Matt Wieters, rehabilitating from Tommy John elbow reconstruction in June, will be behind the plate on back-to-back days next weekend as he continues to log innings at catcher in simulated environments.
"He'll catch those two games if everything proceeds the way it is," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Wieters, who is on pace to be cleared to throw in Grapefruit League games March17.
"Every report's a little better than the one before," Showalter added.
Because he hasn't been cleared to throw, Wieters has been a designated hitter in exhibition games. After going hitless in four at-bats Saturday, Wieters is 0-for-10 in three spring games.
Showalter said he hopes Wieters can log enough innings behind the plate that he'll be able to catch five to seven innings when he's cleared.
"He'll have as many [innings as he normally would], if not more," Showalter said. "He's been doing a lot more leg work than he usually does. The legs part of it, being able to catch physically … I don't worry about. We can always simulate that, and we have been. He's ahead of where he normally is."
Wieters is scheduled to catch a minor league exhibition game at 2 p.m. next Saturday against a group of prospects from Puerto Rico on the back field of the Ed Smith Stadium complex. He also is set to catch in a "B" game at 10 a.m. next Sunday.
The Orioles' minor league exhibition game March 16 against the Canadian national team in St. Petersburg would be another opportunity to give Wieters simulated innings behind the plate, but because he's expected to catch the next day, he likely won't play in that game.
Wieters isn't expected to make the trip to Fort Myers to play the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, but Showalter expects him to DH the next three games at home.
"I don't want to get to where we need to rush to catch up and we're trying to force it," Showalter said. "We won't. Matt will, but I won't. Right now, he's going to take every at-bat thrown his way."