Nationals minor league hitting instructor Troy Gingrich had more positive news on outfielder Nick Banks, who garnered a lot of attention last summer with his game-winning three-run homer in the Carolina League All-Star Classic in Frederick, Md. Banks, 25, is rated as the No. 27 prospect in the MLBPipeline.com Nats top 30. Gingrich said the left-handed hitting Banks made a big jump in his swing and plate discipline in 2019. His numbers improved as the season got going. He slashed .278/.338/.431...

If Game 3 of the World Series was the most frustrating four hours of the Nationals' entire postseason run, what was Game 4? Awfully frustrating in its own right, that's what it was. There weren't as many squandered opportunities at the plate as there were the previous night, but there were more than a few. And though the final score (an 8-1 Astros victory) was lopsided, the game was very much there for the taking in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, perhaps the key stretch of...

Today was supposed to be opening night in minor league baseball. Triple-A Norfolk would be hosting Gwinnett and Double-A Bowie would host Richmond. Single-A Frederick was scheduled to play at Fayetteville and Single-A Delmarva would be hosting Asheville. But when baseball was shut down March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Orioles' minor league teams had yet to even play exhibition games. There were around 150 players at The Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. Some had...

I'm wearing rubber gloves today while sorting through my mailbag. All of my clothes are made out of Glad trash bags. Safety first. Don't use the scented brand. They'll give you a headache. I'd keep a six-foot distance from the mail, but my vision is pretty bad. Also, my arms wouldn't reach it. You know what's also a reach? Trying to convince anyone that there's an actual bag. But treat it as you would "Rocky IV" and suspend disbelief. (The Soviet crowd chanting his name at the end?...

Following his first half-season in the minor leagues, former BYU shortstop Jackson Cluff got a chance to work out during instructional league and then into spring training with the Nationals. The left-handed hitter was a sixth-round draft selection in 2019. Cluff is rated as the No. 20 Nats prospect in the MLBPipeline.com top 30, Cluff, 23, is from Meridian, Idaho, and played for the Cougars in 2016 as a freshman and again in 2019 as a sophomore. In 2019, he slashed .327/.518/.458 with 20...

Has there ever been more excitement and anticipation for a Nationals game than there was on the evening of Oct. 25, 2019, when the World Series came to D.C. for the first time since 1933? This was an event some weren't entirely sure would ever take place. Then throw in the not-insignificant fact the Nats went into Game 3 up two games to none on the supposedly superior Astros, and you had the perfect convergence of joy, intensity, nostalgia and celebration on South Capitol Street. The whole...

Say this for officials of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association: They seem very determined to play baseball in 2020. That may prove to be ambitious, but the will to get it done is clearly there. The plan that ESPN and other outlets reported on yesterday included all 30 teams playing their games in the Phoenix area in parks with no fans. Players and other essential personnel would basically be under a form of quarantine, going back and forth from a hotel to a...

The Orioles intend to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.'s record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. Their promotional schedule includes the distribution of bobbleheads on Sept. 6, and other plans to honor him were under discussion prior to the shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The schedule was released in early February. So much has changed. ESPN aired 2,131 last night and Ripken watched it for the first time from start to finish. He told me yesterday that he'd stumble...

The Nationals are lending celebrity chef José Andrés a really big place to cook. During the baseball hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Central Kitchen will distribute from Nationals Park thousands of free meals prepared in two of its large kitchens. The Spanish star chef and owner of gourmet restaurants in Washington and other cities across the United States founded the organization after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010. Uber Eats drivers will ferry the food to D.C....

Social isolation is a lot more palatable when you have "Orioles Classics" on MASN at your fingertips. And you don't even have to stay six feet away from the TV screen, though the oft-repeated warning from my youth - "You'll ruin your eyes!" - springs to mind. This week on "Orioles Classics," we've got some of the best walk-offs in recent vintages of Orioles history, including the final game of the storied career of Cal Ripken Jr. There are some other special games in the rotation: a...