Much is being said about Lucas Giolito's highly anticipated major league debut tonight at Nationals Park. Giolito is the Nationals' top prospect, he has a big presence on the mound, he's got a powerful fastball and a killer curveball. Every move he makes tonight will be carefully watched and analyzed by media and fans alike. But there's also a second part to Giolito's debut, one that might be getting overlooked a bit as all eyes focus on the 21-year-old: his batterymate, Wilson Ramos....

SAN DIEGO - Hyun Soo Kim will start in left field for tonight's series opener against the Padres. Jonathan Schoop will bat second for just the fifth time. Schoop is hitting .353 from the second spot this season. The Orioles lose their designated hitter in a National League ballpark. Ubaldo Jimenez is 33-for-282 (.117) with 11 RBIs, 17 walks and 98 strikeouts. He's 2-for-9 with two RBIs with the Orioles. For the Orioles Adam Jones CFJonathan Schoop 2BManny Machado 3BChris Davis 1BMark Trumbo...

The Nationals remain optimistic that the injury that landed Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list isn't serious and that the right-hander will be able to return to their rotation soon after getting a positive report from medical tests administered over the last two days. Results of Strasburg's MRI confirmed the Nationals' initial diagnosis of a strained upper back, encouraging news for the club. "Nothing serious," manager Dusty Baker said. "As we had hoped it wasn't." Strasburg was...

Can we even begin to understand what people went through in the Great Depression, World War I, World War II or the Dust Bowl? Are we so concentrated on the now that we fail to see how the "then" screams at us to learn from history? Timothy Egan's award -winning book on the Dust Bowl, "The Worst Hard Times," will touch you deeply if you will let it. You can feel the ravage of the wind, the dust, the locust and the agony of all lost. These were people who went to what would become the Dust...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled LHP T.J. McFARLAND from Triple-A Norfolk. McFarland, 27, went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA (7 ER/21.0 IP) over five games (four starts) with Triple-A Norfolk this season. In 14 games with the Orioles this season, McFarland has gone 2-2 with a 4.70 ERA (12 ER/23.0 IP). Over 119 career Major League games (two starts), he has gone 12-7 with a 3.98 ERA (87 ER/196.2 IP) and 124 strikeouts.

The rosters for the 2016 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game have been announced. The U.S. All-Stars will face the World All-Stars 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, July 10 at Petco Park in San Diego. The Nationals will be represented on the World roster by right-hander Reynaldo Lopez from the Dominican Republic. The 22-year-old was recently promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. The 6-foot-1, 185 lb. Lopez went 3-5 with a 3.18 ERA in 14 starts for Double-A Harrisburg. In his last six starts, Lopez struck out...

Orioles catching prospect Chance Sisco has been chosen to participate in the All-Star Futures Game at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday, July 10 at 7 p.m. Sisco will represent the Orioles as a member of the U.S. roster. Currently rated the No. 3 prospect in the Orioles organization by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com, Sisco has played all this year at Double-A Bowie. He currently ranks second in the Eastern League with a .401 on-base percentage and fourth in the league with a .309...

SAN DIEGO - The Orioles made their anticipated roster move this afternoon, recalling left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk. McFarland replaces left-hander Ashur Tolliver, who was optioned to Norfolk following Sunday's game. Tolliver will be going on paternity leave with his wife due on July 7 and the Orioles didn't want him traveling to the West Coast. McFarland became eligible today after staying down for the minimum 10 days. Being used Saturday as the 26th player didn't count...

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito from Double-A Harrisburg on Tuesday and optioned right-hander Rafael Martin to Triple-A Syracuse. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Taylor Jordan was granted his release. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Arguably the top pitching prospect in the game, Giolito joins the Nationals for the first Major League assignment of his career. The promising...

There's nothing quite like a major league debut. Every single one of them, no matter how hyped, is a big deal, literally a once-in-a-lifetime moment for a young man who gets to realize his dream. There are, of course, debuts that are bigger than others, and tonight we will be witnessing one of those when Lucas Giolito takes the mound shortly after 7 p.m. The 21-year-old right-hander may not be pitching tonight with as much hoopla surrounding him as Stephen Strasburg had six years ago, but he...