The Marlins finished in last place in the National League East in 2018 with 95 losses and 2019 with 105 losses. In the first week of this season, they were quarantined in a Philadelphia hotel for a week after 20 positive coronavirus tests that disrupted their schedule, as well as schedules for other teams, and they needed 17 new players to compete, including former Orioles reliever Richard Bleier helping their bullpen. The Marlins, who tore down World Series title teams after championships in...

The next step after waking up without baseball is to gauge your own interest in the playoffs - hard for me to root against the Padres with those familiar faces - and wonder what's next for the Orioles beyond the fall instructional league. Will they be active at the Winter Meetings? Will there be a Winter Meetings? At least remotely, I'd assume. Hold onto that Zoom account. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is going to determine the interest in his trade chips, including...

In his September for the Nationals, outfielder Andrew Stevenson got at least one base hit in all 12 games he played, a new career-high. Stevenson, 26, returned to the Nats on Sept. 18, playing in nearly every game for the rest of the season, which included appearing in three doubleheaders in that span. During the final two weeks of the season, the Nats went 8-4 with Stevenson on the field. He hit .417 with seven doubles, one triple, two homers and 12 RBIs in those 36 at-bats. For 2020,...

From the moment the Nationals took the field on opening night, one thing was obvious: The 2020 season was going to be different. Really, really different. By the time it ended Sunday evening, perhaps some aspects of what took place out there were starting to feel normal. We got used to the sight of managers, coaches and umpires wearing masks. We got used to the sight of empty stands and the sounds of artificial crowd noise. We even got used to the designated hitter in National League games,...

For the Orioles, the 2020 season, turned out to be about progress and improvement. They moved the organization forward in bringing young talent onto the team, much of it homegrown, that performed well. They made improvement in the won-loss record. But, yes, the bar was low for that latter achievement. * The 2018 Orioles went 47-115 and played .290 baseball.* The 2019 Orioles went 54-108 and played .333 baseball.* The 2020 Orioles went 25-35 and played .417 baseball. The club had finished in...

Juan Soto won the 2020 National League batting title on the last day of the season after going 1-for-1 with a walk in the Nationals' 15-5 trouncing of the Mets at Nats Park Sunday. "Outstanding," said manager Davey Martinez of the accomplishment during the postgame Zoom video session. "Not only a batting champ, but I think he's one of the youngest in over 100 years. What can we say about Juan Soto. He comes every day ready to play, not just hitting but his defense, his baserunning,...

The first day without baseball. It feels like only two months ago that the Orioles were waiting to get started. I didn't like the chances of Major League Baseball making it through the 60-game season, but here we are, with 16 teams ready for the expanded playoffs. The Orioles finished with a 25-35 record, tied for fifth-worst in the majors, but stayed in contention until the final week. A nice sidebar to the main story, which was tracking the progress of top prospects who made their debuts in...

They took the field for the 60th and final time in 2020, an act many doubted would be possible back when this unprecedented baseball season began 10 weeks ago. Could they really complete a season, with regional travel, during a pandemic? There were some notable hiccups along the way, plenty of postponements, relocated road games and six doubleheaders. But today the Nationals did complete their 60-game slate, trouncing the Mets 15-5 to conclude a disappointing year on a small high note. At...

The Orioles will not surrender fourth place. Their heels dug in one last time in 2020. The final notation on the season came this afternoon in Buffalo, where the Orioles rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Blue Jays 7-5 at Sahlen Field. Keegan Akin surrendered a solo home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third and a two-run shot to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., with a Randal Grichuk single in between, to destroy a 1-1 tie. But the Orioles knotted the score again with three runs in the...

Given one last chance to get a win this year, the Orioles did just that, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5. They take the final game in this series and season to finish at 25-35. After playing .312 ball in losing 223 games over the last two seasons, the Orioles finished in fourth place this year, playing .417 ball. They went 13-20 at home and 12-15 on the road. They went 14-26 versus the American League and 11-9 against the National League. They end with a win after coming into Sunday with four...