The Orioles may have returned north to start their season, but the team's presence is still strong at the team's spring training home in Sarasota, Fla. This past Sunday, teams donning black and orange took the field at the Orioles' Ed Smith Stadium for the All-American Family Day & Concert softball game, hosted by the Baltimore Orioles. The Sarasota All Stars, made up of local celebrities including media members and politicians, squared off against the Manasota Military All Stars, and...

The Orioles are just 1-5 since winning on opening day and today they face right-hander Ivan Nova (1-0, 3.18 ERA) in New York. Wei-Yin Chen (0-1, 6.35 ERA) starts for the Orioles in the second game of the three-game series. We've talked a lot about the starting pitching here already in the first eight days of the season. Let's take a look at the offense so far. The Orioles have scored just 22 runs in seven games and have scored three runs or less in five of those games. They have hit just...

NEW YORK - The sun is out and the Orioles are taking batting practice and doing infield drills. The temperature actually is rising. Imagine the possibilities. Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters this morning that shortstop J.J. Hardy is feeling "a lot better" despite being out of the lineup for the fourth time in five games with lingering tightness in his lower back. Showalter indicated that Hardy should be available today, though he would make the same claim if it weren't true...

NEW YORK - It's another rainy and cold morning in the Bronx. Still waiting for baseball weather to kick in and no longer make me feel as though I should be waiting for a coin toss and the opening kickoff. Much more of this and I'll be setting up an interview with the Orioles' special teams coach. J.J. Hardy is again out of the lineup, as he's sidelined for the fourth time in five games because of spasms and tightness in his lower back. Ryan Flaherty is at shortstop with Steve Lombardozzi...

In recent years, the Marlins have served as the doormat of the National League East. They've lost at least 90 games each of the last three seasons - including a 100-loss campaign last year - and finished anywhere from 29 to 34 games out of first place in the division. Last year, the Nationals took 14 of their 19 games against Miami, outscoring the Marlins 86-52 in those contests. You saw the Marlins coming up on your schedule, you could typically pencil in at least a couple of wins. That...

So the Orioles are 2-0 when Chris Tillman starts and he has an ERA of 1.35 in those two games. They are 0-5 when anyone else starts with an ERA of 8.76. So, yeah, that has to change and soon. We can talk about the Orioles' lack of hitting - and the team has scored just 22 runs with only three homers in seven games - but this club will go only as far as its rotation will take it. The offense should be good and the defense will likely be top shelf again. But the pitchers need to pull their...

NEW YORK - I'm writing quickly this morning because I left my power cord in the Yankee Stadium press box yesterday and my laptop battery is running low. You may read slowly, however. No pressure. J.J. Hardy has missed three of the last four games due to spasms and tightness in his lower back. If he's still on the shelf today, with little or no improvement, it's perfectly fine to express concern and speculate about a trip to the disabled list. Losing Hardy and Manny Machado on the left...

NEW YORK - Ubaldo Jimenez couldn't locate his breaking ball today, couldn't get it down, and the Yankees made him pay. Jimenez didn't last through the fifth inning and was charged with four runs and eight hits, with five walks 109 pitches thrown. He's 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in his first two starts with the Orioles. "It was all about getting the breaking ball down," he said. "It was kind of tough to throw inside and especially, I couldn't find any of them to put away hitters. I was able to...

NEW YORK - With shortstop J.J. Hardy unavailable today due to tightness in his lower back, Orioles manager Buck Showalter couldn't make moves in the late innings that normally would have been automatic for him. Showalter addressed that topic after a 4-2 loss to the Yankees, along with Ubaldo Jimenez's start and the decision to move outfielder Nolan Reimold to the 60-day disabled list. Here you go: On Jimenez: "He went through some really good sequences and then just got out of whack. He was...

You may have heard the term "pitch framing" bandied about lately. In this guest blog, we hope to make the concept behind pitch framing and its implementation more familiar to you. How does one figure out how to measure how well a catcher frames pitches? Well, it is like any idea. Ideas go through several stages in order to be implemented. Typically, an idea for a design is created in order to address a desire. These ideas are then tested for their soundness against what we already know. From...