The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

(Photo by Steve Mears for TalkNats)

If you have been to Marlins Park before, you might not recognize it now as it has been through some major renovations beyond the outfield walls. That should please those who constantly complained about the animatronic “home run” sculpture which was removed from behind the centerfield walls. That sculpture had a few dents in it from Nats players including Jayson Werth who hit “Homer” with his 200th career home run exactly 3 years ago. That area has been replaced by a new multi-level standing-room-only deck called the “Center Field Zone” — a “three-tier millennial park,” as majority owner  Bruce Sherman nicknamed it. That renovation seemed to finally change the interior look from former-owner Jeffrey Loria to the Jeter/Sherman era. There will be two standing-room only areas in the outfield for the 2019 season. The other will be located in right field. Tickets for these areas will be sold for a little as $8 per game. Will it increase attendance? We will see because Marlins ownership seems to be concentrating more on the fan experience than winning. Continue reading →

The Nationals have won two of their previous three series and have a chance to win another series in this afternoon’s game at Nationals Park with the San Francisco Giants. On this “getaway day” both teams are pitching lefties which most likely will create tweaked line-ups for both teams. The game temperatures could reach 80°F today which could assist some balls in the air gain some distance.  Continue reading →

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

With last night’s loss, the Nationals fell a game below .500 as they watched manager Dave Martinez get ejected for the first time this season. With Chip Hale given the keys to the kingdom he made several moves that worked like inserting Matt Adams as a pinch-hitter and he promptly rewarded Hale with a home run. Hale removed Stephen Strasburg from the game before he fatigued himself, and he replaced Brian Dozier with Howie Kendrick. Whatever is going on with Brian Dozier is not good. Whatever is going on with Ryan Zimmerman could be related to his plantar fasciitis pain as he does not look comfortable, and his production has been on the decline in this small sample size. To have two almost automatic outs in the #2 and #5 spot in your lineup is a rally killer. Continue reading →

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

With the Nationals taking on their first NL West opponent of the season, Stephen Strasburg matches up against the son of his first catcher. Yes, Ivan Rodriguez caught Strasburg’s MLB debut on June 8, 2010, and Dereck Rodriguez is the Hall-of-Famers’ oldest child who pitches now for the San Francisco Giants. Dereck was a teenager when his dad was a Nats’ player in 2010 and 2011. The younger Rodriguez was a student at Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami, Florida when the Twins drafted him in the 6th round in 2011. After seven years in the Twins minor league system, they released him and the Giants signed him prior to the 2018 season, and DRod made his debut in May of 2018. This season, he made the Giants team out of spring training.  Continue reading →