SARASOTA, Fla. – Samuel Basallo won’t make the club out of spring training. He never stood a chance. He didn’t report thinking that it could happen. That isn’t why he’s here again. The Orioles want Basallo to experience a full slate of workouts after he reported last February with a stress fracture in his elbow. They want to keep him near Adley Rut

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Position players don’t officially report to Nationals camp until Monday, with the first official full-squad workout Tuesday, but so many of them were already on hand early that the team decided to get started now with a time-honored, spring training workout: live batting practice. Nine pitchers took turns facing groups of th

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tommy Joseph noticed it right away. After spending the 2024 season as assistant hitting coach in Seattle, Joseph accepted the same job with the Orioles and immediately was struck by the positive atmosphere and tight bonds formed among players who genuinely care about each other. They’re teammates but also friends. They have the sam

SARASOTA, Fla. – Zack Britton reports to Orioles spring training in two days to serve as a guest instructor. His older brother is excited to see him again. They have lots to talk about beyond their families. Buck Britton spent the last three seasons as Triple-A Norfolk manager before the Orioles promoted him this winter to major league coach. He be

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with infielder Paul DeJong (de-Young) on a one-year contract and transferred Josiah Gray to the 60-day Injured List on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. DeJong, 31, joins the Nationals after he hit .227 with 17 doubles, 24 home runs, 56 R

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals’ search for more power has landed on a former All-Star shortstop who will now be asked to play third base in D.C. The Nats signed Paul DeJong to a one-year, $1 million contract this morning, adding the veteran infielder to a roster lacking in experience and proven home run power. The 31-year-old passed his phys

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – In a sport full of perfectionists, MacKenzie Gore rises above the fray. The Nationals left-hander expects the absolute best from himself, beats himself up when he doesn’t live up to that standard and always seeks improvement no matter how well his last start went. This isn’t a recently learned trait for Gore. He didn’t just

SARASOTA, Fla. – Heston Kjerstad sat quietly at his locker yesterday morning, staring at his phone with legs stretched out and empty chairs on both sides of him. An isolated figure. Pretty much how he likes it. Kjerstad isn’t anti-social. He just doesn’t command a lot of attention in a clubhouse with some extremely high-profile young players. The b

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The early days of spring training are defined by two time-honored morning drills: Bullpen sessions and pitchers’ fielding practice. The former draws most of the attention, because it’s an opportunity to see pitchers work on their primary craft. But the latter, while mundane, matters quite a bit. And that’s especially true fo

SARASOTA, Fla. – Samuel Basallo swung at the first pitch thrown today by starter Charlie Morton and sent a chopper to a vacated second base area in a live batting practice session. The 20-year-old kid was beaten by the savvy 41-year-old veteran, and it happened in the blink of an eye or the tearing of an imaginary ticket stub. Basallo faced Morton