The top two picks were obvious.  Gunnar Henderson was always going to be the first selection in “The Bird’s Nest’s” 2025 Orioles fantasy draft.  As Annie Klaff and I attempted to construct two teams of the upcoming season’s top contributors, Henderson was a slam dunk. Fresh off a fourth-place AL MVP finish and a 9.1 bWAR season, the superstar carri

JUPITER, Fla. – It was never really a question whether Robert Hassell III and Brady House would make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. That wasn’t going to happen, not without some combination of exceptional performance on their part and calamity to a big league regular to open up a spot in the lineup. The real question all along was: How close ar

SARASOTA, Fla. – Three more days and the Orioles break camp, play the Nationals in D.C., fly to Toronto, work out and begin a season that could deliver their first playoff win since 2014. Congratulations, it's an oh boy! Tucked somewhere within this stretch is a finalized roster for March 27, with media curious whether it’s safe to report by Sunday

JUPITER, Fla. – The results on the scoreboard – six runs, 10 hits, two homers – did not look good. Neither did the radar gun, which showed Jake Irvin averaging just 91.4 mph on his fastball, down 2.5 mph from his 2024 average velocity. This is spring training, though, so you always have to be careful reading too much into the numbers. No, Irvin did

JUPITER, Fla. – Robert Hassell III and Brady House turned heads with their performances this spring. Not enough to earn either young prospect a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. The Nats optioned Hassell to Triple-A Rochester today and reassigned House to minor league camp today, telling the outfielder and third baseman they want to see th

JUPITER, Fla. – The finish line keeps inching closer. The Nationals have only five more games to play down here in Florida, then one final exhibition Monday in D.C. Which means we’re starting to see the regulars play more regularly, not to mention play more innings per game. Most of the starters are in today’s lineup against the Cardinals, with onl

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals signed Amed Rosario this winter to be their utility infielder. The veteran figures to get starts at second base if Davey Martinez wants to give Luis Garcia Jr. the day off, third base if Martinez wants to give Paul DeJong the day off and perhaps even shortstop if Martinez wants to give CJ Abrams the day off. Ma

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles made more roster cuts heading into their second off-day of the spring, getting down to 41 players. Six of them are non-roster invitees None of the players in that latter group were expected to break camp with the team. Catcher Samuel Basallo is a high-profile prospect, tops in the organization, who had no chance at age

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams walked off the mound at the end of the fifth inning and stopped to chat with pitching coach Jim Hickey at the dugout steps. He had thrown 87 pitches, completed five solid frames and easily could’ve called it a night. Indeed, this is usually the point when Williams’ nights did end last season, even when he pit

SARASOTA, Fla. – Every pitch and every inning felt like they weighed a ton on a scale of importance. Spring training results aren’t supposed to matter. The games don’t count. Don’t tell that to Cade Povich. Povich and Albert Suárez are battling for the last rotation spot. Suárez allowed one run in five innings in Lakeland in his most recent start.