There are many reasons for O's fans to be excited about Jonathan Schoop. He just may be the club's opening day second baseman and is sure stating his case with his strong spring. Beyond that, Schoop is from Curacao and the Orioles have produced few international players that made the majors, but the club is clearly getting better on that front. Also, Schoop first played for the club in the 2009 Dominican Summer League and has made all the stops along the way. He's gone from the DSL to the...

The Orioles today announced that they have claimed infielder David Adams off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. To make room for Adams on the 40-man roster, left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz has been designated for assignment. Adams, 27, appeared in 43 games for the New York Yankees in 2013, batting .193/.252/.286 with two homers and 13 RBI. Adams made 38 starts for the Yankees in 2013, including 29 at third base, where he posted a .985 fielding percentage. In 412 minor league games over six...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles announced a transaction tonight that manager Buck Showalter alluded to earlier today in Port Charlotte. The Orioles have claimed infielder David Adams off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz has been designated for assignment. Adams, 27, appeared in 43 games for the New York Yankees in 2013, batting .193/.252/.286 with two homers and 13 RBIs. He made 38 starts in 2013,...

VIERA, Fla. - Six of the Nationals' 10 hits during today's 6-5 win over a split-squad Marlins lineup went for extra bases. That includes Adam LaRoche's third homer of spring and Danny Espinosa's first two longballs of the Grapefruit League schedule, the latter of which was an opposite-field walk-off onto the World of Beer patio in left field. Doug Fister went 3 2/3 strong innings, and Chris Young followed with 2 1/3 scoreless, but Rafael Soriano allowed a run in the seventh, Ross Detwiler...

VIERA, Fla. - As if it wasn't clear that Doug Fister felt just fine physically when he came out to start the fourth inning today, after the initial plan had him working just three frames, Fister confirmed following his outing that he didn't have any abnormal post-start discomfort. The right-hander hadn't appeared in a Grapefruit League game in 20 days due to inflammation in his right elbow, but he worked 3 2/3 strong, scoreless innings today, throwing 47 pitches, allowing just two hits and...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Alfredo Aceves retired the Rays in order in the bottom of the 10th inning, and today's game ended in a 3-3 tie. The Orioles are 12-7-2 this spring. Aceves refused to pitch until the Rays' grounds crew repaired the mound, causing a lengthy delay. Manager Buck Showalter actually took a rake to speed up the process and carried it off the field. "It was the rubber," he said. "It had been that way for two or three innings. In fairness to Alfredo, there was no place to...

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Orioles 3, Rays 3 (10 innings) Recap: Ubaldo Jimenez allowed two runs and five hits over six innings and retired 10 of the last 12 Rays that he faced. James Loney hit a two-run homer off him in the first. Delmon Young hit his first spring home run. Rule 5 pick Michael Almanzar had a tie-breaking RBI single in the fifth after Alexi Casilla's gift double on a ball that left fielder Brandon Guyer lost in the sun. Almanzar was 7-for-33 with nine RBIs after the hit. Rays...

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 6, Marlins (ss) 5 Recap: Danny Espinosa hit two homers, including a walk-off shot to the opposite field in the bottom of the ninth. Rafael Soriano served up a solo shot in the seventh, Ross Detwiler allowed three runs in the eighth and Michael Gonzalez blew a save in the ninth but the Nats picked up the win. Need to know: Doug Fister worked 3 2/3 strong innings in his first appearance in 20 days, and most importantly, he came out saying that he felt no...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Delmon Young is getting the start in left field today as he tries to win a spot on the Orioles' 25-man roster. May as well make the most of it. Young hit a ball off the scoreboard in left-center field in the top of the second inning for his first home run of the spring. Before today, Young was 8-for-33 with no home runs and one RBI. He was in a 1-for-19 slump before collecting five hits in his last 10 at-bats. Young connected off Rays right-hander Alex Cobb, who...

VIERA, Fla. - You already know that Doug Fister will be making his first spring start in 20 days today. You don't know what Matt Williams will specifically be watching for today when it comes to Fister, who is working back from inflammation in his right elbow. But that's what I'm here for - to pass along such information. Williams says he mainly cares about how Fister feels during and after his start today. He won't mind too much if Fister's command is off or if he doesn't have great...