Trea Turner already had established himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball. Then over the course of 60 dominant games in 2020, the Nationals shortstop established himself as one of the best offensive players in baseball, period. Don't believe it? Look at the numbers. Last season Turner ranked fifth in the majors in batting average (.335), fifth in runs scored (46), first in hits (78), third in total bases (137), sixth in extra base hits (31), 12th in slugging percentage (.588),...

The Orioles are looking to stretch out some of their bullpen pitchers this season to ensure enough innings to cover the long 162-game season. Manager Brandon Hyde recently said that could mean one inning plus for some relievers and could mean going two or even three innings for others. Lefty Tanner Scott, who had easily his best season in the truncated 2020 season, said he is surely up for pitching more if needed. But it has not been something he's been asked to do a lot in his career. He...

Less than a week into workouts, which officially include position players this morning, the veteran and younger arms in camp seem to be making a nice impression. Of course, you have to take the word of the people who are able to watch. Or to catch. "Everybody looks great over here, everybody looks in shape," said Pedro Severino. "The first couple bullpens everybody threw, they looked really great, like they're ready to go, and I'm excited to see what they've got." You can use the logic...

More solid evidence that the Orioles have entered the modern age of pitching technology leads directly to veteran starter Matt Harvey, who chose them as a free agent based on their approach and the people put in charge. What he believes is what they believe. What he did in the offseason, training at Baseball Performance Center in New Jersey, is what they endorse. Meeting with the media this afternoon in a Zoom conference call, Harvey laid out the reasons why the Orioles were the right team at...

The numbness started in his right thumb, in early July just after the Nationals gathered in D.C. to begin an abbreviated summer training camp. As he continued to build himself up for the shortened 2020 regular season, the numbness began to spread to his hand. When it came time to make his scheduled season debut July 25 against the Yankees, Stephen Strasburg realized he couldn't effectively pitch like this. So the Nats medical staff tried to treat the injury with cortisone shots and...

As he evaluated his club's catching corps during the offseason, and then examined the likeliest outside candidates to be added, Davey Martinez quickly came to one conclusion: Yan Gomes was going to be the Nationals' No. 1 catcher in 2021. And that wasn't a bad thing in the manager's mind. "I talked to him a lot this winter and told him that he would get the bulk of the catching this year," Martinez said from West Palm Beach, Fla., during a Zoom session with reporters. "I want him to...

The Orioles are not exactly featuring an abundance of bullpen left-handers. Even on a spring roster with 73 players that includes 37 pitchers. They do return Paul Fry and Tanner Scott from the left side in the 'pen. Who, if anyone, joins them this year is to be determined. Fernando Abad, who signed a minor league deal, may have a good shot. Zach Muckenhirn from the O's farm is another 'pen lefty. Josh Rogers has returned after two surgeries and Bruce Zimmermann made one bullpen appearance...

César Valdez has become so important to the Orioles, and in such an unexpected manner after his prolonged absence from the majors, that manager Brandon Hyde is open to using the veteran right-hander in pretty much any role. The rotation isn't closed to him. Valdez became a starter in winter ball after one relief appearance with his original team, Tigres del Licey, and dominated for Gigantes and Águilas Cibaeñas - the latter being the Dominican Republic's entrant into the Caribbean...

Davey Martinez has made no secret about his desire to use Joe Ross as his No. 5 starter. While acknowledging the open competition that also includes Erick Fedde, Austin Voth and perhaps even Rogelio Armenteros taking place this spring, the Nationals manager has openly stated he wants Ross to prove he's earned the job. But in their evaluation, Martinez and new pitching coach Jim Hickey need to consider not only Ross' performance but the state of his arm after he opted out of the 2020 season....

Reporting to the first day of spring training as rookies must feel a lot like a freshman arriving on campus for the first day of high school. But instead of being surrounded by jocks, cliques and faculty, you're stepping into a clubhouse full of world champions, a World Series MVP, a Cy Young Award winner and All-Stars. OK, so in a sense, still jocks. But for the sake of the analogy, if spring training is like high school, then rookies are freshman, veterans are upperclassmen, coaches are...