The Orioles this afternoon agreed to terms with their third-round draft pick, Arkansas right-hander Blaine Knight. The agreement beat today's 5 p.m. Eastern time deadline for clubs to sign 2018 draft picks. The club has not made an announcement yet, but this deal did get done today and Knight has already passed his physical. Knight agreed to a bonus of $1.1 million, well over the slot amount of $663,200 for the 87th overall pick. The Orioles will wind up signing 32 total draft picks. They got...

Right-hander Dylan Bundy (6-7, 3.75 ERA) returns to the Orioles rotation tonight as the Birds play the second game of a four-game series at Minnesota. He's been on the disabled list since June 26, after he sprained his left ankle running the bases in Atlanta on June 23. Bundy gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings in that start in Atlanta. Over his past six starts, he is 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA with two scoreless outings in that stretch. This run began May 24 when Bundy pitched a...

A pair of rising stars in the Nationals system have been selected to participate in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game Sunday, July 15, at Nationals Park. Shortstop Carter Kieboom and infielder Luis Garcia will represent the Nationals, Kieboom for the United States Team, Garcia for the World Team. Kieboom was rated by MLB.com as the Nationals' No. 3 prospect and by Baseball America as the organization's No. 4 prospect. He was selected in the first round (No. 28 overall) of the 2016 First-Year...

Washington Nationals prospects Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia have been selected to participate in the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game as a part of Major League Baseball's All-Star Sunday. Major League Baseball made the announcement. Kieboom, 20, is hitting .314 with 20 doubles, 13 home runs, 53 RBI, 42 walks, seven stolen bases and 57 runs scored in 77 games between Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. His .314 batting average ranks second among full-season Nationals farmhands, while...

MINNESOTA - The Orioles will have two representatives in the All-Star Futures Game to be played July 15 at Nationals Park. Double-A Bowie third baseman Ryan Mountcastle has been chosen to represent the U.S. team and Single-A Frederick left-hander Alex Wells will pitch for the World Team. One of the top position prospects in the system, Mountcastle, 21, is batting .313/.363/.498 with 10 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 32 RBIs in 54 games. He also continues his conversion from...

After years of hype and anticipation, the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., is only 11 days away. The fan vote concluded Thursday and on Sunday, the American and National League will announce 31 of the 32 members of the 2018 All-Star Game rosters. It would be a travesty if Trea Turner is not selected. Somewhat lost amid this peculiar season for the Nationals has been Turner's development as perhaps the best shortstop in the NL and one of the best in the majors. The...

On every Orioles road trip this season, I wonder if Manny Machado will return home with the rest of the club. Was Sunday's 8-2 victory over the Angels the last time Machado played in front of the home crowd at Camden Yards as an Oriole or will we see him suit up again on Monday against the Yankees? We'll see what happens over the next three days as the Birds take on the Twins in Minnesota. Like many in Birdland, I've got my eyes glued to Twitter, waiting for that breaking news about an...

The Nationals' record-breaking, 14-12 victory Thursday night had some eye-popping moments. Most of them were positive. But not all of them were. There were still some issues on display during 3 hours and 15 minutes of chaos on South Capitol Street. Start with the starter. Jeremy Hellickson was pounded by the Marlins, giving up nine runs in four innings, and doing all this when he supposedly wasn't 100 percent healthy. Prior to the game, manager Davey Martinez acknowledged Hellickson had been...

Here is a whole batch of minor league news and notes for today. And we add some news about draft picks as well. * Double-A Bowie left-hander Keegan Akin will return to the Baysox rotation tonight. Akin left his start on June 26 with groin tightness after he had pitched four innings. He never went on the disabled list, and the injury turned out to be a minor issue. He returns tonight with an 8-5 record and 2.63 ERA over 15 starts. He ranks second in the Eastern League in ERA. During my recent...

It's easy, in hindsight, to claim you believed you could come back from nine runs down to win a major league baseball game. Deep down, there had to be plenty inside the Nationals dugout who figured they were headed for one of their most demoralizing losses of the year when the Marlins put up nine runs to their zero in the first 3 1/2 innings tonight on South Capitol Street. And yet, the vibe inside the home bullpen suggested the sense of hope was real. Even when things looked their worst,...