SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are down to their final day of strictly workouts before their first exhibition game on Tuesday against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. Players have reached the point in camp where they're ready for the competition, ready to do something different besides going field to field for various drills, throwing off practice mounds and hitting in the cage. They want to face an opponent and reduce the distance between themselves and opening day. Yesterday's intrasquad game...

VIERA, Fla. - Seems like Danny Espinosa is taking most of his fielding reps with Ian Desmond at shortstop while Yunel Escobar and Dan Uggla are handling second base. But the focus this spring training is on improving Espinosa's production at the plate. The career switch-hitter continues to take extra batting practice every day as he attempts to transition exclusively to a right-handed hitter. As Nationals manager Matt Williams told us earlier, that means spending more time standing in the box...

SARASOTA, Fla. - A scoreless tie in an intrasquad game still held a certain measure of significance for a few players beyond facing live pitching and hitting on the first day of March. Matt Wieters caught for the first time since May, though he didn't make any throws to second base. Manny Machado batted for the first time since Aug. 11 and lined out to center field in his first trip to the plate. Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia was so impressive in his one inning of work, a few players moved from the...

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals pitchers threw to live hitters for the first time in spring training this morning. Though very few swings were taken, it does serve to be beneficial for pitchers to have actual hitters digging in the box as opposed to just throwing bullpen sessions. Fans scurried to the practice field where Max Scherzer was taking the mound to get a look at the newest Nats star. "First time out there facing hitters and it actually seemed like I knew what I was doing," Scherzer said....

SARASOTA, Fla. - You know it's an intrasquad game when Orioles pitchers are told to record more than three outs in an inning. The home team was five up, five down against left-hander T.J. McFarland in the bottom of the first, and the visiting team was four up, four down versus left-hander Wesley Wright in the top of the second. Left-hander Zach Britton induced ground balls from Everth Cabrera, Alejandro De Aza and Nolan Reimold. Wright struck out Matt Tuiasosopo, retired Steve Clevenger on a...

Nationals coordinator of instruction Gary Cathcart is working two camps a day at spring training - the early camp filled with prospects and the major league camp. During the regular season, Cathcart roves the minor league system working with players and coaching them up. In June, he will again manage the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays. Several of the players he had on that squad last season are on the early camp roster this season. In my next series of blogs, I will break down...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Catcher Matt Wieters is leading off today for the home team in the Orioles' intrasquad game at Ed Smith Stadium. In a related story, this is not a preview of the opening day lineup. Everth Cabrera is leading off for the visiting team and Steve Clevenger is behind the plate. Zach Britton is starting for the home team and T.J. McFarland is starting for the visitors in a one-inning battle of left-handers. For the home team Matt Wieters C Manny Machado 3B J.J. Hardy SS Adam...

VIERA, Fla. - Nate McLouth's first season in Washington never got on track. He was bothered by shoulder inflammation throughout much of the year, which eventually led to surgery in August to repair a torn right labrum. Before shutting it down, the veteran outfielder managed just a .173 batting average with one home run and seven RBIs in 79 games. Those numbers were the worst of McLouth's 10-year career. He earned a two-year, $10.75 million contract from the Nationals after a productive 2013...

SARASOTA, Fla. - If you woke up this morning and wondered why it felt like Christmas without all the decorations and wrapping paper, that's because I'm going to be posting my first lineups of 2015. Just don't put your eye out. The intrasquad game doesn't count today, but it beats bullpen sessions and bunt drills. Important stuff, of course, but not the same as pitchers facing hitters on the Ed Smith Stadium field. And as an added bonus, the Orioles are assured of winning. The only...

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Smyly drew some reaction for a comment he posted on his Twitter account recently. After the Red Sox signed Cuban-born amateur Yoan Moncada for $31.5 million, Smyly made this remark: * It's not right that a Cuban 19yr old gets paid 30m and the best 19yr old in the entire USA gets prob 1/6th of that. Everyone should have to go through same process. Later, Smyly told the Tampa Bay Times his comment was not personal about Moncada, but about the system of acquiring...