Miguel Batista -- author, musician, poet and pitcher -- spent his Friday afternoon speaking to youth at the Chelsea School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1976, the Chelsea School is a college preparatory school serving students in grades 5-12 with language-based learning disabilities from the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Batista spoke to the students about his journey to the big leagues and his unique appreciation for education, but colored his presentation with plenty of funny...

For the Orioles: 2B Brian roberts RF Nick Markakis CF Adam Jones 3B Ty Wigginton DH Jake Fox LF Nolan Reimold C Craig Tatum 1B Brandon Snyder SS Cesar Izuris RHP Chris Tillman For the Blue Jays: LF Dewayne Wise SS Yunel Escobar RF Jose Bautista CF Vernon Wells 1B Lyle Overbay 2B Aaron Hill DH Adam Lind C John Buck 3B Edwin Encarnacion LHP Brett Cecil

In addition to all O's fans and the local media, the national media has certainly taken notice of the club's turnaround under Buck Showalter. Some of those media members were the same ones praising the club last winter, saying they were a team on the rise. ESPN's Jayson Stark was on MASN's and 105.7 the Fan's Scott Garceau Show on Thursday and talked about the improvement under Buck. Here are his comments: "I don't think this is an accident. It's really incredible, the way it...

The Orioles have lost 11 consecutive games in Toronto, and 20 of their last 22. They're 0-6 at Rogers Centre this year. The last time they were winless in a season road series of six games or more was 2003 in Oakland. It won't be easy tonight. A few more notes of potential interest: The Orioles are 12-3 in series openers under manager Buck Showalter. Chris Tillman has posted a 0.64 ERA - one earned run in 14 innings - in his last two road starts (July 10 at Texas and Sept. 12 at Detroit)....

Almost lost in the euphoria of competitive September baseball is manager Buck Showalter's desire to evaluate players for next season to assist in the roster construction that will take place over the winter. It's worth pointing out that Showalter hasn't closed the book on Josh Bell. He's just taking an extended look at Robert Andino and forming an opinion on whether the infielder fits into his plans. Showalter heard plenty about Andino before rosters expanded this month, and he wanted...

The stands are empty. The players were in shorts and orange shirts with no names or numbers on the back. The atmosphere was relaxed. But some important baseball work was going on. The O's instructional league camp at Camden Yards resumed Thursday amidst warm temperatures and sunny skies at the ballpark. There are 15 players taking part and some of the organization's top young talent is on hand. "It's going great. Last year I got to take BP here. Having these prospects here is a...

Right-hander A.J. Cole makes his Nationals instructional league debut Friday and will throw one inning against Houston at the Astros complex in Florida. It seems like just yesterday that Cole had to make a big decision: whether to start playing pro ball now or go to college. The Nats presented a big contract. The University of Miami offered him a full ride baseball scholarship. Cole says it was a pretty easy decision. "It all came down to that I really wanted to just play baseball for a...

Bryce Harper went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts as the Braves beat the Nationals 5-3 in the first game of instructional league from Viera, Florida. It was the first live pitching the team had seen in 20 days and the Nationals did have the winning run at the plate in the late going. The Nationals are at Houston tomorrow in Game 2 of the instructional league schedule. A.J. Cole will pitch one inning in that game. The Nats are throwing nine pitchers in each game, one for each inning.

On a day like today, it's important to reflect on Stan Kasten's role in building this franchise, but that's a task I'll leave to our veteran baseball minds here at MASNsports.com. Because Nats Buzz strives to provide a fan-centric perspective, I wanted to take a moment to reminisce about another side of Stan Kasten -- the fan ambassador. I have no doubt that many of you met and chatted with Kasten during one of his many strolls around the ballpark. "What? I'm with the people," I once...

Former Orioles outfielder Mike Young is moving back to Baltimore, and he's bringing one of his charitable endeavors with him. Young is pretty busy these days. He runs "Genesis Fitness Concepts" and is partners with friend Walt McCreary in a foundation called "Motivating Our Kids." If he can still play left field, I think he should report to Sarasota next spring. I'll let Young explain "Motivating Our Kids," currently based in Centreville but moving forward to the Baltimore...