It’s Dan Brown (@mercbrownie) filling in for John Hickey.

Jarrod Parker said his arm feels fine and that his confidence remains high.

But he added one other thing.

“Obviously,’’ the right-hander said, “I have to figure some things out.”

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Hey, everyone, it’s Dan Brown filling in for John Hickey (@mercbrownie or dbrown@mercurynews.com)

Here are a few more pregame notes for A’s vs. Orioles at 7:05 p.m. tonight from the Coliseum:

Yoenis Cespedes is on the clock …

With infielder Adam Rosales (strained left intercostal) activated today, the countdown begins for the next guy off the disabled list. Manager Bob Melvin said Cespedes would return Sunday, assuming the outfielder’s rehab games in Sacramento go smoothly starting tonight.

Cespedes (muscle strain in left hand) went on the D.L. on April 13 – a development that hurt in more ways than one. The A’s are 8-2 with him in the lineup and 5-7 when he doesn’t start. It was much the same last year, when Oakland was 82-46 when Cespedes started and 12-22 when he didn’t.

“He’s a force in our lineup,’’ Melvin said. “Even when he’s not swinging the bat well, he’s a presence and the other guys don’t feel like they have to be ‘The Guy.’’’

# # #

Melvin indicated that Rosales would at second base Friday against left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. Rosales, who started the year on the D.L., said he feels 100 percent again. The last hurdle for him was being able to pivot and make a strong throw and he now says he’s able to make that “explosive” movement without discomfort.

# # #

The 1973 World Champions are Swingin’ back into the Coliseum this weekend. The two-day celebration (Friday and Saturday) will feature appearances by some of the colorful characters who captured the second of the A’s three straight championships.

Here’s an itinerary provided by the A’s:

Friday: There will be special ’73 autograph sessions in the Bar & Grille (formerly called the Westside Club) with various members of the team, with proceeds benefitting the Jim “Catfish” Hunter ALS Foundation. A limited number of tickets priced at $20 will go on sale at 5:35 p.m.outside the Bar & Grille doors, near Section 217, with the autograph session beginning at6:15 p.m.

Saturday: A pre-game on-field reunion begins at 12:30 p.m. Ten thousand fans in attendance will receive a Reggie Jackson bobblehead and Jackson will throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game.

The players expected to be on hand –

Reggie Jackson

Rollie Fingers

Vida Blue

Sal Bando

Bert Campaneris

Ray Fosse

Ken Holtzman

Darold Knowles

John “Blue Moon” Odom

Joe Rudi

Gene Tenace

Pat Bourque

Billy Conigliaro

Dick Green

Ted Kubiak

Billy North

Irv Noren (coach)

Wes Stock (coach)

Monte Moore (broadcaster)

More information about the 1973 World Series Reunion can be found online a www.oaklandathletics.com/1973.

Hey, everyone. It’s Dan Brown (@mercbrownie) pinch-hitting for John Hickey. You can reach me directly at dbrown@mercurynews.com

Here are tonight’s lineups as well as a few early notes — and your trivia question o’ the day.

Trivia question: Shortstop Jed Lowrie has 30 hits this month, leaving him three short of the A’s record for most hits in April. Which two players hold the current mark?(Hint: One player did it in 1994 and the other in ’98) Answer below.

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@stewardsfolly in for John Hickey …

We pretty well covered Shane Peterson’s eventful first day in the major leagues in the pre-game notes below and the game story here: http://bit.ly/Zq1bce. So we’re reserving a short postgame blog — day game Wednesday, so we all gotta go to bed — for A.J. Griffin’s dramatic turnaround Tuesday night against Houston.

We tend to forget with as much success as the young A’s starters had last year that they’re still learning on the job, and Griffin offered a case in point Tuesday night against Houston. The right-hander got off to a horrible start and appeared headed for a dismal loss when he walked a career-high four guys in the first three innings, fell behind 2-0 and was very much on the ropes with the bases loaded until Peterson’s diving play saved him from a pummeling.

But with that play, something clicked inside Griffin even though he’d already thrown 70 pitches through three. He turned it around and wound up pitching six full, retiring the last 11 Astros he faced and striking out the side in the sixth. What the heck happened?

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In for John Hickey …

The A’s called out ”Come back, Shane” on Tuesday. C’mon, I had to use that line, right?

After a false alarm last week in Houston, when he was dispatched to possibly replace expectant father Brandon Moss but never did, Shane Peterson is finally going to get his chance. With Moss now officially on paternity leave the next two days — no word on the baby just yet – the 25-year-old is in the lineup tonight against the Astros at first base for his major-league debut.

The yo-yo has probably been the hardest on Peterson’s parents, who live in Temecula (near San Diego). They drove to Sacramento last week to see his Triple-A opener, caught a flight to Houston when Peterson was sent there for possible call-up, flew back to Sacramento when their son returned to the RiverCats, then drove home.

Then Tuesday morning, when Peterson got the call, his parents hopped in the car against and made the 7-8 hour drive to Oakland.

“It’s been some long travels for them,” said Peterson. “But obviously it’s worth it, and they don’t really care.”

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One of the undercurrents of the first two weeks of the Major League season is how fragile Major League tempers and Major League bodies are.

The Dodgers are having to make do without Zack Greinke thanks to the broken collarbone he suffered when he and the Padres’ Carlos Quintana got into a scuffle after Greinke hit Quintana with a pitch the other day.

Nothing like that happened Sunday in Oakland in Detroit’s 10-1 win over the A’s, but it could have.

Tigers’ first baseman Prince Fielder, who is a giant of a man, didn’t take kindly to being hit by a pitch thrown by Jarrod Parker. Fielder made his displeasure known to A’s catcher Derek Norris.

“He told me it was `a little high for my liking,’ ’’ Norris said after the game. “I told him it was a pitch that got away from (pitcher Jarrod Parker) coming up. He said OK and went to first base.’’

You have to think that’s Fielder’s approach is the better one than Quentin’s. Charging the mound in righteous fury is may be good for the soul in the short-term, but it’s bad for the body (see Greinke) and it’s bad for the wallet (see the eight-day suspension slapped on Quentin).

–The A’s won the American League West last year despite Oakland batters leading the league in strikeouts.

And strikeouts are an item to look at now, 13 games into the season, with the A’s having fanned 38 times in the last three games, eight of those Sunday.

Even at that, the A’s are much improved in the strikeout wars, down to 7.31 strikeouts per game now from last year’s 8.56 per game.

“I think you have to look at it that the Tigers have strikeout pitchers,’’ Norris said. “They are paid millions and millions to get those strikeouts. There are times they’ll make you swing and miss.’’

Oakland manager Bob Melvin has been dealing with the high rate of Oakland strikeouts almost from the time he took the job, and it doesn’t seem to be keeping him up nights.

“I don’t know how we could have been swinging much better than we had been coming into this series,’’ Melvin said. “We had good at-bats in winning the game Friday.

“We’re somewhere in between (where they were last year and where they want to be in terms of strikeouts). But I think we’re still a good offense.’’

–Center fielder Coco Crisp missed his second successive start Sunday thanks to a groin injury, but he was noticeably improved from Saturday. He might play Monday. “It will be a game-time decision,’’ Melvin said. “There’s a chance. He’s feeling better, but there are  no guarantees.’’

–Injured infielder Adam Rosales may be close to coming off the disabled list and going out on an injury rehabilitation assignment.

Rosales, sidelined by sore ribs, has been taking batting practice before games over the weekend, and manager Bob Melvin said Rosales will be ready to play once he can play defense without pain.

“He needs to turn the double play and make an aggressive throw,’’ Melvin said. “That’s how he hurt it in the first place.’’

–Josh Donaldson had built his one-struggling average up from the depth of .120 to .277 with five consecutive multiple-hit games, but that streak came to an end Sunday.

Still, Donaldson said he’s feeling better at the plate and his manager said the third baseman has been one of the vital cogs in the A’s offense.

–Brandon Moss is going in the other direction.

The first baseman went 0-for-2 with a walk Sunday and his hitless streak has stretched to 16 at-bats.

That’s one at-bat shy of his career longest hitless streak of 0-for-17, which ran from September 10-29, 2010 when he was with the Pirates.

–Melvin said that shortstop Hiro Nakajima, slowed by a late spring hamstring injury, will not be heading out on an injury rehab assignment as quickly as Rosales.

“Rosales is further along than Hiro,’’ the manager said before the game.

The A’s want to see Nakajima be able to make full-out sprints and to be able to break from side-to-side on defense before they start his clock on the injury rehabilitation assignment.

In for John Hickey …

The injuries incurred to Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes notwithstanding, Friday night’s 12-inning 4-3 victory over the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers was easily the most impressive of their current nine-game winning streak.

This should have been a loss. Oakland hitters struck out 17 times against Tigers pitching, including 11 against starter Max Scherzer over the first six innings. Prince Fielder had four hits for Detroit, including a three-run homer that put Oakland in a 3-0 hole. But showing the same grit and determination that marked the team in its 14 regular-season walk-offs in 2012, the A’s somehow turned this into a W.

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In for John Hickey …

Josh Reddick will receive his Gold Glove Friday night. Eight family members, including his parents and grandparents, will be in Oakland for the first time to see it.

But here’s the best news of all – Reddick will be back in the lineup. Anyone who saw his ugly spill in Houston surely was concerned he might not be back for a good long while.

“At the time the injury happened, I didn’t foresee having him back this quick,” said manager Bob Melvin before the A’s game against the Detroit Tigers. “So, him only missing just the one series, I think we were fortunate. We caught a break there considering how it looked at the time.”

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As good as the A’s pitching was last year, the thing that turned matters around in 2012 was when the offense went from lame to flame.

When the A’s began to hit home runs in bunches last season, they became a team to fear and a team that believed in its own special destiny.

This year, the A’s aren’t waiting until June and July to go in search of the long ball.

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It’s mostly good news for the A’s on the injury front as they prepare to take on the Angels tonight in The Big A.

Josh Reddick’s injured right wrist is black and blue and swollen, but he says he’s been able to get range of motion back gradually in the last 48 hours.

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