DUNEDIN, Fla. — Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said the pain that shot through his surgically repaired right elbow while making a throw in Saturday's exhibition game scared him, but he is relieved that the MRI showed no serious damage.

“Today's better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before, so that's the goal, to just keep improving. We're on the right track,” Wieters said Tuesday morning.

The clean MRI indicates that Wieters might just have some normal spring training inflammation, but after two years of working his way back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction, it's hard to treat anything in that area as routine.

“It was just something that turned into soreness that I needed to get taken care, just like anything would have,” he said. “We would like [to think] this was just a sore elbow; whether or not I had surgery or not, it's just a sore elbow.”

The plan is for Wieters to continue getting treatment on the elbow until the soreness subsides, then take a few days of strength work before starting to throw again.

Wieters was asked whether it was a scary moment when he first felt the pain that forced him out of Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins at Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium.

“It was,” he said. “It was frustrating because you work so hard, but then when I was driving home the other night, I kind of realized the expectations are that it could happen to anybody at any time. So we've just got to be able to go out there and have my mind free and clear to be able to play.”

Before Tuesday's game at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays, manager Buck Showalter said his plan would be “similar” to the way the Orioles hoped to use Wieters in their best-case scenario for this season, “but with the caution that we always try to take with catchers — especially with such a demanding position.”

“We're lucky to have” backup catcher Caleb Joseph, Showalter said. “We're going to take each, I think — instead of taking each week as it comes, it might be every three or four days as it comes. But both of the guys will know.”

Wilson in rotation mix: Right-hander Tyler Wilson's relief of Chris Tillman on Tuesday in the Orioles' 6-6 tie led Showalter to confirm what many observers recently began to wonder about regarding the team's starting rotation.

“There's some competition here that I don't think people understand,” Showalter said.

Wilson pitched 31/3 innings in what was essentially a piggyback start behind Tillman against the Blue Jays. He coaxed a fly ball to the fence that was caught to end a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, then scattered two hits and struck out two batters over the next three innings. It was an appearance Showalter said was in line with his expectations.

“Tyler's a guy that's been a winning pitcher since 10th grade in high school,” Showalter said. “He has a great presentation. He is confident. He's not scared of the competition. There's a lot to like about him. Sometimes he gets forgotten about, but not by us. He's a very trustworthy pitcher because you know what you're going to get.”

With some struggles in the starting rotation, including two poor starts in three tries by right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, Showalter said the performance of Wilson (three earned runs allowed in 91/3 spring innings over four appearances) and others has made the rotation less settled than it was a month ago.

“You can't have one without the other,” Showalter said. “Mike [Wright] is throwing the ball good down here, and [Odrisamer] Despaigne has had a couple of good, crisp outings — not statistically, but it makes you feel better about it. We've just got to get our five guys before we leave here ready to go, and it could be Tyler Wilson.”

Asked a second time whether Wilson could break camp with the team and be in the rotation, Showalter said again: “There's some competition here that people haven't grasped.”

Infielders pacing road squad: Infielders Ryan Flaherty and Jonathan Schoop have made plenty of road trips with the Orioles this spring, and Showalter singled them out after Tuesday's game.

“I thought Jonathan had some patient at-bats,” Showalter said. “Flaherty's had a solid spring offensively so far with his pitch selection. I've been really proud of that. Some 0-2, 1-2 [counts] to walks have been good to watch.”

Schoop had two hits with an RBI, and through 15 Grapefruit League games leads all Orioles regulars with a .414/.433/.586 batting line. Flaherty had a hit, walked twice and scored a run to bring his spring line to .360/.500/.520 in 25 at-bats.

Around the horn: Left-hander Brian Matusz (back) said he felt good coming out of his 25-pitch bullpen session Monday, his first since the injury, but thought he'd need at least one more side session before returning to games. Asked whether he thought he'd be ready for Opening Day, Matusz said he was taking his recovery day by day. … The Orioles will have three major league pitchers in various games Thursday, with Ubaldo Jimenez starting a Triple-A game, Vance Worley pitching the 1:05 p.m. split-squad game against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, and Wright pitching that night at Ed Smith Stadium versus the Minnesota Twins.

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