Orioles veteran right-hander Matt Harvey will start the second game of the regular season April 3 in Boston. Manager Brandon Hyde announced his choice during today's Zoom call and is waiting to reveal the rest of his rotation. Harvey, whose contract was selected earlier this week, is making his final exhibition appearance Sunday afternoon against the Pirates in Sarasota. "I love telling him that he gets start No. 2. He was pumped up," Hyde said. "He's had a nice camp, he had a really good...

The Nationals livened up an otherwise sleepy off-day on Saturday with a swath of roster trimming that pretty much cements the 26-man roster heading into Thursday's opener. But that doesn't mean general manager Mike Rizzo's work at putting together the best possible team is over. As other major league clubs make their cuts to get down to the 26-man roster limit, Rizzo will be closely perusing the waiver wire and checking out players who have been released. Simply put, another club in a roster...

Infielders Carter Kieboom and Luis García were optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday afternoon, as the Nationals made a series of roster moves that pretty much solidify their 26-man roster for Thursday's nationally televised home and season opener against the Mets. Also optioned to Triple-A were left-hander Sam Clay, right-hander Kyle McGowin and outfielder Yadiel Hernández. Utility men Jordy Mercer and Hernán Pérez, both of whom were in camp on minor league deals, had their...

Max Scherzer's final tune-up of spring training wasn't exactly his prototypical final Grapefruit League start. Though it happened at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, it was in a B game against an Astros lineup populated with minor leaguers and a few major league hitters. No fans were in attendance, meaning Scherzer's grunts and reactions were clearly audible, meaning the right-hander was in midseason form. By all accounts, it was a good day's work. Eighty-nine pitches over six scoreless...

Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander is out of the lineup again tonight for their game against the Braves in North Port. Santander is marked absent for the fourth game in a row. Manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday that Santander has been accumulating at-bats on the back fields. Yusniel Diaz is in right field and Stevie Wilkerson is playing left. Ryan McKenna is in center. Adley Rutschman is serving as the designated hitter. Many of the projected regulars are staying back in Sarasota. John Means...

Daniel Hudson was prepared to enter from the Nationals bullpen during the bottom of the third Friday night in Port St. Lucie, Fla., should teammate Javy Guerra not be able to complete the inning before reaching his pitch limit. When Guerra did retire the side, Hudson had a little time to rest before warming up again to pitch the bottom of the fourth. It may not sound like a big deal, but for a reliever who needs to be prepared to deal with such a scenario during the season, this was an...

Are there any hitters in Orioles camp that have had better springs than young outfielders Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle? That is a pretty easy answer. No, there really isn't anyone else. Hays is batting .404/.440/.723 with four doubles, a triple, three homers, 12 RBIs and an OPS of 1.163. Mountcastle is batting .261/.271/.630 with five doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs along with an OPS of .901. Mountcastle's stats took a hit last night when he went 0-for-4, but he produced outs against...

Three more exhibition games and the Orioles can break camp. Three more and they can put the finishing touches on their active roster, which must get down to 26 players prior to Thursday afternoon's opening day in Boston. Last night's hatchet job got them to 36. More on that confusion later. Spring training statistics can't always be trusted, but we've been reminded again that Austin Hays is a special talent. "We just need to keep him healthy" should be printed on orange T-shirts. What...

It was a night when the Orioles rotation competition got reduced by one pitcher. Meanwhile, another stated his case, pitching very well against an American League East rival. Lefty Keegan Akin was optioned to Triple-A during a game where right-hander Jorge López was mowing down the New York Yankees in Tampa with pretty solid regularity. López threw five scoreless innings, his best outing of a good spring, allowing just two hits, and he matched Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in a scoreless duel...

Keegan Akin has fallen out of the rotation competition in Orioles camp. First baseman Chris Davis has gone on the 60-day injured list. There's more activity this evening than the game against the Yankees in Tampa. Akin, second baseman/outfielder Jahmai Jones and middle infielder Richie Martin were optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Left-hander Fernando Abad and infielder/outfielder Chris Shaw were reassigned to Twin Lakes camp. The Orioles also announced the signing of left-hander Wade LeBlanc to a...