The Orioles are four games below .500 again and the rotation issues won’t go away. They were one-hit, so it isn't just the pitching. The anger generated from Sunday's 24-2 loss was supposed to shatter slumps and funks.

What can you trust? Well, there’s mailbag leftovers.

You asked, I answered, and some stuff had to be held. Let’s get to it before the Orioles send Tomoyuki Sugano to the mound tonight and hope that he can be their stopper.

How far away is Chayce McDermott’s rehab start?
Manager Brandon Hyde told the media in D.C. that McDermott was “a little bit behind Trevor Rogers,” who starts this afternoon at Double-A Chesapeake. “I don’t think that date has been set in stone, but in the next week or so,” Hyde said. The Orioles want Rogers to get three or four starts before he’s reinstated. Not that you asked.

What’s happening with Zach Fruit? He really impressed me in spring training.
The Baysox put Fruit on the seven-day injured list yesterday. No explanation accompanied the news. Fruit allowed nine runs and 10 hits and walked six batters in eight innings over three starts. Patrick Reilly also went on the IL yesterday after exiting his last start with right elbow discomfort. Not that you asked.

Mitchell Parker’s Tuesday night actually got off to a rough start.

He walked Orioles leadoff man Cedric Mullins on four pitches, then elicited some Bronx cheers when he finally threw a strike to Adley Rutschman. Little did anyone realize what was still to come.

“It definitely wasn’t ideal,” the Nationals left-hander said with a sheepish grin. “But it basically ended up working out, so I can’t be too upset about it. But maybe we’re going to try to not do it next time.”

Maybe Parker should try to do it again, especially if it leads to the same end result he got this evening: eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball to lead his team to a dominant 7-0 win.

Building off the four quality starts he already had authored to begin the season, Parker took things to another level tonight with the best performance of his young career. The 25-year-old became the Nats’ first starter to complete eight innings since Jake Irvin last July 4. He surrendered one single and two walks. He retired the final 17 batters he faced.

WASHINGTON – The pain points in the Orioles' 2025 season aren’t difficult to locate.

They were apparent in Sunday’s lopsided game and they showed themselves again tonight in a 7-0 loss to the Nationals.

“We did not play well,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It is disappointing. Coming off a game we definitely wanted to throw away a couple of days ago, an off-day, to come out and not take great at-bats and not play very good baseball tonight, that was disappointing.”

Entering tonight’s contest against the Nationals, Orioles starting pitchers had the highest ERA in the majors by a significant margin. Dean Kremer’s outing didn’t help that figure.

“When he was in the middle part of the plate, they hit him hard,” said Hyde. “Some of the other balls that went for RBIs were just in the middle part of the plate. Just had a tough night.”

The Nationals can now start counting down the days until CJ Abrams returns to their lineup. But first, the All-Star shortstop needs to prove he’s good to go in a rehab assignment.

Abrams is playing tonight for Double-A Harrisburg, his first game action since aggravating his right hip flexor April 11 in Miami. He’s technically eligible to come off the 10-day injured list now, but the Nats wanted him to get some reps in the minor leagues before activating him.

“I’d like to get him on his feet, get him some at-bats and make sure he’s OK,” manager Davey Martinez said. “The last time he felt it was on the field, so we want to get him out there and let him play shortstop. And if it takes a day or two or three, then we’ll prepare for that. But hopefully he comes out today feeling good and not bothering him.”

Abrams is slated to play six innings at shortstop tonight and take at least three at-bats, with the possibility of more if he feels up for more. The Nationals would love to have him back in their lineup before the end of this week’s series against the Orioles, but they won’t rush it if he doesn’t look ready.

Nasim Nuñez has excelled in the field in Abrams’ place, to nobody’s surprise. But the 24-year-old infielder doesn’t provide nearly the offensive punch as the man ahead of him on the depth chart. In seven games since taking over as the everyday shortstop, Nunez is batting .182 (4-for-22) with three walks and two stolen bases.

WASHINGTON – Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t.

An adage applicable to your driver on the golf course, your falsetto at karaoke and a starting pitcher’s feel for off-speed and breaking pitches.

Dean Kremer doesn’t have an overwhelming fastball. It averages about 93.6 mph, according to FanGraphs, and opponents are hitting .304 against the offering this season. Last year, according to Statcast’s run value, it was the worst of his five consistent offerings.

When Kremer has found success, he’s mixed the four-seamer with well-placed cutters and sinkers, plus a curveball to change speeds. But last season, the right-hander found a new, effective off-speed offering: the splitter.

In 2024, he had it. But in 2025, he hasn’t.

It’s good to be home. The Nationals haven’t been here in almost two weeks, back when they won consecutive series against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Things took a decided turn downward on the road, but at least they won two of three in Colorado over the weekend. Now after a day off, they prepare for a six-game homestand against the Orioles and Mets.

Baltimore is off to a ragged start to the season, as well, a product of injuries and poor pitching. The Nats’ 5.12 staff ERA ranks 29th in the majors. The only staff worse than that: The Orioles, at 5.43. This would be a nice time to get the offense going.

Mitchell Parker has quietly been the Nationals’ best starter to date, with a 1.85 ERA and 1.110 WHIP in four outings. Most impressively, the left-hander has completed at least six innings in each of those starts. He faced the O’s last May as a rookie and did well, allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 10 mph in from left field

ORIOLES
CF Cedric Mullins
DH Adley Rutschman
SS Gunnar Henderson
1B Ryan Mountcastle
RF Tyler O’Neill
LF Heston Kjerstad
3B Jordan Westburg
C Gary Sánchez
2B Jackson Holliday

Left-hander Trevor Rogers is ready for the next important step of his throwing progression and possible return to the majors.

Rogers is starting for the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox Wednesday morning at 11:05 a.m. at Prince George’s Stadium. He’s on the injured list after suffering a right knee subluxation during the offseason.

The Orioles acquired Rogers from the Marlins at last year’s trade deadline for outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Connor Norby. He was optioned after four starts and with his ERA at 7.11 in 19 innings.

The injury occurred in January while Rogers was throwing on a turf field.

“Landed wrong and unfortunately it dislocated, but thankfully it wasn’t a complete dislocation, just dislocated for a brief second and went back into place, so it could have been a lot worse,” he said on Feb. 13.

Brandon Young is back in the majors.

The Orioles recalled Young today from Triple-A Norfolk, a move that required a corresponding injury in order to dodge the 15-day minimum rule. Reliever Cody Poteet was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

Young made his major league debut Saturday afternoon against the Reds and allowed three runs and seven hits over four innings. The Orioles optioned him the following day and recalled Poteet as a fresh bullpen arm.

Today’s move leaves the Orioles with five starters, which could present another chance for Young this weekend in Detroit. Kyle Gibson made his third start with an affiliate Sunday, joining High-A Aberdeen and throwing 78 pitches in five innings.

Young and Gibson would be available for Friday’s series opener at Comerica Park.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled RHP Brandon Young from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed RHP Cody Poteet (right shoulder inflammation) on the 15-day Injured List, retroactive to April 21.

When he stranded the tying run on third base Saturday afternoon to secure the Nationals’ 12-11 win over the Rockies, Kyle Finnegan was credited with his 95th career save, tied with Drew Storen for second-most in club history.

And when he stranded the tying run on third base Sunday afternoon to secure the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Rockies, Finnegan moved ahead of Storen into sole possession of second place, his 96 career saves now trailing only Chad Cordero in club history.

The veteran reliever had a hard time comprehending that news.

“It’s crazy to think that I’m second. I feel like I just got here,” he said. “I still feel like a new guy in the league.”

Finnegan may feel like the new guy, but he hardly fits that description. He’s now in his sixth major league season, all of them coming with the Nats. Having debuted in the second game of the abbreviated 2020 season, he’s actually the longest tenured player on the current team, beating out Luis Garcia Jr. by a couple weeks.

The Orioles are down the road for the next three nights playing the Nationals in a series that no longer is hyped as an uncivil war.

These teams don’t hate each other and it isn’t a rivalry. It’s two organizations in relatively close proximity trying to get on a roll at the expense of the other. That’s fine. You can’t fabricate hard feelings.

The Nats are 9-13 and in fourth place in the National League East. The Orioles are 9-12 and in fourth place in the American League East, a half-game ahead of the Rays. They woke up yesterday two behind the Red Sox and 4 ½ out of first place. Far from insurmountable, but it’s time to get hot.

The adage that it starts with starting pitching is glaringly accurate in Baltimore. The rotation has a 6.11 ERA that’s the worst in baseball, with the Yankees next among American League teams yesterday at 4.50. The Orioles’ overall ERA of 5.43 also sat on the bottom yesterday, just behind the Nats’ 5.12. However, Jorge Mateo and Gary Sánchez combined to allow nine runs Sunday over the last two innings, so the numbers should come with an asterisk.

Stay with me here … they aren’t pitchers.

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network made a huge announcement this morning that will make Nationals and Orioles games more accessible to local fans.

MASN announced that starting today the network will begin offering a direct-to-consumer streaming option called MASN+. Fans can subscribe for $19.99 per month or $89.99 for the remainder of the 2025 regular season to receive MASN and MASN2 content.

That includes being able to stream every available Nationals and Orioles game, “Classics” episodes for both teams, “Nats Xtra” and “O’s Xtra” pre- and postgame shows, and all other MASN programming.

MASN+ will allow in-market fans to watch Nationals and Orioles baseball with no blackouts and no required cable or satellite subscription or contract. Fans can subscribe to MASN+ by visiting MASNsports.com here or the MASN app available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

MASN and MASN2 will continue to be available via cable and satellite providers.

A change to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is happening today that will make it more accessible to the public.

The network announced that it’s offering a direct-to-consumer streaming option called MASN+. Fans can subscribe for $19.99 per month or $89.99 for the remainder of the 2025 regular season to receive MASN and MASN2 content.

Every available Orioles and Nationals game, “Classics” episodes, "O’s Xtra" and "Nats Xtra," and other programming will be available.

MASN+ enables in-market fans to watch games with no blackouts and no cable or satellite subscription or contract required. Anyone wanting to subscribe can go to MASNsports.com here or use the MASN app available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

A press release issued today also stated that MASN and MASN2 will continue to be available via cable and satellite providers.

Beginning April 21, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) will begin offering a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) streaming option called MASN+. Fans can subscribe for $19.99/month or $89.99 for the remainder of the 2025 regular season to receive 24/7 MASN and MASN2 content including every available Orioles and Nationals game, Orioles and Nationals Classics, O’s and Nats Xtra, and all other MASN programming.

MASN+ will allow in-market fans to catch all the action of Orioles and Nationals baseball with no blackouts and no cable or satellite subscription or contract required. Fans can subscribe to MASN+ by visiting MASN’s website at MASNSPORTS.COM or via the MASN app available now on iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. MASN and MASN2 will continue to be available via cable and satellite providers.

“Our goal is to connect all fans to the excitement of Orioles and Nationals baseball,” said GREG BADER, MASN’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. “MASN+ allows O’s and Nats fans throughout the Mid-Atlantic who have elected to cut the cord to view their favorite team’s games and all that MASN has to offer.”

Orioles and Nationals games produced by MASN include special features like in-game interviews with players, mic ups, and in-depth interviews and analysis.  

Visit masnsports.com for Orioles and Nationals programming information and content.

DENVER – Josh Bell has been doing this long enough to know when his swing feels right and when it doesn’t. And more importantly, when he feels like he’s about to break out of a slump.

The first four weeks of this season have constituted a slump for the veteran slugger. He entered this weekend’s series against the Rockies with a .133 batting average, a .267 slugging percentage and only two homers. What, then would be the sign he was ready to break out at last?

“I think it’s just more balls in the air,” he said Saturday morning. “I think when I’m chopping balls foul, I’m in a dark place. But if I can put it in the air, that means my path is good. And if I can just stay inside a little more, I’ll get it in the air in the field of play. …

“Any fly out is a good thing. Any line out is a good thing.”

A couple hours later, Bell sent a fly ball to left field in his first at-bat of the Nationals’ series opener at Coors Field. It traveled 328 feet and was caught easily by Colorado’s Jordan Beck. But it was a fly out, and in Bell’s mind that was a good thing, right?

The Orioles have another off-day following their longest homestand of the season. They’ll hit the road for a three-game series in D.C. and Detroit.

Contrary to some of the stuff I’ve read, the season isn’t over. The Orioles have played 21 games and the season isn’t truncated to 22. Lucky for them, right? But yeah, yesterday was ugly – it only counts as one loss - and a rotation with the highest ERA in baseball is cause for concern. Injuries are a big part of the problem, but it goes beyond health.

The offense also can drive a fan batty. The Reds went with a bullpen game yesterday, but the Orioles managed only one run off Brent Suter in three innings and two on the day, and they lost by three touchdowns. Key guys are slumping. Cedric Mullins can’t carry this much of the load.

I don’t want to carry a heavy mailbag, so it’s time to do some dumping. You asked and I did my best to answer. The editing was restricted to my cut-and-paste technique of moving questions from blog comments to my Word document. It’s a skill like anything else.

Also, my mailbag received a visit from the Easter Bunny and your mailbag was visited by a rabid raccoon.

DENVER – After the chaos of Saturday’s wild slugfest, who would have imagined today’s doubleheader at Coors Field would feature back-to-back pitchers’ duels, with offense at an extreme premium?

The Nationals certainly weren’t counting on that flipping of the script. Even though they leave town with a series victory, they leave feeling a bit of a sting at missing a golden opportunity at a three-game sweep.

Despite getting quality pitching from Brad Lord and their less-reliable relievers, the Nats fell 3-1 to the Rockies in the nightcap of the doubleheader, settling for a Sunday split in the thin air.

The same lineup that exploded for 12 runs on a 45-degree Saturday afternoon managed only four total runs over 18 innings of baseball played under far more pleasant conditions today, held in check by a Colorado pitching staff that has allowed the most runs in the majors this season.

"Obviously, we can't go up there and put up a dozen every night," said first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who managed three of the team's eight singles tonight. "But we'd like to score more, obviously score more than we did tonight because we didn't like the outcome. We hold ourselves to a pretty high standard and obviously didn't perform to that standard in Game 2."

DENVER – Things looked pretty bleak for the Nationals when they arrived in Colorado following back-to-back series losses in Miami and Pittsburgh. Now, things look a whole lot rosier following back-to-back wins and now the opportunity to not only sweep today’s doubleheader but sweep the weekend series as well and salvage a 5-5 record on the road trip.

Davey Martinez pulled out all the stops to win the first two games, asking for a combined five innings out of Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan. You would think neither will be available tonight. But as we’ve seen here before, don’t assume anything when it comes to bullpen usage.

It’s probably safe to say Martinez will need more work out of his bullpen than he did previously, because Brad Lord isn’t likely to provide as much length as MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin did. Lord hasn’t thrown more than 57 pitches in either of his two big league starts, so you would think he won’t go more than 70-75 tonight. Look for Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry to see action. The Nats also have Jorge López back from suspension, plus 27th man Andry Lara if needed.

At the plate, the Nationals will look to duplicate Saturday’s 12-run explosion, not this afternoon’s six-hit (all singles) performance. They’ve got Keibert Ruiz and Luis García Jr. back in the lineup after both guys got a chance to sit this afternoon.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field, Denver
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 63 degrees, wind 10 mph in from left field

DENVER – The style of game could not have been more different. Saturday’s delayed series opener was a Coors Field special, with both teams finishing in double digits. Today’s opener of a day-night doubleheader was the rare pitchers’ duel in this hitters’ haven, teams having to scratch and claw for each run.

And yet the ultimate outcome still boiled down to the same scenario from the previous afternoon: Could Nationals relievers cobble together enough big outs late to preserve a slim lead and make sure a dominant start didn’t go to waste?

Yes, yes they could. With aplomb.

Behind five clutch outs from Jose A. Ferrer to close out the seventh and eighth innings, then three more outs from Kyle Finnegan to close out the game, the Nats escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Rockies, giving themselves a chance to sweep both the doubleheader and the series later tonight.

It was a much-needed effort from perhaps the only two members of the bullpen Davey Martinez can trust right now. Ferrer and Finnegan teamed up to close out Saturday’s wild 12-11 win in which the bullpen nearly blew a 10-run lead. This one felt far more conventional, even though nothing in this ballpark ever is.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde sent out the verbal equivalent of a bat signal, except it wasn’t for the offense.

Hyde expressed his concerns Saturday about his bullpen’s heavy workload and how the short starts take their toll. And that’s when he called for his 41-year-old pitcher to help.

“Come on, Charlie Morton,” Hyde said. “Need you.”

Morton didn’t make it through the third inning today, leaving after 2 1/3 and charged with seven runs in a 24-2 loss to the Reds before an announced crowd of 19,053 that booed the performance but enjoyed an infielder and catcher making their pitching debuts.

Their excitement began with Jorge Mateo taking the mound in the eighth, chanting his name as the Reds batted around. He loaded the bases while throwing sliders, changeups and curveballs according to the tracker, hit Blake Dunn with two outs and served up a grand slam to Noelvi Marte. Former Orioles catcher Austin Wynns singled for his fifth hit.