The Orioles today announced the coaching staffs for their minor league affiliates for the 2021 season. The staffs of each: Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Class A-Advanced Aberdeen, and Class-A Delmarva are listed below, along with the Complex League and DSL Orioles. Gary Kendall enters his 22nd season in the organization and his 24th in professional baseball. He begins his 18th season as a professional manager, and his third year managing the Tides after managing at the Double-A level for...

Jon Lester is leaving Nationals camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., today and will travel to New York in order to have surgery to remove his thyroid gland, manager Davey Martinez revealed this morning. Lester, the 37-year-old veteran left-hander signed over the winter following long and memorable stints with the Red Sox and Cubs, is expected to return to the club in about a week and should be cleared to pitch immediately, provided Friday's scheduled surgery goes smoothly. "If everything goes well,...

Juan Soto, as promised, is making his spring debut today in West Palm Beach, Fla. And Soto, as speculated for a while around here, is going to be batting second as part of a potentially newfangled top of the Nationals lineup. Manager Davey Martinez is trotting out 1-2-3 of Victor Robles, Soto and Trea Turner, a combination that seemed possible for a while but had not actually been utilized previously. It certainly has potential, if Robles can do his part and get on base at a much higher clip as...

After catching knuckleballer Mickey Jannis yesterday, Orioles top prospect Adley Rutschman is serving as the designated hitter this afternoon against the Braves in North Port. The Orioles (0-2-1) also have Jahmai Jones in their lineup as the second baseman. Ryan Mountcastle is in left field. Austin Hays is leading off and playing center field. DJ Stewart is the right fielder and cleanup hitter. Chance Sisco is catching today, getting at least one at-bat against Braves left-hander Drew Smyly....

Kevin Long was unemployed for about two weeks last fall, two weeks that confused a lot of Nationals fans and observers, given the hitting coach's strong reputation in the sport and success during three seasons in Washington. Was Long really let go by the organization just as pitching coach Paul Menhart and third base coach Chip Hale were around the same time? And if so, how did he end up coming back to the Nats a couple weeks later and now find himself in West Palm Beach, Fla., preparing for...

He has been among the most talented and successful pitching prospects in the Orioles organization. To get to there, right-hander Mike Baumann has used a pretty basic and simplistic approach to getting better. That is one to focus on what he can do to get better every single day and not look too far down the road. He's kept that approach since the day the Orioles drafted him in round three of 2017 out of Jacksonville University. Never spending time thinking about pitching in A-ball when he was...

The reduction in rosters to 26 players and the possibility of manager Brandon Hyde carrying 14 pitchers really has tightened the utility competition at spring training. A three-man bench with a backup catcher and extra outfielder probably would leave room only for Pat Valaika, who must be designated as the favorite after batting .277/.315/.475 with four doubles and eight home runs in 2020, playing six positions and signing for $875,000 in January to avoid arbitration. A fourth reserve would...

Orioles left-hander John Means was told that he'd pitch two innings today. He had no idea that he would come out of the first early and re-enter the game later. Manager Brandon Hyde had a plan with Means' pitch count rising against the Yankees. He pulled his ace and returned him to the mound in the second. "That's a new rule this year that we have a couple backup pitchers for every game in case a situation like that occurs," Hyde said on his Zoom call after a 4-2, seven-inning loss at Ed...

Max Scherzer and Juan Soto appear to be good to go after suffering minor injuries and are expected to make their spring training game debuts in the next few days. Scherzer, who sprained his left ankle two weeks before camp opened, threw to live hitters Monday for the first time this spring. He is scheduled to throw a light bullpen session Wednesday, and barring any setbacks is lined up to start Friday night against the Cardinals, according to pitching coach Jim Hickey. "As long as he responds...

It was a productive day for Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins. Now hitting left-handed only, he got three at-bats versus southpaws today and produced a triple and an RBI single. But the Orioles are still looking for their first win of spring training. The Yankees scored three runs in the third to break a 1-1 tie and beat the Orioles 4-2 at Ed Smith Stadium in a seven-inning game. The Orioles (0-2-1) will play on the road against Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon with Wade LeBlanc getting the...