Opening day is approaching the one-week mark and the Orioles don't know whether they're breaking camp with five or six starters and whether they're carrying 13 or 14 pitchers. Health, performance and other factors are tipping the scales. "Our pitching situation is still very much in flux and there's still a lot of questions still to be answered," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said today in his Zoom Call. "I think adding somebody as a sixth man in the rotation is doable without having to...

Yusniel Diaz is starting in right field tonight, Stevie Wilkerson is in center and Richie Martin is playing shortstop, as the Orioles travel to Fort Myers for a 6:05 p.m. game against the Red Sox. Martin has moved over from second base and is attempting to convince the Orioles that he can be ready for opening day. Chance Sisco is catching and batting second. Ryan Mountcastle is in left field and Pat Valaika is at first base. Dean Kremer is making his fifth appearance of the spring and manager...

Warmer weather is here, summer is near and that means one thing - Orioles baseball is back, along with the Maryland Lottery's popular "Contestant of the Game" promotion. The Lottery will select a contestant for each of the 162 Orioles games this season to win cash prizes. Enter winning and non-winning FAST PLAY Home Run Riches tickets, purchased between March 8 and Aug. 23, into your My Lottery Rewards account to be automatically entered into the promotion. Not yet a member of My Lottery...

Davey Martinez's message to the three pitchers competing for the No. 5 starter's job this spring has been consistent throughout. "Regardless of who's going to start or what, they'll have an opportunity to pitch," the Nationals manager repeated Tuesday during a Zoom session with reporters. "Like I've said before, we're gonna need all these guys across the course of the year." Indeed, the Nats know they'll need far more than five starters in a 162-game season. And that's why even as...

In case we forgot how effective right-hander César Valdez can be with his "dead fish" changeup, we were reminded watching the second and third innings on MASN on Tuesday. He kept the ball down in the zone and retired six straight batters on three groundouts and three strikeouts. Nothing to it. He elevated some balls and got hit in the first inning. But in three spring games, Valdez has allowed one run in five innings with eight strikeouts. No doubt the Orioles have kept him on the back...

That the Nationals blew a three-run lead to the Cardinals with two outs in the bottom of the ninth today in Jupiter, Fla., was not of any real significance. Of far more consequence on this late March afternoon were the mostly positive pitching performances of Jon Lester and Joe Ross, who combined to record all but two of the game's 27 outs. And for a brief while, the most important development of the day might've been Starlin Castro's unexpected departure after he appeared to tweak something...

The Orioles could announce their next round of cuts as early as this afternoon. Manager Brandon Hyde told the media on Monday that nothing was coming over the next few days. Maybe he meant Thursday or Friday. Soon but not imminent. Rule 5 pitchers Mac Sceroler and Tyler Wells are outlasting last year's Rule 5 pitchers, Brandon Bailey and Michael Rucker. Then again, the Orioles have 57 players in camp. They aren't in a roster cutting frenzy. Both right-handers impressed in their last outings,...

The bullpen game today in Sarasota began with veteran changeup artist César Valdez retiring the last seven batters that he faced. He was done for the afternoon and ready to change clothes when Trey Mancini and Maikel Franco hit two-run homers in the bottom of the third inning. Dillon Tate followed Valdez to the mound and retired only two batters, three other relievers pitched and Adley Rutschman doubled in his first at-bat in the Orioles' 4-3 win over the Rays. Now, back to the...

He might be the most versatile Orioles pitcher. Right-hander César Valdez could pitch in late relief or long relief. He could start the game. He could serve as an opener. He's ready for anything. Today, he was the starter and pitched three innings at Ed Smith Stadium against the defending American League East champion Tampa Bay Rays. And his outing got better as he went on. Valdez was leaving many of his pitches up in the top of the first and Tampa Bay was putting good swings on them....

The Orioles continue to step up their game in the international market. The club today announced plans to develop a new, state-of-the-art training academy in Guerra, Dominican Republic. The 22.5-acre complex will be home to the Orioles' Dominican player development operations, which will include three full fields, a sports-turf agility field, batting and pitching tunnels, administrative buildings, dormitories and educational facilities. The Guerra project is set to begin construction in April...