by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
Even though the Nats did not have a great season in 2018, I still had a lot of fun following the Nats and going to games. Last year, I wrote about my top ten favorite moments of the 2017 season, and now here are my top ten moments from 2018: Continue reading
Warren Spahn’s high leg kick resulted in a long stride which is not the norm for lefties
A recent study shone a light on a fact that is in plain view: There is more Left-handed representation in Baseball at the Pitcher position than the general population. The disparity is not insignificant. Depending on the resource cited lefties account for about 10% of the population plus or minus a point or two. At the major league level, however, the percentage is almost three times that. The study cites the value at 27.5%. But, a check of the player data base for 2018 yields a figure close to 30%. What’s going on? Continue reading
Happy New Year and if Mike Rizzo of the Washington Nationals reads just one of our articles, we hope it is this one. The new-age of baseball analytics blossomed years ago and with software and high-speed cameras you would think any team could replicate what Adam Ottavino did last year when he reinvented himself in a New York City storefront on his own dime between West 124th and 125th Streets on St. Nicholas Ave. in Harlem. On one side of Ottavino’s space was a Dollar Tree store and a Chuck E. Cheese on the other side, and his hard work has turned Ottavino and his successful storefront investment into one of the hottest relievers in free agency. While spin rate and movement does not make the pitcher without other ability, what you can learn with analytics is part of the continual improvement that Ottavino put into action during a remarkable 2018 season. The Nationals are just far behind the curve so to speak. Continue reading
The Circle of Trust finally looked like a circle after many days of practice. Good job!
Mike Rizzo: Sign Tony Two-Bags to an extension.
Anthony Rendon: Sign an extension with Mike Rizzo.
Ryan Zimmerman: play so well that the Nationals want to pick up your 2020 option or sign you now to an extension. Continue reading
Every year, young first-round draft picks in their respective sports sign multi-million dollar deals. Some spend those signing bonuses on Ferrari cars, Rolex watches, blinged-out jewelry and pocket money for long-lost relatives. For the Washington Nationals 2018 1st-round pick, Mason Denaburg, he spent his money on real estate — and in particular his parent’s home as he paid-off the mortgage on their home which is minutes from the Nats old spring training home in Viera, Florida. Continue reading
Zim’s 2018 Spring Training on the back-fields; Photo by Craig Nedrow
For months our readers here have discussed our suggestion about the advantages of extending the contract of the face of the franchise for the Washington Nationals. In case you did not know, Ryan Zimmerman happens to be one of the top offensive players in baseball when facing left-handed pitching which is one of the reasons to retain him for a few more years at a lower salary. There is a perfect storm of need brewing for the Washington Nationals and Zimmerman because he wants to stay with the Nats, and the team needs to lower their 2019 payroll. They can both accomplish these goals together creatively speaking. The Nats can actually lower payroll by extending Zimmerman’s contract to include the 2019 season and at a market rate for the 2020 and 2021 season which would take Zim to his retirement at the age of 37.
For the two-time All-Star, he has repeatedly said he wants to extend his career in Washington, D.C., but determining his future value could be the sticky point. With Matt Adams signed to a new $3 million deal for 2019, the market seems clear what a 30 year old Adams is worth — but what would Zim’s value be for his age 35-36 season and his age 36-37 season? Would Zim agree that Adams’ salary is his true value? Hopefully he would as the 34 year old first baseman once again hurt his value by spending too much time on the DL and playing poorly for the first month of the season. Zim finished with just a +1.3 WAR that ranked at only the 22nd highest ranked among 1st basemen in 2018 while he is among the highest paid at that position and set to pocket $18 million more in 2019 if no renegotiation happens. Continue reading
Originally published on NationalsProspects.com
I think the “WKRP to Cincinnati” trade is it for 2018, which means it’s safe to put the finishing touches on the Washington Nationals 2019 Watchlist.
It feels like this was one of the most difficult to assemble—despite a LOT of help in the comments—but I also have to keep reminding myself that every time I think “well, this is the last one,” someone else emerges.
While I’m sure many of you are thinking of Juan Soto, I’m actually referring to Carter Kieboom. To me, Soto was like spotting Bigfoot riding a unicorn across a double rainbow, or like Zachary Quinto is to Sheldon Cooper.
From Strasburg to Harper to Rendon to Giolito to Robles, it seems there will always be “the coming thing” – the überprospect who the beat writers can name without asking a coach will give updates on to the casual fans when there’s an injury or a slump. Continue reading
Sure, you all know that yesterday, the free agent signing became official for Anibal Sanchez with the Washington Nationals. What you probably did not know is what happened a year ago and a dozen years ago. A year ago, Sanchez was desperate for a deal coming off of back-to-back horrific seasons that usually end a career for a 34 year old when your last piece of data that hits any G.M. is a 6.41 ERA.
Sanchez’s best offer for the 2018 season came from the Minnesota Twins who signed Sanchez to a non-guaranteed contract for $2.5 million then cut him loose in Spring Training and paid him off 1/6th of his deal which was a little over $400,000 as he hit free agency again. The Braves picked up Sanchez just in time for the final days of the Grapefruit League schedule as he replaced Scott Kazmir who suffered a jaw injury. Sanchez dazzled in his Braves’ spring debut in the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. He must have thought he was facing the Nats who he “owned” in his career with a 10-1, 2.08 ERA record, however on that day, Sanchez would face the other team that calls FITTEAM their spring training home, the Houston Astros, who at that time were the reigning World Champs. He beat the Astros on that day in West Palm Beach after making that long trip from Orlando with a bunch of non-roster players, and he earned the praise of his new manager and eventually Kazmir was released with Sanchez being named the fifth starter.
“I like his pitchability and what he brings,” Braves’ manager Brian Snitker said of Sanchez before finalizing his 2018 roster. “Probably the arsenal isn’t what he had [earlier in his career], but he understands that, and he has the ability to use what he has now effectively.”
From the fifth starter spot, the veteran pitcher climbed to the ranks of the tops of the Braves rotation in 2018. Here we are a year later, and another new start for Sanchez which was fine for him and his family because now he has some stability again in his career with this new 2-year deal with a third year team option, and in a stark contrast to last year, he got to choose a team from the many that wanted him. Continue reading
For several years, the NL East was the “NL Least” and dominated by the Washington Nationals since 2012 with little resistance from the other four teams in the division with the exception of the Braves in 2013, the Mets in 2015, and the Braves in 2018. The Nats have either finished in first or second place in every season since 2012 with managers like Davey Johnson, Matt Williams, Dusty Baker and now Dave Martinez at the helm. The Nationals are built to win just like going into the 2019 season.
If you read yesterday’s article on FanGraphs updated statistics, you saw that the Nationals and Braves run totals were adjusted with each having one win shaved off the totals, but all teams except for the Marlins look poised to compete in 2019. Yes, you play the games to decide the champ, and there is more work to be done, but let’s have a look at the current W/L projections from FanGraphs for 2019: Continue reading
In England, it is still a holiday today. Boxing Day is being celebrated in London and for the fútbol teams, their general managers could have another day-off. That is not the case for Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo, his work is never done — those are his words. Rizzo’s employment has few days-off and few second chances. There are only 30 people in the world with the MLB general manager job title, and the general managers who are the best, live in a perpetual world where winning keeps you employed. Rizzo looks to be the biggest winner so far this off-season among his compeers. FanGraphs’ analysts believe the Nationals have made the moves to get them back to the top of the NL East. They are believers or at least their modeling for projections believes the Nats are the best team in the NL East with a projected 90-72 record after they fine tuned the numbers once again (91-71 on Monday). Continue reading
