Going Deep with The Nats

When Friday’s Joe Ross 2018 debut was rained-out after 1 2/3 innings, the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs were scheduled to play one of those rare one-admission doubleheaders scheduled to start at 3:05pm with a Jayson Werth “Ring of Honor” celebration tucked in between the games. Well, so much for all of the re-planning on all of this as Mother Nature would wreak havoc again on Nationals Park with several inches of rain. Heavy rain delayed the start of the first game for 2 hours and 10 minutes which the Nationals rolled to a 10-3 win secured by a complete game by Max Scherzer.  After the shortened Werth celebration finished up, first pitch by Jefry Rodriguez happened at 9:00pm with another rain delay in the 8th inning lasting 1 hour 29 minutes added to a 3 hour 15 minute game.  The last out was at 1:44 am for anyone who waited up for the bottom of the 8th inning to finish and the top of the 9th inning save. Continue reading →

Jefry Rodriguez Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

After a complete game win in Game 1 of this doubleheader behind a Max Scherzer 3-run performance, the Nationals going into the nightcap with rookie Jefry Rodriguez. The Cubs will pitch another lefty, Cole Hamels, in the second game which gives manager Dave Martinez to go more right-handed. Continue reading →

The Nationals’ original plan on paper had Joe Ross pitching his 2018 debut last night, and then Mother Nature struck hard and did not let up from the second inning on which turned a lengthy rain delay into a frustrating wash-out that was finally postponed minutes before midnight. Joe Ross was amazing, but his stats from last night will never appear because the game was not official. Joe “Cool” touched 97.0 mph on the radar gun and stayed above 95-96 mph on his heater for the entire 1 2/3 innings of his start. Keep in mind, in Ross’ career he averaged only 93+ mph on his fastball. Where did this extra velo come from? A combination of a fresh arm and that adrenaline pumping is a great twosome to bring the heat.   Continue reading →

The last time Joe Ross pitched in a game at Nationals Park was July 9th of 2017. Ross was pulled in the 4th inning after his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow tore. Shortly afterwards, Ross joined a distinguished lineage of Nationals pitchers who have undergone the dreaded “Tommy John” surgery to repair the ligament. It was just two weeks ago that one of the Nationals top pitching prospects, Seth Romero, had TJ surgery. It’s becoming more commonplace especially among the flamethrowers, and the pitchers who rely on sliders.  Continue reading →

Murphy and Adams by USA Sports

This 4-game series will highlight the new-and-improved Daniel Murphy. The Nats fans will see the difference. Murphy is like a new player. With the Nats, he homered in 3.1% of his at-bats and with the Cubs he is bashing the ball and homering in 7.0% of at-bats. On top of that, Murphy is diving for baseballs on defense and tracking balls with an extra pep in his step. Murphy’s slugging percentage with the Cubs is the 2nd best of his career at .579. Maybe all of this is just a coincidence, but some of Murphy’s newfound power and defensive range seems like some extra motivation playing on a team with legitimate World Series aspirations. Continue reading →