Game #126 Trade winds blew a little — not much; Oh yah, Phillies in town!

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

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Nationals do a 180° after three weeks from their proclamation that they are going for it!

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The next 3-days seem like 3 Game 5’s for the #Nats

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The case for optimism #Nats

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The embarrassment of riches turned into an embarrassment in real time!

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

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Game #125 Which Gio Gonzalez will the #Nats get today?

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The question these days is which Gio Gonzalez will be pitching for the Washington Nationals today? Since June 10th when the Nationals season changed course from 1st place to where they are now, Gio Gonzalez as a starting pitcher has been in control of much of the Nationals spiral down. Since that point, the Nats have only won 2 of his 11 starts. If that record was reversed, it would be the Nationals who would be in 1st place. Why exactly is Gio Gonzalez in the starting rotation? Well, quite simply the Nationals failed to upgrade at the trade deadline. Are you telling us general manager Mike Rizzo couldn’t find a pitcher with an ERA under 6.12? That is what Gio’s ERA has been since those 4 consecutive games when he threw at least 110 pitches. He went from Cy Young to Cy Old as he ERA went from 2.10 to 4.12 on the season. It is the Jekyll and Hyde that Gio Gonzalez has been for most of his Nationals career. Continue reading

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Dave Martinez really started managing in the 7th inning and on…but what about the 6th and 5th innings?

The  Nationals had the golden opportunity with the Braves and Phillies losing today, but the Nationals blew several chances to win this game today and instead lost this heartbreaker in extra innings 7-5. Maybe as we wrote earlier, it started with the line-up card construction. Juan Soto has been scuffling, and today was as good as any to get that young man a rest day against a tough lefty. There were several Nats that have not done much against starter Wei-Yin Chen while Mark Reynolds has had quite the success against him at .417 with 3 home runs. Could Reynolds have played 3rd base like he did earlier this month in place of Anthony Rendon who was batting near .100 against Chen? Apparently not in Dave Martinez‘s thinking. Instead, Rendon went 0-5 in this game.

In the bottom of the 5th inning with one out and Spencer Kieboom on second base, manager Dave Martinez batted Jefry Rodriguez instead of going with Reynolds there to pinch-hit. In the 6th inning with bases loaded and the lefty J.T. Riddle up, Martinez stuck with righty Jimmy Cordero instead of bringing in lefty Matt Grace right there in what would have been the highest leverage spot of the game. Riddle singled and drove in 2-runs and the Marlins took a 4-2 lead at the time. If you are truly playing these games like they are the fourth game of the playoffs, you have to be in a different mindset. Martinez really did not start pulling the levers until the 7th inning. Continue reading

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Game #124 Jefry Rodriguez returns to start for the #Nats

The  Nationals have made several roster moves today; most notably moving Tommy Milone to the bullpen, and Jefry Rodriguez to take Milone’s start tonight against the Marlins. In the second game of this three game series, the Nationals  are hopeful to continue with their improved starting pitching they have received the last two games which the Nats won. Continue reading

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Max Scherzer for MVP should be considered #Nats #MVP Candidate

What makes Max Scherzer #31 so special as a player? It is that inner fire that burns with the desire to get better every single game. Be it as a pinch-hitter, a baserunner, a fielder, a batter, and a pitcher, Max Scherzer is having an MVP season as there has never been a pitcher on the precipice of this type of greatness.  Max Scherzer leads all NL players in Fangraphs WAR at +6.7 which includes +0.8 his offense and defense and baserunning.  Continue reading

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A happy #Scherzday on this Friday! Nats win in a blowout!

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

Happy handshakes tonight for the  Nationals in this 8-2 win behind Max Scherzer who did it all tonight throwing 6.0 innings of shutout baseball while he scored two runs with some impressive hustle, and he smashed a double off the outfield wall raising his batting average to .296. Bryce Harper had another 3-hit night raising his batting average to .248 and collecting his 500th RBI in his career. Continue reading

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