How the rotation and bullpen are finalized before opening day garners much of the media attention in spring training. However, there's also a competition brewing in center field. Can't miss it. Manager Brandon Hyde doesn't know on this date whether Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins are vying for the bulk of the playing time or headed toward shared duties. Whether there's going to be one definitive starter or a platoon arrangement. Hays has been viewed as the eventual center fielder and leadoff...

Did Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz hit in some tough luck last year during the shortened 2020 season? A case could be made that he did. He batted .222/.286/.427 with 11 doubles, nine homers, 32 RBIs (tied for the team lead) and an OPS of .713 in 54 games. His OPS+ was 93, 7 percent short of league average. But Ruiz led the Orioles with 54 hard-hit balls, according to Statcast. Those are balls put in play at 95 mph or more. However, he ranked just 14th on the team in batting average on balls in...

The Nationals aren't about to let Max Scherzer rush his way back from a sprained ankle, but as their ace continues to shows signs of progress, they will let him progressively ramp himself back up to the point where he's caught up to everyone else in camp. Scherzer took an important step in that process over the last two days when he was able to throw on flat ground and work out without reporting any significant issues with his left ankle. Scherzer threw from 60 feet Sunday and "felt...

Trey Mancini has been at the spring training complex since the beginning of February, but today felt real. The first full-squad workout for the Orioles. Further confirmation that he's past his colon cancer diagnosis, surgery and the many doubts about whether he'd play baseball again. Mancini feels the same as he did prior to last March. Perhaps the most taxing activity for him now is convincing everyone who keeps checking on him. "I know everybody's been asking me a lot, and I'm not lying...

A Nationals bullpen that already looked deep on paper could be getting a boost from another experienced arm: right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, who has agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, manager Davey Martinez confirmed this afternoon. "He's got to come in, take his intake test, take a physical and then we'll know more after that," Martinez said from West Palm Beach, Fla., during his daily Zoom session with reporters. "But if everything goes well, I'm excited...

Trea Turner already had established himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. Then over the course of 60 dominant games in 2020, the Nationals shortstop established himself as one of the best offensive players in baseball, period. Don't believe it? Look at the numbers. Last season Turner ranked fifth in the majors in batting average (.335), fifth in runs scored (46), first in hits (78), third in total bases (137), sixth in extra base hits (31), 12th in slugging percentage (.588),...

The Orioles are looking to stretch out some of their bullpen pitchers this season to ensure enough innings to cover the long 162-game season. Manager Brandon Hyde recently said that could mean one inning plus for some relievers and could mean going two or even three innings for others. Lefty Tanner Scott, who had easily his best season in the truncated 2020 season, said he is surely up for pitching more if needed. But it has not been something he's been asked to do a lot in his career. He...

Less than a week into workouts, which officially include position players this morning, the veteran and younger arms in camp seem to be making a nice impression. Of course, you have to take the word of the people who are able to watch. Or to catch. "Everybody looks great over here, everybody looks in shape," said Pedro Severino. "The first couple bullpens everybody threw, they looked really great, like they're ready to go, and I'm excited to see what they've got." You can use the logic...

More solid evidence that the Orioles have entered the modern age of pitching technology leads directly to veteran starter Matt Harvey, who chose them as a free agent based on their approach and the people put in charge. What he believes is what they believe. What he did in the offseason, training at Baseball Performance Center in New Jersey, is what they endorse. Meeting with the media this afternoon in a Zoom conference call, Harvey laid out the reasons why the Orioles were the right team at...

The numbness started in his right thumb, in early July just after the Nationals gathered in D.C. to begin an abbreviated summer training camp. As he continued to build himself up for the shortened 2020 regular season, the numbness began to spread to his hand. When it came time to make his scheduled season debut July 25 against the Yankees, Stephen Strasburg realized he couldn't effectively pitch like this. So the Nats medical staff tried to treat the injury with cortisone shots and...