Mark Zuckerman

What needs to happen this week to keep spring training on tap

What needs to happen this week to keep spring training on tap
Friday's news of the Major League Baseball Players Association declining the league's request to bring a government mediator into the stalled negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement made for a dour start to the weekend. As a new week arrives, we're all left wondering a seemingly simple, yet perhaps not-actually-simple question: What happens now? We don't have an official answer yet, but the actions of both parties in the next 48 hours or so should give us a good clue about...
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Steve Melewski

Borgschulte on working with Hyde, building player trust and more

Borgschulte on working with Hyde, building player trust and more
When I interviewed new Orioles co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte recently, I asked him what stats are important to him in dealing with his hitters. When it comes to a question like this one, we have to keep in mind that the teams have so many more available stats and data than the media and general public. No one is going to give away any secrets here. But he did provide a few examples and that is where we began to discuss strikeouts and how the coaches will try to help the hitters produce...
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Steve Melewski

More appreciation for Mullins, plus other notes

More appreciation for Mullins, plus other notes
We gained another reason to admire Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins this week. We learned that he produced a Most Valuable Oriole season, becoming the first player in club history with 30 or more homers and steals in one year, while battling the effects of Chron's disease. This did not keep Mullins from continuing his impressive rise from player demoted back to Double-A in 2019 to American League All-Star and All-Star game starter in 2021. He also won a Silver Slugger in November - the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Friday morning Nats Q&A

Friday morning Nats Q&A

Well, here we are. It's February. The Winter Olympics are underway. The Super Bowl is nine days away. And pitchers and catchers will be reporting in ... well, who really knows at this point?

There was some news on the collective bargaining front this week, though apparently not positive news. The clock has nearly run out to ensure an on-time start to spring training, though there is still a little bit of time to ensure the season begins March 31 as scheduled.

In the meantime, we'll keep plugging along here and try to keep the content coming every single day. Today, it comes in the form of a Q&A. If you've got a Nationals question you'd like to ask, go for it! Use the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my replies ...

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Roch Kubatko

Who's the best guess for Orioles breakout player in 2022?

Who's the best guess for Orioles breakout player in 2022?
Before we can toss out ideas for an Orioles breakout player this season, we first need to rummage through the qualifications. Cedric Mullins made it easy in 2021. The April demotion in 2019 and inability to claw his way back to the majors. No assurances that he'd hold onto the center field job last spring. The first 30/30 season in franchise history, along with an All-Star berth, Silver Slugger Award and ninth-place finish in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League. And so on and...
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Bobby Blanco

Nats announce scheduled game times for 2022 season

Nats announce scheduled game times for 2022 season
The Nationals on Thursday morning announced the scheduled game times for the upcoming regular season. First pitch for opening day against the Mets at Citi Field is scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. start on Thursday, March 31. Both subsequent games of the opening series on Saturday and Sunday are also starting at 1:10 p.m., possibly including the first time Max Scherzer faces the Nats as a member of the Mets. The home opener at Nationals Park is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch against the...
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Bobby Blanco

The curious case at first base

The curious case at first base
Whenever the Nationals actually report to West Palm Beach, there will be plenty of position battles to dissect. You can pretty much go right up the middle of the field. Will Keibert Ruiz get a strong hold of the starting catcher's spot? Who will fill out the back ends of both the rotation and bullpen? Who will start in the middle part of the infield? Can Victor Robles earn his spot in center field back from Lane Thomas? You can even throw in questions about Carter Kieboom at third base. But...
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Steve Melewski

O's 2022 rotation candidate: right-hander Jordan Lyles

O's 2022 rotation candidate: right-hander Jordan Lyles
It's an assumption - but probably a pretty safe assumption - that right-hander Jordan Lyles is not only a rotation candidate for the 2022 Orioles, but he is very likely to be a key member of their rotation. This is why the club agreed with the free agent pitcher on a one-year deal for $7 million right before the lockout, and the Orioles hold a team option on his 2023 contract. Lyles went 10-13 with a 5.15 ERA for Texas last season. And that produced an ERA+ of 85 for last year or 15 percent...
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Bobby Blanco

Longley brings important qualifications to new role with Nats

Longley brings important qualifications to new role with Nats
This was always going to be an important offseason for the Nationals. Not in terms of signing big-name free agents or making a big splash on the trade market, but in terms of making significant changes and improvements on the minor league side to start this first full year of the rebuild off on the right foot. They have already signed a handful of veteran players to minor league deals to potentially help the major league roster and add depth to the upper levels of the farm system. They signed a...
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Bobby Blanco

Nats announce new minor league player development staff (updated)

Nats announce new minor league player development staff (updated)
The Nationals announced their 2022 minor league player development staff on Tuesday, with 14 new roles and more than 20 new members. This completes the process this offseason of completely revamping the department as the Nationals focus more on the growth of their minor league players during the first year of what is hoped to be a quick rebuild. General manager Mike Rizzo hinted at these changes coming to the organization during his press conference on the last day of the regular season. "We...
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Pete Kerzel

The Carter Kieboom dilemma facing the Nationals

The Carter Kieboom dilemma facing the Nationals
Just 106 games into his major league career, Carter Kieboom is at a crossroads. When spring training begins - hopefully next month - in West Palm Beach, the Nationals are hoping that Kieboom, 24, shakes off whatever competition is provided for him and proves he can handle everyday duties at third base. So far, it's been a mixed bag for the first-round pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft. There have been flashes on offense and defense, but Kieboom has pretty much whiffed on the...
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Pete Kerzel

A few thoughts on what lies ahead for the Nationals

A few thoughts on what lies ahead for the Nationals
For most of the past decade, the offseason has meant pretty much one thing for Nationals fans: Watch carefully as general manager Mike Rizzo makes moves to improve the few holes on the team and eagerly anticipate the first workout of pitchers and catchers in spring training. Not this winter. And not just because the business of baseball has been brought to a screeching halt by a labor stoppage. When Rizzo pulled the plug on a 97-loss campaign that resulted in a last-place finish in the...
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Steve Melewski

International program's contribution to the elite talent pipeline

International program's contribution to the elite talent pipeline
With a new academy coming in the Dominican Republic and their latest signing class announced yesterday, the Orioles' resurgent international program keeps growing and getting better. The elite talent pipeline, international division, got better as a result. On one Saturday afternoon, the Orioles announced the signings of 24 players and spent their entire pool allotment of over $6.2 million, according to Koby Perez, the club's senior director of international scouting. Where the Orioles once...
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Pete Kerzel

What to make of Romero's latest transgression

What to make of Romero's latest transgression
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that left-hander Seth Romero could be running out of chances with the Nationals. News that the 25-year-old left-hander was arrested Friday morning in Sweeny, Texas, on a charge of driving while intoxicated is only the latest misstep in a checkered career for the 25th overall selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, who has just three major league relief appearances in the 2020 campaign on his register. Romero was released on a $5,000 bond, according to...
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Bobby Blanco

Vaquero signs record deal for international prospect with Nats

Vaquero signs record deal for international prospect with Nats
As has been widely expected, the Nationals officially announced the signing of Cuban outfielder Cristhian Vaquero as the international signing period opened today. The 17-year-old switch-hitter is considered by many the top prospect in this international class. The Nationals agreed to terms with 10 players from three different countries, headlined by Vaquero, to open this signing period. Vaquero has reportedly been signed to a $4,925,000 bonus, which is a new club record for an international...
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Steve Melewski

O's add Braylin Tavera at $1.7 million as signing period begins (updated)

O's add Braylin Tavera at $1.7 million as signing period begins (updated)
A new international signing period arrived today in Major League Baseball and the Orioles have announced a class of 24 players. This includes 16-year-old outfielder Braylin Tavera from the Dominican Republic. The 6-foot-2, 175-lb. right-handed hitter agreed to a bonus of $1.7 million, according to MLB.com, and that is the largest ever given by the club to an international amateur. Tavera, who profiles as a speedy center fielder, also features some power potential and gets scouting grades of 50...
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Steve Melewski

Speed and outfield defense will be important in new Oriole Park left field

Speed and outfield defense will be important in new Oriole Park left field
While we expect Oriole Park at Camden Yards to yield fewer homers in 2022 with the deeper outfield fence coming in left and left-center, the new dimensions and angles of those outfield walls will create more ground to cover for the defenders. Outfield defense in left and center just got more important for the Orioles. The Orioles may now place more of a premium on that outfield defense than before. And an outfield of Austin Hays in left and Cedric Mullins in center with have more frequent...
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Steve Melewski

Elias and Mejdal on outfield changes at Oriole Park

Elias and Mejdal on outfield changes at Oriole Park
Yes, the Orioles are quite aware that their pitching staffs in recent years have struggled. But the changes underway in left field and left-center field at Camden Yards are more about producing a park that plays more neutral and more toward norms in Major League Baseball. Right now, the club plays in a stadium that produces among the most home runs and runs in baseball - for all pitchers - and this will create a shift in that. Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said...
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Bobby Blanco

Nats expected to sign top international prospect Vaquero

Nats expected to sign top international prospect Vaquero
Today marks an important day on the baseball calendar, especially for teams looking to bolster their farm systems. The international signing period begins today, as opposed to the traditional July 2 opening, and runs through Dec. 15, allowing teams to sign young talent from foreign countries to their lower level minor league teams. For the Nationals, this presents another opportunity to add young talent as they attempt to revamp their entire organization from top to bottom. But unlike the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Friday morning Nats Q and A

Friday morning Nats Q and A
It's been three weeks since we last did one of these, and so much has happened since then, right? Right? OK, so very little has happened since then, at least in the baseball world. At least the owners and players met Thursday for the first time since the lockout began six weeks ago, so that's a good thing, right? Right? Alas, the entire sport remains very much in a holding pattern until the two sides start to feel a little more urgency to get a deal done, which probably won't be for several...
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