BALTIMORE -- The Orioles' No. 3 prospect, right-hander Hunter Harvey, is making strides in his rehab process, and has been scheduled to pitch once a week through at least the end of August.
Harvey made his first competitive start of the season on Wednesday in the Gulf Coast League after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2016.
"Twenty-seven pitches, one inning, felt great," manager Buck Showalter said. "Velocity was really good."
Battling injuries is nothing new to Harvey, who missed the entire 2015 season due to a fractured fibula and later a flexor mass strain. Since last November he has been throwing and rehabbing his arm to hopefully make his return to the Orioles' farm system before the end of the 2017 season. Because of that, Showalter thinks it's important that Harvey bypasses the Arizona Fall League this fall.
"The whole idea is for him to have a normal offseason," Showalter said. "He's not going to go to the [AFL]. This guy's been throwing since basically November, so I think the most important thing for everybody, including Hunter, is just to have his first normal offseason in a long time. I know the schedule they've got him in; he'll end up with a full-season club sometime."
Harvey is scheduled to have a few more outings for the Gulf Coast League before moving to Class A Aberdeen. The hope is that he will make it to Double-A before the end of the season.
"He's not going to be a candidate to make our club next year," Showalter said. "I know he has the potential to make a lot of people ask that question. Now that I said it, I'm hoping at some point next spring [I'm asked], 'You said back in that press box in July [about Harvey], now do you still feel the same?' I'm hoping that happens, because that means he feels good and is on his way. He has got a lot of hurdles to cross."
Worth noting
• If everything continues to go well for outfield prospect Anthony Santander, he will start his rehab assignment on July 27. Santander has been on the disabled list for the entire season after straining his right forearm in Spring Training.
• Infielder Ryan Flaherty is scheduled to start his rehab assignment after the team's trip to St. Petersburg next week. Flaherty has been on the DL since mid-May with a strained right shoulder.
• Right-handed reliever Mike Wright has had two outings for the Gulf Coast League Orioles since going on the DL last month with bursitis in his right shoulder. In his rehab appearance on Wednesday, he went 1 2/3 innings and allowed just one hit. Wright is scheduled to throw two innings on July 22.