Hardy's former teammates excited about his arrival in camp
Hardy's former teammates excited about his arrival in camp
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. - José Iglesias has video stored in his phone of three at-bats in the same game that concluded in the same fashion. Three outs that remind him of J.J. Hardy's mastery at shortstop. Grounders in Hardy's vicinity that appear to be infield hits until Iglesias hears the popping sounds from the first baseman's mitt. The ball beats him to the bag by a fraction of a second. So impressive that Iglesias can't get angry about it. The opposing shortstop instead tips his cap to Hardy,...
John Means rolls through three versus Phillies (O's win 3-2)
John Means rolls through three versus Phillies (O's win 3-2)
Steve Melewski
Orioles
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Left-hander John Means is looking ready for opening day already. He'll have several spring outings yet to go, but today he buzzed through a frontline Phillies lineup, recording nine straight outs in a three-inning outing. Means had one web gem behind him. Bryce Harper hit a hard grounder wide of first in the opening inning. First baseman Stevie Wilkerson made a diving stop to the backhand side and tossed to Means covering the bag. Means needed just 41 pitches and threw 24...
O's close in on first cuts, plus other pregame notes
O's close in on first cuts, plus other pregame notes
Steve Melewski
Orioles
CLEARWATER, Fla. - As they prepare to play the Phillies today at Spectrum Field, the Orioles are closing in on their first round of spring cuts. It will likely happen in the next day or two before the club heads for the east coast of Florida for two games starting Tuesday. "It is starting to get around that time, so we're starting to discuss (that)," manager Brandon Hyde said before the game in the visitor's dugout. "We need to start paring down our numbers a little bit." Hyde said...
Martinez on Zimmerman's workload (Nats lose 3-1)
Martinez on Zimmerman's workload (Nats lose 3-1)
Pete Kerzel
Nationals
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The calendar has turned to March and Ryan Zimmerman's line on the stat sheet is not full of zeros. Zimmerman made his spring debut Thursday night and played first base again yesterday. Today, he's back in the lineup for his first back-to-back assignments of spring, a steppingstone that didn't bypass manager Davey Martinez like a car ignoring the speed limit on Interstate 95. "I got Zim four at-bats in February," Martinez deadpanned this morning. "We got to look it...
Cobb on simulated game, Stewart on ankle
Cobb on simulated game, Stewart on ankle
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. - Alex Cobb was held back in camp this morning and assigned a simulated game on the Ed Smith Stadium field while left-hander John Means traveled to Clearwater. The top two starters in the Orioles rotation got in their work on the same day. Cobb threw a lengthy bullpen session prior to the sim game, with Austin Wynns catching him. The veteran right-hander has gotten over the illness that slowed him in camp and restricted him to one inning in his only exhibition start. Whatever he...
Orioles lineup vs. Phillies
Orioles lineup vs. Phillies
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. - Ryan Mountcastle is in left field today against the Phillies and Stevie Wilkerson is playing first base as the Orioles attempt to run their winning streak to five games in a row. Dilson Herrera keeps moving around, with today's game putting him in right field. Hanser Alberto is leading off and Rio Ruiz is batting cleanup. Mason Williams gets the start in center field. Regulars who are staying back in Sarasota include Austin Hays, Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander, Chris Davis...
A couple of young hitters are showing their smarts too
A couple of young hitters are showing their smarts too
Steve Melewski
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. - They are subtle changes and tweaks that are made. But they show the Orioles that a couple of their top young hitting prospects in Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle can make needed adjustments that will serve them well as they try to consistently hit major league pitching. Hays posted a walk rate of just 4.3 percent in 2019 at Triple-A and 4.2 the season before at Double-A. But he's learning to harness his aggressive swinging at key times to help produce more loud contact. He is...
Lineups: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie
Lineups: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie
Pete Kerzel
Nationals
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Nationals hit the road for a second straight day, facing the Mets at Clover Park with Aníbal Sánchez taking the mound for his second spring start. Facing the Cardinals in Jupiter on Feb. 25, Sánchez worked two innings, surrendering one run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts. In his second start, Sánchez is likely to increase his workload to three innings and/or about 50 pitches. Among those pitching in relief today will be closer Sean Doolittle,...
Ruiz making bid to be regular third baseman, more on Davis
Ruiz making bid to be regular third baseman, more on Davis
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
SARASOTA, Fla. - The shifting of players to various positions in camp bumped Rio Ruiz to the bench yesterday after he started at third base the previous afternoon in Bradenton. He's also played first base in a game. He hasn't stopped hitting. Ruiz singled twice against the Pirates and is 7-for-12 with a double, RBI and run scored. He's driving the ball to the opposite field. Nothing cheap about his production. "I like the way he's swinging the bat," said manager Brandon Hyde. "He's off...
Hearing from Corbin, Martinez and García after a 6-3 loss
Hearing from Corbin, Martinez and García after a 6-3 loss
Pete Kerzel
Nationals
JUPITER, Fla. - When Nationals manager Davey Martinez outlined his desire to delay Patrick Corbin's first Grapefruit League start until the beginning of the second week of exhibition games, the left-hander took the one-week deferral in stride. "I actually didn't think too much about it," Corbin said. "I was told the 29th was my first game, but it was good. I think it was smart, a smart move, just with how much a lot of us did throw last year. Max (Scherzer) wanted to throw Game 1, so he...