A lot has been made of Juan Soto's big bat and his impact on the offense. But within the last two months heading into the All-Star break, Soto has improved on his tracking in the outfield, and his overall defense has excelled. He is making stellar catches and reading balls hit to his area well. Soto is throwing to the correct cutoff area after retrieving base hits. Nationals third base coach Bobby Henley said Soto has an understanding about his position and is learning to take control of a...

When you are keeping company with Manny Machado and Boog Powell, that's not bad. Even if you weren't aware of it. During an interview before Sunday's game in Toronto, Renato Núñez told me he wasn't aware he was keeping such company. When he hit his 20th homer on Saturday at Rogers Centre, Núñez joined Powell (in 1964) and Machado (in 2018) as the only Orioles 25 or younger to hit 20 homers by the All-Star break. "I wasn't (aware of that)," said Núñez, who turned 25 in...

The Nationals are going to be playing meaningful baseball through the rest of the summer, and perhaps into the fall. Given the state of things only seven weeks ago, that's a pretty remarkable development in its own right. Of course, the Nationals' goal was never simply to be playing meaningful baseball the rest of the way. They want to make sure it all ends with even more meaningful baseball. And to do that, they're going to need to overcome some more obstacles and make some critical...

The Orioles open the second half of their season Friday night against the Rays and host two more teams, the Nationals for two games and the Red Sox for three, before going back out to the West Coast. (Quick, when is the last time they've played consecutive series of four, two and three games? Someone contact STATS or the other Elias.) There are some lingering questions and curiosities hanging over the team, including whether it finishes again with the worst record in baseball and gets the...

The Nationals announced that right-hander Kyle Barraclough has been reinstated from the injured list and optioned to Double-A Harrisburg. Barraclough had been on the injured list with a right radial nerve irritation since June 16. He made three rehab appearances at high Single-A Potomac, going 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA. In three innings, he allowed two earned runs on four hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. He surrendered two solo homers. Barraclough was placed at Harrisburg so he can be more...

Right-hander Austin Voth was unable to set up hitters with his fastball in the spot he wanted to against the Royals last Friday night. When that happens, it has a ripple effect on Voth's other pitches. He ended up throwing 96 pitches in only 4 1/3 innings and allowing four runs. "I'm a little bit, a tick off, I would say," Voth said. "Definitely with my fastball command you can notice that. Like last two games I just haven't been able to stick those fastballs glove side, especially in...

The first half of the season officially ended nearly two weeks ago, when the Nationals played their 81st game. They've played eight more since then, which means the season's already 55 percent complete. But this being the All-Star break, and this being the longstanding tradition, everyone just refers to this week as the midway point of the season. Which means this is the time to hand out midterm grades. What a wild first half it was for the Nationals, who looked dead in the water in late May...

The Orioles completed their pending roster move today by adding right-hander Aaron Brooks to the 25-man roster. Brooks will wear No. 38 and he's set to become the 47th player used by the Orioles this season. Reliever Josh Lucas was designated for assignment Saturday to make room for Brooks on the 40-man roster. Lucas cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk, news also announced today by the Orioles. So much for a break. Brooks was a waiver claim Saturday from the...

The All-Star Game is over and baseball's idle time stretches to Friday night, when the Orioles host a four-game series against the Rays. They have a doubleheader on Saturday. The 2019 season isn't about wins and losses, but it's still a hard sell for the manager, his coaching staff and his players. They understand the plan and support the direction, but they aren't going to lay down. The Orioles aren't running away with the first overall pick in next year's draft. They own the worst...

Stephen Strasburg had an outstanding first half for the Nationals, rolling to 10 wins. One noticeable secret to his success in 2019 is that he has altered his pitch usage. Strasburg re-introduced his two-seam fastball on a consistent basis for the first time in several seasons. The addition of the sinker has forced hitters to guess more and has made it more difficult to figure out what the right-hander is trying to do on the mound from pitch to pitch. According to Brooks Baseball, Strasburg is...