Things can change fast in a year in baseball. Outfielder Cedric Mullins won the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' 2018 Minor League Player of the Year. Adam Jones moved over to right field that August so that Mullins could take over in center for the parent club. But in 2019 Mullins lasted just 22 games as the O's starter in center, was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk in late April and then was demoted to Double-A Bowie in mid-July. He ended the year playing well for the Baysox, both late...

Early projections on the Orioles opening day rotation can't be completed unless you ignore how they're likely to sign at least one cost-friendly veteran, similar to last year's additions of Nate Karns and Dan Straily. They'll just pray for better results. The top third is easy except for an exact order. Left-hander John Means and right-handers Dylan Bundy and Alex Cobb are expected to occupy those spots - barring any trades, of course. Has Asher Wojciechowski earned more than just...

On March 30, 2008, a wide-eyed young third baseman named Ryan Zimmerman christened the brand-new Nationals Park with a walk-off homer against Braves reliever Peter Moylan. In that moment, as the 23-year-old "Face of the Franchise" circled the bases to a thunderous roar, it was impossible not to wonder if this was merely first of many more thrilling moments to come in that ballpark. Surely there would be pennant races and October clinchers and maybe even a World Series contested on these...

Second baseman Howie Kendrick won MVP of the 2019 National League Championship Series with consistent hitting through the Nationals' four-game sweep of the Cardinals, completed Tuesday with a 7-4 win. The victory secured for the Nats a berth in their first-ever World Series. He also hit a dramatic grand slam in Game 5 of the National League Division Series to help eliminate his former team, the Dodgers. Kendrick went 5-for-15 (.333) in the four-game sweep of the Cards, collecting four doubles,...

The Nationals advanced to the World Series on Tuesday night with a 7-4 victory and a sweep of the National League Championship Series over the Cardinals. They punched their ticket to the Fall Classic with a big first inning, solid pitching from Patrick Corbin and four impressive shutout innings from their bullpen. Tanner Rainey relieved Corbin in the sixth and delivered a clean inning with a strikeout. Sean Doolittle came in for the seventh and even notched two more outs in the eighth. And...

The Cardinals finished their regular season on a 47-27 run, won the National League Central and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2015. They beat Atlanta in the NL Division Series and scored 10 runs in the first inning of a Game 5 13-1 smashing of the Braves. But when they got to the NL Championship Series against the Nationals, the Cardinals fell apart. The Nationals beat them 7-4 in Game 4, giving Washington a sweep and the city its first pennant since 1933, when the...

For a team that had to scratch and claw its way back from a 19-31 start to the season, that had to excel in late September to clinch a spot in the National League wild card game, that had to come from behind to win that do-or-die game against the Brewers and that had to come from behind again to win a do-or-die game against the Dodgers to capture its first ever postseason series, this felt too easy. Up seven runs in the first inning in search of a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series?...

Whether Branden Kline becomes an integral part of the Orioles bullpen, or even an extra piece that can be tossed on the Triple-A shuttle, is going to be determined much later. No one can make a declaration in October. Don't even attempt it. There's no way to construct the unit on such an early date in the offseason. Not that it ever stops us from trying. We don't know whether Mychal Givens, Richard Bleier and Miguel Castro, all of them eligible for arbitration and due raises, are going to...

The Cardinals had to get off to a good start in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. The Nationals, leading three games to none in the best-of-seven series, were due for a letdown. Right? Nope. Left-hander Patrick Corbin struck out the side using all fastballs in the top of the first to get the game rolling. The Nationals then went after Cards starter Dakota Hudson in the bottom of the first, scoring seven runs on six hits. Trea Turner singled and Adam Eaton doubled to begin the...

Today let's take a look at five young Orioles position players. Then give us your take on how much promise and potential they hold for future Orioles teams. Rate these five - listed here alphabetically - on future potential and upside: Hanser Alberto, Austin Hays, Rio Ruiz, Anthony Santander, Dwight Smith Jr. Alberto hit .305 in 139 games and finished eighth in the American League in batting average. It was the 44th time an Orioles player finished at .300 or better, and the first since Nick...