Through 67 games this season, the Orioles pitching staff has totaled 32 quality starts. They rank seventh in the major leagues in that category. If you had told me back in February that the O's rotation would rank in the top third of the league in quality starts in 2018 after finishing 27th a season ago, I would have predicted a playoff team with a serious chance of winning the American League East. Who saw this coming? Instead, the Orioles have a winning percentage below .300. They are 27 1/2...

Manager: John Gibbons (11th season) Record: 30-38 Last 10 games: 5-5 Players to watch: INF Yangervis Solarte (.252, 12 HR, 37 RBIs), RF Teoscar Hernández (11 HR, 31 RBIs), 3B Josh Donaldson (.234, 5 HR, 16 RBIs). RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.66 ERA), RHP Tyler Clippard (4-2, 3.34 ERA) Series vs. Nationals: 1st meeting (2-1 in 2015) Pitching Probables: May 28: RHP Aaron Sanchez (3-5) vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez, 7:07 p.m., MASNMay 29: RHP Marco Estrada (3-6) vs. RHP Max Scherzer, 4:07 p.m., MASNMay 30:...

Fans, reporters and even baseball executives can debate the stats in the game - advanced, traditional or any others. There is probably no one stat that summarizes a player's contribution in a nice and neat number, although Wins Above Replacement and others attempt to do that. It at least gives us a framework for some level of a comparison. But for an admitted somewhat simplistic look at Orioles players and comparing their offense from 2017 to 2018, we could look at OPS+. It provides a...

Getting a feel for Danny Valencia's placement in the lineup isn't as simple as it used to be back when he was typecast. An opposing left-handed starter usually worked in Valencia's favor in a platoon-type role. He mashed them. It didn't say so on his business card, but word spreads quickly in baseball. The Orioles didn't sign Valencia, in his second tour with the team, to be an everyday player or to become their cleanup hitter. Little has gone according to plan this season, but Valencia is...

TORONTO - Some Friday morning news and notes for you as the Nationals prepare to play their first series north of the border since a 19-year-old Bryce Harper was asked a "clown question" back in 2012 ... * Erick Fedde's second big league start of the season was less impressive than his first start, but this one was a far tougher assignment. After getting his feet wet against a Padres lineup that scores 3.87 runs per game (sixth-worst in the majors), the rookie right-hander had to go up...

The Washington Nationals announced the signing of a two-year Player Development Contract extension with the Short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays on Thursday. The extension, which begins in 2019, runs through the 2020 season. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Vice President and Senior Advisor to the General Manager Bob Boone, Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Harris and Director of Player Development Mark...

A new set of baseball trading cards which feature the all-time legendary trading card lineups for all 30 Major League Baseball teams are being unveiled all season long. The Nationals' all-time legendary trading card lineup according to Topps and Beckett Media was recently revealed, and includes starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, relief pitcher Chad Cordero, catcher Wilson Ramos, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Jose Vidro, third baseman Anthony Rendon, shortstop Trea Turner, left...

TORONTO - From the day he purchased the Nationals from Major League Baseball in 2006, Ted Lerner made it clear this would - and always would - be a family-run operation. Though the patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Washington would have final say over any organizational decisions, he insisted none would be made without consultation of the seven other top members of the club's ownership group: his wife, Annette; his son, Mark; his daughters, Debra and Marla;...

Manager: Don Mattingly (2nd season with Marlins) Record: 26-43 Last 10 games: 6-4 Who to watch: RF/3B Brian Anderson (.304, 33 RBIs), 2B Starlin Castro (.282), 1B Justin Bour (10 HR, 29 RBIs), CF Lewis Brinson (26 RBIs), C J.T Realmuto (22 RBIs), RHP Kyle Barraclough (4 saves) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (2-1 in 2015) Pitching probables: June 15: RHP José Ureña (1-8) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (3-5), 7:05 p.m., MASN2June 16: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-3) vs. RHP Alex Cobb (2-8), 4:05...

Today, the Washington Nationals announced that Theodore N. Lerner has stepped down as Managing Principal Owner of the team. His son, Mark D. Lerner, will now serve in this role. Mark has served as one of the principal owners of the Nationals since the Lerner family purchased the team in July 2006. Major League Baseball formally approved Mark as the team's "control person" earlier today during its quarterly ownership meeting in New York City. "Owning a baseball team in my hometown had long...