How Juan Soto Can Become the Face of Baseball

Photo supplied by Topps

Juan Soto will play the 2021 MLB regular season at the age of 22, and hopefully the World Series at 23. He’s already a bona fide superstar. The hope and expectation in Washington is that he will remain at the pinnacle of the game and become the best player in franchise history — a feat that, provided good health, seems well within his reach. What we’re exploring in this piece, however, is what Soto can do to reach even higher, and become the face of baseball in America. Continue reading

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Game #15 Jon Lester set for Grapefruit debut!

Clover Park in Port St. Lucie; Photo from Stan for TalkNats

Today is the day we will finally get to see LHP Jon Lester‘s debut game in Spring Training for the Washington Nationals.  His previous two starts were  scratched because of his decision to have surgery on his thyroid gland.  Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez pushed starter Joe Ross to tomorrow to make room for Lester who will face the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie. Continue reading

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Carter Kieboom needs the luck of the Irish or the Nats need a Plan B!

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

See ball, hit ball. It is the most basic message from a coach to a player holding a bat. We had avoided the Carter Kieboom storyline for an entire Spring Training until now. But we should discuss it now. Performance at this time of year is about getting timing down and getting your reps in and progressing day-by-day. The process and eye test are what should count most. Results can be taken with a grain of salt and are too skewed in small sample sizes. Two balls put in play in a 25 at-bat sample that could have been hits will change everything. Continue reading

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Go-ahead given for fans at Nats Park; Workers are scurrying to get ready!

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The D.C. Government gave the green light to the Washington Nationals to host fans to start the season late on Monday. While that number has been initially capped at 5,000, there is optimism that number will grow. All of a sudden behind bolted gates on Tuesday, workers were spread out doing Spring cleaning at Nationals Park. Painters were hard at work and the concrete concourse was being powerwashed while you could hear hammers and saws blazing in the distance. A sweet-16 days to Opening Day! Continue reading

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Game #14 Patrick Corbin takes the rock as #Nats are a Sweet-16 from Opening Day

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

We are getting close to the end of camp. Patrick Corbin gets the start tonight and will have two more starts after this in Grapefruit League action to get him ready for the season. It is looking like he will pitch after Max Scherzer in the rotation and they would like to get Stephen Strasburg into the third spot in the rotation with Jon Lester who is planning to make his Grapefruit debut on Thursday as the fourth starter and Joe Ross on Friday as the fifth starter. Continue reading

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An introduction to the Rochester Red Wings

Photo provided to TalkNats from Yasel Antuna

An introduction to the Rochester Red Wings

Ryan Morris

Sunsets on Lake Ontario, Abbott’s frozen custard, and Rochester Red Wings baseball. That’s been my summer for as long as I can remember. Thus I was ecstatic to learn my hometown Nationals had chosen my other home team to hold some of their brightest prospects. But what are the Red Wings all about? Here’s everything you need to know about the Nats’ new Triple-A affiliate. Continue reading

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Game #13 marks another #Scherzday as #Nats travel to Jupiter

Photo by Kevin Nibley for TalkNats

Tell us if you have heard this before — the Nationals have a Grapefruit League road game in Jupiter at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The 14-mile drive up I-95 is also great for Nationals fans to make the short drive up the road to see the team in another venue, and today they get to see Max Scherzer on the mound and Gerardo Parra in an “A” lineup for the first time since Game 5 of the 2019 World Series! Bonus! For the Cardinals, they give right-handed John Gant the start, and the Nats just faced him last week.  Continue reading

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The injury list grew today by adding Stephen Strasburg

Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats

If you read down the injury list for players on the Washington Nationals big league roster, Stephen Strasburg just got added to that list. In total, there are now seven players on the medical list from the 51-players on the big league roster. None of them would be deemed major, but each could disrupt the Opening Day roster.

The most serious of the injuries would be with Gerardo Parra and Aaron Barrett who both had knee procedures done, but neither player was projected to be key parts of the 2021 roster. Right-hander Rogelio Armenteros who is a fringe starter was shutdown late last month with arm pain but is reportedly back to throwing. Welington Castillo who was signed as catching depth is dealing with a shoulder issue, and he is probably fourth or fifth on the depth chart. A different story with Strasburg, Jon Lester, and Tanner Rainey who are all key components with Stras and Lester combining for 40 percent of the starting rotation.  Continue reading

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Game #12 Stephen Strasburg can be seen on TV! First cuts made!

Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats

If you have the MLB app or the ability to watch ATT Sportsnet-SW, they can watch this Washington Nationals game today with Stephen Strasburg on the mound facing the Astros. This is the first broadcasted glimpse of Stras since August 14 of last year. The World Series MVP feels like the key to the Nats success in 2021.

For those with or without TV, this game is also available on Nats radio network with Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler calling the game. One of the great things the Nats have done is beef up the radio coverage in this Spring Training due to the lack of television. For some of us old enough to remember back to the 1970s and prior before cable, radio was our only way to follow a game unless you attended in-person.

We are now at the halfway point in the Grapefruit League schedule of 24-games at the conclusion of this game. Time is certainly running short on the Spring Training schedule with the final game scheduled just 15 days away on March 29 then a two-day break before Opening Day on April 1.  Continue reading

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Game #11 with Joe Ross against the Mets in some Grapefruit League baseball!

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

With Joe Ross as the presumptive fifth starter, the Nats rotation goes to Stephen Strasburg tomorrow followed by Max Scherzer then Patrick Corbin according to manager Dave Martinez. At some point the rotation will be reseeded and Jon Lester will be added into the rotation. For tonight, it is Ross versus the Mets.
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