Proving he is, in fact, a magician.

Taylor Rogers started for the Twins on Thursday night against a split squad of Orioles. Except he’s competing for the job in the Minnesota bullpen. Unless he starts the year at Triple-A Rochester, in which case he’ll probably be in the rotation as he was last year, when he was an International League All-Star.

It is an interesting managerial philosophy: If you treat baseball players as adults, then they, in response, will act like adults.

New Mariners closer Steve Cishek returned to the mound after a 10-day layoff with a sore biceps muscle and zipped through a 1-2-3 fifth inning in Seattle’s 11-11 tie with the A’s, which was a welcome sight for a club contending with several setbacks in its bullpen.

Just like they drew it up.

The Indians have not officially announced the signing — there were still steps to complete in the physical process — but Marlon Byrd is expected to be thrown into the outfield competition as the latest non-roster invitee.

Evan Marshall just can’t stop smiling this spring. That’s what happens when you go from fighting for your life to being back on a big league pitcher’s mound in a seven-month span.

Coco Crisp was the center fielder for Oakland when Bob Melvin took over as the manager in the midst of 2011, but he is one of the few holdovers from Melvin’s turn at the helm.

Royals first coach Rusty Kuntz has adapted his style for today’s game, today’s players.

Adrian Beltre saw Peyton Manning lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl title and then announce his retirement. Maybe that could happen to Beltre as well. He isn’t exactly dead set on retiring if the Rangers win the World Series. But he has thought about it.

After Denard Span jammed his right shoulder leaping for a ball in center field Wednesday afternoon, he wanted to see how he felt the next morning to get a sense of how bad it was. Sure enough, Thursday morning came and it didn’t feel very good at all — but that’s not the end of the story, fortunately for Span and the Giants.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, healthy this spring unlike a year ago, hit his second home run in as many days on Thursday.

It was easy to spot Colombian second baseman Dilson Herrera before Thursday afternoon’s World Baseball Classic qualifier against Spain. As he ran around the field for a pregame workout, Herrera sported a Colombian flag underneath his cap that waved in the wind as he scampered around. A few hours later, he carried the red, blue and yellow flag of his country proudly into the news conference after he helped his team earn a 9-2 victory.

Giants ace Madison Bumgarner is being as patient as he can be with left foot and rib-cage issues that scratched him from his last spring start, but he’s hopeful he’s on track to get back on the mound for his next scheduled start Saturday.

MLB.com caught up with general manager Mike Rizzo on Thursday to talk about his time with the Nationals and his future with the team.

Eight countries are vying for two spots in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, taking part in double-elimination Qualifier tournaments in Mexico and Panama through Sunday. Watch a live stream of each game on worldbaseballclassic.com and mlb.com, and get the latest news, highlights, ticket info and broadcast schedule.

The Yankees have focused so much attention on the adjustments that Starlin Castro is making at second base, it has been easy to overlook what he could contribute at the plate.