SARASOTA, Fla. - The seeds for a great start to spring camp for catcher Chance Sisco were planted not long after last season ended. He made some tweaks to his swing, but to hear him tell it, regaining lost confidence is the biggest reason he's mashing the ball right now. He came to Sarasota with a fresh and confident outlook that got a boost from new manager Brandon Hyde and the new coaching staff, who seem to daily be filling the young players with doses of confidence. They keep it positive...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has been waiting for a day when he could boast about the club's pitching and defense. On the same day. He found it this afternoon in Fort Myers, where the Orioles defeated the Red Sox 9-1. Mike Wright shut out the Red Sox through the third inning. Yefry Ramirez allowed one run, on Xander Bogaerts' homer, and two hits over three innings. He didn't issue a walk and struck out two batters. Paul Fry retired the side in order with two strikeouts in...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It didn't take long for the ball to find first baseman Ryan Zimmerman after he took the field for his thrice-delayed debut in Grapefruit League play. In the first inning he was on the back end of a 5-4-3 double play and then snagged a throw from shortstop Carter Kieboom to end the inning. In the second, Patrick Corbin got three groundball outs, all ending in Zimmerman's mitt. On the final play of the frame, Zimmerman ranged to his right to snag a sharp Alex Kirilloff...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Mike Wright took a sharp grounder off his right foot today with two outs in the third inning and the next batter poked a single up the middle. Another ball that didn't catch air. Past starts might have crumbled for Wright, but he retired Jackie Bradley Jr. on a fly ball and headed for the clubhouse with three more scoreless innings on his ledger. Making a push for a spot in the back end of the rotation, Wright blanked the Red Sox on three hits with one walk and two...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A breakthrough season in 2018 has pretty much cemented left-hander Matt Grace's place in the Nationals bullpen. Now the durable lefty is doing everything he can to keep his spot. "Just keep looking for what's next in that next level," Grace said. "Talk to guys like Max (Scherzer) and stuff like that. It's a never-ending pursuit of how you figure this stuff out. It's just keep going, keep competing, keep trying to refine what you got." Grace, 30, made a...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde spent part of yesterday's postgame media session praising left-hander Josh Rogers for setting a rapid tempo rather than lulling everyone to sleep between pitches. Rogers isn't doing it by accident. He retired all six Rays that he faced in the blink of an eye. "I'm definitely conscious of it," he said. "It's something I feel like I use to my advantage. I don't think it's something you can just get up there and do. I've taught myself to do...

MASNsports.com has obtained a copy of the 2019 Washington Nationals minor league roster for spring training: Right-handed pitchers 64 Carlos Acevedo 37 Joan Adon 54 Tomas Alastre 26 Elvis Alvarado 29 Dakota Bacus 61 Joan Baez 57 Frankie Bartow 53 A.J. Bogucki 47 Jared Brasher 49 Ryan Brinley 55 Jacob Condra-Bogan 56 Jake Cousins 41 Carlos Cuello 56 Weston Davis 35 Chandler Day 60 Jose De Los Santos 51 Mason Denaburg 34 Brady Dragmire 60 Tanner Driskill 38 Paolo Espino 41 Steven Fuentes 34...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Nate Karns is scheduled to throw a bullpen session this morning in Sarasota and says that he anticipates getting "back in line" after skipping last night's start in Tampa. Karns was scratched from his assignment against the Yankees due to some soreness in his right arm that he downplayed earlier today. He hadn't pitched since going 1 2/3 innings Monday against the Twins. "It's just one of those things like early in camp, trying to get your feet under you as far as...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Now that he's finally in the lineup, has Nationals manager Davey Martinez devised a plan for how much first baseman Ryan Zimmerman will play for the rest of camp? He has, and though he'll discuss it with Zimmerman later today, Martinez doesn't sound like he'll be deviating from what he's planned for the veteran. So far, he's not talking in specifics. "No, like I said, as long as he's good, I want him to participate and play games," Martinez said. Zimmerman was...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Stevie Wilkerson is in right field today, the latest position switch for the utility candidate. The Orioles are going with a Rule 5 double play combination again today against the Red Sox, with Richie Martin at shortstop and Drew Jackson at second base. Cedric Mullins is in center field and Trey Mancini is in left. Jace Peterson is playing first base. For the Orioles Cedric Mullins CF Eric Young Jr. DH Trey Mancini LF Rio Ruiz 3B Richie Martin SS Jace Peterson 1B Drew Jackson...