by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
by Andrew Lang
by Stan4Nats
Photo from Trea Turner‘s Instagram
Baseball fans have seen Jim Abbott pitch and field with one arm, and in 1945 there was Pete Gray who batted with one arm and hit .218 for the Browns and was out of baseball after seventy-seven games as a fill-in during World War II. There is no comparison with the feats of Abbott and Gray to Trea Turner playing with eight healthy fingers, but what Turner pulled off was rather impressive given what he had to overcome. Continue reading
Was the middle finger up for “We’re number 1?”
The numbers are fun to look at for these 2019 Nationals who defied the odds to win the World Series. They won their first game of the season on a walk-off home run by Trea Turner, and they won their final game of the postseason on a Howie Kendrick home run. We all know about the 19-31 record on the morning of May 24th, and the fact the Nats won 93 games in the regular season, and they won 105 games between the regular season and the postseason. The most important number is the Nats won the 7th game of the World Series fulfilling Davey Martinez’s mantra of going 1-0. Continue reading
As we enter a new season of player movement, we observe the landscape where several aspects seem pretty obvious:
Sterling Sharp is the likeliest Nationals minor leaguer to be added to the 40-man roster this month.
It’s the offseason, and things are slow. But while there isn’t much happening in the world of Nationals baseball, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening. Continue reading
Howie Kendrick underneath Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX; Photo by Paul Kim
World Series winning teams need a full team effort in order to win. Without Juan Soto‘s heroics with two outs in the 8th inning of the Wild Card, there is no NLDS, NCLS, and World Series for the Washington Nationals. In the NLDS, where would the team be if Anthony Rendon does not homer off of Clayton Kershaw in Game 5? Without the heroics of Anibal Sanchez in Game 1 of the NLCS, who knows what happens with momentum. In the World Series, what happens if Stephen Strasburg was off of his game? It took an entire team to win these games. We could go through even the most obscure plays and contributions from players like Andrew Stevenson scoring the tying run in the Wild Card to a home run by Michael Taylor to a key strikeout by Tanner Rainey out of the bullpen. While Howie Kendrick was the NLCS MVP and Stephen Strasburg was the World Series MVP, you do not win without the key players who were integral to the success. Continue reading
There is apparently no fine for littering in “Braves Country.”
The manager carousel made its usual run through the league after the season, and the NL East was no exception as the Mets and Phillies both make changes with their dugout skippers. Carlos Beltran is the Mets new manager and Joe Girardi got shutout of the Cubs job and settled for the Phillies opening. As both managers look to fill their staffs, it is possible that Nats assistant hitting coach Joe Dillon could head to Philadelphia as their hitting coach. While the Marlins chose to retain Don Mattingly reportedly at a lesser salary, they did make changes on their coaching staff. What did not change was general manager positions in the NL East. Continue reading
The best-laid plans, right? Back in May, when the Nationals were 19-31 or thereabouts, Spouse and I looked at each other and said, “when October rolls around, we’re going to want to get out of town ASAP because it sure doesn’t look as if the Nationals will be demanding our attention. How about we cash in that behind-the-scenes tour of the Hall of Fame we got, oh, five years ago?”
First, Logistics (skip this p Continue reading
On this Veterans Day, we want to start this article with honoring all who have served and given us the ability to enjoy our freedoms. The true heroes. Continue reading
Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
Every team enters the off-season in need of starting pitching. For the Washington Nationals, they have built around elite starting pitching since they began their winning ways. They enter the offseason with a need to replace Stephen Strasburg and Jeremy Hellickson in their starting rotation. It is possible that Strasburg returns, and the Nationals have three in-house candidates for the 5th starter spot to replace Hellickson, and those pitchers are Joe Ross, Austin Voth and Erick Fedde. The great news is the Nationals also have Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, and Anibal Sanchez as locks for the 2020 starting rotation. Continue reading
Last year Victor Robles was the Nats top prospect
The World Series champs did not trade any top prospects at the trade deadline, and that was welcomed news because the farm system was ranked in the bottom third of all farm systems by every ratings service. Victor Robles was the Nationals top prospect a year ago, and just as quickly it seems like Juan Soto a year before will go from prospect to rookie to sophomore status that quickly when Spring Training opens. Next in line is Carter Kieboom who played 10 games for the Nats in 2019, and he could be the next #1 prospect called up. If the youngest Kieboom brother becomes a regular for the Nats, the farm looks even thinner. Continue reading
