Manager Dave Trembley said today that Gregg Zaun will not play again until the exhibition game against the Washington Nationals at Norfolk on Friday night. Zaun required a cortisone shot in his sore elbow on Sunday, but Trembley says he's confident he'll be ready to start the regular season on time.

If not, the Orioles have the choice of keeping two of the backup candidates -- Robby Hammock and Chad Moeller -- until Zaun is ready or bring back Matt Wieters. Apparently, that would not be a tough decision.

"I think you take both reserve catchers and do what's right for Wieters,'' Trembley said. "No disrespect to Moeller and Hammock, but let's hope we don't have to go in that direction. Zaun has done a great job for us and we have every indication Zaun will our starting catcher."

Rich Hill update: Jeff Zrebiec reports from Sarasota that Hill, who will start the season on the disabled list, pitched 2 2/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins in a Triple-A game today at Twin Lakes Park. He gave up two hits and no runs, but walked two and threw a wild pitch. He threw 49 pitches, 29 for strikes and his fastball was consistently in the 90-92 mph range.