Eight games into his major league career, Keegan Akin has become a go-to guy inside the Orioles clubhouse and on the back fields at their spring training complex. Eight games make him appear worldly in this environment. The camp is loaded with players waiting to make their debuts and seeking advice. They gravitate toward experience. Akin is willing to offer his assistance with just 25 2/3 innings of his own. Akin is paying it forward after John Means mentored him last year. "It's pretty cool...

Austin Hays is leading off today as the Orioles make their first spring road trip, traveling to Clearwater, Fla., to play the Phillies. Hays is in center field, Ryan Mountcastle is in left and DJ Stewart is in right. Rio Ruiz is the third baseman and cleanup hitter. Manager Brandon Hyde's lineup includes Tyler Nevin at first base and Brett Cumberland as the designated hitter. Chance Sisco is behind the plate. For the Orioles Austin Hays CF DJ Stewart RF Ryan Mountcastle LF Rio Ruiz 3B Chance...

The Baltimore baseball media often was promised during manager Buck Showalter's tenure that its curiosity soon would be satisfied. Mostly, yes. Sometimes, no. I'm curious whether spring training is going to start on the dates set for each club. Of course, every team is being told to get ready for it. The same message was sent in October. What's the alternative? Better to keep that mindset and adjust later if necessary, rather than assume a delay and then be surprised when camp opens on time....

As the calendar year winds down, let's take another look back at the summer of 2020. Let's note a few things that went right during the shortened 60-game season for the Orioles. From Rule 5 to MVO: One of the biggest things that went right was the play of right-fielder Anthony Santander. He was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland by the club in 2016, and by 2020 was the Most Valuable Oriole, as voted by local media. That is indeed a success story. Santander's season was a big thing that went right....

The Orioles organization is "on the move." That was the conclusion of MLBPipeline.com when the outlet recently published an article about the state of the O's farm system. Jonathan Mayo wrote that article and joined me recently for a Zoom interview to talk about the Orioles minor leagues. The O's are now No. 8, up from No. 13, in the latest MLBPipeline.com organizational rankings. That bodes well as the Orioles look to turn their rebuilding efforts into more wins on the field. "There is a...

The task of clearing room on the 40-man roster began as the Orioles worked through the final games on their schedule. No need to wait until the last out. Pitcher Carson Fulmer, the former first-round pick of the White Sox, didn't make it through waivers. Reliever Cody Carroll passed through and was outrighted. The 40-man roster was reduced to 37 players, but the Orioles activated pitcher Kohl Stewart from the 10-day injured list yesterday, per their transactions page, and he goes back on the...

MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis has been analyzing and covering baseball prospects for a long time. He said one of the most subjective things he takes part in each year is organizational rankings of farms system in Major League Baseball from No. 1 through No. 30. Until recently, his outlet didn't rank all 30, just the top 10 or 15. But now they include every big league club's farm system and in that ranking of all 30, the Orioles moved up from No. 13 to No. 8 in ratings released Sept. 1. It was...

When the local nine lets a lead get away in the eighth inning and gets tied and in the ninth inning and loses, let's just say there have been better days in Birdland. But it was an active day and certainly not without some potentially very positive developments. * Let's start with Ryan Mountcastle. He hit two homers and each one gave the Orioles the lead. It looked like he had some guy chasing balls out near the highway beyond left field. His first homer went 420 feet and his second 410 feet....

Sometimes it works precisely as intended. The Orioles signed veteran left-hander Tommy Milone to a minor league deal in spring training, one of their typical late moves under the Florida sunshine. Never make roster projections until after everyone reports to camp. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias had the same vision as his predecessors. Bring in a pitcher or player on a shortened and inexpensive deal and hope for the type of production that benefits the club on the field and...