WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – When MacKenzie Gore returned home in October and contemplated his season, the Nationals left-hander focused on the two extremes he experienced. “Some good and some bad,” he said. “I’ve really just got to figure out why I was good at times, and why I wasn’t. Fix that and go into this year.” Gore truly did pitch at both ends o

SARASOTA, Fla. – Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter used to make a point about the unpredictability of baseball by quoting one of his favorite sayings. If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. It’s supposed to apply to life, but it also works with sports. Think you have every angle covered before spring training and discover on

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was something of an offhand comment, thrown in near the end of a longer answer to a question about his bench options to begin the season. But what Davey Martinez said Wednesday made a few ears perk up. “We’re going to have a battle for center field with Young and Robles,” the Nationals manager said in his first media sess

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg was sitting on his couch with wife Anna Claire when she suddenly went from spouse to source. “I didn’t have my phone on me,” Westburg said this morning. “We were watching a movie and she’s like, ‘Hey, who is Corbin Burnes?’ It was just a random question for her to ask. I was like, ‘Why do you ask?’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Mason Thompson was enjoying what he believed was a productive offseason. Determined to bounce back from an erratic 2023, the Nationals reliever set out to make some mechanical changes to his delivery, and a couple weeks ago faced a live hitter near his home in Texas for the first time this year. Everything was going swimming

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles’ pitching depth will be tested early. Kyle Bradish will begin the season on the injured list with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection and begins a throwing progression on Friday. John Means is a month behind the other pitchers after experiencing elbow sore

During a season where he turned 30, the Orioles Ryan O’Hearn became a middle-of-the-order hitter on a 101-win Orioles club that finished atop the American League East. Not bad for a player who was in the big leagues part-time between 2018 and 2022 with Kansas City. His career line with the Royals was .219/.293/.390/.683. He elevated his game with B

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – When he threw his first pitch off the mound Monday, Cade Cavalli could have flashed right back to the last time he performed such an act, that horrible day nearly one year ago and about 50 miles up the road in Port St. Lucie when he tried to throw a changeup to Brandon Nimmo and felt his elbow ligament snap in the process. I

SARASOTA, Fla. – Temperatures at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota are expected to reach the 70s again today. Sunscreen is readily available in the baseball operations building and the athletic trainers’ carts during workouts, and also in the dugout once exhibition games begin. Can’t block out the excitement that comes with the first officia

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s impossible to miss inside the Nationals clubhouse. It’s prominently located, at the end of a row of lockers belonging to the rest of the members of the team’s starting rotation. It’s the same locker Stephen Strasburg has used since the organization began training here in 2017. And it continues to be adorned with his nam