Game #20 Final full week in the Grapefruit League for 2023!

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

WEST PALM BEACH, FL: Elijah Green and top prospects working on the backfields will continue into April; Photo published with permission given to TalkNats

While most minor leaguers will stay behind in West Palm Beach into April as they work in the warm weather before most depart for Fredericksburg, Wilmington, Harrisburg, and Rochester, there might be a lucky few who will get chosen by manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo to make the Opening Day roster for the Washington Nationals in 11 days. We are talking about the NRIs who were signed to Minor League deals and with a real shot of making this roster. Hobie Harris, Anthony Banda, Matt Adams, Michael Chavis, and Chad Kuhl top that list of hopefuls with at least two of them expected to make the Opening Day roster. Continue reading →

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Game #19 Trevor Williams vs. Sandy Alcantara feels like a real 2023 matchup!

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

CJ Abrams should be back in the lineup tomorrow; Photo by Andy Ward for TalkNats

The wind was blowing out to left field yesterday and the Washington Nationals got some of the luck of the Irish to take advantage of the stiff breeze with an 8-run explosion in the last inning to come-from-behind and steal a game in the Grapefruit League. The Nats are now above .500 with that dramatic win in yesterday’s game to improve to 9-8-1. Darren Baker had two hits including the game-tying grand slam to tie the game at 7-7 before the Nats kept pouring it on. To repeat, Spring Training wins are not indicative of what the regular season can look like, it is just nice to see some great finishes and well-played games.  Continue reading →

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Game #18 A St. Patrick’s Day start for MacKenzie Gore!

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by DC Connoisseur for TalkNats

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The Washington Nationals got some of the luck of the Irish and have clawed back to .500 with a win in yesterday’s game to improve to 8-8-1. Not that Spring Training wins are indicative of what the regular season can look like, it is just nice to see some well-played games. Continue reading →

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Game #17 Mets at Nats in a night game!

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

With yesterday’s game rained out, it won’t be replayed. That makes this the 17th game of Spring Training. What’s more, both Patrick Corbin and Josiah Gray pitched on the minor league side of camp. All of that changes up the pitcher for this game. The Nats will hand the ball to Wily Peralta who becomes critical starter’s depth with Cade Cavalli lost for the year to a UCL tear.
Continue reading →

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Mike Rizzo announces Cade Cavalli will undergo Tommy John Surgery

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The news that was expected on Cade Cavalli‘s elbow was realized this morning when Nationals’ general manager, Mike Rizzo, announced that the right-handed pitcher Cade Cavalli will undergo Tommy John Surgery. The prospect suffered a grade 3 UCL sprain during his last Grapefruit outing. In the press release, Rizzo announced that Cavalli would miss the entire 2023 season as expected with a Grade 3 strain which is a total tear of the UCL. With a total tear revealed in the MRI, it left no guesswork for second opinions, and Cavalli should have the surgery within in the next week.  Continue reading →

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A message for the Lerners!

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

WASHINGTON, DC –  SEPTEMBER 9, 2018: Jayson Werth hugs Mark Lerner with Ted Lerner looking on during a pregame ceremony for Werth’s induction into the National’s Ring of Honor Saturday night. (Marlene Koenig for TalkNats)

The Washington Nationals should have the year of 2025 circled as their year to really compete for a postseason berth. When Ted Lerner was running the team, he had a vision for the future of building a champion. You take your lumps when you are a bad team, and like any builder knows, it’s all about the process. Some have compared it to sausage making. Lerner had said it was not too different from building a business from scratch.

The team was a mess when the family bought it in mid-2006 with the worst farm system in baseball. It basically had Ian Desmond and that was about it. The team Lerner bought had a decimated farm system from the Expos’ years of bad drafts, awful decisions, and the Bartolo Colon trade in 2002 that cost the “future” team Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Lee Stevens. After the season, the Expos traded Colon with only 17-games pitched in a Montreal uni, for a haul of nothing. None of those players were around when the Expos became the Nats two years later. That Colon trade gave away a haul reminiscent of the Juan Soto trade. Cleveland got three minor leaguers in Lee, Phillips, and Sizemore and before you know it, each had gone to multiple All-Star games after the trade. Continue reading →

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Game #17 has the #Nats with many changes!

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andy Ward for TalkNats

We are back in Jupiter, Florida against the Miami Marlins. Their lineup will look much different with so many players participating in the World Baseball Classic. For the Nationals, they changed from Jake Irvin starting this game to Patrick Corbin. The Nats will be without Cade Cavalli for a while as he suffered an elbow injury and will be getting an MRI today. The Nats did not waste time as manager Dave Martinez named Chad Kuhl as his new fifth starter in a rotation with MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams, Josiah Gray and Corbin.  Continue reading →

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Talk Nats 2023 Seasonal Positional Preview – Second Base

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Welcome to the 2023 Talk Nats season positional preview! Between now and Opening Day, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about a particular position, eventually covering every spot on the diamond. Below is a deep dive into the second base position. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section, and as always, Go Nats!

The Starter – Luis Garcia 

Garcia’s story is special and unique; he entered the Nationals organization when he was 16 years old and signed as an international free agent. For the past three seasons, he has been working with the Nationals but had a breakthrough campaign in 2022, as he hit .275 in 93 games and slashed .295/.408/704. Continue reading →

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Game #16 Cade Cavalli against the Mets in Port St. Lucie!

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo from Stan for TalkNats

The Washington Nationals had a stunning come-from-behind win yesterday with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to shock the Astros. The team’s №1 draft pick from last year, Elijah Green, came up big with a hustle triple that would have been a stand-up double for most. Green plated two runs with the triple and then Michael Chavis put the winner in the books with a two-run homer. Sure, they weren’t facing the Astros’ closer or even a player who will make their roster, but you take what the game gives you.  Continue reading →

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Game #15 The world is abuzz about Joey Meneses!

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

In Spring Training, Joey Meneses departed a week ago to meet up with Team Mexico in Arizona for the World Baseball Classic. To that point, it was a lackluster first big league camp for Meneses and the Washington Nationals. He was batting at ‘Mendoza’ with a .438 OPS. Four singles and no extra-base hits in just 20 ABs. Some began questioning the kid from Culiacán as if he was one and done. Nats fans have seen it before with others, and skepticism will always be there until you prove them wrong. Continue reading →

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