FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles maintain that they aren't worried about Adam Loewen's left shoulder. They are scratching him from his scheduled start today for precautionary reasons, hoping a couple of extra days off will allow some mild soreness to subside.

Loewen, who had elbow surgery nine months ago, also downplayed it, saying he is more concerned about manager Dave Trembley's request yesterday that he cut his hair than anything going on with his shoulder.

"I've been fine every start, and that's a real positive for me," said Loewen, who will throw a bullpen session Sunday and is expected to make his next start Wednesday. "A lot of times coming off surgeries, guys will get sore in other places because they're compensating for the previous injury or something like that. I don't think [the two injuries are] connected, because I really wasn't tentative in my throwing. By next week, this will be all forgotten."

The Orioles can only hope. Loewen's situation underscores the delicate status of the club's starting rotation, which is still looking for a fifth member to join Loewen, Daniel Cabrera, Jeremy Guthrie and Steve Trachsel.

One of the candidates, one-time top pitching prospect Hayden Penn, was reassigned yesterday to minor league camp and will start the season in Triple-A Norfolk's rotation. The reassignment was not a reflection on the spring performance by Penn, who allowed just one earned run in five innings. Rather, it's more an indication of how concerned the Orioles are about building their starting pitching depth.

Penn was sent out so the 23-year-old right-hander would be ready early in the season if the Orioles have to dip into the minors to fill the major league rotation. He was getting just one- or two-inning outings in major league camp, and team officials didn't think that was enough to prepare him.

"Nobody should make the inference if you are out of here relatively early that you are the first guy to go," Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. "We're going to try to build up as many internal options as we can. We liked the way he pitched, but he's going to do us more good getting stretched out and getting ready."

The Orioles yesterday also sent Brian Burres and Matt Albers, two of the top candidates for the fifth starter's spot, to Fort Myers to pitch in minor league games, an unusual move for them that was almost necessary to give all the potential starters an opportunity to build up their arms and try to win a job.

Garrett Olson, another fifth-starter candidate, stayed at Fort Lauderdale Stadium and pitched three shutout innings against a Minnesota Twins lineup that consisted of several major leaguers.

"We're doing the best we can here," said Trembley, the frustration evident in his voice. "It would be different if I could send [Penn] across the street to go pitch in a Triple-A game today. I did it with Albers and Burres today, but I'm not going to send these guys to [the minor league complex in] Sarasota and have them drive all the way back. It's another thing where we're doing the best we can with the parameters that we're working with."

Trembley said the team will be forced to make similar moves in the coming days to start building up some of its young arms to give the club much-needed depth if injuries occur. The Orioles already lost left-hander Troy Patton, once believed to be the front-runner for the No. 5 starter's spot, to season-ending shoulder surgery.

"You can never have enough pitching, and you can never have enough starting pitching," Trembley said. "You guys can figure it out. Instead of looking at it as a demotion, I'm trying to get them ready."

None of the remaining candidates for the fifth starter's spot has experienced any sustained major league success. Burres and Albers are the only two of the competitors with more than 10 career major league starts. The other choices for the spot - Olson, Jon Leicester, Radhames Liz and Jim Johnson - have a total of 18 major league starts.

Because of injuries, Trembley was forced late last season to keep sending Olson and Liz to the mound even though they were consistently getting pummeled. It's the Orioles' goal to not allow that to happen again.

"There's really not a team in baseball that isn't preparing internal or external needs, whether it be starters or relievers," MacPhail said. "It's the law of supply and demand, and the supply never meets the demand adequately. We're always looking for more pitching. We're always on the lookout for it."

The Orioles' only options appear to be in trades. Veteran right-hander Kyle Lohse, whom the Orioles had some interest in but not at his asking price, agreed to a contract yesterday with the St. Louis Cardinals, further drying up the free-agent pitching market.

That's why any extended absence of Loewen would be big trouble. The pitcher said he has felt no pain in his shoulder, but it's just taken him a little longer to get loose. That's what led to his decision to start a more rigid treatment plan.

"Once I start throwing, I feel fine," Loewen said. "I've never really had shoulder problems. Even when I had the torn labrum, there was nothing there. I don't think it's a big deal. The big news is I have to cut my hair."

jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com