If Tyler Nevin wanted to leave a nice impression on the Orioles heading into the offseason, hitting a 442-foot home run on the last day seemed like a solid idea. Nevin, 24, reached the third deck in left field at Rogers Centre against Blue Jays starter Hyun Jin Ryu for his first career home run in his sixth major league game. It was the longest first homer by an Oriole since the Statcast era. I should point out that the Statcast era dates back only to 2015, so we're not taking a deep dive into...

Since the day the Orioles acquired him from the Los Angeles Angels, right-hander Kyle Bradish has seemingly been trending up with his new club. Acquired by the team with three other right-handers for pitcher Dylan Bundy on Dec. 4, 2019, Bradish was rated No. 21 on the Angels top 30 by MLBPipeline.com at the time of the deal. Now he is in the Orioles' top 10 and is their third-highest rated pitching prospect following right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and lefty DL Hall. Some in the O's front...

PLAYER REVIEW: JOE ROSS Age on opening day 2022: 28 How acquired: Traded with Trea Turner from Padres for Steven Souza Jr. and Travis Ott, who went to the Rays along with Jake Bauers, René Rivera and Burch Smith for Jose Castillo, Ryan Hanigan, Wil Myers and Gerardo Reyes, who went to the Padres, December 2014 MLB service time: 5 years, 18 days 2021 salary: $1.5 million Contract status: Arbitration-eligible in 2022, free agent in 2023 2021 stats: 5-9, 4.17 ERA, 20 G, 19 GS, 0 CG, 108 IP, 98...

Long before he beat cancer, the Orioles' Trey Mancini had beaten the odds in a more traditional baseball sense. He was the kid that wanted to go a big school in Florida, but they didn't want him, so he crafted a great career at Notre Dame. He was the kid that was a bit overlooked as an eighth-round draft pick. He was the kid that never was ranked in anyone's top 100 prospects list. But he would become the man that blossomed with a breakout big league season in 2019 and has become the face of...

It was, no doubt, a very good 2021 season for some Orioles hitters on the farm. In the new Baseball America top 10 prospects list that was released this week, seven of the 10 players listed were hitters. The Orioles have been drafting hitters at the top of the draft since executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took over here after the 2018 season, and those picks are now getting closer to the majors and drawing notice in lists like those from Baseball America. One of those high...

PLAYER REVIEW: JOSH ROGERS Age on opening day 2022: 27 How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, June 2021 MLB service time: 1 year, 1 day 2021 salary: $570,500 Contract status: Under team control, arbitration-eligible in 2024, free agent in 2027 2021 stats: 2-2, 3.28 ERA, 6 GS, 0 CG, 35 2/3 IP, 32 H, 13 R, 13 ER, 7 HR, 14 BB, 22 SO, 2 HBP, 1.290 WHIP, 124 ERA+, 5.83 FIP, 0.0 fWAR, 0.8 bWAR Quotable: "He's been awesome. He's been an unbelievable teammate. Fun to be around. Really...

PLAYER REVIEW: PAOLO ESPINO Age on opening day 2022: 35 How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, November 2020 MLB service time: 1 year, 78 days 2021 salary: $570,500 Contract status: Under team control, arbitration-eligible in 2024, free agent in 2027 2021 stats: 5-5, 4.27 ERA, 35 G, 19 GS, 0 CG, 1 SV, 109 2/3 IP, 108 H, 53 R, 52 ER, 19 HR, 25 BB, 92 SO, 1 HBP, 1.213 WHIP, 95 ERA+, 4.46 FIP, 1.1 fWAR, 1.0 bWAR Quotable: "When I was drafted (in 2006), I thought I was going to be in the...

After ending the 2020 season looking like he could be a key member of the 2021 Orioles rotation, lefty Keegan Akin was not even on the opening day roster this season. But he would eventually get to Baltimore. And partially because the minor league season didn't start until May, he wound up throwing just one game and two innings at Triple-A this year and pitching in 24 games and throwing 95 innings in the majors for the Orioles. After May 10, he never went back to the farm. Akin was one of just...

By assigning players to the Arizona Fall League, the Orioles can find at-bats that were missing due to various injuries. For infielder Greg Cullen, it was his hamstring that turned his promotion to Double-A Bowie into a challenge to stay on the field. Getting on base isn't an issue when he's healthy. Cullen came out of Tuesday's game with the Mesa Solar Sox due to soreness in his leg, but he received clearance the next day to resume activities. His two stops on the IL with the Baysox limited...

Eric Young Jr., the former Rockies and Mets outfielder who led the National League in stolen bases eight years ago, will be the Nationals' new first base coach, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. Young, 36, hasn't officially been named to manager Davey Martinez's staff yet, but a formal announcement of the club's full 2022 coaching staff is expected in the near future. His hiring was first reported by OurEsquina.com, which learned about the news from Young's father, Braves...