Strasburg out for season; hand surgery sometime next week
Strasburg out for season; hand surgery sometime next week
Byron Kerr
Orioles
The Nationals' road to a repeat just got much more difficult with the announcement that World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg will undergo surgery to repair carpal tunnel neuritis in his right hand sometime early next week, manager Davey Martinez confirmed. The Nats have placed Strasburg on the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his 2020 season. Strasburg, 32, hopes to return 100 percent for the 2021 spring training. Right-hander Wil Crowe is promoted to take Strasburg's place on the roster...
Game 23 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
Game 23 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Who's ready for 14 innings of thrilling baseball action? For the first time, the Nationals are playing a doubleheader today, 2020 style. That means seven innings per game (unless it's tied at the end of the seventh, of course, in which case they continue into the eighth using the new extra-inning rules). There's going to be some different strategy to this. All of a sudden, the fifth and sixth innings have more importance and would be prime time for top relievers. Or, a successful and...
Mountcastle's debut significant for the organization, plus other notes
Mountcastle's debut significant for the organization, plus other notes
Steve Melewski
Orioles
It is an exciting day for any organization when one of its top prospects arrives in the majors. And the big day for the Orioles and Ryan Mountcastle arrived Friday versus Boston. He walked twice and was part of a late rally, but the Orioles lost 8-5 as their losing streak reached six. But this was not just another game for the player or the team. The Orioles did a wonderful job providing messages broadcast on the MASN telecast and on social media from Mountcastle's family wishing him well....
Hyde and staff getting positive reviews through good and bad times
Hyde and staff getting positive reviews through good and bad times
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Major League Baseball keeps trying to proceed through the 2020 season as if there's been the slightest tweaks to it rather than a complete overhaul. The number of games, the restrictions in travel, the roster sizes, the taxi squads, the alternate camp sites, the rule change in extra innings, the expanded playoff field. But other than that ... The Baseball Writers' Association of America is going to hand out its annual awards. As if it's any other season, except with statistics attached to...
Mountcastle debuts with two walks in O's 8-5 loss (updated)
Mountcastle debuts with two walks in O's 8-5 loss (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle was introduced tonight as making his major league debut, stepped to the plate at Camden Yards to lead off the bottom of the second inning and heard the roar of the fake crowd. What a story to tell his grandchildren someday. Mountcastle didn't tip his helmet or leave the box to gather his emotions. He dug in, took a few big swings that produced foul balls and a 1-2 count, and watched the next three pitches to draw a walk. The arrival of the No. 5 prospect in the system provided...
Corbin allows early runs, but "getting better and better"
Corbin allows early runs, but "getting better and better"
Byron Kerr
Nationals
When the Marlins' Miguel Rojas smacked a three-run homer in the second inning Friday night, some had to worry that this might be a repeat of what happened to Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin in his previous start. On Aug. 15, Corbin allowed the Orioles to score two runs in each of the first two innings on their way to a 7-3 victory over the Nats in Baltimore. But Corbin returned to vintage form this time around, shaking off that early home run, and bewildering the Marlins into the seventh...
Nationals bats are quiet again in 3-2 loss to Marlins (updated)
Nationals bats are quiet again in 3-2 loss to Marlins (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
All night long, they waited for their lineup to strike. It felt like it was going to happen eventually, right? Someone would get a rally going against the Marlins bullpen and bring the Nationals back from the one-run deficit they had faced nearly the entire game, right? Well, no. It never happened. And so another eminently winnable ballgame was won not by the Nationals but by their opponents. Held to two early solo homers by Yan Gomes and Trea Turner, the Nats were silenced the rest of the...
O's game blog: Trying to end a losing streak
O's game blog: Trying to end a losing streak
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Orioles prospect Ryan Mountcastle makes his major league debut tonight as the Orioles host Boston at 7:35 p.m. Mountcastle, the 2019 International League MVP and O's Minor League Player of the Year, will bat sixth and play in left field. Last year at Triple-A Norfolk, he batted .312/.344/.527 with 35 doubles, a triple, 25 homers, 83 RBIs and an OPS of .871. He led the International League in hits (162) and total bases (274). Here is where Mountcastle has been ranked over the years by Baseball...
Hyde on Mountcastle: "I'm going to play him a lot"
Hyde on Mountcastle: "I'm going to play him a lot"
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle isn't here to sit. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde inserted Mountcastle into tonight's lineup, giving one of the organization's top prospects the start in left field and batting him sixth. And Mountcastle is going to stay busy, including the possibility of making some starts at first base with Chris Davis on the injured list. "I'm going to play him a lot," Hyde said today in his Zoom conference call with the media. "He's playing left field tonight. We're going to give him...
Mountcastle in left field for tonight's debut
Mountcastle in left field for tonight's debut
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle is starting in left field tonight and making his major league debut. He's batting sixth. Pedro Severino is the designated hitter and batting fourth. Chance Sisco is behind the plate. Mountcastle's first act as a major league player was to spend almost nine minutes on a Zoom conference call with the media. Here's a sampling: On his reaction to the promotion: "I was just chilling in bed and Gary Kendall gave me a call around 10 o'clock in the morning and let me know that I...