Triple-A Syracuse shortstop Jason Martinson is proving to be the ultimate utility man in the Nationals system. Because of his all-around athletic skill, the Nationals have employed the 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed hitter in the infield and the outfield this season. For example, in his first two weeks (10 games) with Triple-A Syracuse this season, Martinson has played shortstop (three games), left field (four games), third base (two games) and designated hitter (one game). He has had 22...

The terms "underrated" or "under the radar" are subjective and difficult to define, but they seem to fit well in describing the Orioles rotation, especially Miguel Gonzalez, who has two wins and a 2.55 ERA in his first three starts. The Orioles are seldom mentioned with the best rotations, even though their starters had the fifth-lowest ERA in the American League last season. The problem is they haven't had a serious Cy Young contender and the rotation doesn't have blazing fastballs or...

BOSTON - It's another slow news day at Fenway Park. The tarp is coming off the field and we continue to wait for the rain to arrive. The Orioles hope to have first pitch at 11 a.m. We have two new umpires today - Pat Hobert at first base and Tom Woodring at third. Andy Fletcher is behind the plate and crew chief Jerry Meals is at second. As for injury updates, shortstop J.J. Hardy is supposed to have a regular work day today at Bowie if the weather allows it. The Orioles are arranging a...

Nationals manager Matt Williams has been scrambling since Day One of spring training after countless injuries left him experimenting with guys playing positions where they had little or no experience before. The Nats have faced the most amount of adversity at third base, where Anthony Rendon went down with a sprained left MCL after making a remarkable diving stop in just his third Grapefruit League game. With infielder Yunel Escobar also sidelined for much of the exhibition season, Williams...

There were a ton of very important storylines entering the season for the Orioles, and two weeks in, not a whole lot has been solved or changed. The biggest one in my mind was the rotation, but it has quite a few tentacles to it. The first is how the overall performance of the unit will compare to last year, which I think many can agree was strong down the stretch. There's no doubt that a dropoff is expected among this group. The more obvious question was the simple fact that there are six...

Two weeks into the 2015 season, the Nationals lineup as it was envisioned at the start of spring training is beginning to take shape. The most recent addition - and the most welcome so far - was the return of leadoff man and center fielder Denard Span on Sunday. With all due respect to Michael A. Taylor and Yunel Escobar, the man who should have been named the most valuable Nat of 2014 has been restored to his rightful place. Span missed almost all of spring training and the first 12 games of...

BOSTON - Ryan Lavarnway won't leave Fenway Park without getting on the field against his former team. Lavarnway is catching this morning's series finale against the Red Sox, the team that drafted him in 2008. Lavarnway played his first 97 major league games with Boston from 2011-14. This will be his third start for the Orioles. Jimmy Paredes is serving as the club's designated hitter today after going 5-for-10 with a double and four runs scored in his first two games since coming off the...

BOSTON - We've got morning baseball at Fenway Park if the weather allows it. Rain is in the forecast for Patriots' Day and the temperature continues to drop, though the worst stuff might not arrive until mid-to-late afternoon. The Red Sox won't need to rely on their players to slow the pace. Mother Nature is all over it. Seriously, the combination of starter Clay Buchholz and catcher Ryan Hanigan could stop time. A flight from BWI to Washington D.C. would last 14 hours if the Red Sox were...

We sure don't have enough at-bats or a large enough sample size to fully analyze why Adam Jones is off to such a blistering start at the plate. But looking at some of his plate discipline stats from FanGraphs, there are a few trends developing through 12 games for Jones. So far, he is striking out much less, swinging a bit less at pitches outside the strike zone, hitting a higher percentage of line drives and not missing hittable strikes. Jones struck out in 19.5 percent of his plate...

BOSTON - The Orioles have won four of their last five games and are tied with the Red Sox for first place in the American League East following today's 8-3 victory. The Orioles have won seven of their last eight at Fenway Park. They're 7-1 this season when scoring first and 7-0 when leading after seven innings. In addition, the Orioles have homered in nine straight games, the longest streak in the majors. They matched their season high today with 15 hits and have 13 or more hits in the last...