Guilmet making most of opportunity with O's

HOUSTON -- Right-handed reliever Preston Guilmet has been impressive in a short look with Baltimore, turning in scoreless appearances in his first five games.

"He's had some guys [who] didn't know if [he] would play at the big league level," manager Buck Showalter said of Guilmet, who was acquired in a trade with Cleveland earlier this year. "You can see how it would happen. He doesn't throw 100 miles an hour. He [has an] unconventional delivery. They've got a lot of pitching depth there, and they can't protect it all."

Guilmet, who has allowed just one baserunner -- on a walk -- has eight strikeouts over six innings in his third stint with Baltimore this season and has already faced, and shut down, his former club.

"Funniest thing was watching [Nick] Swisher hit off him the other day," Showalter said. "You could see them going over the advance report and talking about it. They are all talking about the split, the split, the split. He threw Swisher three straight fastballs -- strike one, strike two, strike three. On strike three Swisher just looked in the dugout and went, 'Where's the split?' [Guilmet] was talking about it the next day. He said, 'I knew he was looking for it.'"

Guilmet has embraced the clean slate that comes with starting in a new organization and said that his brief time in the big leagues with Cleveland last season helped him be better prepared this time around.

"Obviously, there's a lot of different things going on here at the big league level compared to Triple-A," Guilmet said. "There's a lot of things you can't simulate, and it was good to get up there and see what it's all about and get a taste of it."