As with any and every decision the Orioles make under their new front office, advanced data and analytics will factor into the Monday's First-Year Player Draft as well. There is much more data available on college players, but there is also some available for high school players. On MASN's "O's Xtra" on Saturday, Mike Bordick interviewed Sig Mejdal, the Orioles' vice president and assistant general manager for analytics. How much will the data factor in for this draft? "It's quite a...

CINCINNATI - Tanner had a big influence in deciding the Nationals' 5-2 win over the Reds Saturday at Great American Ball Park. Both of them. In December of 2018, the Nationals traded starting pitcher Tanner Roark to the Reds for reliever Tanner Rainey. Saturday in Cincinnati they played against each other on the same field. Gerardo Parra cranked a three-run homer and Matt Adams slammed a solo shot off Roark (4-4), who spent six seasons with the Nats. The pair came in with excellent splits...

The plan to duplicate the first five innings of his last start unraveled today for David Hess after back-to-back walks in the opening frame. Seldom is there a positive outcome. Free passes aren't really free. Brandon Belt singled with two outs to score both runners, Buster Posey homered in the third and the Orioles never led in an 8-2 loss to the Giants before an announced crowd of 19,352 at sunny Camden Yards. Renato Núñez homered again, but the Orioles fell to 18-40 overall and 8-22 at...

After their 9-6 win over the San Francisco Giants last night the Orioles will win this series if they get a victory either today or tomorrow. That would give the team its first series victory since April 22-24 at Oriole Park against the Chicago White Sox. The Orioles scored just seven runs in three games earlier this week against Detroit. Last night they had eight by the second inning. Their night included Dwight Smith Jr.'s grand slam in the first, Trey Mancini's two-run shot in the second...

CINCINNATI - Nationals manager Davey Martinez is looking for right-hander Erick Fedde to continue to build off his last two outings today in the Queen City in his first-ever start against the Reds. Fedde threw 83 pitches over five innings May 26 in earning his first win of the season, a 9-6 victory over the Marlins. In that game, the former UNLV standout scattered four hits over five shutout innings with three walks and four strikeouts. He also went five innings May 21 and allowed only one run...

Tim Cossins left the manager's office this afternoon, walked into the auxiliary clubhouse for the pregame media session and joked about changing the desk. He's only in charge for one day, the Orioles' field coordinator and catching instructor replacing Brandon Hyde for today's game against the Giants. Hyde is in Illinois for his daughter's high school graduation and he flies back into Baltimore later. "Obviously it's exciting," Cossins said. "I'd be lying if I said it's not exciting....

The Orioles will try today to secure their first series win since April 22-24 against the White Sox. They haven't won back-to-back games since May 4-6, with a postponement wedged in between. Stevie Wilkerson is in center field today and Keon Broxton gets a breather. Jonathan Villar is playing shortstop and Hanser Alberto is starting at second base. Dwight Smith Jr. moves up to third in the order after batting eighth last night against a left-hander and hitting a grand slam. Rio Ruiz reappears...

CINCINNATI - The amazing run of Juan Soto continues. Even in a 9-3 series-opening loss against the Reds Friday night, Soto delivered with a single, a double and a homer, finishing with two of the Nationals' three RBIs. The left fielder is hitting .533 (16-for-30) with three doubles, one triple, three homers, eight RBIs, six walks and 13 runs scored in his last eight games. "He works on not only hitting but his overall game," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "He's getting better. I...

CINCINNATI - Trace the Nationals' season back to before shortstop Trea Turner broke his right index finger. Turner broke the finger when getting hit by a pitch in the first inning of the fourth game of the season on a pitch by Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin. Prior to that play, Turner was setting himself up for a very good season. He may still be able to get to that great season with more than 100 games to play, but that moment certainly placed an unfortunate detour on an incredibly positive...

One of the most exciting days of the 2019 baseball season is approaching for Orioles fans. It is a day where their team won't even play a game. But fans are clearly getting excited about the club's No. 1 draft pick that will be made Monday night. With the Orioles currently contending to pick No. 1 again next year, selling hope for the future might truly be the best marketing tool the Orioles have right now. But beyond marketing, this draft and the start of the July 2 international amateur...