SARASOTA, Fla. - Director of player development Brian Graham provided a number of interesting tidbits on the Orioles' system at Twin Lakes Park today. First and foremost, the O's are planning to move former first-round pick Matt Hobgood to the bullpen this year, and the right-hander will likely start at Single-A Delmarva. A goal of the shift is to help the 22-year-old get his diminished velocity back quicker coming off of shoulder surgery. The Orioles also will have some of their minor...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Nick Markakis finished his medicine pack a few days ago, spoke with a team physician yesterday and plans on resuming baseball activities later this week. All positive developments after Markakis was diagnosed with a small herniation in his neck. "He said to check back with him Thursday or Friday and hopefully they'll release me to do some baseball stuff," Markakis said this morning. "There's just a little bit of soreness in there. Hopefully, these next couple of days...

VIERA, Fla. - Perhaps no role on a coaching staff is more misunderstood than that of the first base coach. New Nationals first base coach Tony Tarasco knows this. He realizes fans see him point a runner toward second base on a sure-fire double down the line, or grab the batting gloves from a player who has just drawn a walk, and think he has the cushiest job on the diamond. Tarasco, in his first season on Davey Johnson's staff after seven seasons in Washington's minor leagues as an...

SARASOTA, Fla. - This must be a strange time for some of the Orioles' young pitchers. They are battling hard to win the fifth starter's job and they are battling against some of their best friends. Players they have known since their minor league days. Zach Britton understands that it's a weird dynamic. He is trying to put his best foot (or is that arm) forward here and it might mean he or one of his best friends has to start the year in the minors. "We are good friends," Britton said...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Second baseman Brian Roberts will make his first road trip of the spring today when the Orioles travel to Fort Myers to play the Boston Red Sox. Nate McLouth and Chris Davis also are traveling. For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B Ryan Flaherty SS Nate McLouth CF Chris Davis 1B Wilson Betemit DH Manny Machado 3B Trayvon Robinson LF Taylor Teagarden C Jason Pridie RF Brian Matusz LHP Chris Dickerson, Travis Ishikawa, Russ Canzler, Luis Exposito, Lew Ford, Yamaico Navarro, Steve...

SARASOTA, Fla. - After pitching just 37 innings total the last two seasons and coming off shoulder surgery last April 2, Orioles 2009 first-round draft pick Matt Hobgood is scheduled to begin this season pitching out of the bullpen. "We want to see that velocity come back and I think we'll use him out of the bullpen," O's director of player development Brian Graham said Tuesday at Twin Lakes Park. "He's got to be a guy that pitches as often as we can get him in there and he's got to...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles dive back into their Grapefruit League schedule today, and they're heading down I-75 south toward Fort Myers for the third time in nine games. Brian Matusz gets the start against the Boston Red Sox, who are sending Ryan Dempster to the mound. Matusz's last start also came in Fort Myers, though he faced the Minnesota Twins. He tossed four scoreless and hitless innings, walking one and striking out seven. Manager Buck Showalter may try to get five innings out of...

SARASOTA, Fla. - No doubt Orioles manager Buck Showalter and pitching coach Rick Adair should get credit for how they used the bullpen last year. There was not any overuse of pitchers and they always seem to put the right people in the right spots at the right times. Showalter would even seem to know when to give a certain pitcher an outing, even if the situation didn't necessarily call for his use, to get work to stay sharp. Pitchers were not overused or underused. If they got up to warm...

VIERA, Fla. - The whip is coming, and Jayson Werth is ready. For several days, Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been pulling his regulars aside and telling them that the somewhat leisurely pace that goes along with a seven-week spring training elongated by the World Baseball Classic is about to change drastically. No more veterans begging off from long bus trips, citing the years they've spent and the presence of rookies. "I'm taking everybody," said Johnson, who pinpointed...

VIERA, Fla. - It'll take a lot more than one subpar outing for Nationals manager Davey Johnson to lose faith in new closer Rafael Soriano. Soriano had a hiccup Monday afternoon, coughing up a 1-0 lead in an outing that Johnson said was nowhere near as bad as it looked. "I thought that was the best he's thrown all spring," Johnson said after Soriano yielded four runs on five hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning, absorbing the loss in a 5-1 defeat. "I thought he made some quality...