Manny Machado

The Orioles have released their batting order for their season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, which will surely get people talking because it is Opening Day and all. But manager Buck Showalter scribbled down more than 100 different lineups last season, so we probably shouldn't make too much about Tuesday's order. Still, it will be pretty odd seeing Brian Roberts hitting from the nine hole instead of leading off like he has -- when healthy -- for most of his Orioles career. “I'm happy to be healthy and playing, and my job for the past 13 years had been to be the best leadoff man in the game I could be,” Roberts said Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- When the Orioles open the regular season this afternoon at Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team they outlasted in the final days of the 2012 regular season to earn the franchise's first playoff spot in 15 years, they will field a team nearly identical to last year's. To many experts, the club's reluctance to make expensive free-agent signings or trade for high-profile reinforcements this offseason was reason to predict a regression from the Orioles' 93 wins.

While many big league teams will start their seasons today and the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros kicked off 2013 last night (Anyone see Erik Bedard warming up in the Astros bullpen with Dennis Martinez looking on? Or Dave Trembley slapping Rick Ankiel's hand as he rounded third base on a sixth inning homer? Strange sights, indeed.), the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays don't begin until Tuesday afternoon. So we have one more day of speculation - I'm sure you didn't get enough of that in the past seven weeks.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter won't announce his Opening Day starting lineup until after today's workout at Tropicana Field, but he did reveal some interesting tidbits about the batting order that he plans to send out to face reigning AL Cy Young Award winner David Price. In his first Opening Day start, third baseman Manny Machado will hit out of the No. 2 spot, a place we've seen Machado hit over the final week of spring games. With a left-handed hitter, either Nick Markakis or Nate McLouth, leading off tomorrow, it will allow Showalter to flip sides with right-handed hitting Machado.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Manny Machado was as surprised as anyone. He figured he would open the 2013 season in pretty much the same place he was when the Orioles ended their unlikely playoff run last October. Playing third base every day. Batting deep in the order. Learning on the job. So, what was a 20-year-old semi-rookie supposed to think when manager Buck Showalter announced Monday that he will bat second against 2012 Cy Young Award winner David Price when the Orioles open the regular season Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field?

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. 3.94 -- Kevin Gausman's ERA this spring. Gausman had an underwhelming performance in his final spring start with the big league club, allowing three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings Tuesday. But other than that, it was mostly an impressive spring for the 2012 first-round draft pick. The 22-year-old righty held opposing hitters to a .239 batting average before Tuesday's start.

The sight of Orioles designated hitter Wilson Betemit rolling and writhing on the infield grass of Ed Smith Stadium on Monday afternoon suddenly quieted a sellout crowd and sent chills through the home dugout. As routine an act as Betemit's was - going on a full-count pitch from first base to second during the Orioles 12-9 Grapefruit League win over the Red Sox - the result was anything but. Betemit's right knee buckled mid-stride as he stumbled in the basepath, crumbled to the ground and clutched his knee in severe pain.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta and Pirates left-hander Jonathan Sanchez dueled into the late innings on Thursday night with neither starter allowing a run. Arrieta - who emerged as the front runner for the team's open No. 5 starter position - pitched six scoreless innings in an eventual scoreless 10-inning tie with Pittsburgh. Arrieta stranded five runners in scoring position and escaped two-on, one-out jams in both the fourth and fifth innings. Sanchez held the Orioles to two hits - both of them singles by third baseman Manny Machado - in five innings.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, I exchanged emails with Stacey Long, who blogs about the Orioles for the blog Camden Chat. MV: What do you think 2013 will bring for Manny Machado? What are realistic expectations for the kid? SL: Defensively there is nothing to worry about regarding Machado.

Another day, another inquiring mind wanting to know what it's like to be baseball's next big thing. Manny Machado is ushered into the large conference room at the Orioles' Ed Smith Stadium training complex, his attention quickly drawn to the portraits on the far wall. Brooks Robinson. Frank Robinson. Boog Powell. Cal Ripken. All in a row. "Someday," he says almost sheepishly, "I want to be up on that wall. " Someday, he probably will, but first things first. There is the small matter of living up to the advance billing and Machado instinctively knows that he won't be able to do that if he takes his eye off the ball.