WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Don't look now, but the Nationals are running a lot this spring. OK, last year's team with speedster Trea Turner atop the lineup swiped 108 bases, third-most in the National League. But Turner had 46 of those, and only two other players - Michael A. Taylor (17) and Wilmer Difo (10) - were in double figures. This spring, however, the Nats have already recorded 12 thefts, tied for 14th in the majors (they were knotted for eighth before yesterday's off-day). Why is this...

SARASOTA, Fla. - I've learned over the years that spring training exists to get players ready for the upcoming season, to determine how to plug holes in the roster and to give sportswriters a chance to post grainy photos and pretend to sympathize when it snows back home. It also sharpens our skills at fitting a bar tab into our per diem. Managers use the annual camps to do a little experimenting. Where else are you going to turn Trey Mancini into a left fielder and try to turn Pedro Álvarez...

The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds will very likely have more starting pitchers than rotation spots when the season begins next month. The Orioles have to be excited about a group of seven young and talented pitchers that project to pitch in either a five- or six-man Shorebirds rotation. The Orioles could use one or more pitchers in piggyback situations, when they pitch as part of the rotation yet follow another starter into the game somewhere in the middle innings. The group of seven currently...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg wants to embrace the notion of using spring training to get his arm in shape and try some new things in games that really don't matter a lick. He really does. He comes to camp in that mode, but when you're a veteran who relies heavily on a comfort zone provided by pattern and routine, even the smallest deviations can seem like huge changes. "I would say I don't give myself too long a leash," Strasburg said this afternoon after working 3 1/3 innings...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will make two or three roster cuts Friday morning before their game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. There's no update on Gabriel Ynoa's MRI because it isn't scheduled until 5 p.m. He's bothered by shin splints. Kevin Gausman will throw a simulated game Friday morning on Field 4, just as Andrew Cashner, Dylan Bundy and Chris Tillman have done the past three days. The home-and-home series began today with the Orioles losing 9-3 at Ed Smith Stadium. Catcher...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Lacking a fastball that pops a catcher's mitt and pokes holes in bats, Nestor Cortes Jr. has to be extremely fine with his pitches. He has to hit his target, change speeds and arm angles, and rely on deception and a pitching IQ that's enabled him to win at various levels of the minors. Cortes didn't miss many bats this afternoon and his quest to win the fifth starter's job took a hit. The Orioles aren't done auditioning the first of their three Rule 5 picks, but Cortes...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals have made their first cuts of spring training, optioning right-hander Austin Voth to Triple-A Syracuse and reassigning seven players to their minor league camp. Voth, who went 4-12 with a 5.94 ERA at three minor league stops last season, appeared in three Grapefruit League games, and posted a 6.00 ERA in three innings of relief work. He allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts. Right-handers Jimmy Cordero, Brady Dragmire, David Goforth, Román...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Sammy Solís understands why people discount him when configuring their versions of the bullpen the Nationals will take north for their March 29 season opener in Cincinnati. After the way the left-hander pitched last season - taking steps back in games pitched, innings, ERA and WHIP as he battled injury and inconsistency from the get-go - Solís knows he has to both prove himself and earn the trust of new manager Davey Martinez. "Last season was ups and downs, a lot...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have reassigned reliever Perci Garner to minor league camp before today's game against the Blue Jays. The camp roster is down to 51 players. Garner tossed three scoreless and hitless innings in his three appearances, with two walks and two strikeouts. He made the trip to Port Charlotte yesterday and escaped a jam after a pair of two-out walks. The Orioles signed Garner as a minor league free agent on Dec. 1 and he underwent arthroscopic surgery later in the month...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There were plenty of visitors to Nationals camp today. Former Expos first baseman Andres Galarraga dropped by at the invitation of manager Davey Martinez. Galarraga, who had a 19-year career in the big leagues and twice beat Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lives in the city the Nats now call their spring home. Martinez hopes he can get Galarraga back for another visit later in camp, maybe even in uniform as an instructor. The two were teammates on the Expos from 1988-91. This...