The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Luis Garcia will remain out with a heel injury, and Juan Soto is still out with a sore elbow; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Nationals schedule does not get any easier for the team that 14-25 as they must face the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. They have the best record in the American League. To add to the Nats woes, they have Juan Soto still out with a sore elbow, Luis Garcia is out with a sore heel, Asdrubal Cabrera out with a sore back, and reliever Dakota Bacus was put on the 10-day IL and most likely finished for the season with a strained flexor tendon. Continue reading →

Trea Turner has been mentoring the 20-year-old, Luis Garcia, Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

This four-game series has shocked Atlanta and many Nats fans who wrote the season off as the team from Washington is up by two games to one in this series. If the Nats win today, they will only have notched their third series win of the season with the others against the Orioles in Baltimore and the two-game “road” series against the Blue Jays in Washington, D.C.

While the Nats are at 10-games under .500 with just 22-games remaining in the regular season, it is a reminder of the ebbs and flows of “what is possible” in a season. It is highly unlikely that the Washington Nationals can climb back into the postseason picture or as some would say “highly improbable” as we saw last year, but these odds are steeper than last year because they would have to leapfrog six teams with only twenty-two games remaining. The Nats odds of making the playoffs is at 3.1% according to FanGraphs. Can the Nats go 17-5 to finish the season? Doubtful.

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The name has changed to Truist Park and Juan Soto is not available; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Nats got the unlucky draw to face Max Fried today. Not only is he 6-0 on the season, but he also has the top ERA at 1.60. For the Nats, they go with the struggling Erick Fedde, and an over-worked Nats bullpen. Not only is Fedde struggling with a 4.71 ERA, he just has not been going deep into games.  Continue reading →

Truist Park photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

This second game of the doubleheader will also be a scheduled 7 inning game per the 2020 rules. This game features Wil Crowe for the Nats as the 29th man called up for the doubleheader, and the Braves will pitch Huascar Ynoa. The Nats  scratched  Juan Soto in the first game due to a sore arm. The Nats officially said it was a sore left elbow, but ESPN said a sore shoulder. So far, there has not been any additional news on Soto’s condition.

With the loss in the first game, the Nats losing streak is at seven games. Austin Voth has lost five of the Nats 24-games this season. The team has lost twice as many games as they have won this year, and it is truly mind-blowing until you see some of the defensive plays as well as the quality of many of the at-bats as well as the starting pitching.  Continue reading →

This was the scene in Atlanta causing a postponement and a doubleheader today; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

In a day and age when technology has created retractable roofs, MLB does not mandate that teams must put them on newly built stadiums. Rain delays and rainouts still happen. If they did a cost-benefit analysis over the useful life of a stadium, they would see that retractable roofs are worth the investment. The Texas Rangers ownership figured that out when they built their new state-of-the-art complex that opened this year. Truist Park, formerly SunTrust Park, is the site of today’s doubleheader. The Nats have Wil Crowe in Game 2 as their 29th man for the doubleheader, and Austin Voth will start Game 1. Voth will face Tommy Milone who the Nats saw twice this year with the Orioles. Continue reading →

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

At this point in a season, the Nats have not been this bad on their winning percentage in nearly 11 years. You would have to go back to when they were 56-103 on October 1, 2009. They finished that 2009 season at 59-103 and got the 1st draft pick and picked a 17 year old named Bryce Harper the following year. That is the only silver lining when your team is “this” bad that you get a great draft position. Remember, the Nats did not even sell-off at the trade deadline.

“The frustration shows when we have an opportunity, a chance to do something,” manager Dave Martinez said during his postgame presser. “They all want to do it. They all want to be the guy. … Everybody’s trying to hit that five-run homer. I just want them to get on base for the next guy.”

Last night, you could see the frustrations boiling over. We saw batters swinging at pitches literally above their eyes. The unfortunate part for Adam Eaton swinging above his head on a pitch is that he is tanking his own value. Most likely his option held by the Nationals will be declined, and he will be a free agent after this season to search for employment with a -0.2 WAR, a .224 batting average and a .658 OPS on his resumé if the season ended today.  Continue reading →

Max Scherzer on Jackie Robinson Day in Fenway got the last Nats’ win; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Washington Nationals cannot seem to put all facets of the game together in a nine inning game. Last night Patrick Corbin gave up two runs and got zero in support and while there was some good defense for him — there was more plays that were not made.  Continue reading →