The time has arrived at last: It's opening day for Major League Baseball! OK, so the Nationals (like most clubs) don't open until Monday, when they face the Braves in Atlanta. But for the first time, there are three MLB games on the Sunday slate (Cardinals-Pirates, Blue Jays-Rays, Mets-Royals) so the season does officially get underway today. Which means it's time to make some predictions. What follows are purely my own thoughts. For those who have been reading me over the years and are...

With yesterday's early exhibition game at Nationals Park, we shook up the Q&A schedule, pushing it back to today. This might become a recurring thing during the season, changing up the day it runs based on the team's schedule that particular week. This is a good morning to do this, though, because the opening day roster is now set, the exhibition slate is complete and the countdown to Monday's 4:10 p.m. opener in Atlanta is underway. Submit your Nationals questions in the comments...

Given how well they played all spring, it just wouldn't have felt right for the Nationals to lose their exhibition finale. Never fear, because thanks to a slowly-but-surely rally over the final three innings, they indeed came back to tie the Twins 8-8 and at least not send themselves down to Atlanta for opening day reeling from a loss. "I'm proud of these guys, how they performed," said manager Dusty Baker, whose club finished the exhibition slate 19-4-4 (the top winning percentage in...

The Nationals purposely brought Ryan Zimmerman along slowly this spring, not wanting the veteran first baseman to experience too much early wear and tear on a foot that was injured most of the 2015 season. As opening day approaches, Zimmerman not only appears healthy. He's also red-hot at the plate. The Nationals' cleanup hitter launched another home run today in the final exhibition game of the spring, a two-run shot to left off Twins right-hander Ricky Nolasco that gave his team a 2-1 lead...

Dusty Baker has been making roster cuts for two decades, and he admits they're never easy, especially those that come on the cusp of opening day. The cuts the Nationals' new manager had to make Friday night might have been his toughest ever. "My heart goes out to these guys," Baker said. "I didn't really sleep that well last night, at all, because it affects him. I've been there. I know their families are affected. But it's a big boy game, and that's part of the game." The club's...

The Nationals have switched up their rotation plans for the season's first series, choosing now to start Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday in Atlanta following Max Scherzer in Monday's opener. Manager Dusty Baker had said two weeks ago that Gio Gonzalez would start the second game in Atlanta, with Strasburg in Thursday's home opener against the Marlins. But the coaching staff decided to change things around after several rainouts during the final week of spring training. "It was a product of...

Hello from Nationals Park, where it's currently raining (shocking, I know), but the forecast calls for clearing skies in time for today's 12:05 p.m. exhibition finale between the Nationals and Twins. It will be a bit chilly, though, good practice for what the first few weeks of the regular season could be like. After last night's 4-3 victory here, Dusty Baker is going with nearly the same lineup. The only change: Michael A. Taylor gets the start in center field instead of Ben Revere....

While many of us were focused on Hyun Soo Kim, Joey Rickard's nightly stellar play, Nolan Reimold's late-spring surge and Garabez Rosa's seemingly nightly late-inning hit, the X-man was laying in the weeds. Has the Orioles' 2008 second-round draft pick Xavier Avery made this team? He has had one impressive spring which included a two-run homer to left by the lefty hitter last night in Philadelphia. In 32 spring at-bats, Avery has hit .313/.476/.813 with four homers. He bounced around at...

The Orioles today announced that they have reassigned right-handers Pedro Beato and Todd Redmond, outfielder L.J. Hoes, and infielders Paul Janish and Steve Tolleson to minor league camp, and have optioned catcher Francisco Pena to Triple-A Norfolk. Additionally, left-hander Zach Phillips and right-hander Chaz Roe have cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. With these moves, the Orioles now have 28 players on the active roster and one non-roster invitee at the conclusion...

Hunter Harvey has been playing catch at the Orioles' minor league complex while recovering from a mild groin strain. He's feeling much better and it shouldn't be too long before he's back on the mound. Harvey was forced out of Tuesday's start at Twin Lakes Park in the third inning. He hasn't pitched since 2014 due to a strained right flexor mass. And that's how I start off your morning with good news. The Orioles' camp roster is down to 29 players and we know that pitchers Kevin Gausman...