SARASOTA, Fla. - Hunter Harvey and Mychal Givens, who didn't throw yesterday due to illness, aren't scheduled for bullpen sessions this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Manager Brandon Hyde sent Harvey and Givens back home yesterday after they reported to the complex. They weren't in the clubhouse this morning during the media availability. Catcher Pedro Severino, who also has been under the weather, reappeared at his locker today without the surgical mask and appeared ready to work...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Like Max Scherzer the previous day, Stephen Strasburg threw 56 pitches during his bullpen session Friday morning. Like Scherzer, he felt perfectly normal. Like Scherzer, this winter and spring really won't be all that different from prior ones, despite all the extra pitches Strasburg threw last fall. "I mean, you try and take the same amount of time off, and then you get right back into it and treat it like another routine," the right-hander said. "So I got the...

The Nationals have a talented left-handed pitcher in Tim Cate, who continues to get notice in the Baseball America Nats top 10 in 2020. The southpaw showed well last season for high Single-A Potomac and comes in at No. 5 this season. No. 5 Tim Cate Baseball America Nats correspondent Lacy Lusk said the University of Connecticut product demonstrated he belonged in the Carolina League with some solid pitching in 2019. Cate started 13 games at low Single-A Hagerstown before moving up. "He looked...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Richard Bleier made it through his second bullpen session yesterday morning as the sun finally managed to pierce the clouds that suggested rain might be headed to the Ed Smith Stadium complex. The heat was turned up. The kind that doesn't require a radar gun to confirm. Bleier doesn't really care about the temperature or whether the sky is blue. He's in camp on a new contract - settling at $915,000 in December to avoid arbitration - and no longer a health riddle. He's...

The Orioles may have plenty of uncertainty in their rotation at the start of spring training. They've got plenty of candidates competing for spots in the starting five. But they feel they've got two players that are a given at the top of the rotation, good health willing, of course. They are lefty John Means and righty Alex Cobb. Second-year pitching coach Doug Brocail was heaping some big praise on both during an interview on the "Orioles Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 FM the Fan this...

Paul Mancano and Bobby Blanco sit down with Orioles director of player development Matt Blood in Sarasota, FL. Brought to you by Marymount University.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals have a plan and a backup plan to replace Anthony Rendon at third base this season. Plan A is for Carter Kieboom, long considered one of the organization's top prospects, to prove he deserves the job this spring and enter the season as the everyday third baseman. Plan B is for several veterans already on the roster - Asdrúbal Cabrera and Howie Kendrick among them - to hold down the fort at third base while Kieboom gets more seasoning in the minors. There...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - At some point this spring, the Astros sign-stealing scandal will dissipate into the background and earn only occasional mention. Not yet, though. The saga that has engulfed the baseball world for weeks continues to be front and center at camps across Florida and Arizona, especially this particular camp that houses both of the 2019 World Series participants. It didn't help that Thursday's press conference outside the Houston clubhouse, in which owner Jim Crane and stars...

Brandon Hyde met with the media after Friday's spring training workout.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles aren't worried about running out of innings for their pitchers in camp. They're more liable to run low on hand sanitizer. Hunter Harvey and Mychal Givens didn't throw bullpen sessions in their respective groups this morning after reporting to camp with the same illness that's beginning to spread through the clubhouse. Manager Brandon Hyde said both relievers were "a little under the weather" and left the complex. "They came in yesterday not feeling real...