SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter did his best to monitor both intrasquad games today, climbing up to the tower behind the bleachers for a while, then moving from field 3 to field 4. Terry Crowley tried to keep score, and various coaches offered assistance. Observers of Steve Johnson's performance on field 3 had to come away impressed. Johnson, pitching the bottom of the first inning, was given an extra batter to face after easily retiring the first three. Showalter wanted his...

VIERA, Fla. - Kurt Suzuki looks at live batting practice sessions from multiple perspectives. As he stands in the batter's box, he obviously sees the pitches coming in at him with a hitter's mindset. But the Nationals catcher also views things from the perspective of a guy who will be behind the plate on the receiving end of these pitches. Suzuki was in the box today facing reliever Drew Storen during live BP, and he was really impressed with what he saw. "He was telling you what it was...

VIERA, Fla. - There's only so much you can take out of a throwing session in which the players standing in the batter's box know exactly what's coming. During live batting practice, the hitters are made aware of what pitch will be heading their way, leading to confident swings when the player actually chooses to take the bat off his shoulder. But even though it was just live BP and Stephen Strasburg wasn't throwing full force, the Nationals right-hander looked sharp during this morning's...

I spoke last week about the acquisition of Denard Span and how it sets up a very good order of center fielders now throughout the Nationals system. Eury Perez, Brian Goodwin, Michael Taylor and Billy Burns have played well at each level of the system as they look to get better this season and move up. Goodwin was recognized this week as the No. 70 prospect by Baseball America. "I think center field is a position of strength for us," Nationals director of player development Doug Harris...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Nick Markakis is expected back in camp on Friday after flying to Baltimore today for a funeral. As I mentioned earlier, Markakis underwent the same acid reflux test administered to Manny Machado and Zach Braddock. That's why he didn't play today. "He had it this morning, 7 o'clock," said manager Buck Showalter. "He had to have a little anesthesia to do it. That's why he didn't participate today. "What happens is they have this acid reflux and they mention it in the...

VIERA, Fla. - Tyler Moore, Roger Bernadina, Chris Snyder and Chad Tracy all took their hacks against Stephen Strasburg this morning in the right-hander's first live batting practice session of spring. As Bernadina warmed up just before stepping into the cage, he turned around and started chatting with a couple of reporters. I asked whether Bernadina would be going yard off Strasburg, and Bernadina quickly turned his head toward the mound as Strasburg fired in a few warm-up pitches that had to...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Davis hit an opposite-field home run off Tommy Hunter in today's Orioles intrasquad game on the Camden Yards field. Davis lined a fastball that was low and away over the left-field fence. "Actually, it wasn't a bad pitch," Davis said. In his next at-bat, Davis squared to bunt twice against Adam Russell, taking the first pitch and fouling off the second. He struck out swinging, with catcher Taylor Teagarden squeezing the foul tip. "I wanted to see how it felt,"...

VIERA, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg will throw live batting practice this morning. Bryce Harper will hit off live batting practice this morning. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the two former No. 1 overall picks will be facing off against each other out on the minor league fields today during the Nationals' workout. Strasburg is scheduled to be the first pitcher to throw live BP out on Field 1. He'll be followed by Ross Detwiler, Drew Storen, Ryan Mattheus, Bill Bray and Nathan...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Manager Buck Showalter told reporters yesterday that Nick Markakis would leave camp after the intrasquad games to attend a funeral in Baltimore, but the right fielder isn't in today's lineups and there's no sign of him in the clubhouse. I'll check with Showalter later, but Markakis may have already left Sarasota. He's expected back in a few days. It's also interesting that Nolan Reimold isn't playing today. He's in the clubhouse and continues to be full-go in...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter has posted his four lineups for today's 10 a.m. intrasquad games at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Field 3: Xavier Avery CF Luis Exposito C LJ Hoes LF Travis Ishakawa 1B Yamaico Navarro 3B Buck Britton RF Adrian Marin SS Ty Kelly 2B Todd Redmond RHP Jonathan Schoop 2B Russ Canzler 1B Chris Dickerson CF Chris Robinson C Niuman Romero SS Danny Valencia 3B Johnny Ruetteger LF Brenden Webb RF Steve Johnson RHP Field 4: Adam Jones...