SARASOTA, Fla. – Bryan Baker stumbled upon it almost by accident. A minute adjustment to his changeup grip that’s gotten noticed in bullpen sessions. Perhaps it marks the birth of another weapon that Baker can use to defend himself against hitters. Whether he’s doing it with the Orioles is another matter. One topic at a time. Baker faced three Pira

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There were nerves, plenty of them, Shinnosuke Ogasawara admitted. And when the first major league batter he’d ever faced, Tyrone Taylor, ripped a ball to deep left-center, the Japanese left-hander held his breath for a moment as he waited to see where it would land. Once Jacob Young tracked it down at the base of the wall, O

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Samuel Basallo saw a first-pitch slider today from former Orioles reliever Nick Vespi and lined it into right field for a single at 107.4 mph. An earlier groundout registered at 104.9. Nothing subtle about his offensive game. Everyone knows about the bat, which creates loud noises in the cage and at the plate. He launched more ba

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Charlie Morton is scheduled to make his Orioles debut Tuesday afternoon against the Tigers in Sarasota. However, everything is tentative at the moment due to Monday’s forecast of heavy rain. Dean Kremer starts Monday against the Braves in Sarasota. Tomoyuki Sugano is supposed to make his debut Wednesday in Bradenton. “We’re kind

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals’ second game of the exhibition season provides a first opportunity for the team’s new infield to work as one unit. Today’s lineup against the Mets features returning shortstop CJ Abrams and second baseman Luis García Jr., plus new first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and third baseman Paul DeJong. It’s a quartet club o

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Samuel Basallo is behind the plate for this afternoon’s game against the Phillies in Clearwater, the first road trip for the Orioles. Colton Cowser is in left field after sitting out yesterday’s exhibition opener in Sarasota. Heston Kjerstad also makes his first appearance, starting in right field. Coby Mayo is the designated hit

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – One of the most intriguing stories of the spring is the quest to find out if Shinnosuke Ogasawara is good enough to be successful against major league hitters. The Nationals have scouted the Japanese left-hander plenty, and they’ve seen him throw plenty during the first week-plus of spring training. But now they’re finally g

SARASOTA, Fla. – The first exhibition game is done, which brings us to the first road exhibition game. Gas up the rental and head northwest to Clearwater. If you reach Dunedin, you’ve gone too far. Left-hander Cade Povich starts against the Phillies after posting a 2.60 ERA and 0.868 WHIP in five September outings and holding opponents to a .162 av

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Robert Hassell III has been here before. One year ago, in his spring training debut, the Nationals prospect went 2-for-3 with a triple. Three days later, he homered. By the end of March, he sported a .357 batting average and 1.198 OPS. So there was a comfort level for Hassell when he stepped to the plate with the bases loade

SARASOTA, Fla. – The exhibition games started today and Jackson Holliday kept working out. He wasn't on the back fields. He was playing second base and fielding everything hit at him. Holliday got the final out in the first inning on Darick Hall's grounder, made the play on Liover Peguero's ball in the second that Albert Suárez deflected, and handl