Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is slated to continue his injury rehabilitation assignment tonight with the advanced Single-A Potomac Nationals, who will host the Frederick Keys for a 7:05 pm game at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Zimmerman went 2-for-2 with a double and a triple for low Single-A Hagerstown Sunday at Municipal Stadium. This is certainly a good sign that Zimmerman is scheduled to play in back-to-back games as he looks to return to the lineup for the first time...

My vision has become blurred from reading all the mock drafts. And yes, everyone seems to think the Orioles will take Oklahoma high school pitcher Archie Bradley tonight with the fourth overall pick. The Orioles most certainly like Bradley, as do a lot of other teams that consider him worthy of a top 10 pick, but I'm sure they also want his name floated out there, just in case pitchers Dylan Bundy and Danny Hultzen are willing to lower their price tags. Remember when the Orioles supposedly...

It didn't take long for some fans to get worked up over the possibility that the Orioles may take high school pitcher Archie Bradley with the fourth pick in tonight's draft. Before we go any further, please keep in mind that Keith Law has Bradley rated 5th on his latest top-100 board and Baseball America lists him 9th. They would not be reaching into the late first-round to draft a player fourth, but Bradley's name has not been linked to the Orioles much in the last few days and some fans...

It's not often that I find myself 10 pages deep into MLB.com's sortable player statistics, but that's how far you have to go to find Mark Reynolds if you search by batting average. It turns out that page 10, which in this case lists players ranked between 451 and 500 for average, is a pretty interesting place for Orioles fans. In addition to Reynolds who, for the record, is No. 460 for average, page 10 contains names of guys who have played for the Birds this season or who were talked about...

It's been a weird summer for baseball in Washington, D.C., without Ryan Zimmerman in the lineup. Without his consistent bat and Gold Glove performances daily, the Nationals have had to do the best with what they've got. That's all they can do under the circumstances. On Sunday, the Nationals got a little closer to getting Zimmerman back. Zimmerman played for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns - his first time playing in a live game since April 9 - as part of a minor league rehabilitation...

Here is a bit of a surprise: The Orioles may be considering another Oklahoma right-handed high school pitcher for the fourth pick in the draft. They have been linked for weeks to pitcher Dylan Bundy from the Sooner state, but now there are indications they are also considering Archie Bradley, a 6-foot-4 inch, 215-pounder, for their first-round pick. Bradley pitched a two-hit shutout and fanned 14 when his school, Broken Arrow, beat Bundy's Owasso squad for the Oklahoma 6-A state championship...

It's a rarity in baseball, but the games tonight become almost secondary. The first round of the First-Year Player Draft begins at 7 p.m., which clashes with first-pitch in tonight's series opener between the Orioles and Athletics at Camden Yards. It's another night of "firsts." The first four picks are a moving target, as manager Buck Showalter likes to say. The Pirates are expected to take UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole at No. 1. The Mariners will take Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon...

Here is something to keep in mind about the First-Year Player Draft in baseball that begins with round one tonight: The large, large majority of the players taken through 50 rounds will never make the majors. The math says most draft picks have little shot. It's even dicey for first-round picks. There are no sure things. Baseball America executive editor Jim Callis is one of the best experts anywhere on the draft. He told me that perhaps less than 50 players drafted this week will have better...

Well, in the end, the Orioles did take Oklahoma high school hurler Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in tonight's first round. Bundy is an 18-year-old right-hander out of Owasso (Okla.) High near Tulsa. This year, he went 11-0 with an 0.20 ERA. In 71 innings, he walked just five and fanned 158. He pitched one no-hitter and six one-hitters. Now there are two Bundys on the O's farm. His brother, Bobby, was drafted in round eight in 2008 and now pitches at Single-A Frederick. Baseball...

For the last week or two, most pre-draft speculation has centered on the Orioles taking Oklahoma high school pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in tonight's draft. But what if University of Virginia lefty Danny Hultzen and Bundy are both still on the board when the Orioles pick? What if Hultzen is gone, but Trevor Bauer of UCLA is still out there? (I am kind of assuming that Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon will be gone by the fourth pick, but nothing is for sure in the draft). A...