The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The schedule makers set the last series of the season for the Nationals to host the Cleveland Indians, and they created a meaningful series for the 160th game. The Indians are in third place for the Wild Card in the American League, and they need to win. If the Indians lose one game this weekend and the Tampa Bay Rays win just one — the Indians season will end as their Tragic # is 2. The Nats are fighting for Home Field Advantage in the Wild Card game and control their own destiny because they have a 1.0 game lead over the Brewers. Earlier today, the Nats made it official and named Max Scherzer as their starter for the Tuesday winner-take-all game. Continue reading →

Mike Rizzo prior to his Hot Stove Q&A; Photo by Andrew Lang

There are so many numbers wrapped up in today’s outcome of the 19th and final meeting between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies this season. If the Nationals are fortunate enough to win their 90th game today, they would simultaneously push the Phillies below the .500 mark, and the Nats would notch the 48th time since 1961 that a team swept a 5-game series (h/t Steve Robison) which is a rare feat in the salaried controlled era of baseball as there have only been 5 five-game since 2015 and only one sweep so these are rare indeed. Continue reading →

The players all talked about some of the reasons for the Nats miraculous comeback in the season and overwhelmingly they said that the philosophy of “Let’s go One-and-O every day” that was the 2019 mantra of manager Dave Martinez resonated with them and made the difference in how they approached each day. The sports cliché is to take it one game at a time, and they did. The cohesive clubhouse and the belief in the next man up is something we have never seen in this team that greatly missed the departure of Jayson Werth after the 2017 season as the team leader. The team went more veteran this year while promoting one rookie, Victor Robles, onto the Opening Day roster, and he learned on the job and improved all season into the best defensive centerfielder in baseball. The additions in-season of Gerardo Parra, Fernando Rodney, and Asdrubal Cabrera who all arrived as virtual freebies via DFA’s from their previous teams, changed the vibe with a Latino flair that seemed to raise the energy level while also helping this team win games. Continue reading →

Opening Night of Spring Training against the Astros with Max Scherzer on the mound; Photo by Andy Ward for TalkNats

What started during Spring Training as a mission, a postseason berth could become a reality for the Washington Nationals tonight if Max Scherzer gets the win and the Cubs lose in their game in Pittsburgh. While the Nats can only control their own destiny, they have their ace on the mound to accomplish the Nats part of ratcheting down the Magic number that is currently at 2. If the Cubs do not lose tonight, clinching a postseason spot will move to tomorrow.   Continue reading →

Photo by Kevin Nibley for TalkNats

There seemed to be a tight-lipped nature as to the ongoing status of pitcher Joe Ross who last pitched on September 2nd and was shutdown for what was reported to be forearm pain he experienced in a bullpen session before his next scheduled start. Ross was replaced by Austin Voth in the rotation then there was little news on Ross, and maybe that was more of a function that the media rarely asked about him or saw him pitching in a bullpen session. All of a sudden and out of virtually nowhere, Ross was announced in the pre-game as the starter in the first game of this doubleheader. Continue reading →