Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez's right groin strain will force him to miss his next scheduled start on Sunday and is likely to land him on the 15-day disabled list.
Manager Buck Showalter said Gonzalez was still sore a day after leaving Tuesday's game with one out in the fifth inning. Gonzalez suffered the injury on his last pitch of the fourth inning and was pulled after facing one batter in the fifth.
"We'll see," Showalter said. "We're going to have to do something. We're going to wait through the day today. He is sore. I would say that his start on Sunday is in jeopardy, which is a nice way of saying he ain't making it unless something strange happened from the time he came in."
Showalter said that right-hander Mike Wright and right-hander Tyler Wilson are the top candidates fill the open start on Sunday, however Wright can only join fill that hole as part of a DL move because he wouldn't have fulfilled the mandatory 10-day minor league option window until Monday.
Wright is scheduled to start for Triple-A Norfolk on Friday and Wilson is slated to pitch on Sunday.
Gonzalez previously had a right groin strain in September of 2013, but he was able to avoid a DL stint, missing just one start before he could return.
Another factor that will affect the Orioles roster is the status of the bullpen. Despite being one man down in the bullpen because of left-hander Brian Matusz's suspension, Showalter said the bullpen was still in good shape entering Wednesday's game even though the relievers picked up 4 2/3 innings in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Boston.
"We're not short yet," Showalter said. "We're short from [not having] the seventh guy. But the people we have here are all available tonight so far. I think we're covered for tonight, but we'll see what the next day brings."
If the Orioles need bullpen help, they could place Gonzalez on the DL and recall left-hander Cesar Cabral, who was optioned Tuesday to make 25-man roster room for outfielder Nolan Reimold. But in that case, they would need another DL move to bring up Wright for Sunday.
Matusz, who is pitching in extended spring training in Sarasota while serving his suspension, can return on Sunday.
"The suspension, it hits you in so many ways," Showalter said.
Orioles round out draft class
Following the third and final day of this year's first-year player draft, Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich was confident that his draft was high on both talent and signability.
"We feel really good about this one," Rajsich said Wednesday. "I don't know how many we'll sign out of it — 30, 32 probably — but we added a lot of bats to our organization, athletes and guys that we really liked, so overall we felt really good about it."
"This one's been deeper," Rajsich added, comparing this year's draft to years past. "We were able to get a lot more high school talent and that's what feels good because so many of them are signable. … All indications are that we'll sign more of the ones we do want to sign, so from that standpoint, it's an exciting year for the Orioles."
After concentrating on high school talent during the draft's first two days, the Orioles' made a run on college players with their final 30 selections on the draft's last day, Wednesday.
"We got a lot of guys we likes and we filled a lot of holes that we needed in the organization so that we can put competitive teams on the field overall," Rajsich said. "The dynamic of the draft today was a lot more comfortable in that we felt we were more in control of the board than say yesterday."
Among those the Orioles selected on Wednesday was Reservoir High right-hander Cody Morris, in the 32nd-round. Morris was projected to be taken in the first three rounds, but was scheduled to have Tommy John surgery last week after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament in the his right elbow.
Morris is committed to college power South Carolina and Rajsich said the Orioles haven't spoken with Morris and he seems set on going to college, but the organization still wanted to recognize him.
"We just did that on our own, just because we wanted to recognize the fact that he's a local kid, a prospect and a promising young starting pitcher," Rajsich said. "Whether or not we can do something with him now, we just wanted to acknowledge the fact that we knew he was right in our back yard. If he changes his mind, who knows?"
With their first pick Wednesday, the Orioles selected 6-foot-4 Radford junior right-hander Ryan Meisinger in the 11th round.
Meisinger, a Dunkirk native who went to Northern-Calvert, was 5-0 with a 0.61 ERA and 17 saves as Radford's closer this season. He was one of five finalists for the national Stopper of the Year award.
The Orioles selected outfielder Jake Pries of Junipero Serra (Calif.) High — the grandson of former O's scout and executive Don Pries — in the 37th round and took second baseman Jack Graham, the son of O's player development director Brian Graham out of Slippery Rock in the 38th round.
Overall, the Orioles drafted 41 players, including 20 pitchers (13 right-handers and seven left-handers), eight infielders, seven outfielders, four catchers and one utility player. They picked 29 college players.
Schoop returning to Baltimore this weekend
Showalter still believes that second baseman Jonathan Schoop, currently on the DL with a right knee injury, will return before the All-Star break. Schoop is expected to return to Baltimore after extended spring training games end in Sarasota, Fla., on Friday and he will continue his rehab work with the major league club before going on a minor league rehab assignment.
Showalter compared it to when catcher Matt Wieters joined the team for a weekend series in Miami to go through drills with the team before he went on a minor league rehab assignment.
While Schoop is currently getting plenty of at-bats in extended spring games, he still has not yet played the field in a game. He participated in sliding drills for the first time Wednesday, Showalter said. Vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson is in Sarasota supervising Schoop and other rehabbing players.
"He's running straight ahead faster than he ever has," Showalter said. "They're killing him down there. It's two-a-day, sometimes three-a-days. They're getting after it."
Schoop's recovery has been slow — he went on the DL on April 18 — but Showalter said the upside is that the team is confident he can return from the injury without surgery.
"There's some significance to the injury, but you can work around it and play at a capacity that nobody even notices it," Showalter said. "But he's going to have to be diligent about strengthening some other things."
Around the horn
Right-hander Kevin Gausman is slated to make his second minor league start Thursday since going on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis. Gausman, who will have a 65-pitch limit in his start for Double-A Bowie, said he hopes to get through five full innings on Thursday. Gausman believes he would physically be ready to rejoin the big league club following this start, but will likely need one more start to increase his pitch count before he consideration. …. Left-hander Wesley Wright, who is on the 60-day DL with a left trapezius muscle strain, is slated to make one more extended spring outing on Friday and then go on a minor league rehab assignment. It's unclear where he will begin his rehab assignment. … Tuesday's game, in which Steve Pearce scored the only run on a wild pitch, was the first Orioles' 1-0 win over the Red Sox without an RBI from either team since Opening Day in 1976, when Lee May scored on a Fred Lynn throwing error. … Wednesday's umpiring crew – Cory Blaser, Laz Diaz, Chris Guccione and Jeff Nelson — visited Johns Hopkins Children's Center, giving patients stuffed animals before the game as part of the Umps Care Charities Blue for Kids program.
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