I will be the first to admit, my time as an Orioles fan has made me pretty pessimistic when it comes to first-round picks being high school pitchers. Do not get me wrong, I like this year's first-round selection of right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, and thus far he has been incredibly impressive. Rodriguez, 18, was the O's first round-pick (11th overall) this year out of Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas. It came as a bit of a surprise on draft night, and not because Rodriguez...

Are the Nationals doing well? To put it simply, no. But if we keep focusing on the negatives, we will all drive ourselves crazy. So instead, we're going to focus on a few bright spots, and today we're going to look in an unorthodox place at a few guys who have had some under-the-radar good years: in the bullpen at Shawn Kelley and Matt Grace. Kelley has gotten a little bit of a bad rep in town, especially coming off his poor 2017 season. Fans feared that 2018 would be more of the same, and it...

The New York Yankees are stockpiling some outstanding bullpen arms. The Orioles are stockpiling prospects. Last night, those teams made a trade that worked for both in that regard. The Orioles traded closer Zach Britton to the Yankees for three pitchers - getting right-handers Dillon Tate and Cody Carroll and left-hander Josh Rogers. The Orioles get two flame-throwers in the deal. Tate throws in the mid-90s, touching 97 and 98 mph. Carroll throws in the mid-to-upper-90s and has touched 101...

MILWAUKEE - Right-hander Tanner Roark was at his wit's end. He wasn't getting outs like he used to. Losses were piling up. So Roark went back to video of his 2016 campaign. That was the season he posted a career-high 16 wins and a 2.83 ERA. He made a slight tweak to his mechanics. But results still did not turn his way. Roark kept studying. He came to the realization that he had strayed away from what made him effective: his sinking fastball. He was not finishing well on this pitch. "For me,...

The Orioles will need to make another roster move after last night's trade of closer Zach Britton to the Yankees. They can replace the name on the lineup card, but the intangibles supplied by the longest-tenured player in the organization aren't as easily transferrable. Darren O'Day was the bullpen leader, but he's out for the season following hamstring surgery. Britton has been mentoring the younger pitchers, but his pending free agent status and the club's rebuild assured that he'd be...

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals raced out to a 4-0 lead early, but the Brewers chipped away, and eventually walked off with a 5-4, 10-inning shocker at Miller Park, to win the series. Tyler Saladino's bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left-center field off of left-hander Matt Grace (0-1) in the tenth scored Lorenzo Cain from third base. Juan Soto's throw was strong but curled back up the line for catcher Spencer Kieboom. Cain scored standing up before Kieboom could apply the tag. It was the Brewers'...

Zach Britton started to say his goodbyes to teammates tonight during the rain delay, his trade to the Yankees not official but the certainty undeniable. He checked his cell phone and knew exactly what was transpiring. Standing at his locker late tonight, his eyes reddened, Britton tried to sum up the feelings coursing through him after meeting with manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette. He's leaving the organization that drafted him in the third round in 2006 and...

The Orioles today announced that they have acquired RHP Dillon Tate, LHP Josh Rogers and RHP Cody Carroll from the New York Yankees in exchange for LHP Zach Britton. Tate has been assigned to Double-A Bowie, while Rogers and Carroll have been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. Tate, 24, went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA (31 ER/82.2 IP) and 75 strikeouts in 15 starts for Double-A Trenton this season. Over 58 career minor league games (50 starts), he has gone 16-7 with a 3.53 ERA (101 ER/257.1 IP) and 216...

Yefry Ramírez picked the night that the Orioles were finalizing a Zach Britton trade to earn his first major league win. He may be overshadowed, but it's still a nice achievement. Give the young man a hand and maybe a shaving cream pie. Orioles manager Buck Showalter can't promise Ramírez a set number of starts through the remainder of the season. He won't base his decisions on a start-to-start basis. The leash won't be advertised as especially long or short. Ramírez will take the...

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals offense woke up with some power hits early on to set the tone at Miller Park. Ryan Zimmerman laced a run-scoring double to center field in the first. Adam Eaton launched a no-doubt three-run shot in the second. Eaton's blast was set up thanks to a throwing error by Brewers starter Junior Guerra that allowed Michael A. Taylor to reach second base. Spencer Kieboom also drew a base on balls in front of Eaton. Both of the Nationals' scoring hits came with two...