When the Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Monday with a roster filled with the future of the organization, the team's development staff had to be beaming with a sense of pride and accomplishment. It wasn't too long ago the Nationals would bring 80 guys to camp and didn't know if they had a handful of major leaguers in that lot. The entire starting lineup Monday night featured the best the minor league system had to offer, sprinkled with a couple of players already with the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles were denied the chance to face a left-handed starter yesterday when their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was rained out, but there's always another one right around the corner. They stepped into the box on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays' Mark Buerhle in Dunedin and on Monday against the New York Yankees' Vidal Nuno in Sarasota. They never saw the Pirates' Wandy Rodriguez yesterday, but they get the Yankees' Nik Turley and the Boston Red Sox's...

Here is a baseball topic worth discussion: How and when did the sport become so obsessed with a pitcher's velocity? I include myself in this and, it seems in the game today, when discussing a pitcher, we focus on it, almost at the exclusion of other aspects of pitching that are important too. I can remember a day last summer when I had a conversation with someone about this and we both agreed reporters, fans and even the scouts can become too focused on this. A few minutes later I remember...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Rather than start Wednesday night's split-squad game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium, left-hander Zach Britton will follow Chris Tillman to the mound and work in relief. Tillman was supposed to start today against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton before heavy rains caused a cancellation and a bit of a rotation shuffle. Dylan Bundy, also slated to pitch today, is currently scheduled to follow Jake Arrieta Wednesday afternoon against the New York Yankees in...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Had the rain postponed today's game between the Nationals and Braves, Ross Detwiler's pitching schedule would have gotten thrown all out of whack. Detwiler was scheduled to start today and then get one more outing with the Nats on March 3 before joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic on March 4. If the rain that fell heavily from about 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. had forced a postponement and not just a one-hour delay, the Nationals would have needed to...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - It's a 9-5 Braves lead here at Champion Field as we enter the ninth inning. Anthony Rendon and Sandy Leon delivered back-to-back RBI doubles in the eighth to make it a four-run game. It would be easy to disregard Ross Detwiler's spring debut as a worthless Grapefruit League game against the Braves, an outing that Detwiler could toss aside as soon as he left the mound. Detwiler sure doesn't view it that way, however. "I was just in a competitive game," Detwiler...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Things started just fine for Ryan Perry here today. Perry came into this afternoon's game in the third inning with two runners on base, inherited from Ross Detwiler, and he struck out Dan Uggla looking to end the frame. In the fourth inning, Perry allowed two singles, but he got an inning-ending double play, with a hand from Anthony Rendon, who stepped on the bag at third and then delivered a strike across the diamond to nab Reed Johnson at first. But in the fifth,...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Largely because he reports to spring training so early, Ross Detwiler usually finds himself one of the Nationals' most game-ready pitchers each year in the early stages of camp. Detwiler has been in Florida for nearly a month now, throwing and building up arm strength. That work has showed so far today, as the left-hander has allowed just one hit through two innings of work and notched two strikeouts. The 27-year-old needed just 13 pitches (eight of which were...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The rain is still falling, and we're in a delay that might not be lifted anytime soon. Radar over the Orlando area shows plenty of rain is still coming, so Ross Detwiler might have trouble getting his two or three innings in this afternoon. Ryan Mattheus takes a look around the Nationals' clubhouse these days and sees a lack of southpaws. Sean Burnett departed via free agency this offseason. So did Tom Gorzelanny. Michael Gonzalez then joined Gorzelanny in...

BRADENTON, Fla. - It's still raining at McKechnie Field and umpires will check back with the managers at 1 p.m. to decide whether to wait or cancel the game. The Orioles' pitching schedule will be affected if we have a cancellation. Otherwise, Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton will start the split-squad games on Wednesday and Jair Jurrjens will start Thursday against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers. Tommy Hunter is slated to go two or three innings on Thursday. Kevin Gausman will pitch two...