Orioles shortstop José Iglesias won't play in tonight's intrasquad game at Camden Yards due to soreness in his back that kept him out of yesterday's workout. Manager Brandon Hyde said it's a precautionary move and is hoping that Iglesias will be available on Thursday. Tonight's game is going to be relaxed, which is typical of intrasquad settings. Hyde said he'll use some "ghost defenders" rather than filling every position. "You'll see a not full field out there," Hyde said during...

Three Nationals pitchers were confirmed today as having not participated in summer training yet, joining a group of five position players who have not yet been seen by reporters on the field through the first four workouts at Nationals Park. Pitchers Wander Suero, Roenis Elías and Joan Adon have not been cleared to join the rest of the club for summer training at Nationals Park, Davey Martinez acknowledged today, though the manager added each has tested negative for COVID-19. Suero and Adon...

The Nationals took their first big step back to live baseball today with an intrasquad game in the early afternoon at Nats Park. The highlight was watching three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, in his home white uniform with red numerals and blue trim, on the bump grunting his way through each pitch for three innings, firing 48 pitches. "He looked good," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez on a Zoom video call. "He threw 48 pitches. We wanted to keep him right at 50, three full...

A 162-game season separates the great teams from the good teams, the good teams from the average teams, the average teams from the bad teams, the bad teams from the truly wretched teams. A 60-game season in which everybody's playing different schedules? Probably not. As foolish as it may be right now to look ahead three months and try to deduce how a season as tenuous as this one is might play out, it's worth at least a little bit of examination. Because even though Major League Baseball will...

The summer training camp is moving into its next phase for the Orioles. Past the routine workouts that define the spring version. Bring on the intrasquad games and some semblance of competition while manager Brandon Hyde turns up the heat on the evaluation process that's going to pare the roster to 30 players on opening day. Orioles versus Orioles is happening at Camden Yards for at least the next four nights. All of them 7 p.m. starts with two-hour media access. "These guys are itching to...

There are a few ways the Orioles could go with their rotation come opening day on July 24. They could have the traditional five-man look or go with a six-man rotation. If pitchers are not built up enough yet, teams can even piggyback starters, where one pitches the first half of the game and another the rest. They could also go with an opener. If they do sometimes use a starter in that role - following a reliever and becoming the so-called bulk pitcher - they have two pitchers with a lot of...

As the regular season creeps closer - opening night versus the Yankees is 16 days away - the Nationals are starting to ramp up baseball activities following an initial period of light individual work to begin summer training. This morning, all available position players were on the field together for the first time since March 12. With multiple players at each position, they ran through the kind of defensive fundamental drills that are a daily staple of spring training but stand out right now...

Orioles outfielders Dwight Smith Jr. and Anthony Santander remained absent for a fifth consecutive day of workouts. Explanations are going to be withheld for now based on a club policy that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias shared this afternoon. While other teams have confirmed the numbers of positive tests for COVID-19, making names public if given permission, the Orioles are giving the silent treatment. "We have a really elaborate testing setup that has been issued by the...

Nationals shortstop Trea Turner was part of the infield group that got in a good workout Tuesday during summer training at Nats Park. On the field he wore his red field mask, covering his mouth, nose, ears and hair. Players normally wear that sort of gear only in cold weather. "Just messing around with that," Turner said during a Zoom video call with reporters. "I hadn't thought about it until today. "For me, I try to save my masks and not get them so dirty. This is a mask I wear to and...

The Nationals returned to work today, and they did so in a manner we hadn't yet seen during these first days of summer training. Every available position player was on the field at Nationals Park at the same time this morning, coaches hitting balls to various outfielders so they could work on relay throws. At the same time, a few pitchers were throwing in the bullpen. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a normal workout day. "It was a good day, it really was," manager Davey...