The Orioles will play a game, a spring training game, for the first time on February 22^nd at home versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. How their lineup will look that day is not important. Can’t read anything into a spring training lineup, especially not the first one of spring.

But how might that lineup look on Opening Day, March 27^th at 3:07 p.m. at Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rather than wait for that big day, we could make a guess today. Doesn’t cost anything and no matter what we project, no one will get hurt. Unless it’s a player’s feelings that we leave out. But that’s rather unlikely too, so let’s proceed.

First the Blue Jays project to have five righties in their rotation possibly starting with Kevin Gausman or Jose Berrios. So we know it’s likely going to be a right-hander versus the Orioles that day and we’ll go with that.

Everyone’s lineup might be different for different reasons. Here is mine as of Jan. 13.

We have reached the finish line. It’s Game 162, and while this one doesn’t officially matter for either team, there are still some personal achievements on the line. And for the Nationals, a chance to close out the year with a surprising sweep of the playoff-bound Phillies and to top last year’s win total with No. 72.

It’ll be Jake Irvin on the mound one last time. And as was the case Saturday with MacKenzie Gore, he’ll be looking for win No. 11, a number no Nats starter has reached since 2019. Unlike Gore, Irvin can’t get his ERA down below the 4.00 mark – unless he can go 10 2/3 scoreless innings – but he can finish on a high note. And if he can complete 6 2/3 innings, he’ll reach the 190 mark for the season, no small accomplishment.

At the plate, James Wood needs another homer to reach 10 in his rookie season. Dylan Crews needs a good day to get his batting average over .200. Oh, and in the bullpen, Derek Law needs to record one more out to get to 90 innings for the season.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 3:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 74 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García Jr.
LF James Wood
DH Juan Yepez
3B José Tena
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

Who were those guys in Nationals uniforms Friday night, and why haven’t we seen more of them during this final month of the season? It’s too late for them to rewrite the past, but maybe that 9-1 thumping of the Phillies bodes well for the rest of the weekend.

Then again, for the Nats to keep the good times rolling, they’re going to have to do it against Zack Wheeler, the perennial Cy Young candidate who enters his final tune-up before the postseason with a 16-7 record and 2.56 ERA, with two of those wins coming against Washington. This is remarkably Wheeler’s 35th career start vs. the Nationals, and though his overall numbers (14-15, 4.50 ERA) aren’t great, he’s been much better since leaving the Mets and joining the Phillies in 2020.

MacKenzie Gore makes his final start of an up-and-down season, hoping to finish strong. The lefty enters with 10 wins and a 4.04 ERA. In order to end up with an ERA in the 3.00s, he either needs to give up one run in at least 4 2/3 innings or two runs in at least 6 1/3 innings. That will be a challenge against this lineup, but we’ll see if he can pull it off.  

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García Jr.
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
DH Juan Yepez
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

MINNEAPOLIS – Here we go again.

An Orioles win tonight clinches the home Wild Card, or they’d need the Tigers to lose to the White Sox.

Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter with Ryan Mountcastle at first base. Jordan Westburg gets another start at second base, and he’s batting second.

Cade Povich is making his first career appearance against the team that drafted him in 2021. He’s posted a 3.27 ERA and 0.955 WHIP this month in four starts totaling 22 innings, and he’s struck out 30 batters. Opponents are batting .175/.241/.363.

Twenty-six of Anthony Santander’s 77 hits on the road this season are home runs (33.8 percent), the highest percentage by an Oriole with a minimum 75 hits since Brady Anderson’s 35.2 in 1996 per STATS.

It has not been an encouraging finish to what had been looking like an encouraging season for the Nationals. They’ve lost nine of their last 10 and now would need to sweep the Phillies this weekend just to get to 72 wins and surpass last year’s total. The odds of that happening? Probably not great, especially with Philadelphia still trying to catch the Dodgers for home field advantage in the National League playoffs. Los Angeles leads by one game entering tonight, but the Phillies hold the tiebreaker.

Patrick Corbin made his final start for the Nats on Thursday, and tonight Trevor Williams is making what may or may not be his final start. The right-hander’s contract expires, but given how well he pitched (when healthy) there’s a case to be made for bringing him back on a modest deal, either as No. 5 starter or a long reliever. First things first, he needs to do to the Phillies what he’s done to so many other lineups this year and keep them in the ballpark and off the scoreboard.

The Nationals are really struggling to score runs right now, and the challenge tonight doesn’t get any easier against Ranger Suárez. The lefty owns a 3.15 ERA and 1.157 WHIP this season. He faced the Nats only once this year, way back on April 6, and allowed two runs over six innings to earn the win.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 74 degrees, wind 14 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Stone Garrett
2B Luis García Jr.
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

Well, today is seemingly the day. Almost seven years after signing a six-year, $140 million deal as a free agent, Patrick Corbin will make what is likely to be his last start with the Nationals this afternoon against the Royals.

Corbin’s impressive debut season and postseason heroics in 2019 have been well documented. So too have been his struggles in the years since being credited as the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. But through all of that, the veteran left-hander has always been praised for being able to take the ball every five days.

He’ll likely do so for the last time in a Nationals uniform with a 6-13 record, 5.58 ERA and 1.506 WHIP over his first 31 starts this season. If Corbin can turn in one final quality start, he would end his Nats career on a high note with a possible nice ovation from the fans in attendance.

On the other side of the mound, Michael Wacha will make his 29th start for the Royals with a 13-8 record, 3.28 ERA and 1.194 WHIP. If the veteran right-hander can keep this struggling Nats offense in check, the Royals will take one step closer to their first postseason berth since winning the World Series in 2015.

But the Nationals need a win. A week and a half ago, they were only four victories away from surpassing last year’s 71-win total. Now they need to win three of their last four games to achieve that.

NEW YORK – The Orioles clinched a playoff berth last night. Now they go for the home Wild Card, with the magic number at two.

They can secure it tonight with a win and a Tigers loss.

The Tigers and Royals are tied for the second Wild Card, four games behind the Orioles.

The Yankees lead the division by five games with five remaining. Still mathematically possible for the Orioles but unlikely.

Ryan Mountcastle is in tonight’s lineup after his pinch-hit single last night. This is his first start since Aug. 22, when he sprained his left wrist.

The Nationals need to score a run tonight. Preferably more than a run. But at least a run after getting shut out each of their previous two games. They’ve actually been held to zero or one run in six of their last eight games, which is a tough way to try to win baseball games.

It’s an interesting matchup tonight against Royals right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who you probably remember no-hitting the Nats last year in Philadelphia. You may not remember that they faced him again nine days later and roughed him up for seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. So, who knows if any of that history matters tonight.

On the other side, DJ Herz takes the mound tonight for the 19th and final time this season. While other members of the Nationals rotation have tended to fare worse in the second half than they did in the first half, Herz had been the exception. In 10 starts since the All-Star break, he owned a 2.76 … until he was beaten up by the Mets last week to the tune of seven runs in 3 1/3 innings (sense a recurring theme here?). So now the young lefty has one last shot to end his season on a high note against a Kansas City lineup that has struggled to score runs as well.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 71 degrees, wind 7 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Luis García Jr.
2B José Tena
1B Joey Gallo
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

NEW YORK – Ryan Mountcastle is on the Orioles roster but out of tonight’s lineup.

Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base and Heston Kjerstad is the designated hitter.

Jordan Westburg is batting fifth. Ramón Urías is eighth.

For the Orioles

Gunnar Henderson SS
Adley Rutschman C
Anthony Santander RF
Colton Cowser LF
Jordan Westburg 2B
Ryan O’Hearn 1B
Heston Kjerstad DH
Ramón Urías 3B
Cedric Mullins CF

We have reached the final week of the season, and that means six more scheduled home games, all against teams still playing for something. The Phillies, who have clinched the division but are fighting with the Dodgers for home field advantage, will be here this weekend. First up, though, it’s the Royals, who had been among the season’s best stories, trying to make the playoffs after losing 106 games last year. Now, though, Kansas City is fighting for its life, having lost seven in a row while seeing the Tigers shockingly come out of nowhere to catch them in the standings.

The Royals have a lot of young talent, and that includes tonight’s starting pitcher: Cole Ragans. The 26-year-old left-hander was an All-Star this season and enters this game with a 3.24 ERA and 217 strikeouts in 180 1/3 innings. This is the first time he’s facing the Nationals in his career.

Kansas City’s lineup, featuring MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr., will be facing an unfamiliar foe as well in Mitchell Parker. The rookie left-hander makes his final start of the season, hoping to bounce back from a rough outing against the Mets last week and close out what has been an impressive debut campaign on a high note.

The Nationals made a roster move today: Stone Garrett is back in the major leagues, recalled from Triple-A Rochester about 13 months after breaking his leg at Yankee Stadium. He takes the roster spot of Andrés Chaparro, who has gone on paternity leave.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 69 degrees, wind 8 mph right field to left field

CHICAGO – It’s been a lovely weekend, weather-wise, here, but that’s not the case today. It’s been raining all morning, and it’s supposed to continue to rain all afternoon. That complicates the scheduled series finale between the Nationals and Cubs

The Nats are off Monday, but the Cubs play in Philadelphia, so they can’t just spend the night here and try again Monday. Chicago was officially eliminated from the National League wild card race Sunday, so technically this game no longer means anything. Major League Baseball doesn’t like to cancel games altogether, but it’s been known to happen when there’s a late-season rainout like this between two teams out of the race, so we’ll have to see how this plays out.

If they play, it’s Jake Irvin on the mound for the Nationals looking to continue his late-season surge. The right-hander has allowed a total of two runs on six hits over 13 1/3 innings his last two outings. He’s got his ERA down to 4.07, and if he gets the chance to make two more starts he could get that number under 4.00 by season’s end.

Shoto Imanaga gets the ball for the Cubs, and the Nats did not see him well when they met last month in D.C. Imanaga, who might win NL Rookie of the Year, allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings, striking out eight. He gave up a homer to Dylan Crews but not much else that evening.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 72 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right field

The Orioles will try again today to clinch a playoff berth, needing a win over the Tigers and Mariners loss in Texas. That’s all it takes.

Seattle’s game starts an hour later, so the Orioles might have to linger at the ballpark.

Infielders Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg were reinstated from the injured list today after completing their rehab assignments at Triple-A Norfolk. They were removed from the Tides' game last night in the fifth inning.

Outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Livan Soto were optioned to Norfolk.

Urías and Westburg were injured exactly a month apart. Westburg fractured his right hand on July 31 and Urías sprained his right ankle on Aug. 31.

Cedric Mullins is back in the Orioles’ lineup today, playing center field and batting second.

Mullins took early batting practice on the field this afternoon with head athletic trainer Brian Ebel watching and also ran the bases. Mullins wasn’t available last night due to neck soreness caused by his collision Thursday with right fielder Austin Slater.

The Orioles selected outfielder Daniel Johnson’s contract to provide a left-handed bat for the outfield in case Mullins couldn’t play. Terrin Vavra is on the 24-hour taxi squad.

Ramón Urías wasn’t reinstated today from the 15-day injured list.

Heston Kjerstad is the designated hitter. Jackson Holliday is playing second base. Colton Cowser is the cleanup hitter.

CHICAGO – It hasn’t been an especially uplifting road trip for the Nationals. They’ve lost all five games they’ve played so far against the Mets and Cubs. They lost Luis García Jr. and Jacob Young to injuries. They’ve scored a grand total of nine runs, and six of those came in Thursday night’s loss here.

But it’s a new day, so maybe today is the day things click again for the boys and they combine good pitching, hitting and defense and emerge victorious. They’ll look for a good start out of MacKenzie Gore, who has been excellent. Over his last five starts, the left-hander sports a 1.95 ERA and 1.048 WHIP with 27 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. (There was one dud in there against the Braves, but despite giving up seven runs he was only charged with two earned runs in that one, so the ERA wasn’t destroyed.)

More than anything, the Nats need to hit and they need to score runs. They’re facing a wily veteran today in Kyle Hendricks, who is 4-11 with a 6.25 ERA over 118 innings this season. But it should be noted the right-hander has been much better recently, with a 2.93 ERA over his last three starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 84 degrees, wind 9 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
CF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Luis García Jr. 
1B Juan Yepez
2B José Tena
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Joey Gallo
3B Ildemaro Vargas
SS Nasim Nuñez

CHICAGO – When last we saw Trevor Williams on a big league mound, he was tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to beat the Braves and improve to 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP. It was May 30, and the veteran right-hander looked like one of the best comeback stories of the season.

And then Williams reported a sore elbow and landed on the injured list. Nearly four months later, he’s finally returning to the mound this afternoon, activated off the IL and ready to make two final starts to a season that was severely interrupted.

What can we reasonably expect from Williams today against the Cubs? Who knows? He’ll almost certainly be limited to five innings and 80 pitches, give or take. If he can recapture his early season form, he’ll keep the ball down in the zone, induce weak contact and put the Nats in position to win. Whether he can do all that remains to be seen.

The Nationals would love to supply Williams with the kind of run support they supplied Patrick Corbin on Thursday night (even if it came in a 7-6 loss). They’ll face right-hander Jameson Taillon, who did not pitch when the two teams met in D.C. last month but has enjoyed a solid season (10-8, 3.54 ERA, 1.162 WHIP in 26 starts) and has strung together three straight quality starts entering this one.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field

CHICAGO – Hello from The Friendly Confines, where it’s unseasonably warm for this time of year. The temperature reached the high 80s this afternoon, which is not the way it’s supposed to be in late September in Chicago. The wind will be blowing out to left field, though, so perhaps the Nationals can take advantage and actually hit the ball in the air for some power.

The lineup is missing Luis García Jr. for the second straight day, the second baseman still bothered by a sore right wrist. Getting the start in his place, though, is a new face: Darren Baker. Yes, the kid is in the lineup for the first time in the big leagues, and he’ll be playing in one of the ballparks he grew up in while his dad was managing the Cubs. That’s got to be a thrill for both him and Dusty.

The Nationals are facing right-hander Javier Assad, who they saw a few weeks ago in D.C. Assad tossed a quality start in that Aug. 31 game, allowing three runs over six innings. Andrés Chaparro got to him for a solo homer along the way.

It’s Patrick Corbin on the mound for the Nats in what looks to be his penultimate start for the franchise. With the team going to a six-man rotation the rest of the way with Trevor Williams coming off the injured list, Corbin is tentatively lined up to make his final start one week from today against the Royals. He’ll look to keep the Cubs within the confines tonight and give his teammates a chance.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 9 mph right field to left field

The Orioles have lost eight of 11 games and scored 21 runs in that stretch. Tonight’s lineup combination puts Jackson Holliday at second base after Livan Soto made three consecutive starts, and Heston Kjerstad at designated hitter after he came off the bench last night and singled twice.

James McCann is catching. Emmanuel Rivera is playing third base.

Dean Kremer has five quality starts in his last six outings. He’s posted a 3.76 ERA in the second half.

Kremer has made one career start against the Giants and allowed two runs in six innings. Matt Chapman is 2-for-17 with a home run against him, but San Francisco put him on the paternity list today.

Kremer’s fastballs are generating a whiff rate of 32.1 percent in September, per STATS, which is nearly double his 16.8 rate through August.

NEW YORK – As much as the Nationals dominated the Marlins this season, they’ve been completely dominated by the Mets. A loss tonight would drop the Nats to 2-11 vs. New York, the exact opposite of their record vs. Miami. Yes, there have been some close games, including three extra-inning losses, but overall this has been an incredibly lopsided matchup in 2024.

They’ll try to at least end on a positive note and win tonight’s finale at Citi Field, but it’s a stiff challenge. The Nationals have scored two runs so far in the series, which isn’t exactly a formula for success. They have to do more at the plate, and that will be tough against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, who hasn’t allowed a run to them in 14 innings this year.

Luis García Jr., who departed Tuesday’s game with a sore right wrist, is not in tonight’s lineup. Though he may not have been anyway against the lefty, so we can’t say for certain whether the injury is keeping him out. Dylan Crews, meanwhile, gets bumped back up to the No. 2 spot after notching his first career three-hit game while batting seventh.

DJ Herz makes his third start of the season against the Mets. He was great in one of them (zero runs, 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings), not very good in the other one (four runs in four innings in his major league debut). The rookie will need to be on point tonight in what could be his second-to-last outing of the year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain late, 72 degrees, wind 10 mph in from center field

NEW YORK – The Nationals did a lot of things well in Monday night’s series opener against the Mets. They got a great start from Jake Irvin. They played crisp defense. They got some decent relief pitching. What they did not get is enough offense, especially in clutch situations late in the game. The Nats finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and that included 0-for-6 in the ninth and 10th innings alone, which is why they lost the game 2-1.

So more timely offense would really help the cause tonight. The Nationals will be facing Tylor Megill, who they got to for five runs in five innings back in June. They got a homer from Joey Gallo in that game, but it should be noted much of the damage that night was inflicted by guys no longer with the team (Lane Thomas, Jesse Winker, Eddie Rosario). So this will be a new group going up against Megill tonight.

Mitchell Parker faces the Mets for the second time, and the first outing didn’t go all that well. The lefty gave up five runs in six innings, including three home runs. Those were hit by Tyrone Taylor, Mark Vientos and Francisco Lindor, and while the latter is out again tonight with a back injury, the first two are playing. Parker has been good overall of late, though, and in his last five starts boasts a 3.38 ERA.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
3B José Tena
DH Juan Yepez
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

NEW YORK – We’ve reached the final two weeks of the season, and the Nationals’ final road trip. Every team remaining on the schedule has a winning record, everyone still technically in the pennant race. And these first three games come against a Mets team very much in the race, tied with the Braves for the National League’s final Wild Card berth.

The Mets have been on a sustained role, but they’re without MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, who is out with a back injury. This is still a tough lineup for Jake Irvin to face (including old pal Jesse Winker batting second and starting in right field) but he’s had some success against that group this season. On July 4, Irvin tossed eight innings of one-hit ball in the best start of his career. (Five days later, he gave up six runs to the same Mets team here at Citi Field.)

Sean Manaea is on the mound for New York, so we’ll see Davey Martinez’s right-handed-heavy lineup tonight. We’re still waiting to see if CJ Abrams is good to go after missing the last three days with a left shoulder impingement. Manaea faced the Nats on July 2 and allowed two runs over seven innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 8 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
DH Andrés Chaparro
2B José Tena
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez