The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

On St. Patrick’s Day, Jeremy Hellickson signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals, and he started the season for the Nationals in extended spring training with the minor leaguers and no guarantee he would ever be called up. As it would turn out, Hellickson has become a key piece of a starting rotation looking for consistency. He has been exceptional on the road this season with a 2.83 ERA and even better on regular rest where his ERA is 2.76. Couple that with Hellickson’s pitch count, he is very good up to 75 pitches. The 31-year-old’s  consistency is defined narrowly as a pitcher who is very good when his analytics are adhered to. Continue reading →

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A source has told us that ownership has given general manager Mike Rizzo the go-ahead to explore trade targets as a “buyer” which seems to be counter to the “sell” rumors. ‘Tis be the season to be folly when you are a team in need of players. Overpaying is usually what it takes to pry away the great players — but recently, Mike Rizzo has paid dearly in the Melancon and Doolittle/Madson trades plus he emptied the pitching cupboard to acquire Adam Eaton who has barely stayed on the field in two seasons.  Continue reading →

The emotional rollercoaster that the Washington Nationals and their fans have been on this season has had more twists and turns than a soap opera. Yesterday’s doom and gloom regarding Stephen Strasburg has turned to optimism as manager Dave Martinez reported that the doctor’s visit in Los Angeles went well and Strasburg received an injection in his neck. If Strasburg is pain-free on Sunday, he is cleared to resume throwing immediately. Martinez called it “good news.” He did not have the details on the medication that Strasburg received in the injection which could have been cortisone. Stasburg is expected to be with he team in Miami tomorrow when we should receive more details. Continue reading →

The last time we saw Stephen Strasburg, he was not a happy man. Maybe the pain in his neck wasn’t his teammate Max Scherzer and literally was a pain in his neck as Stras is seeing a specialist in Los Angeles for an opinion on his neck pain, and Stras will be thousands of miles from his teammates in Miami who are opening up this 4-game series. Strasburg’s shoulder MRI was clean and the nerve issue is called a cervical nerve impingement. This is not the first time that Strasburg has been on the DL for neck pain. Since Strasburg was supposed to pitch today, he was scratched and put on the 10-Day DL and replaced by Tommy Milone who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse. In addition to the Strasburg DL stint, Anthony Rendon‘s is on a paternity leave of absence for the birth of his first child.  Continue reading →