Lane Thomas isn’t exactly in uncharted territory here. The Nationals right fielder has gotten off to slow starts before. It took him 26 games before he finally hit his first home run in 2023. And he sported a .496 OPS at the end of April 2022. In both instances, everything turned out fine for Thomas by season’s end. So a weeklong slump to open this

We were probably impressed when the Orioles’ Triple-A Norfolk farm team scored 39 runs in their first four games. Their top prospects were spraying line drives in the gaps and hitting baseballs over outfield walls. As it turns out, the players on the top farm club for baseball’s No. 1 ranked farm system were just warming up. Wednesday night, Norfol

With the Pirates starting left-handers in the last two games of their weekend series, this afternoon provides Orioles manager Brandon Hyde with a chance to get Colton Cowser in the lineup for the second time in the young season. Or Cowser could sit on the bench, and his .500 average in eight at-bats, and wait for his next chance to play. It happene

The Nationals know what Josiah Gray looks like at his best, slinging up any of seven different pitches to keep hitters off-balance and induce a host of swings and misses while escaping the occasional jam. The Nationals also know what Gray looks like at his worst, unable to locate his fastball, unable to put away hitters, unable to extend outings du

Victor Robles’ encouraging start to the season came to an abrupt halt Wednesday night when the Nationals center fielder strained his left hamstring running the bases, leading to his official placement today on the 10-day injured list. Fellow outfielder Jacob Young was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take Robles’ roster spot. There was no immedi

They managed to play Monday’s home opener as scheduled with no interruption. They managed to play Wednesday night as scheduled with no interruption. Can the Nationals and Pirates do the impossible and play today’s series finale as scheduled with no interruption? There’s once again rain in the forecast, so that may be too much to ask for. But perhap

The Orioles had two Gold Glove finalists, but no winners, last season and some fans may not remember that while Austin Hays was a finalist for left fielders, Baltimore’s other finalist was Ryan Mountcastle at first base. As manager Brandon Hyde said, “It's great to see him find a home defensively,” and Mountcastle has put in the time and work to ge

As he stepped to the plate in the top of the second Monday afternoon and heard the sustained applause from the sellout crowd at Nationals Park, Michael A. Taylor sheepishly tried to contemplate the appropriate way to respond. “It’s not something I’ve ever experienced before,” the Pirates center fielder said. “I honestly didn’t know what to do.” Aft

The Orioles are leaving the cold and rain of Baltimore and flying into the cold of Pittsburgh. But no rain. Daytime highs for the three games are 43, 48 and a balmy 56 degrees. But a new concession item at PNC Park is “The Renegade,” a foot-long hot dog draped in potato pierogis, pot roast, pickles and onions. Let me start by saying cheddar potato

Trevor Williams won the Nationals fifth starter’s job to begin the season not on merit so much as on track record, contract status and the fact his spring training competition (Zach Davies) did nothing to earn the job himself. The leash on Williams, who statistically ranked as one of the worst starters in baseball last year, is probably short. But