SARASOTA, Fla. -- First baseman Chris Davis was a late scratch from the lineup in the Orioles’ 10-4 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium. He is day to day with a left hip flexor strain.

Manager Brandon Hyde said the injury is not considered serious.

“His hip flexor is a little sore,” Hyde said. “[It happened] on a throw up the line a couple of days ago and it grabbed a little bit. He took a ton of swings yesterday and it’s a little sore, so we’re going to keep him out for precaution.”

Davis had a nightmare season in 2018, hitting .168 with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs. His struggles have continued in the spring, with just one hit and seven strikeouts in 12 at-bats.

Despite the poor numbers, Hyde said he’s been impressed with Davis’ work ethic and sees him making efforts to improve across the board.

“I think he’s going about things the right way,” Hyde said. “He’s been fully engaged in all of our defensive stuff. He’s the first guy in the cage in the morning. I think the process of how he’s going about things is great, so I’m really happy about that.”

Trumbo’s return still in question

Mark Trumbo originally set March 12 as a target date for his Grapefruit League debut, but Hyde said that he’s not sure about that date, and he wants to make sure the outfielder/designated hitter doesn’t rush back from right knee surgery that caused him to miss the final six weeks of last season.

“Mark knows how I feel, I want him to be healthy, so I’m not putting any date for him,” Hyde said. “A player wants to try to get back. But I just want him to be fully ready to go when he’s ready. [Whether] that’s the 12th, or the 22nd or the third week in April.”

Hyde said that he’s been excited about the work Trumbo has put in to recover from right knee surgery, but the plan is to be careful with him now and moving forward.

“I don’t want him to have setbacks,” Hyde said. “When we feel like he’s healthy, we’re going to be patient with him from then on, too. I don’t want to put him in a situation where he can be reinjured.”

Karns feels good in return

Nate Karns threw a perfect fourth inning in his return to the mound after being scratched from his last start with right arm soreness.

Karns said he felt like he could have faced additional batters, but he wanted to take it slow and didn’t feel like it would be beneficial to throw three innings right away.

“I think we’re just taking it easy because I had some fatigue earlier in camp,” Karns said. “Just wanted to get out there, have a good inning and build off of that.”

Givens struggles in short outing

Mychal Givens gave up five runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning Tuesday. He gave up a home run to JB Shuck on his first pitch of the game, and later in the inning, Josh Bell hit a three-run shot off him.

“It’s disappointing,” Givens said. “I’m trying to get through Spring Training healthy and trying to get ready for the regular season.

“I was trying to work on some stuff, but even when you’re working on stuff, you’re trying to compete.”

Late addition

The Orioles added infielder Sean Miller from Minor League camp on Tuesday. Miller signed a Minor League deal with Baltimore in December.

Miller was selected in the 10th round of the 2015 Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

Up next

Left-hander John Means will make his third appearance of the spring when the Orioles travel to Port Charlotte on Wednesday to take on the Rays. Right-hander Charlie Morton will take the mound for Tampa Bay.

Means last pitched on Friday, when he had two scoreless innings against the Yankees.

Luis Ortiz, Pedro Araujo, Cody Carroll, Paul Fry and Tanner Scott are also scheduled to pitch Wednesday for Baltimore.