Roberts, Chen making progress in rehab

TORONTO -- The Orioles received good news on the injury front on Friday, learning that second baseman Brian Roberts and right-hander Wei-Yin Chen are making positive strides in their rehab programs.

Roberts, who has played just three games this season due to a right hamstring injury that required surgery, sprinted and ran the bases at Rogers Centre on Friday. He will continue to work out with the team in Toronto over the weekend, head to Baltimore after the series, and then hopefully begin a rehab assignment.

Manager Buck Showalter said the plan is for Roberts to play at Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.

"If everything goes well the next couple days, he will drive to Norfolk after he works at the stadium [on Monday]," Showalter said.

The fact that Roberts will begin playing at the Triple-A level suggests the rehab assignment will be short, but Showalter doesn't intend for the club to push the oft-injured Roberts.

"We will leave that up to Brian," Showalter said.

Chen is scheduled to throw four innings in a simulated game on Monday, then join the Orioles in Baltimore on Tuesday. If all goes well, he will stay with the club until making his first rehab assignment on June 29, Showalter said.

Showalter wasn't exactly sure at what level Chen, who threw three simulated innings on Thursday, would begin his assignment at, but said there was some flexibility because the organization's Class A, Double-A and Triple-A affiliates will all be at home when Chen is ready to appear in a game.

Chen has made just eight starts this season, the last on May 12, due to a left oblique strain. He's 3-3 with a 3.04 ERA over 47 1/3 innings.