SARASOTA, Fla. - By the time I left the clubhouse this morning, I had spotted pitchers Zach Britton, Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Alfredo Simon, Pedro Strop, Tommy Hunter, Jason Berken, Brad Bergesen, Jason Hammel, Oliver Drake, Pat Neshek, Matt Lindstrom, Jon Link, Dana Eveland, Zach Phillips, Dylan Bundy, Darren O'Day and Wei-Yin Chen, and catchers Matt Wieters, Taylor Teagarden and Brian Ward. Pitcher Steve Johnson and first baseman Joe Mahoney have corner lockers next to the big fridges...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Pitchers and catchers will report to camp today, and the media has been granted clubhouse access from 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. In the past, we've been allowed to stake out the clubhouse all morning and afternoon, so I'm not sure why a change has been implemented. New regime, new rules? I've already experienced my weird moment of the day. I got into my car, turned on the stereo and heard "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors. Now I just need to find a song about the Mandarin...

The Orioles selected pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in round one of the First-Year Player Draft last June. Now Bundy is beginning his first pro spring training camp this weekend. After signing a major league contract he is on the 40-man roster and reporting with many others to major league camp at Ed Smith Stadium. Earlier this week,in this story, Bundy talked about his offseason workouts and excitement level about the start of spring camp. During our interview, I asked the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - I'm staying in a different hotel this spring, so I must rely on my horrible sense of direction and my GPS to find my way to Ed Smith Stadium and downtown Sarasota. The good news: I'm very close to the Sarasota airport. The bad news: I flew into Tampa. Though it's overcast and a light rain has been falling, the temperature was 71 degrees when my plane landed. No shovel required. I made a quick trip to the ballpark to check out the clubhouse renovations, and they're...

In discussing Orioles pitching injuries in my blog yesterday the topic of pitch counts was raised by a few readers in the comments section. A pitcher passing 100 pitches may be getting close to reaching what some consider a high pitch count and his time left in that game may be limited. The use of pitch counts drives some people in the sport and some fans crazy. They see some managers as prisoners of the pitch count and think many outings could and should go well past the 100-pitch mark with...

Gary Carter's death at 57 from a brain tumor hits home for Nationals manager Davey Johnson, who skippered the New York Mets from 1984-90 and had Carter as his catcher from 1985-89. Carter backstopped the 1986 Mets who went 108-54 and won the only World Series on Johnson's resume. Carter spent the first 12 year of his Hall of Fame career with the Nationals' predecessors, the Montreal Expos. The affable catcher nicknamed "Kid" hit .269 with 220 home runs and 823 RBIs for the Expos and the...

Did I actually make it out of Maryland this winter without shoveling snow? Will I actually go another year without missing my flight? I don't even know who I am anymore. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training Saturday, which means I need to be in Sarasota today. Players start to trickle in early, and I always love playing "Who's that guy?" There's no way I'd arrive late and miss out on all the fun. A new player walks into the clubhouse carrying his equipment bag. Reporters...

Left-hander Cory VanAllen looks poised to make the next step to Triple-A Syracuse following his best full season in the minors. The 6-foot-3, 180 lb., Bakersfield, Calif., native became a fixture in the Double-A Harrisburg Senators' bullpen, appearing in 47 games with a 5-4 record, career-best 2.50 ERA in 57 2/3 innings and 71 strikeouts. He ended the 2011 season on a hot streak, posting a 1.32 ERA in his final 10 games, allowing just two earned runs after July 31. VanAllen looked very...

Orioles pitcher Zach Britton was encouraged by today's long-toss session at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota. Britton wrote in a text message that the session went "really well." "My arm felt fresh," he said. Britton will play catch again on Saturday and continue to take anti-inflammatory medication for his left shoulder, which began bothering him again in the middle of December. The key is being able to stay in his proper arm slot, which has been an ongoing challenge. An MRI...

Barring something unexpected, the Nationals will go into spring training with shortstop Ian Desmond as their leadoff hitter. And manager Davey Johnson is perfectly fine with that, even if Desmond is viewed as an imperfect solution atop the order by some observers. "I like him there," Johnson said at the Winter Meetings. "I think he'll do fine." Desmond struggled as a leadoff man at the start of 2011 under manager Jim Riggleman, batting .180 with only one walk and a .212 on-base...