“We have to decide…what’s good for the team.” Talk #Nats

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Playing hindsight seems like cheating, and “armchair managers” play that game to perfection all the time. They will tell you they knew Don Mattingly should have pulled Adam Conley after the 6th inning last night as he was tiring in a 0-0 game. Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Dusty, JRoss, MikeRizzo, Strasburg | Leave a comment

Stephen Strasburg was filthy and Nats hit a record 4 HRs in an inning: Postgame

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Stephen Strasburg was filthy and the Nats win 7-0 as Jayson Werth gave the Nats all the offense the Nats needed with his 200th HR! Wilson Ramos followed with a blast and with bases loaded Bryce Harper hit a Grand Slam HR to blow the game open. Ryan Zimmerman then hit a HR for the final tally. All of these HRs were in the 7th inning to break a 0-0 tie. Speaking of breaking things, 4 HRs in an inning broke a Nats record for most HRs in an inning. The Nats hit back-to-back Home Runs twice in the inning which was also of course a Nationals record. Continue reading →

Posted in Harper, Jayson, Ramos, Recap, RyanZimmerman, Strasburg | Leave a comment

Game #13 is the #Nats with Strasburg vs the #Marlins: Game Thread

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals have their 2nd game of this 4 game set versus the Marlins tonight at 7:10pm and matches up Stephen Strasburg and lefty Adam Conley.

You might recall Adam Conley from the Opening Day game in Washington on April 7th. He was the pitcher who gave up the 3 run triple to Daniel Murphy in the 1st inning and then the rains came and Conley was finished for the game and replaced by Phelps. Of course Tanner Roark had given up 3 runs in that 1st inning and Conley left with a no decision in a game that was tied 3-3 after the 1st inning. Continue reading →

Posted in InGame, Strasburg | Leave a comment

Bryce Harper’s prep work before a game might surprise you!

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Andrew Lang

Many position players study video of the starting pitchers they will face, and Bryce Harper has once again said he does not study video. Bryce does study the opposing team to see who is playing the outfield. Let that sink in for a few seconds as to why Bryce studies the outfielders. Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Harper | Leave a comment

#Nats have a tough one in Miami – Postgame

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

On a night when Jose Fernandez left the door open, the Nats couldn’t capitalize on offense and the opposite was the case with Tanner Roark.  Roark left the door open and the Marlins took advantage in a 6-1 loss and Roark gave up 4 earned runs.

Roark acknowledged in the postgame that he made a bad pitch to Osuna and Stanton.

The Nats ran when they should not have run and challenged a foul ball call when they should not have. That’s how the night went. The Nats didn’t run in a 3-2 count in the 1st inning with Rendon at-bat and Taylor on 1st but then went straight steal later in the game and Taylor was caught stealing.

Roark was really the story as he had Ozuna who has been struggling and left a ball over the plate for a 2 out 2 RBI single. Roark had a balk in the game and later missed in location with 2 outs and bases empty to Stanton who crushed a HR.

The Nats bright spot on offense was Taylor who went 2-4 with a walk but he wiped himself off the base paths with a caught stealing and he struck out with bases loaded.

The Nats had hits but they couldn’t put hits together except one time in the game.

Rendon and Harper were excellent on defense. Harper threw out Realmuto at 2nd but he was ruled safe and the Nats had no challenges to get it overturned.

That’s the way the game went.

Posted in Recap | Leave a comment

Game #12 #Nats in Miami, Roark/Fernandez Game Thread

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals traveled to Miami last night for their 4 game series which starts tonight at 7:10pm and matches up Tanner Roark and Jose Fernandez. Both pitchers are coming off good starts after shaky first starts. In fact, Fernandez lost his first start ever at his home park in the Marlins 2nd game of the year.

The Marlins got seemingly blindsided and then swept by the Atlanta Braves who were winless unless they beat the Marlins in 3 straight games over the weekend.

This game begins week 3 of the season for both teams, and with a 4 game series we will see where we are after Thursday’s game.

Here are the Nats stats against Jose Fernandez:

Here is Tanner Roark vs. the Marlins:

Line-up (Subject to change without notice):

  1. Michael Taylor CF
  2. Anthony Rendon 3B
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
  5. Daniel Murphy 2B
  6. Jayson Werth LF
  7. Wilson Ramos C
  8. Danny Espinosa SS
  9. Tanner Roark RHP
Posted in InGame, Roark | Leave a comment

Where does Chris Heisey fit best on this team? #Nats

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Andrew Lang

On Sunday, Chris Heisey got his 2nd start of the season, and once again took advantage of playing time. Heisey got a single and a walk to get on base twice in 4 plate appearances as he raised his batting average to .300 and his OPS jumped to 1.017. Heisey would have been on base another time, and was involved in an instant replay challenge where he was called safe on the field, and then ruled out. Suffice it to say that nobody saw any video evidence to say he was out, but Heisey’s hustle down the line got him called safe initially.

Let’s not get carried away with small sample sizes, but one impressive thing about Heisey is how he has the ability to come through in key spots. It has made him into a very good pinch-hitter where he clubbed a pinch-hit HR for the Nats on Saturday and has pinch-hit 162 times in his career with a slash of .285/.340/.618/.958.

That impressive slash would make you an All Star if you hit like that over the 1st half of a season. Heisey now has 12 career pinch-hit home runs to lead active Major Leaguers and Heisey is proud of that stat.

Heisey had some nice comments about his team and his teammates,  “Not only are we winning, I like all of the guys on the team. I’m having a blast!”

It’s good that Heisey feels that way about his team and teammates, and our question is where does Heisey fit in best? Should he get more starts while Revere is on the mend or is he more valuable as a pinch-hitter?

Heisey has much better stats as a pinch-hitter than as a starter, but his career starter stats are still better than some of Dusty Baker‘s other options. Heisey has a .246 BA as a starter and a .710 OPS.

Chris Heisey is 31 years old and made his debut in 2010 with the Reds when Dusty Baker was his manager. Dusty knows Heisey well, and Dusty is the reason why Heisey chose the Nationals which is also close to his home near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Tell us what you think.

Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Dusty, Heisey | Leave a comment

Harper’s Game Winning HR turns into Blown Save Loss: Postgame

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The win turns into a loss and thats the way baseball goes.

Bryce Harper hits the go-ahead HR in the top of the 10th inning only to see the win snuffed out by a blown save loss by Jonathan Papelbon. That blown save becomes Papelbon’s 3rd as a Nat in 15 tries as a Washington National.

Gio Gonzalez had a very good start. He gave up one run over 7 innings and it was on an ambush get ’em over pitch in a 3-0 count and Gio threw it down the middle that Ruiz turned on for a Home Run. The Nats bullpen pitched fine until the final tallies against Papelbon.

Look at this chart which was Papelbon pitching to Bourjos in the 10th inning. Blown call. The double never happens. Game over on the next batter and Papelbon should have gotten the save and Nats win, but no, ump blows a critical strike call.

papelbon phillies k zone blown save

Posted in Analysis, Recap | Leave a comment

Game #11 as it’s Gio’s turn for the #Nats: Game Thread

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nationals send Gio Gonzalez to the mound to see if he can repeat the success he had in his first start. The Phillies send RHP Charlie Morton who is the ex-Pittsburgh Pirate.

We are going to have to see what line-up Dusty put together for this day-game after a night-game. This 1:35pm start time and the Gio Gonzalez start should signal a day-off for Wilson Ramos. Dusty said he will have some other moves. Stay tuned on that.

@TheRallyMullet with a nice tweet of batting stats for the Nats:

https://twitter.com/TheRallyMullet/status/721665389306978304

Here are pitching stats of the Nats against Charlie Morton:

Here are the Gio stats against the Phillies:

Line-up (subject to change without notice):

  1. Chris Heisey CF
  2. Anthony Rendon 3B
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Daniel Murphy 2B
  5. Jayson Werth LF
  6. Clint Robinson 1B
  7. Stephen Drew SS
  8. Jose Lobaton C
  9. Gio Gonzalez LHP
Posted in InGame | Leave a comment

#Nats improve to 9-1 with 8-1 win. Scherzer looks sharp! Post-game

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Max Scherzer was dominant in his start and the Nats backed him with very good defense and plenty of run support. Bryce Harper with 3 more RBIs and his HR #102.

Rendon 1-3, Harper 2-3, RZim 1-4, Murphy 1-4, Ramos 1-4 and Scherzer with a big 1-3 with a 2 RBI double.

Chris Heisey pads his pinch-hitting numbers with an oppo HR.

Continue reading →

Posted in Recap | Leave a comment