It's June, and I'm scoreboard watching. I've actually been doing so since early May. It's not the best way to weather periodic losing streaks, blown saves or even a rival's hot streaks. Nevertheless, I do it all the same. The process is made more enjoyable by the realization that for much of the recent past there was no reason to scoreboard watch at any point in the season for us Orioles fans. Scoreboard watching, regardless of when it takes place, has become a little less stressful with...

Right-hander Hunter Harvey, drafted by the Orioles in the first round tonight, said he doesn't expect to have any drawn-out contract negotiations and hopes to start his pro career soon. "I think it will be a very quick process," he said. "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life and now it's finally here. I don't want to mess around, I'm kind of ready to go start playing." But when the night began, Harvey didn't figure it would end with him taken by Baltimore. "It was a...

The Nationals' No. 68 selection in the First-Year Player Draft is a big boy - 6-foot-6, 235-pounds right-hander Jacob Johansen, from Dallas Baptist University, has a 99 mph fastball and tallied 75 strikeouts as a redshirt junior. Some believe that fastball is all Johansen can throw, and that it is a straight pitch. Nationals scouting director Kris Kline disagrees, and believes the 22-year-old from Allen, Texas, can bring a lot to the mound, projecting him as a future Nationals...

The Orioles drafted three high school players tonight in the First-Year Player Draft, but scouting director Gary Rajsich said that was not the exact game plan heading into the draft. "No, it wasn't really mapped out that way," Rajsich said. "It's just kind of how the draft fell. We feel like we did get three young players that we really like and we do trust our player development people. "We went into the day with a short- and long-term perspective. It just didn't work out that way,...

The Washington Nationals tonight selected 22 year-old right-handed pitcher Jacob Johansen (Dallas Baptist University) with the 68th-overall pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint announcement. The 6-foot-6, 235 lbs. Johansen cemented his status as one of...

It took quite a while for the Nationals to make their first pick of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Once they were on the clock, they took a kid with a big-time power arm. The Nationals have selected Jake Johansen, a right-handed pitcher out of Dallas Baptist University, with the No. 68 overall selection. The 22-year-old righty, who checks in at 6-foot-6, 235 lbs., struck out 75 in 88.1 innings this season, his junior year at Dallas Baptist. Johansen went 7-6 with a 5.40 ERA in 15 starts...

The Orioles tonight selected right-hander Hunter Harvey of Bandys (NC) High School with their first selection of the 2013 First Year Player Draft, the 22nd overall pick of the draft. The Orioles also selected outfielder Josh Hart at No. 37 overall from Parkview (GA) HS and catcher Chance Sisco at No. 61 overall from Santiago (CA) HS. Harvey, 18, went 8-0 in 11 games (eight starts) with a 0.38 ERA this season, racking up 116 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched, following a 7-0 record and 1.81...

Left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada worked 5 1/3 innings last night in his fifth injury-rehab start at Triple-A Norfolk, allowing three runs and six hits, walking one and striking out six. He threw 95 pitches, 70 for strikes. For the first time since signing his two-year, $8.15 million deal with the Orioles in December 2011, Wada was credited with a win. There's another W besides the first letter in his last name. In 23 innings with the Tides, Wada has surrendered 18 runs (15 earned) and 27 hits,...

Tonight's Mets-Nationals game scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., has been postponed due to inclement weather. The team will play a split doubleheader Friday, July 26 with tonight's make-up game beginning at 1:35 p.m. The second regularly scheduled game is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.* The two games against the Mets on July 26 will require separate admission. Fans with game tickets to tonight's postponed contest may use their original tickets for the...

Stephen Strasburg landed on the disabled list yesterday with a strained lat muscle, but he's already making strides in his recovery. The Nationals ace played catch today and has a simulated game on the docket for next week. Manager Davey Johnson said that Strasburg is scheduled to throw a sim game this upcoming Tuesday, the Nats' first day in Colorado. This comes after Strasburg did a good bit of throwing off flat ground earlier today. "He went out early and he was throwing," Johnson...