Click to Read an Important Member Update Regarding Our Comment System
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.
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A Nats first round pick on the Hagerstown Suns mound; Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
The game was close when Austin Voth was pulled after the fourth inning. Manager Dave Martinez went straight to lefty Seth Romero in a 3-1 game. If this was the 16th game of a normal season in April, you would think that made sense. But Romero had never pitched above Low-A ball and after his 2018 surgery to repair the ulnar-collateral ligament in his left pitching elbow, he had not pitched in a recorded game since August 16, 2018. On that day, Romero was pitching for the Hagerstown Suns against the Lexington Legends in a Single-A game. Romero injured himself in the 2nd inning of that game and had his UCL surgery shortly afterwards and missed the entire 2019 season. Continue reading →
Joe Ross opted-out and Jeremy Hellickson retired. What is left from the World Series season is some legitimate age-regression and injury concerns; MLB Network graphic
There were already going to be roster moves today as Will Harris pitched on Tuesday in a sim practice, and was re-evaluated yesterday. If he felt ready to go, Harris would be activated from the 10-day IL to the roster — and it is now official. With Harris back, the Nationals had to make a roster another move to make room on the roster, and it was not the move that was anticipated in discussions yesterday. Last night, lefty reliever Sam Freeman suffered an arm injury, and Harris took his spot as Freeman was moved to the 10-day IL for now. The Nats no longer have a “Hi Lev” left-handed bullpen arm because of the ineffectiveness of Sean Doolittle. The Nats already lost lefty Roenis Elias to an injury a couple of weeks ago, and now are down to four unproven lefties who are not on the 40-man roster. Seth Romero is with the team on the taxi squad, and is is part of that quartet of lefties that includes Ben Braymer, Nick Wells, and Matt Cronin who are all down on the farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the Alternate Training Site. Continue reading →
It is time for Anibal Sanchez to click into place for the Washington Nationals. He has been the weak link in the starting rotation so far with an 0-2 record and a 7.84 ERA. Small sample sizes tend to distort, but the eye test is clear that his stuff just is not being located like we have seen in the past, and the movement on his pitches at times have been too flat. Since Sanchez is no longer a power pitcher, a finesse repertoire like his demands dotting his spots and putting the twists and turns on the pitches to create enough spin rate that he stays off of the barrels of bats. Continue reading →
Every player on this Nats team contributed tonight to a 2-1 win against the Mets to support a nice 6 inning one run game from Max Scherzer who tweaked his hamstring six days ago. Nobody knew except Max that he would make this start tonight. Six days ago there were plenty of doubters on when Scherzer would make his next start. Trea Turner led off the game with his career 10th lead-off home run which set a Nats team record surpassing Alfonso Soriano who hit nine in just the 2006 season. The Nats other run came from a bloop single by Victor Robles and that was all the offense the team would need. The Nats bullpen saw a great save by Daniel Hudson and a 1 2/3 innings from Tanner Rainey on 13-pitches went the fireman route to snuff out two inherited runners in the 7th to go with his clean 8th inning for a well-earned “hold” for the team. Continue reading →
When you score 16 runs in a game, you want to show that your offense can score a lot of runs again. Before last night, the Nats had been on a 2.9 runs per game pace. Obviously that 16-run outburst will skew the numbers. Pitchers throwing the Rawlings in low lev sure is easier than clinging to small leads like we saw on Saturday. After Max Scherzer bowed out of his last start after 1.0 inning of work due to a tight hamstring, he is right back at it six days later. The ace will need to show that he is healthy. Continue reading →
The Nats desperately needed a laugher this season, and they got it on the arm of Patrick Corbin and the bats of Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto, and Trea Turner in a 16-4 blowout in CitiField. The Nats are technically 3-0 on the road this season. If you count the 2019 postseason, that road winning streak is 11-games dating back to October 4, 2019 in Game 2 of the NLDS in Los Angeles. Continue reading →
Does it feel like the Nats are still in Spring Training mode? It feels like a lack of urgency. Using the struggling Sean Doolittle in a key spot on Saturday was a flashback to Doolittle on August 9th to August 17th last year when Doo gave up 10-runs in 4.0 innings. The Nats shut him down the next day and placed the closer on the 10-day IL with right knee tendonitis listed as the cause. He returned in September with a fresh arm and was one of the stars the rest of the way and through the World Series. Yes, the Nats and Doolittle have little time to figure out what is wrong with the 2020 version.
There is also that tug-of-war with the starters. Hooking pitchers like Austin Voth and Erick Fedde too quick and allowing Anibal Sanchez and Stephen Strasburg to self-destruct on the mound has been emblematic of the issues to date. To a lesser extent, late inning matchups are not being taken advantage of in a sabremetrics sense with pinch-hitters where key at-bats have gone to fails in situational hitting. All of this has led to a 4-7 record with a 3-run deficit in a suspended game against the Orioles that could make the team 4-8. Continue reading →
The Nats had a 3-0 lead going into the 8th inning. Austin Voth, Javy Guerra, and Tanner Rainey combined for a shutout of the Orioles. Manager Dave Martinez went right to Sean Doolittle in the 8th inning, and the first two batters smashed home runs, and he struck out the lefty Chris Davis before he was pulled for Daniel Hudson who appeared to not have sufficient time to warm-up. Hudson quickly put two on-base followed by a three-run home run to lose the lead and take the loss. Sure, the Nats had a chance with two runners on-base in the 8th inning with Howie Kendrick in the batters box, but there was no clutch to be had. Continue reading →
Voth on the mound; Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Last night was an awful night for baseball in Washington, D.C. It was not a competitive game, and manager Dave Martinez waved the white flag when the score ballooned over 8-0. These two teams are at it again tonight. Continue reading →
The Nats have a 3-game weekend series against the Orioles in Nationals Park (weather permitting). The difference a few days make. O’s fans were talking about PLAYOFFS after a 5-2 start to the season, but then the Marlins ripped through Baltimore and swept them in four games to throw the O’s back in the pack. The Orioles at the time had the third best record in the American League only trailing the Yankees and Twins. The Nats do not have much to brag about either as they have a similar record at 1-game under .500.
The betting lines are certainly interesting in this game. A quick look at the graphic tells you how Vegas is looking at this one, and as we always say, there is a reason we play the games. The Nationals are -180, so you would have to bet $180 to win $100 (as the favorites).
Like Vegas, the Nats are thinking Anibal Sanchez bounces back and Orioles starter and ex-Nat Tommy Milone flops. The lefty was the Orioles starter on Opening Day and was not good, but bounced back and stymied the Tampa Bay Rays over 5.0 innings. The Nats like hitting lefty pitching so we will see how this goes. All of a sudden, Milone has become a strikeout pitcher with a finesse repertoire. Sanchez last worked in the Nats “sim” game on Saturday.
Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. 1st Pitch: 6:05 pm EDT TV: MASN; MASN2, MLB App out-of-market Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.