NORTH PORT, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson is taking live batting practice this morning back in Sarasota, his first sessions since reporting to camp on a reduced schedule. Henderson felt some tightness in his left oblique in January while long-tossing at home. He’s hit in the cage during regular batting practice. The presence of a real pitcher should be t

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Joey Gallo was adamant: The wrap around his left quadriceps is nothing to get worked up about. “Just a little soreness, a little tightness,” the Nationals slugger said. “If it’s the season, we’re not even talking about it. But obviously in spring training, you’re always just cautionary. I’m not worried at all.” Gallo hasn’t

NORTH PORT, Fla. – Jackson Holliday is in the lineup again today, this time at shortstop against the Braves in North Port. Colton Cowser is leading off and playing center field. Ryan Mountcastle, scratched yesterday due to illness, is listed as the designated hitter. Mountcastle said this morning that he’s feeling a little better. Jordan Westburg i

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s been an encouraging start to the spring season for the Nationals, who have won four of their first six games, gotten some pretty good pitching and seen their top young prospects deliver in their first big league camp. At some point, though, you’d also like to see their projected regulars start producing a little more at

The Orioles got some national attention this week when MLB Network aired its “30 clubs in 15 days preview” on the Orioles on Thursday afternoon.  If you missed it, the analysts are high on the 2024 Orioles with former player Cliff Floyd projecting another 100-win year. Yes, expectations are very high for a club that was 47-115 in the 2018 seas

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Four years into his big league career, Kyle Finnegan has established himself as good late-inning reliever. And he’s done so with a fairly simple repertoire of pitches. He throws a high-90s fastball most of the time (70 percent on average). And he mixes in a slider to right-handed batters and a splitter to hitters from both s

SARASOTA, Fla. – No one in the Orioles organization is enjoying Colton Cowser’s hot start in exhibition games more than teammate and friend Heston Kjerstad, who doesn’t ponder how it might impact his own chances of making the Opening Day roster. Kjerstad isn’t wired that way. He wants everyone to be electric, to put up good numbers. And he remains

JUPITER, Fla. – This wasn’t Tanner Rainey’s return from Tommy John surgery. That came late last September, when he tossed a scoreless inning in Atlanta as a reward for all the time and effort he put in over the previous year-plus. What was the significance of Rainey’s 1-2-3 inning today at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium? Consider it his return to a n

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles leadoff hitter Jackson Holliday swung at the second pitch from Paul Skenes today and grounded to second baseman Nick Gonzales. The first-overall pick in the 2022 draft retired by the first-overall pick in the 2023 draft, with the assist going to the seventh-overall selection in 2020. And after catcher Henry Davis, the top s

JUPITER, Fla. – It’s not unusual for former players to speak to the Nationals and offer advice to the organization’s younger up-and-comers. Certainly not this spring, which has seen Ryan Zimmerman spend a week at camp and Sean Doolittle and Gerardo Parra take on full-time coaching positions. But those are all former Nationals, guys with distinct co