Catcher Matt Wieters is leading off tonight for Triple-A Norfolk in the final game of his injury rehabilitation assignment. I'm fairly certain that the Orioles will bat him lower in the order, whether he's the designated hitter Thursday in Houston or catching Friday in Cleveland. Bud Norris will make his final start in the minors before rejoining the Orioles. That's the current plan. Former Oriole Ryan Lavarnway is catching tonight for Gwinnett. Speaking of leadoff hitters who don't fit the...

Jordan Zimmermann has pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits with three strikeouts. Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey matched Zimmermann for a while, blanking the Nationals until Zimmermann helped his own cause to start the fifth. On a full count, Zimmermann knocked an 82-mph fastball from Dickey up the middle for a leadoff single. After Yunel Escobar walked, Ian Desmond dropped a sacrifice bunt down to safely move both runners into scoring position for Bryce Harper. Harper drove a...

Tests confirmed that Stephen Strasburg is suffering from a strained left trapezius muscle, according to Nationals manager Matt Williams. "It's tight, and they're working on it," Williams said. "Of course, it affects his neck and his upper back. So just getting that calmed down as we go along here and then get him back to throwing at some point." The neck tightness forced Strasburg out of his last start one batter into the second inning, after throwing just 16 pitches. Strasburg told...

After last night's postponement, the Nationals and Blue Jays are set to play a split-doubleheader under gloomy and threatening skies today. Jordan Zimmermann starts Game 1 with Max Scherzer getting the ball in the nightcap. Zimmermann has pitched at least six innings and allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but one of ten starts this season. He enters today's outing with a 4-2 record and a 3.26 ERA. Nationals manager Matt Williams has kept his same lineup that was scheduled to play last...

Nationals manager Matt Williams has an option to bring up a 26th player for Game 2 today against the Blue Jays. Williams said they have not announced the possible, and if they do add to the roster, they will make the move after Game 1. He also confirmed there was no thought to adding a starting pitcher for today's Game 2. They don't want to alter Jordan Zimmermann and Max Scherzer's start schedule today. "No, both the starters are on regular rest," Williams said. "We want to keep them in...

The week did not end well for the Nationals. The team was just swept by the Cincinnati Reds, a team that is 10 games out of first place in their division. The loss snapped the Nationals' streak of winning nine series in a row. Now, the Nationals come home to take on the highest run-scoring team in baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays. The worst thing that happened this weekend took place in Game 1 of the Reds series, when Tony Cingrani, a former starter and now middle a reliever, hit Bryce Harper...

The Nationals enter today's doubleheader against the Blue Jays with a pretty formidable pair taking the hill. Nats manager Matt Williams will throw Jordan Zimmermann in the afternoon and Max Scherzer this evening. Meanwhile, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will also stick to his scheduled starters with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey going in the daytime and right-hander Marco Estrada pitching at night. Several current Nationals are familiar with Dickey, who won the National League Cy Young Award...

The 2015 First-Year Player Draft is now less than a week away. It all begins Monday night at 7 p.m., when MLB Network will televise picks made from Round 1 through Competitive Balance Round B. The draft then resumes Tuesday, June 8 at 1 p.m., with Rounds 3-10, and then on Wednesday June 9 at noon with Rounds 11-40. The Orioles have the 25th pick in Round 1 and they have four of the first 102 picks as they also select 36th, 68th and 102nd. They have 11 picks over the first 10 rounds. Orioles...

Let's start with J.J. Hardy. The Orioles shortstop is day-to-day with soreness on his left side. That's dangerously close to an oblique injury, which Hardy experienced in April 2011. He missed a month. He's having flashbacks. Center fielder Adam Jones returned last night from a sprained ankle, and Hardy unexpectedly left the lineup. This team simply can't get healthy. Whatever lineup you envisioned over the winter hasn't appeared this season. Not for one game. Is Jonathan Schoop anywhere...

There's no single, effective way to build a bullpen. Some teams throw money at high-priced relievers to fill holes. Some target young relievers early in the major league draft, hoping they'll be able to contribute to the club in a hurry. Many teams convert failed starting pitching prospects into one- or two-inning relief options, while most frequently seek out overlooked or underwhelming pitching options and hope they figure something out. That's how someone like Kevin Gregg keeps finding...