by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
by Andrew Lang
The three top pitchers in the National League at this moment are Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Aaron Nola. Today’s Washington Nationals game features two of those three facing-off as Scherzer and Nola will be on the mound today. Their faces will be prominently on those league leaders baseball cards after the season, and most likely one of those three will be hoisting that 2018 Cy Young Award. Continue reading
This Washington Nationals team for two days in a row has been playing with youthful enthusiasm and have comeback wins in two straight games in dramatic fashion, and on this night, it was Ryan Zimmerman with a 2-out 2-run walk-off home run after Juan Soto doubled in a 2-strike count. A week and a half ago it was the Nationals who suffered two meltdowns to lose via the walk-off in Chicago and St. Louis. It is much better to be on the receiving end of games like this. Continue reading
Photo by LEGNats for TalkNats
Tell us if you have heard this story before about Stephen Strasburg returning from the DL. It’s an annual story and this year will be Strasburg’s second return from the DL. This time Strasburg believes he has his neck issue figured out after he saw a specialist in California who diagnosed the issue as a cervical nerve impingement which has been an ongoing “pain in his neck.” They relieved the pain through a scalene block injection, and Strasburg says he is now pain-free. The Washington Nationals have desperately needed Strasburg because the Nats have had to stretch the rotation to points where Tommy Milone, Austin Voth, and Jefry Rodriguez have had to fill in making the 5th spot a virtual black hole in the rotation. Continue reading
Murphy and Adams by USA Sports
For those paying attention to the Washington Nationals, when the team did not add a competent starting pitcher before the trade deadline the team did not portray themselves as a team that was “going for it.” The Nats essentially weakened themselves because they traded away from the bullpen and those small details matter. Brandon Kintzler did have declining peripherals but certainly would be better than the reliever who would take his place on the roster. After Kintzler’s departure, we would see the Nationals lose three heartbreaking games out of the bullpen against the Cubs, Cardinals and Marlins. The Nationals are further behind today from first place than they were at the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31st.
The combination of Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams in the middle of the Washington Nationals order sure was exciting with a lot of lefty thump, but then Ryan Zimmerman returned from the 60-day DL and Matt Adams went ice cold. In fact, with one swing of the bat yesterday, Andrew Stevenson‘s pinch-hit 2-run home run was one more hit and 2 more RBIs than Adams produced in the last 2 ½ weeks. That’s a fact.
General manger Mike Rizzo’s decision to trade Matt Adams was simple as the team stopped platooning Adams at first base a few weeks ago. Adams’ slump goes back to when Zimmerman returned and in those Adams 58 at-bats he was hitting .155. So was Rizzo really throwing in the towel by trading Adams? Trading Murphy definitely seemed to be a case of weakening the team on the surface, but was it? Continue reading
On another rainy night, the Nationals went into the rain delay with a 1-0 lead and when they came back to play they quickly fell behind 4-1 to the Phillies. In the bottom of the 6th inning the Nats answered with a booming 2-run home run from pinch-hitter Andrew Stevenson for his 1st career home run. The irony was Stevenson who clearly isn’t a home run threat was called up to replace power hitter Matt Adams as the extra lefty bat off the bench. Stevenson did not even arrive at the stadium until the rain delay. Continue reading
Kevin Long with Daniel Murphy. Photo by Lee Heiman for TalkNats
The Washington Nationals look very different now compared to 2-hours ago due to a couple of trades. With Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams on their way to NL Central teams, the Nationals called-up Andrew Stevenson and Adrian Sanchez to take their spots on the roster. It appears that Kelvin Herrera will not be activated today. There is a game tonight, and it looked like this series was going to be the Nationals last stand against the Phillies with the Nationals three best pitchers lined up. Instead the General Manager, Mike Rizzo, waved what appears to be the white flag although it could have been a handkerchief. Continue reading
Sometimes you pivot and do a 180°. That is what Mike Rizzo and team ownership did, but in a very small way as they just traded Matt Adams and Daniel Murphy after declaring three weeks ago that the team is going for it. These were not even salary dumps as the Nationals will be paying part of Murphy’s $4 million remaining salary as they shipped him to the Cubs. The player the Nationals got back for Murphy is a low level prospect infielder named Andruw Monasterio who was rated 31st in the Cubs system. Continue reading
There are long odds for the Washington Nationals who are only still barely breathing in the NL East race and 7.0 games behind because the Phillies and Braves have not been able to win lately and send the knock-out punch to the reigning NL East champs. While the Nationals have an identity crisis from game-to-game, they do seem to morph into whatever their day’s starting pitching is in that particular game.
Yesterday, the way Gio Gonzalez pitched was an embarrassment and eventually the rest of the team followed suit. Contrast that with Friday night behind Max Scherzer and the night before that with Tanner Roark and immediately they looked like a playoff team and their superstar was talking that way. Continue reading
Following one of the worst weeks of one of the most disappointing years in Nats history, most of us have long since concluded that this season is a lost season (I think I said something like ‘let’s be real it ain’t going to happen’). Well, I’ll take another look. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
How did this Gio Gonzalez debacle get to this point? This team has now lost 10 of his last 12 starts. What team with postseason aspirations allows this type of player on their roster? The Mariners were getting better production from Felix Hernandez, a former Cy Young, and they demoted him to the bullpen. Why has this organization stuck with Gio Gonzalez as a starter? His ERA since June 1st is now 6.75. Are you telling me they cannot find a replacement better than that? That is a low bar to climb under. Continue reading
