Steve Johnson back on minor league deal

St. Paul’s grad, former Oriole returns

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PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. — A spring training that has been full of Orioles reunions has another one coming. Right-hander a Baltimore native and former St. Paul’s star, is back with the team on a minor league deal. The deal is pending a physical, according to an industry source, and does not include an invitation to major league spring training.

Johnson, whose professional career began in 2005 in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, first came to the Orioles in a 2009 trade for He made his major league debut with his hometown team in 2012.

That year, Johnson went 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 12 appearances (four starts). He made 15 more major league appearances before leaving the club after the 2015 season.

Johnson spent spring training with the Texas Rangers in 2016 but didn’t make the club and landed with the Seattle Mariners. He had one long stint with the Mariners in the majors last year, compiling a 4.32 ERA in 16 relief appearances.

The son of former Orioles pitcher finds himself back with the hometown team now, though he’ll report to minor league camp at Twin Lakes Park.

Others who have rejoined the team of late include infielder outfielder and infielder Orioles edge Rays: A second-string lineup had a terrible time with World Baseball Classic-bound ace and the Tampa Bay pitchers in general Saturday. But counterpart and a cadre of relievers matched zeros until the Orioles manufactured the game’s only run for a 1-0 win.

Jimenez worked around a difficult first inning to give the Orioles three scoreless innings of his own. For the veteran Jimenez, it was another positive step in a spring he knows will be a long one and hopes will be productive. Hardy, Britton improving: Shortstop who has been working through back spasms since reporting to spring training last month, will be back to baseball activities by late next week, manager said Saturday.

“He’s getting ready to take ground balls, probably next [week], sometime late in the week, if he keeps progressing,” Showalter said. “I saw him running yesterday. He’s doing a lot of things, little by little —just little hurdles to cross. He’s doing some trunk rotation now. We’re being real cautious with it. If it was a different time frame, we’d be going a little different, but we want to get it right the first time.”

Likewise, Showalter said closer (left side soreness) isn’t far off from where he was last year, even if his progression has been slowed by the injury.