Bats

J.J. Hardy was 1-for-22 for the spring heading into his second at-bat on Sunday against the Minnesota Twins. Then he turned on a 91-mph fastball from Vance Worley and sent it over the left-field wall for his first home run in Grapefruit League action. He said he wasn't worried about his poor start to the spring. But a home run doesn't hurt. “It was definitely nice to put a barrel to a ball. I wasn't really worried. We still have a few weeks left; I'll get a few more at-bats,” Hardy said.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- After seeing a spine specialist in Baltimore on Tuesday, Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis remains optimistic he will be recovered from a herniated disk in his neck in time to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day. Markakis saw Johns Hopkins spine specialist Dr. Lee Riley on the team's off day and returned to Sarasota on Wednesday. He said he's currently pain-free and his range of motion is returning. Markakis was scratched from the starting lineup March 1 after he woke up unable to move his neck.

Non-roster invitee Conor Jackson continues to make the most of his opportunity this spring. Jackson hit a pair of homers in Sunday's 12-3 Grapefruit League win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Ed Smith Stadium. Both of them were aided by the wind, but I thought both were hit well enough to get out of the stadium on a calm day. Orioles manager Buck Showalter disagreed. “He'd be the first to tell you they were good swings in the proper elements,” he said. Still, you can't argue that Jackson, who has played in more than 60 games just once since contracting Valley Fever in 2009, is off to a good start in fighting for a reserve roster spot.

Representing his country was a dream Orioles center fielder Adam Jones had since he was a teenager growing up in San Diego. Twice while he was in high school, he tried out for his Team USA age-group squad and didn't make it. But now, the 27-year-old Jones will have his chance, playing for the United States in the third World Baseball Classic, which begins Tuesday. "I got cut from Team USA tryouts when I was 15 and 16," Jones said. "I just wasn't good enough. They took other players, and that was fuel to me to get better.

A Morgan State University student who was partially blinded with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire alleges in a recently filed lawsuit that the school ignored warning signs of Alexander Kinyua's potential for violence. Joshua Ceasar of New Jersey was struck by Kinyua, who is accused of killing a family friend before eating some of his body parts in Harford County. Kinyua pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible in December in the attack on Ceasar. "There were numerous warning signs that Kinyua was a danger to the community, and Morgan State failed to act to protect anyone on campus," said Ceasar's attorney, Steven D. Silverman.

TAMPA, Fla. - Conor Jackson knows every spring at-bat is valuable. The way the 30-year-old sees it, there are only so many opportunities to show you belong. And over the first five games of spring training - as opponents have stacked left-handers against the Orioles - the right-handed Jackson has seen his name on the lineup card often. In the first days of camp, Jackson missed three days of workouts with lower back stiffness, but he was determined not to let the injury quell his push for a roster spot.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter sensed some nervousness in record-setting Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps as he lingered around the Orioles batting cage. Phelps, a Baltimore-area native, clutched a bat and wore an orange Orioles jersey with No. 18 on the back - for the record number of Olympic gold medals Phelps has won as a world-class swimmer. The 27-year-old Phelps joined the Orioles before Thursday's intrasquad game at Ed Smith Stadium, taking batting practice with the team.

Here are today's batting orders for the two three-inning intrasquad games that will be played this morning on the back fields of the Ed Smith Stadium Complex. Note that Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold are not in the lineup today. According to manager Buck Showalter, Markakis was slated to miss Thursday and Friday while attending a funeral. Reimold is likely getting the day off as the team paces him back from neck surgery. These games will be played quickly, so don't blink. Players need to be at Lakewood Ranch Golf Club just after noon to participate in the team golf tournament.

A new baseball season dawns, and it all feels so different for the Orioles and their fans this time around. Pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, Fla., today, but this time the O's are coming off a 93-win season in which they made it to the American League Division Series. They probably won't duplicate the astounding 2012 numbers they put up in extra-inning games (16-2) and one-run games (29-9). But this is a club with a solid everyday lineup and a terrific bullpen. And if the starting pitching holds up - I know, you can say that about every team - the Orioles should contend again for the AL East title.

The Orioles are adding more orange to their pregame look in 2013. According to ESPN uniform guru Paul Lukas, the Orioles' new batting practice cap will feature the cartoon bird on a cap with an orange front panel and a black brim. Now you can't say they haven't made any flashy moves this offseason. Lukas was the first to provide a sneak peak of the batting practice caps for all of the teams Thursday morning. He grades the Orioles' new hat a B-. It replaces a black cap with orange trim and the orange “O's” logo.