SARASOTA, Fla. - After a winter that started with him playing for Texas, infielder Hanser Alberto was claimed via waivers by the Yankees, and then by the Orioles, and then by the Giants, and then again by the Orioles. He'd like to stay in one place for a while. The Yankees claimed him Nov. 2 from the Rangers and the Orioles claimed him Jan. 11, but he was designated for assignment by Baltimore on Feb. 19 when the club added lefty reliever Josh Osich. Three days later the Giants claimed the...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - You'll notice something a little different today about the starting lineup for the Nationals in their game on MASN against the Red Sox. Max Scherzer is pitching. But for the first time this season, he'll also wield a bat in anger, becoming the first Nats pitcher to hit in a game. Up until this point, the Nats have employed a designated hitter while the pitchers concentrated on, well, pitching. Scherzer is no slouch with the bat, slashing .194/.227/.220 for his career....

SARASOTA, Fla. - Alex Cobb makes his second spring start today as the Orioles host the Pirates. Cobb was limited to 23 pitches in two-thirds of an inning Friday against the Rays, and manager Brandon Hyde will try to stretch him out to at least two innings. Jonathan Villar returns to the lineup after taking a spike in his pinky finger Sunday in Fort Myers. He's starting at shortstop. Trey Mancini remains absent with swelling in his left pinky finger. Drew Jackson is in center field while...

SARASOTA, Fla. - We've been warned in song to never fall in love with a dreamer. Former Ravens coach Brian Billick told the media to never fall in love with a guy in shorts, the message delivered each year in training camp. And every baseball manager preaches the dangers of falling in love with stats derived from exhibition games. Love stinks. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is walking that fine line between judging competitors for various roster spots on their spring numbers and resisting the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias has, to no one's surprise, been a very busy man in Florida. He's checking out the O's spring roster and watching the team play often. He's swung a couple of trades since camp started and has taken time to do some amateur scouting as well. Yesterday, when the Orioles beat the Twins 9-4 in Fort Myers, he took some time to hang out with me during the live-streamed audio-only broadcast of the Birds on Orioles.com....

JUPITER, Fla. - Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson is embracing the notion that spring training is a time to test out new things. One he's growing pretty comfortable with, the other remains a work in progress. During his three-inning stint this afternoon in a 9-8 loss to the Marlins, Hellickson got more comfortable with a quick-pitch windup designed to keep hitters used to his more deliberate delivery a little more off-balance. He also threw broke out a new offering - a slider he's been thinking...

Eleven-time No. 1 singer/songwriter and Grammy-nominated country music star Cole Swindell performed in the outfield at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., as part of the weekend-long "Athletes & Artists Play for Kids" event in support of arts education and girls' empowerment. A portion of the proceeds from the events of March 1-3 helped fund the establishment of the new Orioles Charitable Foundation Music & Arts Education Scholarships, designed to support young students in Sarasota,...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Renato Núñez is a third baseman by trade who had no issues with moving across the diamond this afternoon. He's just trying to make the club. The glove won't be a primary reason if it happens. It's the bat that keeps teams intrigued and Núñez's might be heating up. Núñez crushed a fastball from Twins reliever Addison Reed in the third inning, his grand slam to left-center field giving the Orioles a lead they didn't surrender in a 9-4 win. Jordany...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Dylan Bundy didn't approach today's start in a passive state. He wasn't going to nibble. Bundy attacked the strike zone and challenged the Twins to make solid contact. C.J. Cron did it twice with his first-pitch opposite-field homer with two outs in the first inning and loud two-run shot in the third. The only runs surrendered by Bundy in three innings. In his second spring appearance and working on three days' rest, Bundy allowed five hits, walked none and struck out...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - James Bourque's epiphany came in fall instructional league when the Nationals devised a plan to force him to learn to trust his fastball. "They took the breaking ball away from me," he said. "They said they wanted to see just fastball/changeup." When minor league pitching coordinator Paul Menhart delivered the news, Bourque wasn't sure what to make of it. "The pitching coordinator called it my 'Linus blanket' and took that away from me," Bourque said. "For me,...