2019 Preview – The Manager and coaches #Nats

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Jacob Diament

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

Going into 2018, Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and team ownership took a major plunge by installing a rookie manager, Dave Martinez, on a team primed to contend for a title. Industry consensus was that the non-renewal of Dusty Baker was at  worst foolish and some framed it as being unjustified after Baker led the Nationals to two mid-90 win seasons and maneuvered around some serious injuries to get there. On the flip side, both of Dusty’s Nationals teams failed to advance past the NLDS and most Nats observers agreed that Dusty was out-managed in both instances. Ownership and Rizzo felt that an investment of $200 mil was not made to just make the playoffs, and it was decided that a drastic change was needed to ‘get over the hump’. Continue reading →

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Astros/Indians, Dodgers/Braves, Red Sox/Yankees, Redskins/Saints are your games today!

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The postseason continues this afternoon and into the evening as MLB will once again compete with the NFL and Monday Night Football for audience viewership. For Washington Redskins fans, they are the team du jour tonight against the New Orleans Saints for their football game at 8:15PM. For baseball fans, these division-series games have had a lack of offense in three of the series or you can look at it the other way that it is great pitching dominating.

The Cleveland Indians have a team batting average of .100 so far through 2 games, the Braves are batting .144 through 3 games, and the Rockies who were swept by the Brewers only hit .146.  It’s hard to believe for three very good offenses that they have struggled so much, and it was the Braves who were shutout for 19 2/3 innings before a bases loaded walk scored their first run of the NLDS.  Continue reading →

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Sunday afternoon and evening has the third games of the NLDS series

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Andrew Lang

While the American League teams are traveling today, the National League teams are playing their third games in their respective NLDS series. Each game is an elimination game for the home teams who trail 2-0 in the best-of-five series. The Brewers-Rockies game is the afternoon game followed by the Dodgers-Braves.  Continue reading →

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A busy day of baseball with the 2 ALDS games and the 2 NLDS games!

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Andrew Lang

There are four division series overlapping at different points today. The day opened with the defending champion, Houston Astros, going up against the Indians. It was a heavyweight bout featuring Corey Kluber and Justin Verlander on the mound for their respective teams. Kluber got knocked out early and the Astros are in attack mode. The Brewers are hosting the Rockies in Game #2 of their NLDS series where the Brewers walked-off in dramatic fashion in the 10th inning last night. The Redsox and Yankees get the primetime spot, of course, and the Dodgers and Braves have the late night finish in Los Angeles. Continue reading →

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2019 preview – Starting pitching #Nats

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Jacob Diament

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

When looking at the 2018 season in the rearview mirror, my contention is that with all the issues documented daily, all the whining about this and that — the single biggest issue and the main reason the 2018 season was a failure due to the shocking under-performance of the starting rotation — almost everything else is pretty much noise. Continue reading →

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The two NLDS series begin today! Some familiar ex-Nats on the rosters!

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Andrew Lang

At 5:00 pm, the NLDS gets started with the Milwaukee Brewers against the Colorado Rockies and at 8:30 pm, the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers get going. The Braves have a predictable line-up and they are starting Mike Foltynewicz, but for the Dodgers, they will start lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu and not Clayton Kershaw who will start tomorrow on extra rest as he last pitched on Saturday. This could be a very well thought out strategy by the analytics group with the Dodgers or a move that could be highly criticized if it does not work-out. Continue reading →

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Code Breaking and Baseball

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Ray Wyvill

Hands on hips, Jackie Robinson stares incredulously as the Giants celebrate. October 3, 1951

The Divisional tie-breaker game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, October 1 turned on a dime.  With none out in the bottom of the fourth inning Pitcher German Marquez struck out Dodgers’ First Baseman Max Muncy on a high fastball.  Unfortunately, for Colorado, Catcher Tony Wolters failed to secure the ball. It popped into the air and back to the screen.  Muncy was safe at first.  Two batters later, Cody Bellinger homered.  Up by two runs the Dodgers never looked back.  This innocent little strikeout-that-wasn’t turned into a big deal.  If one digs a bit deeper it possibly reveals something much larger. Continue reading →

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Flying the “L” and “L”essons on “L”osing

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

When the Cubs acquired Cole Hamels and Daniel Murphy, they were supposed to be on the verge of completing what was supposed to be a roster set to compete with the titans of the American League in the World Series. The Cubs were the team to beat in a weak National League this year. Continue reading →

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2019 #Nats Preview – 2nd base position

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Jacob Diament

Carter Kieboom; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

For 2019, the second base position is a complicated issue after the departure of Daniel Murphy. For the past 2 1/2 years, the man for the position was Murphy who missed a good part of the season due to his microfracture and debridement procedures in his right knee last off-season, and then he was traded in mid-August. In 2016 and in 2017, Murphy put together exceptional offensive numbers, and despite below average defense Murph was a 5.7 and 4.4 WAR player in 2016 and in 2017; all in all, one of the best free agent signings in the team’s history and at an a very reasonable level of compensation.

There is no denying that Daniel Murphy is one of the best pure hitters in baseball combining bat control, power and excellent situational understanding. In 2017, unfortunately brought with it a broken down Murphy towards the end of the season, one who returned from a major knee surgery with a noticeable limp, even less range and an inability to use his legs to drive the ball with power. Still by the time the Nats flipped Murphy to the Cubs, most of his game was back and he remains a scary hitter as the playoffs are about to begin. With Murphy gone, the Nationals might want to fill second base with an acquisition from the outside for 2019 or look to internal options.

Continue reading →

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You want some good news? The Nationals will be drafting the highest they have picked in 7-years!

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

By the way, the Washington Nationals have the 17th spot in the 2019 Draft. It could have been the 16th if the Diamondbacks won 1 more game because the Nats had the better head-to- head record as they tied wih an identical 82-80 record this season. This is the highest the Nationals have picked in 7-years when they chose 16th overall in the 1st round and took Lucas Giolito. Continue reading →

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