The competition is playful but also motivating. Who’s the first to surrender an earned run? Who blinks first?

And eventually, who is the first to join the Orioles bullpen for his major league debut.

Nick Vespi, an 18th-round pick in the 2015 draft, made his 10th appearance with Triple-A Norfolk last night and has allowed three unearned runs and six hits in 11 2/3 innings. He's walked two batters and struck out 17, the numbers that jump highest from his stat sheet.

Cole Uvila, chosen from the Rangers organization in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, allowed his first unearned run Thursday night with the automatic runner scoring in the 10th inning. He’s permitted only four hits and struck out 14 batters over 12 innings, but also issued seven walks.

“When it comes to the preparation, they’re both as good as it gets,” said Norfolk pitching coach Justin Ramsey. “They come in with a plan every day and they’re always looking through the notes, the scouting reports. They know where we’re trying to go with the guys. They take pride in knowing how they want to attack them. And obviously, the stuff has played very well.”

As they get ready to play for a league championship for the third time in the team's 28-year history, the Double-A Bowie Baysox can look back on a special regular season where they got off to a sizzling start and produced a strong finish. The Baysox were 21-5 on June 4 and were about the best team in all of Minor League Baseball to that point. Late in the year, as they pushed for a postseason spot, Bowie won 12 of 14 in the last two series, going 7-0 versus Harrisburg and 5-2 against...

From time to time it is very interesting and also educational to hear from scouts from organizations outside of Baltimore to get opinions on Orioles players. I did just that recently with an American League scout who provided several solid insights on various O's minor league players. He had coverage of a few O's farm teams this year and got some good looks at players. He was generous with his time and opinions. We jumped around to various players, some highly ranked and others not ranked. So...

During an interview Thursday on 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore, Orioles second-round draft pick Gunnar Henderson covered a lot of ground. He included his love for the sport, a belief he can stay at shortstop, his power swing and his current Auburn commitment. With the No. 42 overall pick Monday night, the O's selected the 17-year-old lefty batting prep shortstop from John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Ala. Henderson was rated the No. 30 prospect in this draft class by Baseball America and No. 27...

It was another night when the Orioles got a short outing from a starting pitcher, but the way Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow was throwing it was not going to matter. Glasnow was dominant last night as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 7-0 to take the series and homestand opener. It's not a bad combination for a pitcher when you throw 99 mph, as Glasnow did in the first inning, and combine that with a curveball that three batters took for called third strikes. It didn't get much better for Baltimore...

The Orioles road trip moves on to Chicago and they start a three-game series tonight in the windy city. The Orioles (10-19) went 0-3 at Minnesota, scoring just four runs. They've lost seven of nine and 14 of the last 19 games. Left-handers get the start with John Means (3-2, 1.74 ERA) facing Manny Bañuelos (1-0, 2.51 ERA). In his three starts, Means is 1-2 with a 2.08 ERA. He has averaged 6.9 strikeouts/nine innings in his starts and 15.3 per nine when pitching out of the bullpen. The White...

As the Orioles are looking for some solid starting pitching - they don't have a quality start over their last 11 games - John Means provided an encouraging outing on Sunday at Boston. Means went five innings, allowing four hits and one run with one walk and three strikeouts in Boston's 4-0 win. He took the loss and is now 1-2 but has a 1.98 ERA over five outings. In 13 2/3 innings on the season, he has walked four and fanned 13. Means threw 82 pitches Sunday, averaging 91.5 mph on his 50...

The problems in navigating a lineup the third time through the order resurfaced for Orioles right-hander Andrew Cashner in Chicago on Monday night. Cashner will look for improvement this afternoon when he faces the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Cashner threw four scoreless innings to begin his night Monday, but was knocked from the game during the sixth. As the lineup turned over, Cashner issued a walk and five straight hits over the fifth and sixth innings. For the season, Cashner allows a...