Gausman to remain in bullpen for time being

CHICAGO -- Orioles rookie Kevin Gausman pitched a scoreless eighth inning out of the bullpen in Tuesday's loss to the White Sox, and the right-hander figures to remain as a reliever, at least through the team's current road trip.

"I think he's got a chance to be a starter again," manager Buck Showalter remarked dryly of Gausman, who is the organization's top pitching prospect.

"We got 70-some games left. We are going to have to do some things between now and the All-Star break. He and Zach [Britton], they both have options, we like them both on the club. I think these things kind of solve themselves. It's going to be about the need of the club. And the need of the club may be for [Gausman] to be starting at [Triple-A] Norfolk. We'll see."

Gausman, who made the jump from Double-A Bowie to the big leagues, initially made five starts before he was optioned to Triple-A as part of a roster crunch. He was recalled to Baltimore on June 24 and has made a pair of relief appearances, including picking up his first win with a team-high 4 1/3 scoreless innings on Friday.

With Wei-Yin Chen slated to make one more rehab start on Thursday, Gausman could be another casualty of a roster crunch next week.

"I think he benefits either way," Showalter said. "And I think we benefit either way, whether he continues to get starts down there or be a contributor out of the bullpen. I got an idea where it's going to all shake out after the break. But I'm going to leave an open mind to it til we get all the information."