Ryan Mountcastle stays in the Orioles lineup tonight as the first baseman in Kansas City after being drilled on the left elbow Sunday and leaving the game in the top of the second inning. Austin Hays is in left field and Anthony Santander is in right. Kelvin Gutierrez is the third baseman and Pat Valaika is playing second. The Orioles haven't revealed their starters for the Royals series beyond rookie left-hander Keegan Akin tonight. Akin gets his eighth start of the season and his 13th...

The Baltimore Orioles today announced that they have signed their second selection, No. 41 overall, of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, infielder Connor Norby, from East Carolina University (NC). Norby, 21, hit .415/.484/.659 (102-for-246) with 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 64 runs, and 51 RBI in 61 games during his junior season in 2021, earning him American Athletic Conference (AAC) Player of the Year honors. He led the nation in hits and became the fourth player in ECU...

The Washington Nationals announced the following roster moves on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements: · Agreed to terms on a Major League contract with catcher René Rivera · Reinstated infielder Jordy Mercer from the 10-day Injured list · Optioned catcher Jakson Reetz to Triple-A Rochester · Infielder Starlin Castro placed on Administrative Leave by Major League Baseball under the Joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic...

Major League Baseball placed Starlin Castro on administrative leave this afternoon while the league investigates an allegation that the Nationals third baseman committed domestic violence. In a brief release announcing the transaction, MLB said Castro has been placed on leave "under the Joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy." Per the policy, the initial period of administrative leave may last up to seven days, though an extension is allowed. MLB said it...

The Nationals closed out the season's first half with their toughest two-week stretch to date: 14 games in 14 days, all of them against contenders. The goal at the time: Survive and reach the All-Star break in one piece. How'd they do? Things started off swimmingly with three straight wins over the Mets and Rays. Then Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber got hurt just as the Nats were about to face the National League West's three top teams, and they proceeded to lose nine of 11, limping into the...

The Orioles begin the non-mathematical second half of their season tonight in Kansas City with six outfielders on the roster if counting Ryan Mountcastle, who's listed as an infielder on the team's website. He's made 31 starts at first base and 18 in left field. Let's just say the Orioles have six players on their roster who can play the outfield - seven if including Trey Mancini, but he hasn't done it since 2019. That's the kind of excess talked about over the winter and in spring...

He bats in the middle of the order for the Bowie Baysox and ranks second in the Double-A Northeast with 48 RBIs. No, we are not talking about highly ranked catching prospect Adley Rutschman, but a player not among the Orioles' top 30 prospects. He is 24-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder Robert Neustrom. He was drafted in 2018, the year the O's selected right-hander Grayson Rodriguez with their top pick, out of the University of Iowa in the fifth round. After posting modest stats in 2019,...

The Orioles have revealed only a small portion of their rotation plans. Left-hander Keegan Akin is starting Friday night against the Royals in Kansas City, but the next two spots are listed as TBA. Possibilities include Thomas Eshelman and Spenser Watkins. Jorge López is on the bereavement list and veteran Matt Harvey is pushed back to the Rays series. The corresponding roster move for López will be announced on Friday. Dean Kremer started Tuesday night for Triple-A Norfolk and...

A roller coaster of a first half ended for the Nationals last weekend with a sweep in San Francisco, the final unexpected twist to 3 1/2 months of baseball that featured all kinds of unexpected twists. What, then, do the next 2 1/2 months have in store for this team? Can anyone truly say they know? You can make a compelling case for just about anything to happen to the Nats in the second half. Get healthy and surpass the Mets to win the National League East? Sure, that's possible. Completely...

We now have the facts as they relate to pitchers and the Orioles in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft. We do know they drafted just one pitcher in the first 10 rounds and then took eight from rounds 11 through 19. A run broken up only when they selected Florida Southern first baseman Jacob Teter in round 13. Over time we will find out if waiting to draft all those pitchers was a wise move by the Orioles. If Kumar Rocker wins a couple of Cy Young Awards - OK, if he is even a plus starting pitcher...