WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – From the moment he felt something in his elbow while throwing to live hitters back home in Texas earlier this month, Mason Thompson feared the worst. Today, the Nationals reliever had those fears confirmed: He needs Tommy John surgery. Thompson will undergo a full elbow ligament replacement surgery Friday, manager Davey Mart

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Orioles brought their starting outfield to Hammond Stadium for today’s game against the Twins, though Cedric Mullins is the designated hitter. Austin Hays is in left field and batting cleanup. Colton Cowser is in center field and Anthony Santander is in right. Jordan Westburg gets the start at shortstop. Ramón Urías is the th

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If everything goes as planned, Jackson Rutledge probably isn’t going to make the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation. But if everything goes as the team hopes, Rutledge could join the rotation at some point this season and, ideally, pitch well enough to stay. The 2019 first-round pick made his long-awaited debut last September,

It’s still very early in spring training but never too early to take a shot at guesses – and that is what they truly are, guesses – at the makeup of the Opening Day roster. Today I will take a shot at projecting an eight-man bullpen that would work behind a starting group of five pitching in some order to include Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, D

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Zach Davies arrived at Nationals camp late, having signed his minor league deal three days after pitchers and catchers reported and having arrived here three days after that. So the veteran right-hander understandably is a little behind the rest of his teammates. That probably came into focus during Davies’ spring debut Tues

SARASOTA, Fla. – It’s the quieter times or moments off the field that can make Anthony Santander imagine his baseball life away from Baltimore. Never when he’s working out with teammates or joking with them in the clubhouse. Never when he puts on the uniform. The games, whether real or in exhibition form, have his full attention. But he knows that

SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias kept checking the pitching market for rotation depth after players reported to spring training. He’s reportedly made a move tonight. Veteran right-hander Julio Teheran has agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to camp, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Tehe

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Davey Martinez filled out a lineup card this morning that had some purpose to it. Not the batting order, that was incidental. But the names he wrote into the three starting outfield slots – Hassell in left, Crews in center, Wood in right – was done for a particular reason. The Nationals’ top prospects had all already seen pl

SARASOTA, Fla. – An exhibition game, with results that don’t really count, meant everything to Orioles reliever Dillon Tate. Tate was back on the mound today after a right flexor forearm strain kept him away from it last spring. He didn’t pitch for the Orioles after experiencing a setback during a rehab assignment, but is in good health again and e

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Still searching for more experienced bullpen help, the Nationals have agreed to a minor league contract with former Red sox closer Matt Barnes, according to a source familiar with the deal. Barnes, who still needs to pass a physical before his signing is official, will become the latest veteran reliever to join the Nats’ maj