He got a taste of big league camp with the Orioles in Sarasota last season. Now as a new season is about to begin, Zac Lowther is ready to leave his home near Cleveland and head south. He's a bit leaner than last year, and after a 2020 season spent trying to get better without games, looks forward to putting his best forward soon at Ed Smith Stadium. The 24-year-old lefty has quite the minor league resume. An All-Star with short-season Single-A Aberdeen in 2017, the O's co-Minor League...

Pitchers and catchers are required to report to the Ed Smith Stadium complex in less than a week. The offseason is about to move into the spring training workout phase, followed by exhibition games - adjusted from the original schedule to eliminate longer-distance travel - played while everyone holds their breath. Not a bad idea during a pandemic. Reduce the risk of a positive test for COVID-19. The Orioles aren't a finished product and roster moves are coming while they're in camp. More...

The Super Bowl is now behind us. The NCAA's March Madness - we hope - lies just ahead. But as far as MASN world is concerned, the really big event is scheduled to begin next week. In five days - cross your fingers, knock on wood or perform any other superstitious ritual you like to ward off evil spirits and the always looming potential coronavirus-related postponement - pitchers and catchers will report to the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over,...

Unless you're one of those who mines the minor leagues for every possible nugget of information, you didn't really know who Jake Noll was heading into 2019 spring training for the Nationals. Maybe you knew he was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Florida Gulf Coast. Maybe you were aware that he'd followed up a .291/.341/.412 campaign between Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg in 2018 with a .265/.309/.429 log in limited Arizona Fall League play with Salt...

The return of Wade LeBlanc to the Orioles organization came as a surprise with no access to behind-the-scenes negotiations. LeBlanc walked off the mound on Aug. 23, went on the 60-day injured list, hit the free agent market again and figured to be a fading memory in Orioles history. I don't recall anyone predicting that he'd sign another minor league deal, but he's going back to the Ed Smith Stadium complex later this month. The attention given to his return disappeared as quickly as LeBlanc...

The Los Angeles Dodgers now have a rotation featuring three Cy Young Award winners, and the Orioles of a few years ago know what it is like to challenge that. I think the Dodgers made a smart move with the free agent signing of right-hander Trevor Bauer. Yes, Bauer can opt after the first or second years of the deal, but Los Angeles hopes to get the top-of-rotation quality Bauer and maybe win another World Series or two over the next two years. For that, they could be out $40 million for his...

The signing of a veteran starting pitcher was a certainty as the Orioles attempted to set their camp roster. Could have been a major league deal, could have been a minor league deal. Could have been one major league and one minor league deal. Could have been two minor league deals. But an experienced starter was going to be slotted into the rotation. Deal with it. Wade LeBlanc reached agreement last week on a minor league contract, followed by former Cy Young Award winner Félix Hernández...

When did veteran starter Wade LeBlanc know that he was coming back to the Orioles? Shortly after he left them. LeBlanc didn't pitch after the first inning of an Aug. 23 game against the Red Sox at Camden Yards, his sixth start with his new team, due to a stress fracture in his left elbow. The Orioles put him on the 60-day injured list while recalling rookie Keegan Akin, but shortened the distance between them despite LeBlanc's return to Louisiana. The Orioles kept checking on LeBlanc's...

We've been surmising all winter that the National League East is going to be a beast in 2021. And now that winter is turning into spring (at least, in Florida and Arizona) we're starting to get a true sense of what each of the division's five clubs will actually look like this season. That was especially true Friday when the Nationals' two likeliest challengers were directly involved in the two biggest free agent signings of the day: Marcell Ozuna, who went back to the Braves for four years...

He may have ultimately opted out of the 2020 big league season, but the Orioles would certainly take a repeat of Félix Hernández's spring training performance from last year when the right-hander takes the mound in Sarasota over the next few weeks. Signed by the club this week to a minor league deal that will pay him $1 million if he's in the majors, Hernández recorded a 1.98 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings. He was well on his way to wrapping up a spot in the Atlanta...