Game #135 It’s September 1st; Rosters expand with the UVA guys!

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

The sprint to the finish is on! There are only 28 games remaining on the regular season schedule, and with today being September 1st, MLB rosters can expand beyond the standard 25-player roster. The Nats will activate their two University of Virginia stars from the extended 10-Day IL list as Ryan Zimmerman and Sean Doolittle will be added. Who else will be added today and in the future? That is always a fun exercise to project and guess. In manager Dave Martinez‘s pre-game media session, he indicated the team would only add Zim and Doo and 3-4 more players so this will not be one of those Septembers where we see 35+ players, and next season MLB has put a cap at 28 players in September. Certainly you would expect general manager Mike Rizzo will add a third catcher (Spencer Kieboom or Raudy Read) and a speedy outfielder (Andrew Stevenson or Michael Taylor) who can pinch-run, and a middle infielder like Adrian Sanchez or Carter Kieboom or Wilmer Difo. You would expect reliever Greg Holland to make the roster. That is four players right there with some obvious snubs. Holland would need a 40-man spot which was made available after the Matt Grace DFA.  Continue reading →

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Strasburg cashed in on a gem; Rendon crashed two homers!

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals reached new heights tonight going to 18-games over .500 putting them at the 90-win mark if they just play .500 baseball the remainder of the way — but this team has more loftier goals. Tonight, it was Stephen Strasburg who pitched an eight inning shutout in this 7-0 victory yielding only two hits which both came in the first inning and then Stras went in cruise control with 14Ks on the night. He did throw 107 pitches over 8.0 innings which were mostly low stress and that vaulted Stras into the top spot for the most pitches thrown in the NL at 2,865 while pushing his ERA down to 3.47. The offense was mostly provided by Rendon’s two home runs, Soto’s home run, Suzuki’s home run, and Strasburg’s RBI single.  Continue reading →

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Game #134 Anthony Rendon’s MVP candidacy is legit!

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Tony “Two Bags”; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Modesty and selflessness defines much of who Anthony Rendon is as a person. He tries to deflect all praise as he did last night after he delivered a two-run RBI single to walk-off on the Marlins as cheers were raining on him and chants of MVP-MVP-MVP-MVP echoed from all parts of Nationals Park. Why not Rendon for MVP? The +6.1 WAR All-Star from the Nats is third in WAR for the NL only trailing the Dodgers Cody Bellinger (+7.0) and the Brewers Christian Yelich (+6.7) who happens to be the reigning NL MVP. In Rendon’s last 19 games, his slash line is .420/.467/.716/1.183 with seven doubles, one triple, five home runs, 20 RBIs, eight walks and 17 runs scored, and a walk-off!  MVP candidates need a full season of success, and Rendon is tops of the league with a batting average of .333 and near the tops with 107 RBIs this season and just 3 shy of Ryan Zimmerman‘s Nationals’ record set in 2006 for most RBIs in a season — and there is nearly 20% of the season remaining. Continue reading →

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The #Nats old relievers did their job…the new ones did not…but the offense found a way via the walk-off!

Posted on August 30, 2019 by SaoMagnifico

We’ve seen it before. We saw it again tonight. The 2019 Washington Nationals, their backs up against the wall, found a way to win a game it looked like they were about to lose. Continue reading →

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Game #133 Anibal Sanchez wants to start the weekend on the right note!

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

Tonight is the opener of this 3-game weekend series against the Miami Marlins who are the last team the Nats will face that are under .500 for the remaining 27 games on the schedule unless of course the Mets get swept this weekend then they would arrive on Monday below .500.  The Nats learned a lesson on Tuesday about how you approach a struggling team because they were shocked in a 2-0 game against the Orioles (.331 winning percentage) who put dysfunction on display once again with a dugout heated argument between coach and player. Losing sucks, but then again the Marlins are used to it by now as they have guaranteed themselves a 10th consecutive losing season. Continue reading →

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Another look at the postseason picture and the #Nats bullpen

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears


There is no team that has mathematically clinched a playoff spot including the Los Angeles Dodgers who are an absolute lock statistically, and the Atlanta Braves have put themselves in an enviable spot that all they need to do is go 11-16 to win 92 games. In order for the Nationals to win 92 games, they would need to go 18-12 which is not a slam dunk given the remaining schedule. If the Braves go 13-14 they would win 94 games, and the Nationals would have to go 20-10 which would seem very tough at a 66.7% winning percentage — but possible if they sweep some series — but let’s get real that general manager Mike Rizzo has stated the goal is to make the postseason with an ultimate goal of winning the NL East, and the Nats would almost have to win six of the seven games against the Braves to make the NL East a legitimate possibility. Continue reading →

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With 30 games remaining, the #Nats get back in the W column!

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

We have almost come to expect that the Nats will score a touchdown each game, and after being shutout last night there seemed to be some fan panic. The Nats made quick work of any talk of an offensive stall tonight as they put 5 runs on the board in the first inning. We all hoped the Nationals bats would get going, and they did tonight. The one guy who had the big offensive night last night had a frustrating night tonight as Trea Turner‘s on-base streak ended with a tough 0-5, but Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Asdrubal Cabrera, Brian Dozier, and Kurt Suzuki picked him up and combined for 12 of the Nats 13 hits and all 8 runs knocked in. In football parlance, the Nats got their touchdown scored on offense plus a 2-point conversion which equals the eight runs they had in this decisive 8-4 win. The offensive star in this game was Suzuki who hit a towering home run and knocked in 4 runs, and was solid behind the plate.  It was a resurgent game for Suzuki who had struggled recently. Continue reading →

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Game #132 Max Scherzer should raise the energy level!

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

From @Nationals Instagram

The Nationals swept the Cubs over the weekend in a high energy trio of wins, and then the team had a scheduled day-off on Monday which seemed to have zapped the momentum leading into yesterday. Put yesterday’s results in the trash can unless you are one of the five players who actually improved their stat lines. One of the great things about baseball is that you have another game today. All five of the NL East teams lost yesterday. With Max Scherzer getting his second start since returning from the IL, he hopes to go deeper into this game and build upon his 4.0 inning, 71-pitch, one run outing in Pittsburgh.  Continue reading →

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You will never win a game with zero runs scored!

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

If you can explain what happened tonight in this 2-0 loss, let us know. Patrick Corbin was roughed up in the first inning and then went into shutdown mode for the remainder of his 7.0 inning outing, but he got zero runs of support. You will not win a game when you score zero. The offense was basically Trea Turner and Victor Robles and nobody else. They combined for the Nats four hits in the game. Twice, Turner  was in scoring position in this game with less than two outs, and in the first inning he was stranded on second base, and in the eighth inning he was stranded on third base after a triple with one out. In fact, in the eighth inning, the Nationals loaded the bases and could not score. That is baseball, and the hottest team in baseball got sent a message. Continue reading →

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Game #131 O’s come to DC in the shadows of the MASN award!

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Last week, the last place Orioles lost a game that was not played in a stadium rather they lost in the court of law in the umpteenth round of the 7-year MASN network television rights dispute. A New York judge upheld a second arbitration award from the reformed MLB RSDC arbitration panel. That ruling ordered the network to pay the Washington Nationals $296.8 million in rights fees for the 2012-2016 seasons. This ruling did not even include the rights fees for the 2017-2021 seasons which is part of the second 5-year reset with three years almost in the books for 2017, 2018, and this season. Continue reading →

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