Lots more from the second day of minicamp

SARASOTA, Fla. - Jesus Liranzo, added to the 40-man roster to protect him in the Rule 5 draft, will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday before the Orioles end their latest minicamp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

Manager Buck Showalter said he's "intrigued" by left-hander John Means, who threw today. Means, 23, is an 11th-round pick in 2014 out of West Virginia who went 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in nine starts at Single-A Frederick and 4-8 with a 4.69 ERA in 18 starts with Bowie.

"Our people like him," Showalter said. "He's got a good feel for pitching."

Showalter also praised former Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia, who didn't appear in a game for the Orioles last season and went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 24 starts with Bowie.

"I think Jason's in a good spot in his career," Showalter said. "I expect him to kind of take off a little bit this year statistically. He's got a lot of exposure to things that if he's going to bite as a big dog, it should be this year."

Mike Wright also threw a bullpen session.

"Mike looks great," Showalter said. "You can tell he's been working. He's a big, strong guy."

Showalter said left-hander Tanner Scott will be a starter this season instead of working out of the bullpen. The idea is to stretch him out for three or four innings each outing and allow him to refine his off-speed stuff. Scott would have a work day in between starts.

The Orioles checked Logan Verrett's knee to make sure it wasn't a lingering issue. They didn't want to be surprised in spring training. He seems fine and had no problem getting through his bullpen session.

Left-hander Chris Lee could make his major league debut this summer after appearing in only eight games at Bowie due to a lat injury. He was on the fast track before being derailed.

"If he's healthy, he's a guy who will get on the radar screen in a hurry," Showalter said. "In fact, he's a guy that when we were thinking about left-handed pitchers and stuff last year, he has the type of fastball, he can pitch with his fastball. He's got that type of movement.

"As slender as he was last year, he's gotten a little bigger."

About 20 pounds bigger, ending the jokes about how he used to run around the shower to get wet.

Branden Kline, recovering from ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, will start at Bowie during the upcoming season. Back where he pitched before the Orioles shut him down and eventually lost him to the "Tommy John" procedure.

"You can tell from the look on his face that he's pretty excited, just getting to that point," Showalter said. "Dylan (Bundy) talked about it a lot, when you get to the point where you're throwing and not thinking about it, whether it's going to hurt. And then you come in the next day and it feels good.

"Dylan got to the point last year where he really wasn't thinking about it at all. It was just, 'OK, I've got to get this guy out.' That's what Branden is getting closer and closer to. He was a really good prospect before he got hurt."

There's also the local angle, with Kline growing up in Frederick and attending Governor Thomas Johnson High School.

"I've got a little special place for (locals) as far as the Orioles are concerned because you know they grew up, with very few exceptions, with Orioles being front and center for them," Showalter said. "I think what you take from it is how much it would mean to them, growing up in that environment. It would be pretty cool for him. I would take that in.

"We don't want to miss on anyone in the country and we especially don't want to miss anybody in our area. Dean (Albany) has watched him since he was in high school, so he's got a pretty good record with him."

Kline's bullpen session today brought another dose of encouragement. There haven't been any setbacks in his recovery.

"Last year, I had the whole throwing program and had me throwing numerous bullpens for the last month and a half. And then when I was in instructs also throwing bullpens and I threw a live BP session at the end of it right before I left to go home," said Kline, who underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery in October 2015.

"It's been interesting. Definitely learn how to be extremely patient, listen to my body. That's probably been the biggest thing. There are certain days I feel like I could do more than I should and there's certain days where I might feel a little bit under the weather, and just really listening to my body.

"I was able to talk to some other guys who went through the process, guys like Bundy and other guys, so I'd know what to expect. So, it's been a really good learning curve, but at the same time, I'm just ready to get back out there on the field and play some baseball.

"That's why we have such a great coaching staff. I joke around a lot with them, but when it's time to be serious and they say, 'Hey, you're not doing that,' I listen to them. There's a lot of experience with (Alan) Mills, D-Walk (Dave Walker), our trainers, who have really seen a lot of guys go down this path, so they know what it takes and what we should be doing. So just being able to bounce ideas off them and listen to them really helps me out a lot."

Kline is looking forward to mostly staying on a normal spring training schedule.

"That's what I'm assuming, but at the same time, I don't really know," he said. "That's above my pay grade, as I like to say. I guess they'll tell me here soon enough right before and just go from there."

For now, Kline will stick to his throwing program and wait for the Orioles to give him more information.

"The normal throwing program that we all get after the New Year," he said. "I started a little bit early just to make sure everything is going well and smooth. For the most part, throw a couple of bullpens every couple of days and then just wait to hear when they want me to report and when I should come down.

"That was the one thing that I kind of appreciated with the timing of everything, even though unfortunately I missed all of last year, I was able to kind of get all the thinking about, 'Is my arm healed? Am I going to be normal?' I got all that out last year, so I was able to go and have a normal offseason, and having that normal offseason, being able to do my normal workouts, my normal throwing.

"I've really showed up here at the camp, ready to go like nothing ever happened."

Kline sounded confident that he'd be able to start the 2017 season with an affiliate rather than stay back at extended spring training.

"Absolutely, absolutely," he said. "I feel great. Moving forward, I'm just taking it one day at a time. I expect to show up at spring training with maybe a little bit of training wheels, but be ready to really go and have some fun this year.

"The physical rehab isn't that bad. It's more of just sitting around like when I showed up in spring training last year. Stretching with the guys is nice. Then when they're going to throw, it's kind of like, if it's not my throwing day, I just sit off to the side. If it's one of those days where I have to throw, I only get X amount of throws at X distance.

"That was really the hardest thing, watching other guys go out there, be able to play and me be on the sidelines. Once I was able to get a little deeper into the throwing program, throwing bullpens, I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just being able to freely talk with guys like Bundy and I also have some other buddies from other organizations who have also gone through it, what they've gone through, what they did to pass the time, that really helped me out a lot."

Kline isn't placing additional pressure on himself as a local kid to pitch for the Orioles. He laughed off the suggestion. Hasn't he already been through enough?

"Absolutely not," he said. "There's no reason to add extra pressure. It's a game. You play a game for a living. That's kind of how I've always looked at it. It's just a privilege being able to be from Maryland. Got drafted by the Orioles and had such a great opportunity of maybe one day getting to Baltimore.

"It's just every day showing up and putting all the work that I can in and when I get out on the field just kind of letting everything take care of itself."