Making their final cuts of the spring, the Orioles have formulated their 25-man roster for the start of the 2012 season.
Japanese left-handed pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 28 with an elbow ligament impingement. The Orioles hope Wada can improve his conditioning and continue to adjust to American baseball before the club must make a decision whether to place him in the bullpen or insert him in the starting rotation. In five spring innings, Wada allowed five earned runs, five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.
Backup catcher Taylor Teagarden was also placed on the 15-day disabled list as he continues to recover from a strained back. The move is retroactive to March 26 after Teagarden received only five Grapefruit League at-bats while dealing with the lingering back issue.
The Orioles selected the contracts of first baseman Nick Johnson and catcher Ronny Paulino to fill their final two spots on the 40-man roster. Johnson hit .292 in 48 spring at-bats and — more importantly — remained healthy after being invited to camp as a non-roster invitee.
Paulino will take Teagarden’s place as the backup catcher and hit .216 in 37 at-bats in the spring.
Left-handed relief pitcher Zach Phillips was the final cut in the bullpen despite an impressive 1.35 earned run average in 13 1/3 innings this spring. Fellow southpaw Troy Patton did not allow a run all spring (10 1/3 innings) and is out of options.
Here is a look at the Orioles’ 25-man roster with the season set to begin on Friday:
PITCHERS
34 Jake Arrieta
29 Tommy Hunter
39 Jason Hammel
16 Wei-Yin Chen
17 Briant Matusz
27 Matt Lindstrom
38 Luis Ayala
40 Troy Patton
63 Kevin Gregg
47 Pedro Strop
56 Darren O’Day
43 Jim Johnson
CATCHERS
32 Matt Wieters
28 Ronny Paulino
INFIELDERS
19 Chris Davis
11 Robert Andino
2 J.J. Hardy
12 Mark Reynolds
36 Nick Johnson
24 Wilson Betemit
3 Ryan Flaherty
OUTFIELDERS
21 Nick Markakis
10 Adam Jones
14 Nolan Reimold
9 Endy Chavez
