Baseball's postseason will have a new NBA- and NHL-like wrinkle when October arrives, at least with the number of playoff teams. Baseball's wacky season will continue into a newly designed postseason. As the 60-game schedule began Thursday night in Washington, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced an agreement that six more teams will be added to the postseason. Originally, there were 10 teams. Now 16 teams have a chance to make the World Series. The NBA and NHL each...

The Nationals celebrated their first world championship with a flag raising in the center field plaza and a hoisting of the 2019 World Series pennant above the video board in right field before tonight's Major League Baseball opener against the Yankees at Nationals Park. One can only imagine how loud Nats Park would have been in any other season opener with 43,000 fans on their feet to share in the accomplishment. But this is 2020, and with the world in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic,...

Their opening day roster does not include John Means, Hunter Harvey or Trey Mancini. But ready or not, the Orioles begin their 67th season tonight at Fenway Park in Boston. The Orioles, individually and collectively, seem anxious to show the rest of baseball they are not a complete pushover and that they are making improvements. In a season shortened to 60 games, could they make a playoff run? Sure they could. It seems quite improbable. But I guess it became even more possible as Major League...

The Orioles demonstrated yesterday how they're able to do the 40-man roster dance without tripping over their own feet. It was an impressive feat. They had one open spot and a lengthy list of non-roster players competing for jobs, though Stevie Wilkerson dropped out due to a broken finger on his left hand. That's a lot of traffic and the potential for a massive pileup. But utility player Pat Valaika was the lone addition, pretty much winning a job in spring training prior to the shutdown. He...

And so it begins. The strangest season in baseball history gets underway with the strangest opening night in baseball history. The defending champion Nationals will raise a flag and a pennant and face the sport's most-storied franchise, even though it comes from the American League. It will be televised nationally, with artificial crowd noise pumped through the otherwise empty stadium's public address system. And the Nationals' star slugger won't be in the lineup after he tested positive...

The Nationals' season-opening roster will not include the team's best and brightest young star. Juan Soto was not included on the Nats' initial 30-man roster and will not be active for tonight's opener against the Yankees after testing positive for COVID-19, general manager Mike Rizzo announced this afternoon. Soto, like others on the team, was tested Tuesday. He is asymptomatic, but early this morning his test result came back positive, said Rizzo, who added all other tests taken by...

The Nationals have announced their 30-man opening day roster for the 2020 regular season, which was overshadowed by the news that outfielder Juan Soto has tested positive for COVID-19 and is on the injured list to begin the season. Soto is not currently showing any symptoms. General manager Mike Rizzo confirmed that Soto is "asymptomatic." Austin Voth has been named the fifth starter to begin the season, while Erick Fedde will pitch out of the bullpen. "Austin Voth will definitely be our...

The Washington Nationals announced their initial 30-man roster on Thursday. In addition, Washington selected the contracts of outfielder Emilio Bonifácio, left-handed pitcher Sam Freeman and right-handed pitcher Javy Guerra. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. The Nationals 30-man roster is comprised of 15 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders, and five outfielders. Starters: LHP Patrick Corbin, RHP Aníbal Sánchez, RHP...

The Orioles currently have 13 staff members working with a group of players at Prince George's Stadium, the alternate site for the club's 60-man player pool. Soon the player numbers will grow at Bowie, as the O's today cut down to their 30-man opening day roster. The challenge for coaches at Bowie will be to keep that group energized during a hot summer where they currently are not allowed to face outside competition or players from other teams. Daily intrasquad games will help, but after a...

The Orioles will begin the long-awaited 2020 season without their No. 1 starter and projected closer. John Means and Hunter Harvey have been placed on the 10-day injured list. Reliever Dillon Tate also is on the IL - with all three assignments backdated to Monday - but outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. has been activated and made the 30-man roster for Friday night's opening game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Manager Brandon Hyde indicated yesterday that Means likely would start against the...