CLEARWATER, Fla. - As they prepare to play the Phillies today at Spectrum Field, the Orioles are closing in on their first round of spring cuts. It will likely happen in the next day or two before the club heads for the east coast of Florida for two games starting Tuesday. "It is starting to get around that time, so we're starting to discuss (that)," manager Brandon Hyde said before the game in the visitor's dugout. "We need to start paring down our numbers a little bit." Hyde said...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The calendar has turned to March and Ryan Zimmerman's line on the stat sheet is not full of zeros. Zimmerman made his spring debut Thursday night and played first base again yesterday. Today, he's back in the lineup for his first back-to-back assignments of spring, a steppingstone that didn't bypass manager Davey Martinez like a car ignoring the speed limit on Interstate 95. "I got Zim four at-bats in February," Martinez deadpanned this morning. "We got to look it...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Alex Cobb was held back in camp this morning and assigned a simulated game on the Ed Smith Stadium field while left-hander John Means traveled to Clearwater. The top two starters in the Orioles rotation got in their work on the same day. Cobb threw a lengthy bullpen session prior to the sim game, with Austin Wynns catching him. The veteran right-hander has gotten over the illness that slowed him in camp and restricted him to one inning in his only exhibition start. Whatever he...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Ryan Mountcastle is in left field today against the Phillies and Stevie Wilkerson is playing first base as the Orioles attempt to run their winning streak to five games in a row. Dilson Herrera keeps moving around, with today's game putting him in right field. Hanser Alberto is leading off and Rio Ruiz is batting cleanup. Mason Williams gets the start in center field. Regulars who are staying back in Sarasota include Austin Hays, Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander, Chris Davis...

SARASOTA, Fla. - They are subtle changes and tweaks that are made. But they show the Orioles that a couple of their top young hitting prospects in Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle can make needed adjustments that will serve them well as they try to consistently hit major league pitching. Hays posted a walk rate of just 4.3 percent in 2019 at Triple-A and 4.2 the season before at Double-A. But he's learning to harness his aggressive swinging at key times to help produce more loud contact. He is...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Nationals hit the road for a second straight day, facing the Mets at Clover Park with Aníbal Sánchez taking the mound for his second spring start. Facing the Cardinals in Jupiter on Feb. 25, Sánchez worked two innings, surrendering one run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts. In his second start, Sánchez is likely to increase his workload to three innings and/or about 50 pitches. Among those pitching in relief today will be closer Sean Doolittle,...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The shifting of players to various positions in camp bumped Rio Ruiz to the bench yesterday after he started at third base the previous afternoon in Bradenton. He's also played first base in a game. He hasn't stopped hitting. Ruiz singled twice against the Pirates and is 7-for-12 with a double, RBI and run scored. He's driving the ball to the opposite field. Nothing cheap about his production. "I like the way he's swinging the bat," said manager Brandon Hyde. "He's off...

JUPITER, Fla. - When Nationals manager Davey Martinez outlined his desire to delay Patrick Corbin's first Grapefruit League start until the beginning of the second week of exhibition games, the left-hander took the one-week deferral in stride. "I actually didn't think too much about it," Corbin said. "I was told the 29th was my first game, but it was good. I think it was smart, a smart move, just with how much a lot of us did throw last year. Max (Scherzer) wanted to throw Game 1, so he...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Don't fall in love with spring training stats. Pretty sound advice, but what about a crush? Chris Davis is threatening to take back his old nickname. The first baseman with his 25 extra pounds of good weight hit his third home run this afternoon, a three-run shot to right-center field off former Orioles farmhand Stephen Tarpley. Davis walked in the first inning and flexed in the second, this time pulling the ball after taking aim at left and left-center in previous starts. He...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Growth can manifest itself in many forms, and sometimes it takes only a few inches to portend increased development of a young ballplayer. A few days ago, Nationals manager Davey Martinez was eyeballing a live batting practice session when he noticed something in the way one of the club's top prospects, infielder Luis García, was preparing to hit. Batting against a changeup pitcher, García took a fastball for a strike before subtly adjusting his stance. "Before...