Sarasota County Government's annual report has found that the Orioles have generated more than $511 million in cumulative economic impact in the state of Florida since 2015, the first year comprehensive data on the team's impact became available. The county's analysis measures the total tourism impact created by the Orioles, combined with the club's year-round spending and business operations. Despite the shortened Spring Training season and limited public events in 2020, the most recent...

Max Scherzer was back on a mound this morning in West Palm Beach, Fla., throwing pitches (albeit not many and not at full velocity) for the first time since a sprained left ankle sidetracked him two weeks ago. Scherzer was cleared to resume throwing off the bullpen mound. He wound up throwing 10 pitches, "very light," according to manager Davey Martinez. "We just wanted to see him land on that foot," Martinez said during his daily Zoom session with reporters. "He said he felt good. We'll...

Well, pitchers and catchers have reported to West Palm Beach, followed by position players. Pretty soon, there will be Grapefruit League games. And before you know it, the regular season will be upon us, pandemic willing. But before we turn the page to a new season, we've got time for one more collection of "Nationals Classics" on MASN. This week's array of retro games includes some of the most memorable pitching and hitting performances by the Nationals. So sit back and enjoy them. The...

If you wanted to try to distill the story of the Nationals bullpen over the last several seasons into one simplified narrative, it would be this: Davey Martinez didn't trust enough guys to pitch in high-leverage situations, forcing the manager to overuse his one or two best relievers, which sometimes led to ineffectiveness or injury. It's a pattern that has often repeated itself around here, and it's one Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo appear determined to avoid in 2021. And how...

Manager Brandon Hyde has spent some time talking about the Orioles continuing move toward more use of data, technology and analytics since the start of spring training. New pitching coach Chris Holt led a big move toward data and tech to the Baltimore farm in 2019 and it's matriculated to the big league pitchers as well. It was cited by veteran righty Matt Harvey as one reason he signed with the Orioles. But where does that leave the big league hitters? Do they have the same opportunities to...

How the rotation and bullpen are finalized before opening day garners much of the media attention in spring training. However, there's also a competition brewing in center field. Can't miss it. Manager Brandon Hyde doesn't know on this date whether Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins are vying for the bulk of the playing time or headed toward shared duties. Whether there's going to be one definitive starter or a platoon arrangement. Hays has been viewed as the eventual center fielder and leadoff...

Did Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz hit in some tough luck last year during the shortened 2020 season? A case could be made that he did. He batted .222/.286/.427 with 11 doubles, nine homers, 32 RBIs (tied for the team lead) and an OPS of .713 in 54 games. His OPS+ was 93, 7 percent short of league average. But Ruiz led the Orioles with 54 hard-hit balls, according to Statcast. Those are balls put in play at 95 mph or more. However, he ranked just 14th on the team in batting average on balls in...

The Nationals aren't about to let Max Scherzer rush his way back from a sprained ankle, but as their ace continues to shows signs of progress, they will let him progressively ramp himself back up to the point where he's caught up to everyone else in camp. Scherzer took an important step in that process over the last two days when he was able to throw on flat ground and work out without reporting any significant issues with his left ankle. Scherzer threw from 60 feet Sunday and "felt...

Trey Mancini has been at the spring training complex since the beginning of February, but today felt real. The first full-squad workout for the Orioles. Further confirmation that he's past his colon cancer diagnosis, surgery and the many doubts about whether he'd play baseball again. Mancini feels the same as he did prior to last March. Perhaps the most taxing activity for him now is convincing everyone who keeps checking on him. "I know everybody's been asking me a lot, and I'm not lying...

A Nationals bullpen that already looked deep on paper could be getting a boost from another experienced arm: right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, who has agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, manager Davey Martinez confirmed this afternoon. "He's got to come in, take his intake test, take a physical and then we'll know more after that," Martinez said from West Palm Beach, Fla., during his daily Zoom session with reporters. "But if everything goes well, I'm excited...