Notes: O's-Nats; Vitale joins #F16HT; '21 sked

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles and Nationals will play a pair of exhibition games on July 20 at Oriole Park and July 21 at Nationals Park in preparation for the 2020 season.

Major League teams are allowed up to three exhibition games against other clubs at the end of Summer Camp, according to league protocols. The Orioles also announced a third exhibition game against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 19.

All three games will begin at 6:05 p.m. ET. None of them will be carried on MASN or the Orioles Radio Network.

During the regular season, the Orioles and Nationals will play six games against each other -- three at Nationals Park (Aug. 7-9) and three at Oriole Park (Aug. 14-16). The regional rivals have played annually in the Battle of the Beltway Interleague series since the Nationals moved to Washington in 2005.

Keep #F16HTING
The Orioles have enlisted another big name to help support Trey Mancini’s fight against colon cancer: Emmy award winning college basketball analyst and philanthropist Dick Vitale. Vitale, 81, is a Sarasota, Fla., resident and an annual visitor to the O’s Spring Training facilities there, where he and Mancini had previously met.

In a Twitter video he posted to his 883,000 followers, Vitale held up one of the #F16HT shirts the Orioles are selling to raise awareness for colorectal cancer, and implored people to pray for their star slugger. All proceeds from the shirts, which are on sale for $25, go to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and will help patients and family support services. They can be purchased at Orioles.com/Auctions.

“Let’s pray for Trey. Trey is a beautiful young guy,” Vitale says in the video. "Trey is going to make it because he’s a fighter, he's courageous, he’s tough and he has so much love coming from people out there who admire and respect him.”

2021 Schedule
One week, two schedules.

Three days after the 60-game 2020 schedule was unveiled across the league, MLB released a 162-game schedule for the '21 season on Thursday.

The Orioles will open the 2021 regular season against the Red Sox, playing Opening Day at Fenway Park on April 1. They close the schedule with a three-game set against the Blue Jays in Toronto from Oct. 1-3. Their home opener is set for April 8, also against the Red Sox. Their longest stretch at Camden Yards will come in the form of 17 home games in September, including a season-high 10-game homestand against the Royals, Blue Jays and Yankees.

Their Interleague opponent in 2021 will be the National League East, with the O’s hosting series against the Nationals, Braves, Mets and Marlins and traveling to play the Nats, Marlins, Mets and Phillies on the road.

The Orioles will provide more information regarding ticket sales for the 2021 season at a later date.

Hey, Harv
To hear Hunter Harvey tell it, his pitches are “game ready” already, just a few workouts into Summer Camp. To see his hair is to know it is on another level.

Harvey’s mullet is in full form after an extra 3 1/2 months of growth back home in North Carolina, where Harvey said he was “starting to go a little crazy sitting around and playing catch.” The hair is down to Harvey’s shoulders and his fastball is already sitting in the mid-to-upper 90s, both in his first side session and Wednesday’s intrasquad debut.

“I couldn’t wait to get back to a ballfield,” Harvey said. “To be back is really exciting.”

Now the question is: what does Harvey’s usage look like in a truncated 60-game season? Healthy for a full season for the first time in several years, Harvey enjoyed an electrifying seven-game debut as a reliever down the stretch in 2019. He was expected to be a key piece of the Orioles' bullpen this season, but his workload will be managed conservatively due to his extensive injury history.

Speaking this week, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he’d like to use Harvey “as much as possible but not push the limits on him.” It doesn’t seem like it would take much of a balancing act. With just 60 games on the schedule, the chance of Harvey even approaching his 75 2/3-inning total from last summer is remote. The kid gloves, at least theoretically, can come off.

“Even if it wouldn’t have been cut short I was ready to go a full season,” Harvey said. “We were taking this year and going right at it. The 60-game season just makes it a little easier on them not having to draw something up on me, given my injuries. I don’t want to say it’s a great thing, but it might be a bit of a blessing in disguise a little bit to ease into this role and make it a little bit easier.”