BRADENTON, Fla. -- On Thursday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter ruled Michael Bourn out of any Grapefruit League games. Bourn, who broke his right ring finger a week ago catching a football in a workout, was originally forecast to be out four weeks, but Showalter said that it could be five, and that the team didn't want to rush the 34-year-old outfielder.
Bourn signed a Minor League contract on Feb. 20, and had yet to play in a game when he suffered the injury. He said on Friday morning that he would be cautious.
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"They don't want me to rush back and injure it even more, and they want me to be fully healthy before I get on the baseball field, which I'm in agreement with. It's an injury where you don't want any deformity to your finger. You don't want any setbacks when you come back at the beginning of the season," Bourn said.
Besides Bourn, the Orioles also signed outfielders Chris Dickerson, Craig Gentry and Logan Schafer, who will get lots of playing time during Spring Training. Rule 5 Draft choices Anthony Santander and Aneury Tavarez will also get looks.
"Everybody that knows me knows that I would like to be there on Opening Day, if I could out there with the team and do all that kind of stuff, looking forward. You don't want to rush it and hurt yourself and be lingering with it the whole time," Bourn said.
"If the pain on a 1-to-10 scale is a 2, I'd deal with that, but if it's a 4 or a 5 or a 6, and it's bothering you every day, day in and day out, sleep is bothering you, that's crazy to me, at the beginning of April trying to deal with that and you still have five or six more months to go."
Bourn has a March 27 opt-out, but there have been no discussions about extending it yet.
"When it's time, we'll converse with them. They'll pull me to the side and we'll talk about it," Bourn said.