SARASOTA, Florida – Daniel Norris was under the bright lights in more ways than one on Thursday night.

His first spring start, the Blue Jays' first Grapefruit League night game in years and a 5-0 loss to the Orioles, was attended by a who's who of the club's brass. General manager Alex Anthopoulos occupied a seat beside the team's third base dugout. Assistant general manager Tony LaCava and top scout Perry Minisian had plum ducats, eight rows behind home plate.

The 21-year-old, born just under six months before Joe Carter would hit his famous home run to propel the Jays to a second World Series championship – also the club's most recent playoff game – is being watched closely to assess his readiness for the starting rotation.

"I liked everything I saw," said manager John Gibbons. "I thought he was a little revved up early but that's to be expected. When he does that, it forces him to fly open a little bit. He got into a little jam. He got a couple of strikeouts. I thought he might have had (Adam) Jones struck out there, too but he ended up walking him. It was a good outing for him."

Norris pitched 1 2/3 innings. He allowed one hit, a leadoff single by Manny Machado in the first, struck out Delmon Young and Chris Davis to escape a two-on, one-out jam in the first and could have had a third strikeout, of Adam Jones, if not for a close call. He ended up walking Jones. Norris threw 36 pitches, 22 of which were strikes.

As he settled in, Norris was able to make the adjustment to settle down his delivery.

"You do one thing and then you start falling off, you start cutting the ball, not getting it where it needed to be," he said. "Kind of nipped it in the bud in the first inning, and in the second inning, I felt a lot better. Even pitch by pitch, it was an in-batter adjustment, so that was big for me going from inning-to-inning and kind of condensing it down to batter-to-batter."

The left-hander is getting used to the increased scrutiny. ESPN The Magazine recently dubbed him baseball's most interesting pitcher, featuring his simplistic lifestyle and his decision to live out of his van.

"I'm not a huge fan of it. It's kind of weird," said Norris. "I understand at this point it's kind of inevitable. It's happened and it's there but I'd rather just kind of tuck away a little bit."

Norris is battling with the likes of Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada for the final job in the starting rotation. Sanchez could end up a late-inning reliever; Estrada is a veteran who could bounce from the rotation to the bullpen as needed. Whether it's out of camp or not too long into the season, Norris is a big part of what the club is hoping to accomplish this season.

Both Norris and Gibbons feel the former benefitted from his September call-up last season.

"He's got to earn it," said Gibbons of Norris' roster spot. "What you don't want to do, you're not going to force him if he's not ready. If we decide at the end of the spring he's not ready, then he'll go down and he'll be one of those guys you think it wouldn't take long anyway. He's got to perform."

Viciedo Makes Jays' Debut

Dayan Viciedo, signed last week to a minor league contract, made his first Grapefruit League start for the Blue Jays.

He went 0-for-3 but two of his outs were hard hit. He hit a one-hop, line drive in the second inning but was robbed by Orioles' second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who ranged to his right to make the pick and throw.

Viciedo also hit a 395-foot fly ball to Adam Jones, who made the catch in dead centrefield, just in front of the 400-foot wall marking. He also struck out.

"He takes his rips," said manager John Gibbons. "He's a strong guy. He has a power game and he's versatile enough that he could play leftfield, third base, first base if he had to but let's see what he does with his bat. That's his game."

Francis Update

Veteran left-hander Jeff Francis is hoping to make the team as a bullpen long man. There's a scenario in which Brett Cecil is a dedicated late-inning reliever, which could necessitate the club taking another left-hander to join Aaron Loup for matchups earlier in games.

"One thing Jeff does, I spent a year over there with him in Kansas City, he's always been a pitcher," said manager John Gibbons. "I see his command's better right now. The one thing you know he's going to do if he comes in, he's going to throw strikes. He's not going to beat himself. He's tough on lefties."

Francis threw a scoreless inning on Thursday night. His fastball topped out at 90 miles per hour.