Game #28 opens in Chicago with Joe Ross for the 1st of 4 games: Game Thread

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The two best teams statistically in the NL, and on most power rankings, will face-off in a 4 game set at Wrigley Field beginning tonight at 8:05pm. The Nationals have Joe Ross as their starter with Kyle Hendricks going for the Cubs. Continue reading →

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Daniel “Hits” Murphy is ‘en fuego’ and a WAR machine

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

His given name is Daniel Thomas Murphy, and he likes to be called Daniel, not Danny, Dan or Danny Boy. Murphy was born on April Fool’s day, and the funny thing is the joke is on those fools who doubted him. Murphy is so humble that he won’t even say “I told you so” to those who questioned his potential. People have been questioning Murphy’s baseball abilities since Little League, and even Murphy has done an introspection on his own abilities.

Murphy had recently said, “I didn’t think I would make it to the Major Leagues.” Daniel Murphy did not elaborate on that statement even though he was asked why he would say that. His self-doubt probably started when he wasn’t drafted out of High School, and the only college that came calling was his local school. Murphy enrolled at Jacksonville University of the Atlantic Sun Conference which is a non-football conference in Division I, and when Murphy was drafted as the 394th player overall in the 13th round out of college by the NY Mets, he knew that very few 13th rounders make it to the Major Leagues and even fewer become stars. In fact, being the 394th pick in the draft had always been a black hole as only two 394th picks before him ever made it to the Majors, however their combined MLB service time was 11 games total. The 395th pick in the draft at least had an impressive history with Mike Stanley, John Moses and Marv Foley as long-time MLB alumni. Murphy made it and has thrived, giving hope to all future 394th draft picks. Continue reading →

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#Nats clinch a at least a 5 win road trip in the 10 game AL/NL Central trip: Postgame

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nats set out on this road trip with high expectations against the top teams in the Majors when you consider that the Cardinals had a winning record before the Nats arrived in St. Louis and the Nats swept them plus the Nats just won 2 of 3 to take the series against the reigning World Series champion Royals. The Nats will now travel up north to Illinois to take on the Cubs who are just ahead of the Nats for the best record in the MLB.

Stephen Strasburg was spotted a 6 run lead in the top of the 1st inning and only gave 2 back against a very good Royals team. Strasburg tallied 7 strikeouts against a team that rarely strikes out. Yusmeiro Petit relieved Strasburg and covered 2 innings, and Blake Treinen got to pitch in front of his hometown family and friends to finish it off.

The Nats took advantage offensively of Royals errors and other miscues and had the best RISP hitting of the season at 8-15. Continue reading →

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Game #27 Series finale in KC, Strasburg and Medlen: Game Thread

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This are two pitchers who know each other. Kris Medlen from his Atlanta Braves years before serious arm troubles faces off against Stephen Strasburg.  This 2:15pm afternoon game is the 6th game on this road trip before the Nats head to Wrigley Field for a 4 game series starting tomorrow.

Dusty will employ a day game after a night game roster and can take advantage of the DH to rest a player. It worked well for Jayson Werth last night as he went 2-4 with a HR. Continue reading →

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Part IV: Around the #Nats Minor Leagues: Firsthand look at Erick Fedde, Potomac Nationals

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Andrew Lang

The next in our series around the Minor League affiliates of the Washington Nationals is a chat with  Erick Fedde (Top Prospect #4) who ranks behind only Lucas Giolito in the Nats top pitching prospects. Fedde was the Nats 1st round pick at #18 overall out of UNLV. Fedde was a teammate of Bryce Harper at Las Vegas High, and chose to go to college and forego the draft out of High School when he was picked by the Padres.

In 2014, Fedde was 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 11 starts for UNLV when he had excruciating pain in his right elbow. An MRI revealed a torn right UCL right before the draft. That did not scare away Mike Rizzo and the Nats gladly took the hard throwing righty, and entered him into the Tommy John protocol .

Fedde went up the levels in a late season rehab finishing in Hagerstown Low-A, and then got his promotion to start the 2016 season in Potomac High-A where Fedde has had 4 starts. Fedde is still working through mechanics, and it is a work-in-progress.

Continue reading →

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#Nats give one back in a blown save loss: Postgame

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nats wasted some great performances tonight with HRs and clutch hits backing a tough night for Tanner Roark who gave up 4 earned in 7 1/3.

Jonathan Papelbon had a 2-run lead in the 9th as he came in for the save, and the 1st batter was Alex Gordon who fought off a pitch and grounded one through the vacated shortstop domain as Espinosa was in a shift. The next batter hit a single into leftfield. With runners on 3rd and 2nd, Papelbon got a K for the first out of the inning. In a 2 strike count to the pinch-hitter Moustakas, Papelbon threw a changeup that was grounded past the shift for a 2 RBI single that tied the game.

Lorenzo Cain with 2 outs and men on 3rd and 1st hit the ball past Michael Taylor for the walk-off winner.

It was Papelbon’s 2nd blown save of the season as he has now converted 9 of 11. This series is tied at one game a piece and tomorrow’s game with determine who wins the series.

You can look at the positives and negatives in this boxscore:

boxscore 5 3 16

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Game #26 Tanner Roark and the #Nats in KC: Game Thread

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Andrew Lang

The Washington Nationals are back at it tonight for an 8:15pm game versus the Kansas City Royals. The Nats have right-handed pitcher Tanner Roark on the mound, and he will face-off with Chris Young who was actually in competition with Roark at Nats Spring Training of 2014 for a spot in the Nationals starting rotation. Young would end up opting out of his contract and signing with the Seattle Mariners.

Tanner Roark is coming off of a very good start that he wants to build on as he was locating all of his pitches well even though he wasn’t getting the swing and miss like he got in his previous start.

Tonight’s line-up has a few changes as Wilson Ramos returns and Chris Heisey will play LF with Jayson Werth doing the DH duties. Wilson Ramos has 2 at-bats in his career against Chris Young and both are home runs.

Here are the Nats stats vs. Chris Young:

Here is Tanner Roark against the Royals:

 

  1. Michael Taylor CF
  2. Anthony Rendon 3B
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
  5. Daniel Murphy 2B
  6. Jayson Werth DH
  7. Wilson Ramos C
  8. Danny Espinosa SS
  9. Chris Heisey LF

Tanner Roark RHP

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The future of shortstop for the #Nats

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Section222

There’s been some discussion recently of the earliest date that Trea Turner could be called up and not reach a full year of service time (172 days) by the end of this season.  The various people who have weighed in on this have discussed the matter off-line, and there is now a consensus that the magic date is May 30. If that is Turner’s first day on the roster, he would accumulate service time this year as follows:

2015 — 45
April — 0
May — 2 (May 30, 31)
June — 30
July –31
August — 31
September -30
October — 2 (October 1, 2)
Total — 171

More detail on how service time is counted can be found here:

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/principles/contract-details/service-time-super-two/

This does not mean, of course, that Turner will be called up on May 30.  But if the Nats want to preserve that extra year of team control, they won’t call him up before then.

Screengrab from Statcast

Screengrab from Statcast

This is your link to keep up with Trea Turner’s AAA stats. As of this morning, Trea is batting .333 with a .402 OBP and has 9 steals and has not been caught stealing.
Turner is another player you could call a game changer because of his speed tool, and with Dee Gordon suspended, there is no other infielder that is faster than Trea Turner.

If you ever had any concerns about Trea Turner’s arm strength this video should clear up any issues.

Here is the Trea Turner countdown clock https://countingdownto.com/countdown/latest-trea-turner-to-mlb-clock-countdown-clock

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#Nats and Gio shutout the Royals 2-0 as Nats improve to 18-7: Postgame

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Gio Gonzalez had a gutsy 6 inning shutout and shutdown the Royals, and let the park dimensions work for him. The Nats got all the runs they needed in the 1st inning, but had many opportunities to add-on runs.

Jonathan Papelbon got the Save which was his 9th of the season and Shawn Kelley, Sammy Solis, and Oliver Perez all got Holds. Oliver Perez saw 2 batters and struck them both out. Shawn Kelley saw 2 batters and got 1 strikeout, and Papelbon struck out Infante to end the game while he could have had a K on Gordon but the foul tip wasn’t held. Continue reading →

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Game #25 #Nats are in Kansas City for a 3 game series: Game Thread

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The early May 2016 road show continues today, down-river in Kansas City Missouri, as the Washington Nationals take on the defending World Champion Royals in the Nats first inter-league series of the season which brings the DH (designated hitter) into play here in an AL venue.

Tonight’s game at 8:15pm has Gio Gonzalez going up against Edinson Volquez. Gio is no stranger to AL baseball, and Volquez was a long-time NL pitcher.

Tomorrow’s game has a familiar face as the Nats face Chris Young who was a Nats reclamation project back in 2013 as he pitched at Syracuse Triple-A and then came back for Spring Training 2014 and looked very sharp and opted-out and signed a 1 year deal with the Mariners which he then parlayed into a multi-year deal with the Royals last year. Young will pitch on Tuesday against the Nats’ Tanner Roark. Strasburg goes up Wednesday afternoon against another familiar face as Kris Medlen who the Nats remember well as an Atlanta Brave pitches for the Royals. Medlen as you might remember developed severe arm issues and has worked his way back into the starting rotation for the Royals. Continue reading →

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