The Orioles played their final intrasquad game tonight at Camden Yards. Major League Baseball keeps chugging forward in its quest to begin the 2020 season. For the Orioles to reach opening day against the Red Sox, they first must play three exhibition games and hold a workout Wednesday in Baltimore. They'll head to Boston the following day. They aren't out of the woods, but they're almost ready to leave Maryland. Tonight was more of a scrimmage with crowd noise piped in but no player...

The final missing piece of the Nationals lineup has joined the club at last. Victor Robles was spotted in the home dugout during tonight's exhibition opener against the Phillies, the center fielder having completed his District of Columbia-mandated quarantine more than two weeks after Nats summer training opened. Robles was part of a large group of Nationals players that traveled to Washington from the Dominican Republic, one of whom tested positive for COVID-19 during Major League Baseball's...

We are now days away from the start of a Major League Baseball season unlike any other. Teams will play 60 games and the Orioles will open Friday night at Boston. They'll play three at Fenway Park and then two games in Miami before the home opener on Wednesday July 29, also against Miami, at Oriole Park. So this is our last offseason edition of 10 questions. Answer one or all and feel free to respond to other readers' opinions. That makes the blog go around and keeps it fun. And bring on...

Just as the Orioles managed to fill out their summer camp roster with outfielders Anthony Santander and Dwight Smith Jr. returning to Camden Yards this week, they've become unsure about the availability of their No. 1 starter on opening day. Left-hander John Means has been scratched from Sunday night's exhibition game against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park due to a fatigued arm. Thomas Eshelman will make the start. Manager Brandon Hyde announced the switch this afternoon in his Zoom...

Orioles outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. confirmed this afternoon that his absence from summer training camp was based on a positive test for COVID-19. Smith began workouts yesterday by tracking pitches. "I had to run a lot of tests to make sure everything was running well with my body and also keeping my distance from everybody in this locker room, so we all had to do our part and make sure before I even stepped foot into this facility," he said during a Zoom conference call with the media. "I...

And so, here we go again. When last we saw the Nationals on the field playing against another team, their biggest concerns were whether the pitching staff would suffer from all the extra innings they threw during the postseason, whether Carter Kieboom deserved to start at third base, how much playing time Ryan Zimmerman would get and whether Joe Ross would win the No. 5 starter's job. Those are not their biggest concerns tonight as they take the field to face the Phillies in the first of three...

They've spent the last two weeks working first in small groups, then as a full (socially distanced) unit. They took grounders. They took batting practice. They threw off the bullpen mound. They simulated some game situations. And they played several intrasquad games. And now, at long last, the Nationals will take the field and play a baseball game against an opposing team for the first time in 127 days. It's not a real game, merely an exhibition. But this Saturday evening gathering with the...

Rio Ruiz's fly ball was slicing toward the left field line. DJ Stewart was racing to it. Could have been a double, could have been an out with flair. Could have been an injury to Stewart, who made a sensational diving catch and really felt it. Stewart rose to his feet and bent forward for a couple of seconds. He straightened, reached for his right ribcage and motioned to center fielder Andrew Velazquez that he was fine. The first intrasquad game featuring crowd noise piped into the ballpark...

Asher Wojciechowski made his latest bid tonight to stay in the Orioles rotation by starting for the orange team, designated as the hosts, in the penultimate intrasquad game at Camden Yards. Never read too much into a scrimmage, whether or not it's accompanied by recorded crowd noise and walkup music, but Wojciechowski is lined up to serve as the No. 4 starter behind John Means, Alex Cobb and Wade LeBlanc. Dilson Herrera didn't care. He lined a two-run homer into the left field seats in the...

The 16th season of Nationals baseball is right around the corner, with an Opening Day matchup on ESPN against the New York Yankees set for Thursday, July 23rd at 7:08 p.m. ET. The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and 106.7 The Fan will continue to serve as the Nationals broadcast partners for regular season games in 2020. On-air talent for Nationals broadcasts on MASN and 106.7 The Fan will remain unchanged for the 2020 season. Two of the Nationals exhibition games - July 20 at the Orioles...