been "some improvement" after Roberts underwent an epidural injection in Baltimore on Monday. Roberts said he conferred with back specialist Dr. Lee Riley over the phone on Thursday and they agreed that he is ready to resume some baseball activities. He was not ready to say that his back is feeling better, though it must be if he's getting back on the field.
"My real test is baseball activity,'' Roberts said.
Nobody is setting any timetable for Roberts, but if he feels better in a few days, it's possible he'll be able to start playing after the team gets back from the two-day cross-state trip to Jupiter to play the Marlins and Cardinals. The schedule has been road-heavy lately, but the O's play most of their games at home over the final 10 days of camp.
Koji update: Koji Uehara said that he's still feeling his sore hamstring, but will try to play catch tomorrow. Andy MacPhail said that he's not concerned that this will be a replay of last year.