by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals and Cardinals finish their season series tonight, and this 3-game set is tied at a game each right now with tonight’s game determining the series winner. Finally it looks like Miles Mikolas will pitch tonight after reports said that he was pitching on Monday then Tuesday then Wednesday. Tanner Roark was always scheduled for today. Continue reading
Austen Williams photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
If you are into high scoring, and a lot of action — this game was for you. The Nationals starter, Erick Fedde, gave up 4-runs and the Nationals tied the game up and got Fedde off the hook. Austen Williams came in to relieve Fedde and he gave up 3 home runs in the 6th inning. The Nationals scored one back. In a 2-run game, Sammy Solis gave up a grand slam in the 9th inning to Yadier Molina on an 0-2 count that put the Nationals 6-runs behind and the Nationals rallied back in the 9th inning to score 3 quick runs and had the tying run in the batters box but it was not meant to be. Continue reading
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Most expected top prospect Victor Robles would be part of the Nationals sooner than later in 2018, but an elbow injury in mid-April suffered on a dive in the outfield buckled his arm and forced Robles into a lengthy 3-month DL stint with a hyper-extended elbow. It could have been worse for Robles as many feared after seeing that video of the injury. On July 7th, Robles headed to the Gulf Coast League to rehab then to his Triple-A Syracuse team on July 27th. With a little over a month with Syracuse, Robles finished up his Triple-A season yesterday with a slash of .278/.356/.386/.742. Now the question is: How will Nationals manager Dave Martinez get Robles playing time in a crowded outfield? Continue reading
Photo by Kevin Nibley for TalkNats
This past week was very representative of what the Washington Nationals season has looked like in the 2nd half. There were some nice wins bookended with ugly losses. The team continued to struggle getting consistent starting pitching in games not started by Max Scherzer although Tanner Roark and Stephen Strasburg have mostly been able to keep the team in games. The bullpen continues to be “pot luck” with some heroic effort coupled with blah performances. Put all that in a mixer and you get .500 baseball. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
With the Nationals trailing by 2-runs in the 9th inning, Bryce Harper crushed a 3-1 meatball from the Cardinals’ closer, Bud Norris, to deep centerfield onto the grassy knoll which was measured at 451 feet. That bomb tied the game up, and at the very least, took a looming “L” off of starting pitcher Max Scherzer. In the 10th inning, Harper stepped up to the plate again — this time with a chance to win it via a hit or a productive out with the pinch-runner Michael Taylor on 3rd base and one out. Harper hit a deep flyball in a 2-2 count to leftfield for the walk-off sacrifice fly. Nats win 4-3. Continue reading
With each game, there is a pre-game and post-game presser with manager Dave Martinez. We learned yesterday that Martinez had a lesson for his starter Jefry Rodriguez. The Nationals manager wanted “…to see [Jefry Rodriguez] go through those struggles because if he’s going to pitch here, he’s got to do that. It’s the bottom of the order.” At what point do you end a lesson? The 25-year-old pitcher had never thrown beyond 97-pitches. Pitch #95 was a 3-run home run, pitch #96 was a single, and the next 4 pitches ended in the culmination of a 4-pitch walk on pitch #100. At that point, stating it was the “bottom of the order” trivialized the situation which really did not matter when a pitcher is on fumes. Continue reading
Rosters have expanded as the calendar has rolled over to September 2018.
Major league teams can now carry up to 40 players on their active roster. Most won’t choose to roll with that many, but still, this is traditionally the part of the season in which organizations will give top minor league performers a “cup of coffee” — a chance to show what they can do on the major league stage.
The Nationals have already started this process, selecting the contract of reliever Austen Williams on Saturday. Williams, 25, was fantastic this season for Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse, posting a 1.19 ERA across 68 innings combined and turning in very strong peripherals as well with a 0.84 WHIP and 5.24 K/BB (strikeouts per walk).
Jefry Rodriguez Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
There was a point in this game when the Nationals were leading by a score of 4-2 with 2-outs in the 5th inning. Manny Pina hit a grounder back to starting pitcher Jefry Rodriguez and he could not field the ball putting two runners on base — and that is when the floodgates opened up. Rodriguez struggled from the first batter of this game. He actually walked the first two batters in the game who both scored for an early two run deficit, and the Nats scored 4-runs back for him thanks to Juan Soto and Mark Reynolds. For some reason(s), manager Dave Martinez allowed JRod to stay in the game into the 5th inning, and eventually 7-runs would score in that 5th inning. Continue reading
Photo by NavyYardNats for TalkNats
With an NL Central race to the finish between the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers, the Nationals continue to disrupt the pennant races with wins like last night that struck a blow to the Brewers odds. With last night’s spectacular comeback win by the Nats, they are back to the .500 mark, and today’s game will determine the winner of this series. Continue reading
The Nationals were low-energy in a 3-1 game they trailed before a lengthy 2-hour rain delay invigorated them as they came out on fire with a 2-out rally from Adam Eaton (double), Trea Turner RISP single and stolen base followed by two walks and then a Juan Soto bases loaded single for the go ahead RBIs and capped off by a wild pitch to make the score 5-3. Continue reading
