While the Orioles were playing the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend at Rogers Centre, a catcher from their farm system was soaking in the big league experience, even though he was not on the active Orioles roster.

Catcher Cody Roberts joined Tyler Nevin and Logan Gillaspie as taxi squad players for the series. For Roberts, 26, it was his third time this season on the taxi squad that includes a trip to Boston earlier and a seven-game stretch in late June at the Chicago White Sox and Seattle and this past weekend.

“It’s really cool. You get to be around the clubhouse, get to be around the guys. You see kind of the culture that is being built here right now. It’s been a cool experience,” Roberts said of being on the taxi squad.

An 11^th round O’s draft pick in 2018 out of the University of North Carolina, Roberts had a huge hit on the final day last year that helped propel Double-A Bowie to the 2021 Eastern League playoffs. This season, in 80 games mostly with Bowie but with a handful of games at Triple-A Norfolk, he has hit .271/.348/.429/.777 with eight homers and 42 RBIs. He is expected to rejoin Norfolk to end the regular season. 

And there is an added bonus as a catcher on taxi squad. Unlike the others, he could stay once the games start and help out pitchers in the bullpen.

The eventual promotion of Adley Rutschman to the major league roster, whenever it happens, comes with the expectation that the Orioles will have a veteran mentor ready as his backup. But the club already seems equipped to tutor him. The staff isn't running short on former catchers. Manager Brandon Hyde caught 69 games in the minors and 13 with the independent Chico Heat. Major league field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins caught 217 games in the minors and two with the...

The clock keeps ticking on Adley Rutschman, and the sound of it can drown out a 747. A one-one makes more noise. Rutschman is going to play in the majors in 2022, but Orioles fans want to know whether he breaks camp with the team or returns to Triple-A Norfolk, where he appeared in 43 games last summer and batted .312/.405/.490 with nine doubles, two triples, five home runs and 20 RBIs. He threw out runners attempting to steal second and third base. He handled the pitching staff with a maturity...

More honors were announced Wednesday for the Orioles' top two prospects, catcher Adley Rutschman and pitcher Grayson Rodriguez. They keep adding hardware after each had very strong full seasons after missing minor league game action for the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Rodriguez was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Double-A Northeast and Rutschman was named the No. 1 major league prospect in the league. Both also made the league's postseason All-Star team. Earlier, they were ranked...

That was a very tough way for a season to end for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. They let a late 5-0 lead get away and lost 6-5 at Akron tonight as the RubberDucks scored twice in the ninth to produce a championship via a walk-off win. Akron, down 5-0, scored four runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to stun Bowie and end the year for the Baysox, who were swept three straight in the Double-A Northeast Championship Series. A costly throwing error by second baseman Cadyn Grenier scored the first...

BOWIE - Two days removed from the must-win game that saved their season and got them to tonight, Bowie opens the Double-A Northeast Championship Series tonight, hosting Akron in Game 1 of a best-of-five series. Bowie's three-run rally in the eighth inning on Sunday gave the Baysox a 7-5 win over Altoona and sent Bowie to the playoffs, where tonight they begin a series seeking their second league championship after winning the 2015 Eastern League title. With the game tied 5-5 on Sunday, catcher...

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...

They took an early lead but then fell behind. But the Double-A Bowie Baysox put together a dramatic rally in the last of the eighth this afternoon and pulled out their must-win game today. Bowie entered the final day of the regular season needing a win to advance to the playoffs. A loss and the season would be over. The Baysox entered the last of the eighth down 5-4 but scored three times to beat Altoona 7-5. The Baysox end the regular season 73-47 (.608), winning 12 of their final 14 games, to...

Catcher Adley Rutschman's work at Double-A is done. The Orioles are promoting Rutschman to Triple-A Norfolk, according to a source. His final game with the Bowie Baysox unfolded earlier today when he started behind the plate in Somerset and went 0-for-3 in a 7-0 loss to the Patriots, who registered a combined no-hitter. Luis Severino, with Somerset on an injury rehab assignment, tossed four perfect innings. Rutschman appeared in 80 games in his first season with Bowie and batted .271/.392/.508...

There is no doubt it was a frustrating weekend in Birdland. The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 5-5 in the eighth on Friday, the O's were down 5-3 in the eighth on Saturday and they led 5-3 in the eighth on Sunday. But they gave up 16 runs total in the eighth innings of those games and lost all three. It is pretty remarkable for a team to score that many runs that late to win all three games. But the Rays improved to 11-1 against the Orioles this year and to 6-0 at Oriole Park, where they...

Baseball America has published its updated top 30 prospects list for the Orioles, and first-round pick Colton Cowser ranks fifth while beginning his professional career in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. Heston Kjerstad, last year's first-rounder, hasn't appeared in a single game after being diagnosed with myocarditis, but he's sixth. This year's second-round pick, infielder Connor Norby, is 10th. A big jump was made by Double-A Bowie shortstop Joey Ortiz, who's 12th in the system...

The Orioles have gone back to a nine-man bullpen, removing a bench option for manager Brandon Hyde but also giving him an extra reliever. Some nights it's the ideal alignment, others it's a handicap. Anyone knowing in advance how it's going to play out should contact the team. There could be a job opportunity. Longer outings from the rotation could reduce the need for a ninth reliever. The last four starters completed five innings prior to last night, a first in 2021. And fewer weak links in...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Trey Mancini walked out of the cage today, passed Hunter Harvey in front of the bench and suggested that the right-hander stick with everything that he's doing in camp. If it ain't broke ... Mancini was smiling as he said it, a touch of sarcasm sprinkled in after Harvey locked him up during live batting practice. "He looked really good," Mancini said following the Orioles penultimate workout before Saturday's exhibition opener against the Twins. "Everything was working...