"The Orioles' recent flurry of middle-infield additions prompted questions about the health of Brian Roberts, but the veteran second baseman told The Baltimore Sun on Monday that he's feeling great and he thinks his back problems are behind him. Roberts, a two-time All-Star and the longest-tenured member of the club, was limited to just 59 games last year because of a herniated disk in his back. He also suffered a concussion in late September that knocked him out of the Orioles' final six games and lingered well into the offseason. "I'm doing great. I just cranked up my workouts a little harder in the last few weeks, but everything is good," Roberts said in a phone interview. "I'm as excited as I've ever been coming off a year where I didn't get to go on the field a lot and do what I love to do. To go through those struggles, that was one of the hardest years of my life, baseballwise. Every chance I get to go the gym and continue to progress, I'm excited as I've ever been. I'm looking forward to 2011, that for sure." Roberts, 33, has been working out the past three weeks in Baltimore with former Orioles strength and conditioning coach Jay Shiner. He said he'll head to Sarasota, Fla., this weekend to continue preparations for the 2011 season with the assistance of a trainer in nearby Bradenton. While acknowledging that he had to adjust his workout routine because of his back issues and the lingering effects of a concussion, he said he doesn't feel as if he's behind and doesn't expect to be limited physically once spring training begins in mid-February. "My back is fine," Roberts said. "I basically played the last two months of the season, and I played like I normally would. I haven't had any issues with it. If I can go out and play 60 games with it, I'm over it, as far as I know." That's great news for an Orioles lineup that buckled without Roberts leading off for the first 31/2 months of the 2010 season. "We are a very different team when he is on the field. Unfortunately, we saw that last year. It's huge for us that he stays healthy and contributes the way he can," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "[Manager Buck Showalter] spoke to him today and got the sense that everything is progressing. We just hope that he comes into spring training and is feeling as good as he does now."" Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-brian-roberts-1214-20101213,0,1474986.story
