The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Sometimes you feel like you drew the short straw when you get picked to play in a road game for Spring Training in a city hours away.  That is the case today as the Washington Nationals take a trek across the state of Florida with 7 hours on a bus in one long day for a game in Tampa. Big league players graduated from the long bus ride circuit during the regular season, but someone’s gotta do it in Spring Training when your number is called. It is waking up at 5:30 am to get to a 6:30 am bus ride up the Florida Turnpike to Route 4 west to George Steinbrenner Field to face the New York Yankees. It is 210 miles of boredom each way for anyone who cannot sleep. For some of these players, this will be the closest they ever come to playing the Yankees. Playing the Double-A Trenton Thunder just is not the same as playing the actual Yankees. These are the Yankees! Okay, you can be sure that not all of the Bronx Bombers starting twenty-five are playing today, but some will. I’d volunteer to play if I was a Double-A guy. Why not.  Continue reading →

Photo by Andy Ward for TalkNats

The last time we saw Anibal Sanchez on a mound against the Cardinals it was on the road and he was twirling a no-hitter in the 8th inning. That game just happened to be the most important start of Sanchez’s career — Game 1 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Today, the Washington Nationals will take to the road from their home stadium at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and drive the 14 miles north to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Sanchez will start on the mound with the hopes of going two innings and about 30 pitches. Some of the Nats players actually have Spring Training residences closer to Jupiter and will drive themselves, and this is why the Nationals relocated from Viera to Palm Beach County so they could avoid long road trips and with that said — the team has one of those excruciating road trips tomorrow when they head to Tampa to play the Yankees. Few want to go on that Tampa trip on a bus for 3 ½ hours each way and over two hundred miles.  Continue reading →

Brandon Snyder‘s walkoff hit on 2/23/2020; Photo by Tom Sileo for TalkNats

If you followed Sunday’s split-squad games which were being played simultaneously at FITTEAM and in Jupiter, you hopefully were able to follow the radio call of Charlie Slowes as the Nationals had a walk-off single by DC’s own Brandon Snyder (Westfield High School, Centreville, Virginia) to get the Nats to 1-0 in Grapefruit League play. Minutes later, the game in Jupiter ended as Derek Self self-destructed and blew the save as the Nats lost against the Marlins. Most of the records do not matter unless you are a player fighting for a job. Who knew on February 23rd of last year that injuries would give opportunities to players like Jake Noll, Andrew Stevenson and Wander Suero. Just because Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez referred to Stevo as his 5th outfielder does not guarantee Michael A. Taylor the bench spot nor does it guarantee Stevo the fifth spot on the bench. Wilmer Difo, Adrian Sanchez and others are all fighting for spots on the roster. Health is the number one factor as we know going into the final roster selection. Having an outstanding Spring Training can’t hurt, and Noll like Clint Robinson before him shows that NRIs can make it. Continue reading →

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

If today’s weather holds up, it is Austin Voth at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, and Erick Fedde up the road in Jupiter. It is Voth who gets most of the starters today and manager Dave Martinez in his dugout. Continue reading →