SARASOTA, Fla. - Rule 5 reliever Pedro Araujo will head north with the Orioles and be part of their bullpen on opening day, news that came to him earlier today via bullpen mates Darren O'Day, Mychal Givens and Brad Brach. The smile on his face looks like it might have a shelf life of six months. Araujo allowed two runs and four hits in 8 2/3 innings, with only the Blue Jays scoring off him in a March 9 game. He walked two batters, struck out eight and kept gaining the organization's trust...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's not exactly ideal to have to play split-squad games this late in the spring. But with an odd number of teams training in both Florida and Arizona, somebody has to split up (or be off) every day of the exhibition season. So the Nationals drew the short straw tonight and will be playing a pair of games: home against the Astros (6:05 p.m. on MASN) and road against the Marlins (7:05 p.m.). Davey Martinez will be staying here in West Palm Beach to watch A.J. Cole start...

SARASOTA, Fla. - If the Orioles stick with their camp roster, Chance Sisco will serve as the backup catcher on opening day. The Orioles announced today that they've optioned catcher Andrew Susac and infielder Engelb Vielma to Triple-A Norfolk. They already sent out Austin Wynns, leaving Sisco as the last catching reserve standing. Sisco had a two-run double and two-run homer yesterday in a 10-7 win over the Red Sox and is batting .419/.471/.839 (13-for-31) with five doubles, one triple, two...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Andrew Cashner and Kevin Gausman will follow opening day starter Dylan Bundy for the Twins series at Camden Yards that begins on March 29. Chris Tillman starts the Astros' home opener on April 2. Orioles manager Buck Showalter hasn't committed to a fifth starter and the club continues to check the waiver wire. Bundy was informed yesterday that he'd get the opening day assignment while Showalter met with the starters. "We had some candidates, a lot of guys," Showalter said....

SARASOTA, Fla. - Tim Beckham downplayed his groin injury this morning and vowed to get into another game this weekend before the Orioles return to Baltimore. Beckham is batting .273/.305/.509 (15-for-55) with one double, four home runs, 10 RBIs, three walks and 14 strikeouts in 19 games. "I'm taking it day to day," he said. "I feel like I'm ready for the season. A couple more reps would be great, would be awesome, but I'm definitely confident going into the year that we're going to have...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles third baseman Tim Beckham said he expects to play again in Florida after leaving yesterday's game with tightness in his groin. Beckham was removed after homering in the bottom of the second inning, but he said it was done as a precaution. He actually tweaked the groin in the morning while stretching and felt it again while fielding a ground ball near the line in the top of the second. "It just tightened up on me and didn't want to make it worse than what it is," he...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If you've been paying attention to the Nationals' starting lineups in recent days, you've certainly noticed a new wrinkle by manager Davey Martinez, rarely seen in these parts before but a bit more common around the rest of the National League: The pitcher batting eighth. It's happened the last three days, with Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday, Gio Gonzalez on Wednesday and Tanner Roark on Thursday night. And, if we are to believe Martinez, it's going to happen...

No doubt the entire Orioles roster will benefit from having right-handers Alex Cobb and Andrew Cashner in the rotation this season. They combined to make 57 starts and throw 346 innings in the 2017 season. At 3.40, Cashner finished ninth in the American League in ERA last season and Cobb was 11th at 3.66. Both have been good against the AL East. Cashner has made just eight career starts versus the other four division teams, but is 3-2 with a 2.82 ERA. Cobb has made 36 career starts against the...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - If there's such a thing as the Dog Days of March, this is it. The Nationals head north Sunday night. They open the season in Cincinnati in one week. They have long since practiced every bunt play and every pickoff move. With only a couple of exceptions, hitters have gotten all the at-bats they need and pitchers have thrown all the innings they need. At this point, everyone simply wants to get through the weekend in one piece and get out of town. Which doesn't...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The winter line of questioning for Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman revolved around the oddity of being the only two confirmed starters in the Orioles rotation. They heard about it in every interview. They talked about it in phone conversations. They couldn't escape it. There was no denying it or how unusual the circumstances. And they could joke about it while also wondering, like everyone else, how it would play out. Now they know. Two free agent signings and a re-signing...