MASN to televise eight Grapefruit League games
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – MASN will televise eight Nationals Grapefruit League games this spring, the team announced today, including one of this year’s two Spring Breakout Games featuring top prospects. The first televised game will be Sunday, when the Nats host the Mets at 1 p.m. at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, one day after their exhibition ope
Suárez chosen to start first exhibition game
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. – The drama was building. Manager Brandon Hyde walked to the entrance of the baseball operations center, where media gathers for his morning scrum, and teased the day’s big news. Who’s starting the exhibition opener Saturday afternoon against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium? Hyde asked for everyone’s predictions, which were written d
What "The Bird's Nest" has noticed at spring training
Brendan Mortensen
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. – Spring training can be a whirlwind.  New faces, stars of the game and top prospects are scattered across the fields at the Orioles' spring training complex at Ed Smith Stadium.  A team fighting to recapture an American League East crown has plenty of storylines. On “The Bird’s Nest,” Annie Klaff and I broke down some of the standou
Are recent veteran additions enough for Nats bullpen?
Mark Zuckerman
Masn
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two weeks into the new year, the Nationals had only one relief pitcher on their roster with any kind of substantial big league experience: Derek Law. Clearly, Mike Rizzo still had plenty of work to do before the start of spring training. The process remains slow, but the Nats have managed to add three experienced relievers o
Orioles preaching same hitting approach with different voices
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. – The transition is in such a young phase that some players don’t know whether changes are forthcoming in the way that the Orioles teach hitting or to what extent. Whether the general philosophy will be tweaked. If the approach will be scrambled a bit from the past. The full squad didn’t have its first workout until Tuesday. Meetings
New-look infield turning heads early in camp; Susana faces top hitters
Mark Zuckerman
Masn
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two days into full-squad workouts, more than a few observers have noticed a crispness to the Nationals’ infield defense that wasn’t always there last year. With middle infielders CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. returning, now joined on the corners by Nathaniel Lowe and Paul DeJong, the unit as a whole looks sharper than it did
Hall of Fame sportswriter Thomas Boswell to throw out Nationals Opening Day first pitch
MASN Staff
Masn
Hall of Fame sportswriter Thomas Boswell, whose columns chronicled the return of baseball to the nation’s capital, the Washington Nationals 2019 World Series run and everything in between, will throw out the ceremonial Opening Day first pitch as the Club begins its 20th Anniversary celebration on Thursday, March 27. Visit nats.com/February to secur
Zack Britton: “Just even watching the arms out there throwing and the hitters, it’s a pretty stacked system"
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. – Zack Britton stood behind the row of bullpen mounds Tuesday morning with another former Orioles pitcher, Ben McDonald, and watched the side sessions. He went indoors earlier with a fungo bat in hand to retrieve his glove, unsure whether he might actually use it. This is Britton’s first experience as a guest instructor, and the enjo
Early notes on Day 7 of Orioles spring training
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. – Gary Sánchez’s experience catching Japanese pitchers won’t necessarily give him regular starts on days that Tomoyuki Sugano is on the mound. Maybe it evolves that way. Sánchez was behind the plate yesterday for Sugano’s bullpen session, and he’s caught Masahiro Tanaka with the Yankees and Yu Darvish with the Padres. “Post-bullpen,
Nationals agree to terms with Lucas Sims
MASN Staff
Nationals
The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Lucas Sims on a one-year contract and transferred right-handed pitcher Mason Thompson to the 60-day Injured List on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Sims, 30, joins the Nationals after he pitched to a 4.38 ER