Andrew Stetka: A few thoughts on baseball's unwritten rules

Andrew Stetka: A few thoughts on baseball's unwritten rules
Baseball is stupid. It's a game that I love dearly and that I follow obsessively, but it's quite stupid sometimes. Maybe that's more of a referendum on me than anything else. Why would I pay so much attention and spend so much of my life on something that's stupid? I honestly don't have a good answer for that. Perhaps it's because baseball's stupidity only rears its ugly head occasionally, like this weekend in Baltimore. Grown men playing a game can seem silly to many people. Grown men...

Marty Niland: Healthy Zimmerman makes a big difference for Nats

Marty Niland: Healthy Zimmerman makes a big difference for Nats
One big difference between the Nationals and Mets that allowed the Nats to sweep the weekend series with their National League East rivals was overall team health. Several key members of the Mets lineup were out with injuries all weekend, while the Nats' starting lineup was intact by Sunday. One member of the Nats who is clearly benefiting from relative good health early this season is first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The team's first draft choice after moving to Washington made it through four...

Zach Wilt: O's lucky to have Brach with Britton sidelined

Zach Wilt: O's lucky to have Brach with Britton sidelined
Zach Britton was one of the most dominant players in baseball in 2016. Not that I'm telling you something you didn't already know. The guy had a season for the record books, converting 47 saves without blowing a single one. His stuff - and by stuff, I mean his sinker, because he threw it 91.97 percent of the time - was so nasty that hitters were limited to a stingy .162 batting average. They knew it was coming and there wasn't anything they could do about it. Like many Orioles fans, when I...

David Huzzard: A closer look at Nats' closer troubles

David Huzzard: A closer look at Nats' closer troubles
A couple of days ago, the Nationals made a much-needed change by removing Blake Treinen from the closer's role and replacing him with Shawn Kelley and Koda Glover. This is the current best option and the only option the Nationals truly have at this point. After the Nationals got outbid for Mark Melancon and Kenley Jansen, and Arlodis Chapman only wanted to play for the Yankees, the Nationals were no longer going to get a closer during the offseason. Earlier in the offseason the Nationals'...

Dillon Atkinson: With Mancini's emergence, Showalter may have to get creative

Dillon Atkinson: With Mancini's emergence, Showalter may have to get creative
Orioles converted-outfielder Trey Mancini has gotten off to a tremendous start at the plate, slashing .348/.400/.913 with four home runs in 25 plate appearances. He has been used in a platoon role to start against left-handed pitchers - which has worked out well for him with playing time, considering the American League East is filled with left-handed starters - and also has gotten one start against a right-handed knuckleballer, who he hit two longballs off of. Since his quick emergence to...

Luke Erickson: Playing to win vs. player development

Luke Erickson: Playing to win vs. player development
In theory, the difference between playing to win and developing talent should be, um, minor. Getting ahead in the count (or not falling behind) is what you need to learn to get to the majors (and remember to stay there). In practice, however, it's not always one and the same. Last Saturday night in Woodbridge was a good example of the difference. Joan Baez is the No. 29 Nationals prospect according to Baseball America, which for better or worse is the bellwether for most prospect followers. He...

Marty Niland: Roy Sievers was a true hero, but can today's stars match him?

Marty Niland: Roy Sievers was a true hero, but can today's stars match him?
Somewhere last night, an excited kid of 10 or 11 proudly hung a Bryce Harper poster in his or her bedroom, and fell asleep to dream of the day when they, too, would hit a walk-off homer for the Nationals, sending the crowd into delirium. It's not hard to find heroes on the Nats these days. The team is off to another great start at 7-5. The past two victories came on Daniel Murphy's walk-off double and Harper's mad dash home Friday, and Harper's game-winning shot Sunday. Murphy came within...

Andrew Stetka: O's pitching staff bound to be tested

Andrew Stetka: O's pitching staff bound to be tested
Things look pretty rosy at the moment for the Orioles, having taken three of four from the Blue Jays in Toronto and sitting atop the American League East at 8-3. The Birds even enjoyed the spoils of four straight strong performances from starting pitchers over the weekend in Canada. Though if the front office's recent actions are any indication, big tests are ahead for this pitching staff. In the past month or so, the O's have acquired a bunch of pitchers you've never heard of. They've also...

David Huzzard: Getting used to offense-first Nationals

David Huzzard: Getting used to offense-first Nationals
It's a strange new world for Nationals fans. For the last five seasons, the Nationals have been a good team and sometimes one of the best teams in baseball, and they've done so on the back of their starting rotation. This current iteration of the Nationals is very different. Pitching is not a strength, and after Tanner Roark, the starting rotation is a weakness. When July 31 rolls around, the Nationals are going to be looking for a starting pitcher and bullpen help. The latter has been the...

Zach Wilt: Manny Machado will be just fine

Zach Wilt: Manny Machado will be just fine
There were a lot of bold predictions made about Manny Machado entering the 2017 season. I went big, proclaiming that this year Machado would be crowned the American League's Most Valuable Player. It just seemed like the natural next step for one of the game's premier young talents. Machado finished fifth in AL MVP voting last season, and finished fourth in 2015. He continues to amaze us all with his seemingly daily highlight-reel defensive plays and has added a bit of pop to his bat over the...

Dillon Atkinson: How do the 2014 long-term contracts look now?

Dillon Atkinson: How do the 2014 long-term contracts look now?
The Orioles have two players on the current roster who signed long-term deals with the club back in 2014: Right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez inked a four-year, $50 million deal with the Orioles prior to the beginning of the 2014 campaign, and shortstop J.J. Hardy signed a three-year, $40 million extension with the club in the middle of the 2014 American League Championship Series. The contracts for both Jiménez and Hardy expire at the end of this season, unless Hardy's $14 million option for...

Luke Erickson: Looking over the minor league rosters

Luke Erickson: Looking over the minor league rosters
As you might have guessed, the release of last week's rosters was almost precisely what fans of the "Baby Nats" were hoping for - not too conservative with the kids, not too aggressive with the top pitcher and top position player. The folks in Hagerstown have to be happy with the talent that's sent there. Because the Nationals tend to draft collegiate players over high schoolers, it's rare to have one teenager on a full-season roster, never mind four (Carter Kieboom, Juan Soto, Tyler...

Andrew Stetka: Anticipation for new season brings new expectations

Andrew Stetka: Anticipation for new season brings new expectations
There's something different in the air as the Orioles start a new baseball season. It's not the smell of fresh cut grass or Boog's BBQ; those are the mainstays in Birdland. It's not even all that obvious to many. It's something that has happened over time, slowly but surely. There's an atmosphere that's been created by the current Orioles regime of expectation, and it's one that fans are hanging on to entering 2017. Being a writer for EutawStreetReport.com, I'm familiar with the pulse...

Andrew Stetka: Drawing big conclusions from one week

Andrew Stetka: Drawing big conclusions from one week
There are many old clichés in baseball. There's constantly talk of it being a "long season" and taking things "one game at a time." Those still hold true, as does the idea of trying not to draw too many conclusions from one game. Teams play 162 times over the course of a year, and paying attention to just one of them can be dangerous. But after a week and just five games, or three percent of the season, it is pretty easy to see some common themes with the Orioles. The power bats are...

David Huzzard: The dilemma of picking MVP between Harper and Turner

David Huzzard: The dilemma of picking MVP between Harper and Turner
I have a bit of a dilemma. It isn't a bad dilemma. It is a situation Nationals fans would be agreeable to and one many would call me an overly bright-eyed optimist for predicting, and it is this: I can't decide who to pick for National League MVP, Bryce Harper or Trea Turner. From all indications, Harper is poised to have a season much like 2015 and Turner is ready to pick up where he left off in 2016. That makes it a hard choice. Is it the shortstop who is likely to hit 20 homers and steal...

Zach Wilt: Praising Adam Jones' time in Baltimore

Zach Wilt: Praising Adam Jones' time in Baltimore
A lot can change over a decade. For me personally, I have graduated from college, gotten married, worked three jobs and moved six different times including out of state. It's been a whirlwind full of unexpected twists and turns, as life tends to be. For Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, however, things have stayed relatively the same. On Monday afternoon, Jones ran down the Orange Carpet at Camden Yards with the rest of his teammates, just as he had done the previous nine seasons....

Luke Erickson: The arc of a minor league season

Luke Erickson: The arc of a minor league season
Greetings from the "New Kid on the Block" at MASNsports.com! Well, except I'm not new, I'm not a kid, and my wife is the one from South Boston. What I am is a minor celebrity in the "Natmosphere," as I've been covering the Nationals' farm system for eight seasons at NationalsProspects.com, with the help of some volunteers and some gratuitous use of bulldogs. Tomorrow is opening day for Washington's four full-season affiliates - low Single-A Hagerstown, high Single-A Potomac, Double-A...

Dillon Atkinson: Orioles have tough decisions to make with pitching additions looming

Dillon Atkinson: Orioles have tough decisions to make with pitching additions looming
As many fans have already noticed, the Orioles have gone with an odd roster to start the 2017 season. In most years, the Birds roll with five starting pitchers, seven relief pitchers and 13 hitters. This year, the roster was announced, and it wasn't a familiar look: three starting pitchers, eight relievers and 14 hitters. The club was able to do this because they don't need to add the other two starting pitchers until April 9 and April 15, respectively. Manager Buck Showalter and executive...

Marty Niland: Three keys to success for the Nationals in 2017

Marty Niland: Three keys to success for the Nationals in 2017
Washington sports fans are a demanding lot. We're not satisfied with merely winning. We are disappointed if our teams don't improve. We're not entitled like New Yorkers, who expect to contend for a championship every year. But neither do we feel cursed, like Cubs fans before their team broke its 107-year record of futility last October. This is city where few living souls can remember its only World Series title, and folks have seen six presidential inaugurations since its last championship...

Setting MASNsports.com's guest blogging rotation for 2017

Setting MASNsports.com's guest blogging rotation for 2017
One of the things that sets MASNsports.com apart from its competition is the myriad of voices on the site. It's one thing to have world-class daily Nationals coverage provided by Mark Zuckerman, Byron Kerr and the rest of the site's staff; but it's another to offer a platform for some other dedicated voices to share their diamond knowledge. Once again this season, MASNsports.com will feature the talents of several guest bloggers, writers whose work is familiar to those who pore over the...