Before he heads back to Sarasota tomorrow to continue his rehab, Orioles third baseman Manny Machado will collect some hardware here today.
He will pick up his Gold Glove and also a Platinum Glove, given to the best individual defender in each league.
Machado still doesn't know when he will be able to play in a game. He wishes he did, but said you really can't put a timetable on his recovery from left knee surgery - not even this deep into the process.
"You just can't, you really...
Will anyone here today be more excited than Jonathan Schoop?
The kid found out he made the roster on Saturday in Norfolk and today he will start at second base on opening day for the Orioles.
How is his excitement level right now? I asked him earlier in the clubhouse.
"I cannot explain, but it's opening day and you've got to be excited. I love to play baseball. I dreamed for this moment. We'll see how it goes," said Schoop, who is batting ninth.
"You have to have some nerves, but in a...
Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis just told reporters he's not sure if he can play today. He'll find out before too long though, after he takes a few swings on the field.
"I don't know, we'll find out after BP (batting practice) here. I feel a lot better," he said.
"I've been here long enough to know which injuries I can baby and which injuries I need to take care of. This is one that is kind of in between.
"But, you know, it gets better day by day. Today it feels great and I'll go...
Well, here it is. Opening day, a day just about every fan can't wait for over the long winter. Today, the Orioles begin their quest to get back to the playoffs and to produce a third straight winning season for the first time since 1992-94.
Expectations are high for this club and fans are excited to see what the 2014 Orioles can do. They play in baseball's toughest division and will open the season playing 19 of their first 22 games against American League East opponents. The other series is...
They are two young players who got their first tastes of big league baseball during the 2013 season. Going into spring training, it looked like one had a better chance to make the Orioles' opening day roster than the other.
Kevin Gausman looked like he could emerge from camp in Florida pitching in the O's rotation and Jonathan Schoop looked like a player likely to begin the season at Triple-A.
But as it turned out, Schoop will run down the orange carpet tomorrow while Gausman will begin...
NORFOLK, Va. - After today's game was called due to rain with the Orioles winning 4-3 over Norfolk in six innings, manager Buck Showalter touched on a variety of topics in the manager's office at Harbor Park.
He said he let the position coaches tell players that they had made the opening day roster. So infield coach Bobby Dickerson got to tell Jonathan Schoop he'd be on the roster come Monday.
"He's been with him a long time too," Showalter said of the Dickerson-Schoop relationship. "I...
NORFOLK, Va. - Jonathan Schoop has made the Orioles' opening day roster and will likely be in the starting lineup Monday against Boston.
Manager Buck Showalter confirmed that after today's game. It was pretty obvious, but Showalter told reporters that Schoop, Evan Meek, Steve Pearce and Delmon Young had claimed roster spots.
The Orioles optioned Kevin Gausman, T.J. McFarland and Jemile Weeks to Triple-A after the game, getting the roster down to 32 players. Tomorrow they are expected to...
ORIOLES QUICK WRAP
Score: Orioles 4, Norfolk 3 (rain, six innings)
Recap: Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer off Zach Davies in the top of the second and the Orioles went on to a 4-3, rain-shortened win over Triple-A Norfolk today. The game was halted by rain after five and a half innings. The homer was Wieters' first of this spring and he now has eight RBIs. Several half-innings were ended early during the game due to high pitch count including the last of the fifth when Norfolk scored once...
NORFOLK, Va. - Well, the weather has taken a turn for the worse in Norfolk. It is raining hard right now and the tarp has been put back on the field. An on-time start seems impossible and it could be that this game never gets played. Stay tuned.
Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis will not play here today, we know that for sure, due to neck stiffness that developed on the plane today as the team flew here from Florida.
But asked if he could play with this on opening day, Markakis said,...
NORFOLK, Va. - There are a few notes to pass along today from Habor Park before the Orioles play the Tides in the O's exhibition finale.
Buck Showalter did not announce any roster moves during his pregame press conference today. At this moment, the O's roster stands at 35. We still could get some cuts later today.
Showalter said Nick Markakis was scratched from today's lineup due to a stiff neck. He felt it happened on the plane ride here from Florida. Showalter said he had a heat pack on...
NORFOLK, Va. - The Orioles are scheduled to play the Norfolk Tides, their Triple-A affiliate, here today at Norfolk's Harbor Park. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m.
At this hour a light rain is falling and the tarp is on the field, but the Orioles are on their way here and they will try to get this game in. The forecast looks a little better as the day goes on in the Norfolk area.
The Tides have sold around 9,000 tickets for the game. It would have been even more and a possible sellout had...
Now it's that time. The time for your predictions for the 2014 season. Here are mine for the American League East this year:
Tampa Bay 94-68
Orioles 91-71
Boston 88-74
New York 82-80
Toronto 78-84
Last season the AL East had four teams winning 85 games or more as the Orioles and Yankees tied for third at 85-77. No other division could claim that and the other two AL divisions have five combined teams that won 85 or more.
The Orioles' offense looks solid and the defense will be very good...
Here are the break-camp rosters for the Orioles' four full-season minor league clubs: Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Single-A Frederick and Single-A Delmarva.
These rosters are not final. There will be some changes between now and opening day next Thursday in the minors. The final rosters for the openers will not be set until next Thursday. There are, of course, still several players that will be cut from the Orioles heading to the minors and that will cause some changes. There are still...
The Orioles released two more players today from their minor league camp. The club cut right-hander Clay Schrader and left-hander Trent Howard.
Both pitchers were drafted among the top 10 rounds and both have had some good numbers during their time with the Orioles.
The 23-year-old Schrader was selected in the 10th round in 2010 out of San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College. Last season with Double-A Bowie, he went 5-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 35 bullpen appearances. Over 56 innings, Schrader allowed...
They are both young, big, and strong, and the Orioles believe they have bright futures in their organization.
On Jan. 30 the Orioles announced the additions of two international players in 16-year-old third baseman Jomar Reyes (who turned 17 Feb. 20) and 17-year-old first baseman Carlos Diaz.
When I was at spring training in Sarasota, Fla., I had the chance to meet and interview both players with the interpreter help of Felipe Alou Jr., who is in his seventh year as the Orioles' coordinator...
With the 2014 regular season now just days away, here are five questions facing the Orioles this year.
* How will the rotation hold up?
Isn't this always the key question? As the season begins, the rotation of Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris looks solid.
There is also plenty of depth as well with pitchers like Kevin Gausman, Steve Johnson and T.J. McFarland possibly at Triple-A waiting for their chance. On the farm, could this be the year when...
Former University of Maryland Terrapin pitcher Sander Beck and first baseman Aaron Baker were among five players released today by the Orioles at minor league camp.
The Orioles also released first baseman Henry Wrigley, and left-handed pitchers Zach Fowler and Steve Garrison, bringing the number of players released since spring training began to 18.
A 23-year-old right-hander, Beck went 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA over 20 2/3 innings last season for Single-A Delmarva. The Millersville, Md., native...
If predictions that are unfavorable to the Orioles get you stirred up, then don't read the ESPN the Magazine's 2014 MLB preview issue.
The magazine's editors actually used a chemistry element in this year's predictions. They tried to quantify clubhouse chemistry using three elements they called demographic factor, isolation factor and ego factor.
I give them credit for trying, but there are some things in this game you just can't put a stat on. Anyway, the Orioles actually gained a win...
The Orioles today released five players from minor league camp, bringing the total number to 13 minor league players released since spring training started.
The club released infielder Connor Narron, right-handed pitchers Luis Vizcaino, Eric Beaulac and Juan Guzman and left-handed pitcher Aaron Laffey, a Cumberland, Md., native.
Narron, the Orioles' fifth-round pick in 2010, hit just .211 in four seasons with the club and had not advanced past the Single-A level. The 22-year-old Narron hit...
The Orioles were the featured team last night on MLB Network's "30 clubs in 30 days." Analysts Harold Reynolds and Mitch Williams talked about the O's in the studio, while Ron Darling reported from O's camp in Sarasota, Fla.
We'll save some of their season predictions later, but here is what they said on several O's topics.
Darling on the rotation:
"This is the crux of the Baltimore Orioles, and why they went out and got Ubaldo (Jimenez). They feel like a team of two and three-type...