"The Orioles sent Derrek Lee to a hand specialist in Sarasota on Tuesday and he'll have an MRI on his right wrist there Wednesday, raising further doubt about whether the veteran first baseman will be ready for Opening Day.

Lee, who hasn't played in a Grapefruit League game after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb in November, started experiencing right wrist soreness within the past week. He attributes the soreness to atrophy in his wrist after having his thumb in a cast for an extended period.

The Orioles wanted to make sure that there were no further issues with the wrist and sent him to see hand specialist Dr. Brian Schofield, a Sarasota-based orthopedic consultant for the club. The club said team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens is confident Lee's discomfort is the result of tendinitis and there is no damage to the wrist but that the first baseman will undergo an MRI to make sure.

"It's nothing to the surgery side; [his thumb] feels great," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I don't want to say tendinitis until they diagnose it. He's going to see a specialist in Sarasota just to make sure we know what we are dealing with."

Asked whether there are growing concerns about Lee with Opening Day about 31/2 weeks away, Showalter said: "We're OK. I really like the fact that the actual surgery and all that feels real good. This is a little something different. You have something that inactive that long, all of a sudden you start doing other things, sometimes it kind of flares up a little bit. I think we will have a better idea at the end of the day what we are dealing with."

Showalter did say there is nothing "imminent" as far as Lee, who has been hitting soft toss but hasn't taken live batting practice since Thursday, being able to get into a game. Though Lee denied he was frustrated, the uncertainty appears to be wearing on the 35-year-old.

"It's just a process," Lee said. "It's unexpected. It's a process I've never been through. I thought once my thumb was fine, I was in the clear. Even this morning, the doctor was like, 'Yeah, this is just part of it.' You kind of have a weak hand and you start doing activities, this is going to happen.""