LAKELAND, Fla. - Justin Duchscherer arrived at the Ed Smith Stadium complex as I was heading to my car for the drive to Lakeland. Duchscherer said he's having a "light day" today. Sounds like he might play catch and receive more treatment on his left hip. Duchscherer hopes to throw live batting practice tomorrow. He threw off the half mound and regular mound yesterday. Assuming he makes it through the session without any glitches, he could appear in his first game early next week....

The Washington Nationals today re-assigned left-handed pitcher Matt Chico and right-handed pitchers Joe Bisenius and Shairon Martis to minor-league camp. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. The Nationals currently have 58 players in their big league camp.

If you wanted to pick an Orioles' minor leaguer that could put up some real solid numbers this year, you could probably do a lot worse than Tyler Townsend. The 22-year-old first baseman, the O's third-round pick out of Florida International in 2009, hit very well last year - when he could get on the field. The lefty hitter was limited to 52 games because of a recurring hamstring injury, but in those games, most of which came at Delmarva and Frederick, Townsend batted .325 with six homers...

SARASOTA, Fla. - I've got the Garmin warmed up and I'm ready for the long drive to Lakeland for today's game against the Tigers. Here's the Orioles' lineup: Randy Winn CF Brendan Harris 1B Felix Pie RF Jake Fox DH Nolan Reimold LF Josh Bell 3B Nick Green SS Craig Tatum C Cesar Izturis 2B Jake Arrieta RHP Ryan Drese, Jason Berken and David Riske also are slated to pitch today. Rick Porcello is starting for the Tigers. Left-handers Brad Thomas, Charlie Furbush and Fu-te Ni also are...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz says he developed a wart on his middle finger "a couple months ago" and thought it might be a blister. He's never had one before and alerted head athletic trainer Richie Bancells after reporting to camp with the other pitchers. "It's not bothering me," Matusz said. "It doesn't affect me at all. It's on the side of my middle finger. The only time it actually comes into play is when I throw my curveball and it touches the seam. It...

The Orioles today announced that they have agreed to terms with 22 players on one-year contracts. The list of players recently signed includes: Robert Andino, Matt Angle, Jake Arrieta, Josh Bell, Brad Bergesen, Zach Britton, Brandon Erbe, Pedro Florimon Jr., Jake Fox, Luis Lebron, Joe Mahoney, Troy Patton, Nolan Reimold, Adrian Rosario, Alfredo Simon, Brandon Snyder, Chroye Spoone, Craig Tatum, Chris Tillman, Rick VandenHurk, Pedro Viola and Matt Wieters. Additionally, the Orioles renewed the...

For some, the best sign of spring is the president of the United States throwing the first pitch at a Nationals game. Or Ryan Zimmerman's first home run of the season. Or simply the sound of "Play Ball" echoing through the ballpark. For others, it's not spring until the beautiful cherry blossoms bloom around the District and tourists from all over the world travel to the tidal basin en mass with their best photographic equipment. Ah, the joys of spring in the nation's capital. On...

SARASOTA, Fla. - I'm still trying to catch my breath after this newsy day, which included significant health updates on Justin Duchscherer, Koji Uehara, Derrek Lee and Brian Matusz. No Mitch Atkins update? What the heck? Matusz will fly to Philadelphia early tomorrow morning to have a wart removed from his left middle finger. Manager Buck Showalter pointed to the exact location while trying not to flip us off. "Plans are for him to fly back tomorrow night," Showalter said. "There is...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Brian Matusz is flying to Philadelphia at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning to have a wart removed from the middle finger on his pitching hand. He's expected back in Sarasota later that night. Is that enough health news for one day? Manager Buck Showalter told reporters about Matusz's procedure following a 2-0 loss to the Twins. The wart is located on the side of his finger near the nail. He feels it while trying to throw his breaking ball. Matusz tossed two scoreless innings...

SARASOTA, Fla. - We're still scoreless through six innings. Josh Bell doubled off the fence in right-center field leading off the bottom of the sixth, but he never made it past second base. Left fielder Jason Repko made a lunging catch to rob Nick Markakis and hold Bell at second. The wind knocked down Bell's ball. It looked like a home run when it left his bat. Rule 5 pick Adrian Rosario threw a scoreless fifth. Bell started a dazzling 3-6-1 double play. Josh Rupe gave up a leadoff...