Jeremy Jeffress comes home in a deal with the Nats

Photo from Perfect Game

In 2018, Jeremy Jeffress was on the All-Star team the year the game was played in Nationals Park. It was his only All-Star selection, and it was perfect given that he grew up near Richmond, Virginia. In section 129, there was the Jeffress family sitting in Row TT cheering on Jeremy who threw a scoreless 5th inning. In that same game was Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Jon Lester, Brad Hand, Yan Gomes, and Kyle Schwarber who dazzled in the Home Run Derby. At that point in time, only Scherzer donned a Nationals jersey.

Today, the Nationals signed Jeffress to a minor league deal pending a physical. The deal includes guaranteed money of $1.25 million and an invite to spring training camp per reports, and a total of $2.5 million if he makes the MLB squad. Continue reading

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First full team workout for the #Nats today; Martinez wants his 2021 team to get off to a quick start!

If Javy Guerra makes it back today, there should be all 71 players in the Circle of Trust to kick-off the first team workout for the 2021 Washington Nationals. Manager Dave Martinez said the doors for the facility at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is open daily at 6:30 AM, and players are lined up to enter. There is a new intensity at camp this year. Yesterday was the position players deadline to report to camp leading to this full team workout today ahead of the first Spring Training game next Sunday against the Cardinals. Continue reading

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Scouting #Nats Prospects: Armando Cruz and Yasel Antuna

Photo provided to TalkNats by Armando Cruz

Armando Cruz – SS

Most Washington Nationals fans have been following Armando Cruz for some time now.  If for some reason you are unfamiliar with that name, Cruz is a 17 year old shortstop from the Dominican Republic who recently signed with the Nationals for $3.9MM. Cruz was not only the top player of the Nats’ 2020 international group, but both Ben Badler (Baseball America) and Jesse Sanchez (MLB.com) ranked him as a Top-5 talent overall for this year’s class.  This week, ESPN named Cruz in their Top-10 prospects for the Nationals. Earlier in the month, the teenager also gave TalkNats his first interview in D.C. Continue reading

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Who grabs the last spot(s) on the Opening Day roster for the pitchers?

Joe Ross warms up in the bullpen; Photo by LEGNats for TalkNats

There is no debating how Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo builds his rosters around starting pitching. There is a valid debate however on how Rizzo has built his bullpens over the years and what that has cost him in terms of trade capital to beef up his failed bullpens. This time, Rizzo went after the best available closer on the free agent market, Brad Hand, to solidify his 2021 bullpen. Continue reading

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The #Nats will initially have 71 players in Spring Training! Quotes and thoughts!

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Washington Nationals opened Spring Training camp officially on Wednesday, and pitchers and catchers are already hard at work. In total, 39 pitchers were on-hand at the start of Spring Training. In total, there are 32 positions players on the roster. Position players are set to officially report by Sunday. In total, there will be 71 players in big league camp. MLB set a limit at 75, and that will give the Nats room for some more acquisitions or adding players to the roster. Continue reading

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Who the heck is that guy? New faces on the #Nats for 2021!

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

At last, spring training is upon us. Today is the first day of workouts at West Palm Beach. While we’re still waiting to find out how many games our cheap, wretched, Orioles-owned regional sports network will deign to televise before the start of the regular season, we are sure to spend some time puzzling over who that new guy at first base is, who is this strange pitcher, who is that behind the plate, and so on and so forth.

To help you out in your quest to identify these mystery players, as we do every year, we present this field guide to the new faces in Washington Nationals spring camp. Continue reading

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Spring Training camp for the #Nats officially opens!

Circle of Trust; Photo by Sol Tucker

This was the longest off-season in Washington Nationals history that spanned from the end of a painful 2020 season to the start of a Spring Training filled with hope. This off-season totaled 143 days. We are also in unprecedented times with the COVID pandemic, a promising vaccine, but still mostly empty stadiums. And of course the city that the Nats call home is getting back to normal after the U.S. Capitol siege last month. Baseball took a backseat to real life. Uncertainties still remain along with regrets. The new season is supposed to wipe the slate clean, but COVID is still in the air, and on everyone’s mind.

Last season was so bad for the Nats, general manager Mike Rizzo said they did an autopsy on the season. In a literal sense, autopsies are performed on corpses to determine the cause of death. Metaphorically, Rizzo was right.  Continue reading

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The Mystery of How Carter Kieboom Will Perform and the Story of a Groin Injury

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

It was known that Carter Kieboom had a groin strain as the 2020 season opened from a report from Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. But the CBS report also said, “the injury evidently only hurts when he moves laterally, so he’ll be able to hit and run the bases.” In total, Kieboom only participated in 33-games in 2020, and 99 at-bats and his OPS for the season was .556. In comparison, Max Scherzer had a .545 OPS as a batter in 2018.

At this point, almost every third baseman free agent is off the market, it seems much clearer that Kieboom has a clear track to the third base job for the 2021 season, but that also is not ‘new’ news. Back in early December, MASN reported that “Kieboom is the favorite to be the Nationals’ starting third baseman, though he’ll have to earn his opportunities, according to manager Dave Martinez.” Continue reading

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The #Nats bullpen will be a competition in Spring Training for the last spot(s)

Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats

The Washington Nationals bullpen was a mixed bag of results during the 2020 season. The team parted ways last year with several left-handed pitchers from their bullpen depth. None more important to the history of the Nats than Sean Doolittle who headed to free agency. Acquired by the Nats on July 16, 2017, he appeared in 147 games over his 3 ½ seasons with the team while being a key part of the World Series championship team.

Also gone from last year’s squad are lefty relievers Fernando Abad and Roenis Elias, as well as LHP Sam Freeman who tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Prospect LHP Seth Romero broke his hand in a mysterious accident, and he couldn’t finish the 2020 season although he remains on the 40-man roster. At the end of last season, the only current lefty pitchers who were healthy from the 60-man pool: Patrick CorbinMatt Cronin and Ben Braymer. Of course one of the first moves of this offseason from general manager Mike Rizzo was to add lefty depth to the bullpen. He followed the path he took last year with Kyle Finnegan and did some early shopping and snagged Sam Clay on November 18.  Continue reading

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Scouting #Nats pitching prospects: Andry Lara and Gustavo Rivas

Andry Lara – RHP

Lara– who turned 18 in January- was part of a vaunted 2019 J2 class under the leadership of International Scouting VP Johnny DiPuglia, signing for $1.25MM as a top 20 prospect in the international signing class. Upon signing, Lara immediately went into the top 10 prospects in the Nationals’ system. You read a lot about him last week on TalkNats and his entrance into the 2021 season as the Nats’ #5 prospect (as rated by Baseball America) despite not having thrown a pitch in an official minor league game.

Where many international pitching projects are signed with the hopes and dreams of what they could become, Lara has a lot more “now” ingredients than other J2 hopefuls. Lara’s build is already sturdy and strong, and while he might not have the higher end projection of some of his counterparts, he’ll grow into a durable build much like his countrymen of Anibal Sanchez or Armando Galarraga Continue reading

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