The 2016 spring training for the Baltimore Orioles can be summarized by one word: injuries. The Orioles aren’t the only team dealing with injuries, but from Brian Matusz to Jimmy Paredes to T.J. McFarland to Matt Wieters and finally Kevin Gausman, there has been no lack of players missing time in the month of March.

GAUSMAN’S TENDINITIS NO NEW ISSUE

Gausman says he hopes to be back by the first or second week of the season. The way the early part of the season is scheduled, the Orioles would need their fifth starter for the sixth game, so Gausman could end up missing his turn the first time through the rotation. The young right-hander admitted that he has had dealt with shoulder tendinitis since last spring. The injury cost Gausman six weeks last year, but even when he returned, he still felt it.

The hope is the cortisone shot he received in his shoulder will finally put this injury behind Gausman and he can go out and make 30 starts this season. I wish I could downplay this injury, but there’s no way around it, especially with the history the Orioles have had with injuries to their young pitchers. I also strongly believe that if the O’s are to make a run at a division title, Gausman will be a major reason why. Hopefully, this will just be a footnote at the end of the year and not something that will play a major role throughout the season.

RICKARD MAKING HIS CASE

As we know, other than centerfield, the Orioles outfield is a mess. Mark Trumbo is going to start in right field by default, but no one really knows if he can handle the position on an everyday basis. Left field is a serious question mark and with two weeks remaining, the battle for who wins that job is still up in the air. Hyun-Soo Kim is finally starting to hit the ball, but has yet to collect an extra base hit. Nolan Reimold is what he is at this stage of his career, but should make the team due to being out of options.

However, if the Orioles make their decision based on production this spring, Joey Rickard will be the starting left fielder when opening day rolls around. The Rule 5 selection is definitely on the team, but his impressive spring has helped him make the case to play on a consistent basis.

The Orioles had to pick their spots in recent seasons with Jason Garcia, McFarland and Ryan Flaherty, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for Rickard. The outfielder has shown the ability to get on base, steal bases and play plus defense which only helps his cause to earn more playing time.

In a perfect world Manny Machado would bat second, but with opening day less than two weeks away, it appears more and more likely that won’t happen. However, if Rickard can prove this just isn’t another player having a strong spring that doesn’t translate when the games actually count, the O’s may have solved both their leadoff and left field problems with one player.