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...

Spring training is still a few days away - I'll be touching down in Orlando on Saturday, then taking the hour-long drive east to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., where I'll be holding down the fort pending the arrival of a new Nationals beat reporter soon - but the Nationals are already getting some attention from the national media types. It was bound to happen. But so soon? Last night on MLB Network's "Hot Stove" evening roundtable, ex-major leaguers-turned-analysts Dave Valle and...

The final items on my to-do list must be crossed off today. I'm running out of time before boarding my flight to Sarasota tomorrow morning for the start of spring training. The Orioles don't have any other players facing arbitration hearings, and they're not expected to anger any other countries. It should be a slow day. Speaking of lists, I'll be sure to add Zach Britton's name to the expanded story lines in spring training. He was going to be scrutinized anyway because he's competing...

Before the 2010 season, Baseball America released its list of the top 100 prospects in Major League Baseball. Brian Matusz was ranked at No. 5, Zach Britton at No. 63 and Jake Arrieta at No. 99. As we head into the 2012 season, all three pitchers are either currently dealing with an injury or had some injury issues last season. Yesterday, we learned that Britton is now dealing with some left shoulder inflammation and recently had an MRI. He said he fully expects to be ready for opening...