The minor soreness in Anthony Santander's side is beginning to feel like the slight tweak of DJ Stewart's hamstring. As the late Joe Strauss used to tell me after we joined The Baltimore Sun baseball beat in 1997, never underwrite or downplay an injury. Of course, that also leads to overwriting an actual day-to-day situation, but it's the risk you take. Stewart won't be ready for opening day because he hasn't played since March 5 and accumulated only eight at-bats. We're just waiting for...

He is a bit of a marked man as the No. 2 ranked prospect in baseball by MLBPipeline.com, by Baseball America and by ESPN. And at No. 2, catcher Adley Rutschman joins just three other Orioles that have ever been as highly rated by the major prospect analysts. No one has been at the top 100 rankings business as long as Baseball America. The first Baseball America list had O's right-hander Ben McDonald ranked second in 1990 behind Atlanta's Steve Avery. In 2009, Matt Wieters became the one and...

The final day of spring training is about a starter building up his pitch count, a few relievers getting some last-minute work in and everybody else just avoiding injury. The Nationals, it would appear, survived today's Grapefruit League finale, a 2-2 tie with the Astros at their shared complex in West Palm Beach, Fla. Next up: a charter flight to Washington, a day off so everyone can get settled in, a workout and simulated game at Nationals Park on Wednesday evening, and then it's go...

Today's spring training finale began on a down note for the Orioles. Lefty Bruce Zimmermann's run of nine spring scoreless innings ended when he allowed a leadoff homer. The rough start for O's pitching didn't end there, as Zimmermann was charged with seven runs today against the Tampa Bay Rays. This was the final spring outing for Zimmermann, the Baltimorean who will make his third big league appearance when he starts the season's third game, on Sunday in Boston. Zimmermann and Rich Hill,...

The rotation names and order are done. Now, we find out how the Orioles plan on monitoring their pitchers' innings with the season stretching back to 162 games. Dean Kremer goes to the end of the line as the youngest member at 25, providing a peek into the club's strategy. Bruce Zimmermann is a year older and tabbed as the No. 3 starter. He took the mound first for today's exhibition finale against the Rays and surrendered three home runs over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-3 loss to the Rays at Ed...

The Orioles' five-man rotation is set and announced. Manager Brandon Hyde said today that Jorge López will start the fourth game of the season on April 5 against the Yankees in the Bronx, with Dean Kremer following him on April 6. The group turns over with opening day starter John Means closing out the series and Matt Harvey starting the home opener on April 8 against the Red Sox. López came into camp out of minor league options and perhaps viewed as more likely to work in long relief,...

Though the Nationals don't doubt Juan Soto and Starlin Castro will be ready to play in Thursday night's season opener in Washington, both players will have to do so without having appeared in the final three games of the exhibition season in Florida. Neither Soto nor Castro is in the lineup for today's Grapefruit League finale against the Astros, but each took five at-bats during a simulated game outside The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches this morning and experienced no issues with the minor...

And so we have arrived at the final day of spring training. Six weeks just flew by, right? The Nationals have one last exhibition to play today against the Astros, one final battle for Palm Beach, if you will. At this stage of the process, it's a whole lot of regulars playing, and both teams have prominent starters on the mound: Stephen Strasburg and Jake Odorizzi. Strasburg has looked perfectly fine all spring, showing no ill effects of his carpal tunnel syndrome nor the ruptured calf tendon...

The Orioles have reached the final game on the exhibition schedule this afternoon. Seven innings against the Rays in Sarasota and that's it. They've compiled a 10-16-1 record that means nothing. What's important is left-hander Bruce Zimmermann making it through today's start healthy and ready to pitch Sunday afternoon in Boston. He's allowed one hit and struck out 10 batters this spring in nine innings. What's important is Anthony Santander one day returning to the lineup after now...

Veteran pitcher Félix Hernández has opted out of his contract with the Orioles, a source confirmed this morning. Hernández goes back into free agency after agreeing to a minor league deal with the Orioles that paid $1 million if he made the club. Elbow soreness forced Hernández out of his last start after the first inning of a March 16 game in Port Charlotte. He retired the side in order, but manager Brandon Hyde noticed bad body language on the mound that hinted at an...