The oddity of holding a summer training camp in July at Camden Yards showed itself this afternoon in a variety of ways. More than just the month and location. Starting up again after the coronavirus pandemic shut down baseball in March, the Orioles held their first workout today with Tommy Milone and Thomas Eshelman facing hitters while executive vice president Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde watched from the stands behind home plate. Separated by the tunnel that leads onto the...

As they took the field (in small groups, staggered over the entire day) for the first time in nearly four months, the Nationals revealed more adjustments to their 60-man roster pool for summer training and the upcoming season, with another veteran opting out and another young prospect joining the group. Welington Castillo, the veteran catcher who had been in spring training as a non-roster invitee, informed club officials he will decline to participate this season, not wanting to risk his...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo understand that being successful in the world of Major League Baseball during the coronavirus pandemic boils down to two main challenges: staying safe and playing good baseball. From day one of summer training at Nats Park today, the skipper for the defending world champions already feels the difference in playing baseball during a pandemic. "We have to be socially distant, so that's one thing," Martinez said during his...

The Nationals stayed in the family when they signed middle infielder Quade Tomlin as an undrafted free agent this week. Tomlin's father, Randy Tomlin, was the pitching coach for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators in 2011, spending many years working with Nats prospects. Randy Tomlin was his son's coach at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Va. During his tenure as coach, the high school has won three Virginia state championships and had been to the state finals during one run five years in...

It's been 114 days since the Nationals last took the field in any kind of formal capacity. On that warm March afternoon in West Palm Beach, they faced the Yankees in an exhibition game played as the entire country was beginning to shut down due to the still-mysterious novel coronavirus. When Major League Baseball announced it was suspending operations, little could anyone have known how much time would pass before they'd gather again on a ballfield. Today, it finally happens. Not in West Palm...

While it should be fun to watch the Orioles play if Major League Baseball can indeed safely get the shortened 2020 season up and running, it could be even more fun with a certain outfield alignment. What if the Orioles had 23-year-old Ryan Mountcastle in left field, along with 24-year-old Austin Hays in center and 25-year-old Anthony Santander in right? Yep, that would be fun. Probably no reason we don't see that during the 2020 season, even if we don't see it on opening day. Mountcastle's...

The temperature in Baltimore today is supposed to reach 98 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky. But there will be Orioles on the Camden Yards field. Sweating for a shortened season. The summer camp begins this morning with staggered workouts. The facility and social distancing don't allow 44 players to perform drills simultaneously. Pitchers will do their throwing in shifts with an obvious shortage of mounds, compared to the Sarasota complex. Hitters will take their hacks in cages and drills will...

The Nationals confirmed Wednesday that they have agreed to terms with nine undrafted free agents, including Virginia Tech right-handed fireballer Zach Brzykcy. The others agreeing to deals with the Nats were catcher Ray Torres IV, infielders Quade Tomlin, Gio Diaz and Brian Klein, right-hander Edward Ureña, outfielders Zach Cornell and Landon Dieterich, and slugging first baseman Jackson Coutts. Brzykcy springboarded into his junior season in Blacksburg, Va., with outstanding work as a...

There hasn't been much reason to have actual baseball discussions around here in a while. But lo and behold, baseball players are going to begin doing baseball things inside baseball stadiums Friday for the first time in nearly four months, so it's finally appropriate to discuss some actual baseball topics. There are countless issues facing the Nationals over the next three weeks and beyond, and so many of those have to do with the unprecedented protocols everyone must follow in an attempt to...

Even if the coming 60-game Major League Baseball season gets played to conclusion through the World Series, fans are going to look back at this season for years and see strange things. Like a home run champion that might hit, say, 21 homers. Or a pitcher leading the majors in wins with seven or eight. Or a saves leader with 16. Or a World Series champion crowned after a 60-game season. Will that World Series winner be legit? Well, legit is in the eye of the beholder. To me, that answer is yes....