by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
Social distancing 6 feet apart, the lines are drawn but emptiness at spring training facilities
The chasm between MLB and their players is jagged and deep. Here we are a month later and still fighting over money with no start to a 2020 baseball season. This feels more like a divorce than a reconciliation. Continue reading
Photo by Lynn G for TalkNats
Click here to watch Nats win #41 on June 28th on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #41 came in the 81st game in the 2019 season, and the Nats took the a 40-40 record into this game. Manager Dave Martinez was preaching “Go 1-0 every game” and eventually the Nats turned their losing record into a winning record. It took the Nats until June 28th to reach a winning record and they got to 12 games above .500 on August 21st. They dug themselves a deep hole, and it took much longer to dig out of it. Now the Nats were believing they could be a postseason team. Continue reading
Photo by LEGNats for TalkNats
Click here to watch Nats win #40 on June 27th on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #40 came in the 79th game in the 2019 season, and the Nats took the a 39-40 record into this game. Manager Dave Martinez was preaching “Go 1-0 every game” and eventually the Nats turned their losing record into a winning record. It took the Nats until June 28th to reach a winning record and they got to 12 games above .500 on August 21st. They dug themselves a deep hole, and it took much longer to dig out of it. Continue reading
WORLD SERIES or BUST
Every team that surprises the world with a World Series appearance has a huge financial windfall in the following season. Winners get the benefits. It is just the way it is. The Washington Nationals were set to reap the rewards with record crowds this year only to see a pandemic sweep the globe in the form of COVID-19 that shut down life as we know it. Continue reading
Click here to watch Nats win #39 on June 26th on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #39 came in the 79th game in the 2019 season, and the Nats took the a 38-40 record into this game. Manager Dave Martinez was preaching “Go 1-0 every game” and eventually the Nats turned their losing record into a winning record. It took the Nats until June 28th to reach a winning record and they got to 12 games above .500 on August 21st. They dug themselves a deep hole, and it took much longer to dig out of it. Continue reading
A Nats first round pick on the Hagerstown Suns mound; Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
Over the two days of the amateur player draft and a grand total of five rounds, the Washington Nationals selected six players who general manager Mike Rizzo believes will elevate his farm system that ranks near the bottom of all teams. In all, Rizzo once again went after pitching with three right-handed pitchers, one left-handed pitcher, one middle infielder and one catcher. Of Washington’s six selections, four came from four-year universities (Oklahoma (2), LSU, UCLA) , one from a junior college (San Jacinto) and one from the high school ranks (Monsignor Pace Miami). What they all seem to have in common is upside potential to their talent and good makeup. Continue reading
Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
The draft is so hit-or-miss like a deceptive breaking pitch that will buckle your knees when you were looking fastball. Every draft class can be analyzed in hindsight years down the road to look at names of “can’t miss” first round picks who never made it. We discussed the 2009 draft class of swing-and-misses on Dustin Ackley, Donavan Tate, and Matt Hobgood. Possibly the greatest baseball player ever came out of that 2009 draft at pick #25 and his name is Mike Trout. Sure, Stephen Strasburg was in that draft and the falloff after him is tremendous in the WAR department. Only Trout and Stras have career WARs over 20.0 from that draft class. But why did so many fail? There were toolsy position players and big arms and failures all over that page. This 2020 draft in ten years will have plenty of winners and losers, and it just is the way it is in baseball. The best GMs find the winners, but luck has to be a factor also. You can’t pick a player who already came off of the board. With pick #22, the Washington Nationals chose RHP Cade Cavalli from the University of Oklahoma. Continue reading
Jackson Rutledge was the Nationals’ top draft pick in June 2019. (MLB)
While there is no agreement between MLB and the player’s union to “Play Ball”, we have a baseball event playing out “live” in the form of the amateur baseball draft. Very much like the NFL Draft during the COVID-19 crisis, MLB’s amateur draft will be a social distancing event with no players shaking hands with commissioner although there will be cameras set-up at draftees homes and other venues. The 2020 MLB Draft presented by T-Mobile will begin on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET and will be live on both MLB Network and ESPN to reach a larger audience, and fans will see this two-day event covering picks 1-37 for all 29 first round picks since the Houston Astros pick was forfeited plus eight picks for small market teams who pick up extra picks in Competitive Balance Round A. Continue reading
Photo from Nats Instagram
Click here to watch Nats win #38 on June 25th on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #38 came in the 78th game in the 2019 season, and the Nats took the a 37-40 record into this game. Manager Dave Martinez was preaching “Go 1-0 every game” and eventually the Nats turned their losing record into a winning record. It took the Nats until June 28th to reach a winning record and they got to 12 games above .500 on August 21st. They dug themselves a deep hole, and it took much longer to dig out of it. Continue reading
Exactly a decade ago, were you one of the lucky 40,315 fans in a sold-out Nationals Park to witness the “debut”? What Nats fan could forget June 8, 2010 when Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut for the Washington Nationals? It was electric at near 1.21 gigawatts. Fans stood and cheered for a team that never had a winning season because Strasburg represented winning in the future. For a team that looked like they were destined to lose 100-games every year before Stras arrived, hope came with him the day he was drafted. It took 3,431 days after his sparkling 14K debut for Stras to hoist up his MVP trophy as a World Series champion. His road is part of baseball’s way to put you up on a pedestal and then knock you off and see if you have the perseverance to dust yourself off and climb back up. Strasburg did just that.
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"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
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