The All-Star break is over. The Nationals – along with 29 other major league teams – return to action tonight, and the second half of the 2025 season gets underway. It’s a second half that doesn’t hold anything close to the same promise it did a few months ago, when it looked like the Nats might at least threaten the .500 mark, maybe even make a su

Release the pause button. The Orioles are set to resume their season following the All-Star break, beginning a three-game series tonight against the Rays in Tampa. The Orioles are 22-16 since the start of June after going 21-36 beforehand, which sounds like momentum. But they closed the first half with back-to-back home losses to the Marlins and ha

At the macro level, it’s impossible to look at the Nationals’ 2025 season to date and deem it a success. The team has been in a tailspin since early June, losing 28 of its last 38 games and plummeting to 20 games under .500. That tailspin cost both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez their jobs, firings few could have accurately predicted when they close

What started as an innocent car ride home became a deep dive into the Orioles’ roster. Interim manager Tony Mansolino needed a lift last Thursday with family in town, and new special advisor John Mabry provided taxi service. Mansolino used the one-on-one time with a respected former major league player and coach to discuss the team and everything h

The Orioles filled one of the two openings on their 40-man roster this afternoon by claiming right-hander Elvin Rodríguez on waivers from the Brewers and optioning him to Triple-A Norfolk. Rodríguez, 27, registered an 8.68 ERA and 1.607 WHIP in six games (two starts). He allowed 18 runs and 23 hits with seven walks, 17 strikeouts and seven home run

Apologies that my annual Nationals draft tracker was not up this year. I was making my way back from covering the team in Milwaukee on Monday and couldn’t follow along the second day of the MLB Draft live. But on this, the slowest day in the sports calendar, let us revisit the 17 picks the Nationals made in Rounds 4-20 throughout the day Monday. Of

The All-Star break doesn’t provide much rest for those of us covering the draft, tracking Ryan O’Hearn and emptying a mailbag. The last pick in the draft was announced Monday evening. Major League Baseball did something right, getting rid of Day 3. O’Hearn was the designated hitter for the American League, and as I told him would happen, I tuned ou

Ryan O’Hearn came close to facing future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw tonight in his first career All-Star Game at-bat. Kershaw was a “Legend Pick” by commissioner Rob Manfred, marking his 11th All-Star selection. The three-time Cy Young Award winner retired Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, the Home Run Derby champion, on a liner to left and struck o

The No. 1 pick was always going to dominate the conversation about the Nationals’ 2025 draft class, no matter who they selected. And a front office that experienced major change just one week ago desperately wants and needs Eli Willits to become everything they believe he can be, putting to rest any doubts about their somewhat-surprising decision t

Tony Mansolino is carving his own path since the Orioles named him interim manager on May 17. It usually happens twice a day in the auxiliary clubhouse, where he meets with the media before and after games. Former manager Brandon Hyde would veer to the right, around the rows of metal folding chairs, to reach his seat at the table, and he’d go back