Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters Suits Up for His First Game Against Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles open up a two-and-two, four-game set against the Washington Nationals tonight.

The Baltimore Orioles will take on their Beltway rival this evening, beginning a four-game series at home. Oriole Park at Camden Yards will play host tonight and tomorrow, while Nationals Park will host on Wednesday and Thursday.

Both clubs are having a phenomenal start to the season. The Orioles have won 20 out of their first 30 games for the fifth time since 1969, and the Nationals are having their best start since their inception 12 years ago.

Pitching matchups for the four-game series will go like this:

Tonight: Kevin Gausman vs. Gio Gonzalez
Tuesday: Ubaldo Jiménez vs. Max Scherzer
Wednesday: Wade Miley vs. Stephen Strasburg
Thursday: Dylan Bundy vs. A.J. Cole

Here’s a little fun fact for you if you’re keeping score at home, the Orioles have never lost a season series to the Washington Nationals.

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The Orioles are 36-24 against in the Battle of the Beltway series and have won 13 of the last 18 meetings between the two clubs.

Matt Wieters makes his long-awaited return to Camden Yards, in an opposing uniform.

For the first time since cracking the big leagues on May 29, 2009, Matt Wieters will run onto the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards from the third-base side dugout.

Wieters, who will turn 31 in 13 days, signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with a player option for 2018, with the Nationals in the offseason.

The Orioles had made it known they were moving on from him after signing free-agent catcher Welington Castillo to a two-year deal themselves.

About his friends still playing for the Orioles, Matt told The Baltimore Sun reporter Edwin Encina:

"“When I was there, obviously I knew how we did and I’d check in on the other teams in the AL East. Now, I know how we did, but I’ll check on the NL East teams and then I’ll check on Baltimore, too. I want to see what’s going on over there now, because those guys are still my friends. They’re not my teammates anymore but they’re still my friends and will always be my friends.”"

Wieters’ reception should be nothing short of a standing ovation.

In 2015, when Nick Markakis returned to Baltimore with the Atlanta Braves, he received a standing ovation before his first at-bat.

The reception for Wieters shouldn’t be any different.

I wanted to know how the fanbase would react to seeing Matt in a Nationals uniform, so I took to Twitter to ask what the initial reaction will be.

Here are some of the responses I received:

Michael Holloway (@CamdenCrazy77) said:

Vince Altadonna (@WheezyThePenguin) said:

Hunter Davis (@huntrdavis) has “positive feelings” towards Wieters, and Bryce Amyot (@BryceAA13) wants to make sure that Matt knows he’s appreciative of his service time in Baltimore.

User Daniel Brilliant (@BRILLIANT2552) believes though that Wieters is in the wrong uniform:

Understandable.

The guys over at the Birdland BS Podcast (@FredDonahue27 & @MattTalleyls) said this:

Meanwhile, Jason Spears (@Jason_Spears301) had these important words to say:

And the positivity continued to roll in:

Elsewhere, John Gallardo (@racetrackjohng) wants Wieters to do well, but just not while playing the Orioles:

Again, completely understandable.

Next: Chris Tillman's return was a welcomed one in Baltimore

Of course, it’s surreal when a player returns to his former club in a different uniform. When Wieters steps to the plate tonight, Orioles faithful, no doubt will give him the ovation he deserves.

For a man who gave everything he had, through losing seasons and injuries to the Baltimore Orioles organization, it’s about nothing but respect and gratitude.

After the show of respect though, remember, there’s a ballgame to play, and Wieters would probably be lying if he told you he didn’t feel the same way.