SARASOTA, Fla. -- Even with the Orioles' acquisition of free-agent starter Yovani Gallardo, prospect Mike Wright is approaching this spring in hopes of winning a rotation spot.
"I'm pulling for everyone ahead of me, they are great guys, but there's always things that happen," said the right-handed Wright, who will get the first spring start Tuesday at the Braves. "[Sunday], [Chris] Tillman didn't throw. That's not to say he won't by the time the season does, and I hope he does, I wouldn't wish an injury on anyone. But if I just shut it down and stop competing, that's not good for the team. The same with Tyler [Wilson] or anybody. There's always spots available when something gets hurt or something happens. So I'm definitely approaching it the same way."
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Wright and Wilson will pitch Tuesday and should get plenty of Grapefruit League action to state their cases. Assuming there aren't any injuries, Gallardo will join a rotation that includes Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Miguel Gonzalez and Kevin Gausman.
Wright, who will be held to a pitch count, said he'd be OK going two innings if allowed and he's going to treat it like any other start.
"I've been throwing all my pitches, I feel good about all of them," said Wright, ranked as the O's No. 10 prospect by MLBPipeline.com. "I'm going to approach it just like a regular game and give it everything I got."