Before this month is over http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , ladies and gentlemen, there will be actual, regular season baseball. Huzzah!"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sectionss Game RecapsOrioles News and RumorsCamdencastBird DroppingsFriday Bird Droppings: Where it’s Opening MonthNew,628commentsBefore this month is over, ladies and gentlemen, there will be actual, regular season baseball. Huzzah!ESTShareTweetShareShareFriday Bird Droppings: Where it’s Opening MonthButch Dill-USA TODAY SportsGood morning, Camden Chatters.The calendar has flipped to March. And you know what that means: by the end of this month, the 2019 MLB regular season will be underway. We’re so close, folks! We’ve slogged through five straight calendar months without regular season Orioles baseball. We don’t have to wait another full month. The Orioles, and most other teams, will begin their official games on March 28, while the Mariners and Athletics open a week earlier with a two-game series in Japan from March 20-21.With real baseball so quickly approaching, it’s about time that one of the most prominent free agents in sports history has finally found a home. Bryce Harper agreed to an incredible 13-year deal with the Phillies worth $330 million, setting an MLB record for the largest overall contract (surpassing Giancarlo Stanton’s $325 million extension with the Marlins in 2014, most of which is now being paid by the Yankees). It also eclipses Manny Machado’s 10-year http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , $300 million deal with the Padres signed last week, although Machado is earning the higher average annual salary.Wowza! Thirteen years. We’ll be having three more presidential elections before Harper’s contract expires. My currently 19-month-old daughter will be well into her teenage rebellion phase. I feel older than I ever have. Kudos to Harper for getting a huge payday, and good on the Phillies for going all in to compete.Orioles fans will be seeing a lot less of Harper now that he’s no longer part of the annual “regional rivalry” series with the Nationals. In fact, the Orioles won’t play against Harper again until 2021, when the O’s are next scheduled to face the NL East in interleague play. (That’s assuming the Orioles don’t play the Phillies in the World Series before then, an assumption I’m very comfortable making.)In the meantime, the Birds still have a few weeks’ worth of exhibition games to trudge through as they count down to Opening Day. Yesterday’s Orioles-Phillies matchup aired on MLB Network until the Harper news broke, at which point they cut away, never to return. Probably a good call, since the game ended in a tie, the most anticlimactic result for an already meaningless contest. Top prospect Yusniel Diaz, though, continued to be a highlight, going 3-for-4 with an RBI double. He’s 7-for-14 this spring.As for Chris Davis, well...LinksWrapping up a 5-5 tie - School of RochRoch Kubatko has further details about yesterday’s game. Joey Rickard is hitting well, too! That doesn't excite me nearly as much as Diaz’s hot spring does Christian Yelich Jersey , but hey, good for Joey.Davis seeks to give Orioles their money's worth in 2019 - Yahoo SportsI’m going to have to object to this headline. It’s all but impossible for Davis to give the Orioles “their money’s worth” at this point. I’d settle for him not being a complete liability.Inbox: Where will prospect Mountcastle play? - Orioles.comJoe Trezza answers questions from readers, and points out that the Orioles are planning to move Ryan Mountcastle around to different positions this spring. Can we just make him a first baseman and be done with it?Dylan Bundy hopes that he has bounceback season for Orioles - BaltimoreBaseball.comThe fact that the Orioles’ 2018 Opening Day starting pitcher ended up allowing 41 home runs was just one of the many reasons their season crumbled. Here’s hoping for a Dylan Bundy rebound this year under some fresh eyes.Orioles starter candidate Nathan Karns scratched from Friday night start with arm soreness - Baltimore SunThe Orioles’ oft-injured new pitcher is injured again. Who could have possibly foreseen this??Orioles birthdaysIs today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your living O’s birthday buddies are 2003 lefty Omar Daal, who turns 47, and 1973 infielder Larry Brown (no relation to Mark), who turns 79. Two late Orioles with birthdays today are 1954 righty Howie Fox (b. 1921, d. 1955) and 1958 pinch-hitter Bert Hamric (b. 1928, d. 1984).Also, shout out to 2017 reliever Stefan Crichton, whose birthday falls on a day that doesn’t exist this year — Leap Day, February 29. He’ll have to settle for celebrating today instead. Crichton turns 27. HOUSTON (AP) — Carlos Correa is in pain.Every swing and miss hurts, and on the bad days it can even be uncomfortable for the Houston Astros star shortstop to walk.Correa often puts on a brave face but told The Associated Press how much this is affecting him as the Astros prepare to leave for Boston and the best-of-seven AL Championship Series that begins on Saturday.“You’re a competitor so every time you step on the field you play it off like everything is fine,” he said Wednesday. “But obviously you’re hurting.”Correa returned from a six-week stint on the disabled list on Aug. 10 and declared that he was better. But he has struggled to regain his top form. He hit just .180 in the second half of the season and managed a single hit — a home run — in an ALDS, looking nothing like the player who made the All-Star team last season and was the 2015 rookie of the year.He said it bothers him most at the plate, and it’s been impossible to get back to how he felt before the injury.“Not only to find my swing, just to feel comfortable at the plate when I swing http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey ,” he said. “Because I know every time I swing and miss it’s going to hurt. So, I try not to swing and miss and then I try to baby my swing and I don’t swing as hard as I usually do or as quick as I usually do. So, it’s definitely been tough.”Correa said there’s been a domino effect of pain in other areas, most notably in his obliques, as he tries to avoid doing things that make his back hurt.He’s receiving treatment “24/7,” but the pain remains. He’s using a foam roller at home and been sporadically taking anti-inflammatories.“It’s just a pain down in my lower back that doesn’t let me move right,” he said. “When I bend over, when I rotate. Sometimes when I wake up and I walk in the morning, I know it’s not going to be a good day.”He’s accepted that the aching likely will be with him until he gets an extended rest. He’s trying not to let it weigh on him, but in private moments at home with his fiancee Daniella Rodriguez, he laments that he simply hasn’t been himself this season.“When I go to sleep at night, I think about especially this year (how) I’m not performing the way I know I can perform, it’s just been tough,” he said. “Sometimes I talk to Daniella and I’m like: ‘There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m hurting.’ But I’m a competitor so you grind, you try to perform. But it’s definitely … been frustrating at times.”Despite his woes, Correa started all three games of the ALDS and continues to play stellar defense http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , something he takes pride in as he struggles at the plate. And though he was just 1 for 10 against the Indians, his one hit was a big one — a three-run homer in the clinching game — providing hope that maybe things are getting better.“I feel like I had really good at-bats in the series vs. Cleveland, just not getting lucky with the balls I hit hard,” he said. “But that one fell, and it gives me a lot of confidence going into this series.”Manager AJ Hinch was asked if he’s concerned about Correa.“Not now,” he said. “We (have) four days off. We get to press the reset button. You don’t just get to press pause either way. We had some guys get six and seven hits in that series, but you have to start over again, new opponent. So, no it doesn’t concern me.”Correa is focused on keeping a positive attitude as he fights through this and is determined to do all he can to help the Astros repeat as champions.“It’s been a tough year. But it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “I keep grinding every single day. I keep trying to find ways to help my team. I thought my defense this year was excellent and I’m looking forward to winning another championship and getting some rest.”“And come back next year strong and be the player that I am,” he continued.