Part I: Scouting Top Prospect Victor Robles #Nats

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Joe Seamhead

Monday night was a great opportunity to do some scouting of Victor Robles at the Hagerstown Suns game in Low-A ball. Robles is the top outfield prospect in the Nats system, and here are some bio items from the Nats media guide:

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#Nats go to 5-1 on the season! Bryce Harper goes clutch! Post-Game!

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Gio Gonzalez pitched a shutout and the bullpen picked each other up and Felipe Rivero gets the Save as Blake Treinen was nails in the 8th inning to save a bases loaded 1 out situation to induce a 6-4-3 tailor-made doubleplay.

Bryce Harper comes up huge with an oppo low liner down the leftfield line that scores 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th for the only runs in the 2-1 final against the Braves. Continue reading →

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Game #6 Gio Gonzalez gets his 1st start of 2016—#Nats Game Thread

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The weather forecast shows improvement for this evening that should allow the Nats to get this game in without rain, however it will be a chilly evening. Gio Gonzalez will get the start for the Washington Nationals and Jhoulys Chacin for the Atlanta Braves.

According to Dusty Baker, he doesn’t want to pitch Jonathan Papelbon 3 games in a row which should set a new 9th inning man for the Nats tonight. Dusty said that could be Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen or Felipe Rivero as well as a combination.

Jose Lobaton will start at catcher tonight and Wilson Ramos will get a rest day. This is an interesting move that Dusty will sit Ramos who just went 4-4, and it seems like the right move. Ramos will be more effective with regular rest in a marathon season.
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#Nats improve to 4-1 as Scherzer finishes well and Murph/Ramos the stars

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Max Scherzer didn’t have his best stuff tonight, and it works that way sometimes that you get a win when you give up 4 runs.  Wilson Ramos is now batting .381 and had 2 hits with RISP. Daniel Murphy had a huge 1st inning 2 run HR. Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman continue to get on-base any way they can and it was smart baserunning by Ryan Zimmerman to tag up on a foul ball that created the game winning RBI by Ramos on an infield hit. Continue reading →

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Game #5 Braves in for 4 game set – #Nats Game Thread

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals are seeing improved weather today, and might even see some sunshine as temperatures are above 70°F now in Washington DC for the first time in a while.

The Nats will host the Atlanta Braves for a four game set as Bud Norris is set to face off against Max Scherzer at 7:05pm.  The Braves are winless on the season and the Nationals are on top of the NL East with a 3-1 record.

Bryce Harper has reached the 100 double club and tonight will try again to join the 100 HR Club.

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#Nats 4 game series with the Braves – A look ahead!

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Braves are coming into DC for a 4 game series with the Nats after the Braves were just swept by the Cardinals to put them 0-5 for the season. Worse than that, they had 2 big injuries in that series losing Daniel Winkler for the season with a serious arm injury and the team also put Ender Inciarte on the DL with a minor leg injury.

The Braves now have an outfield of Olivera, Drew Stubbs and Nick Markakis. The Braves offense came alive yesterday scoring 7 runs in a football score kind of game losing 12-7 to the Cardinals. Continue reading →

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Game #4 Postgame Discussion #Nats win 4-2 over Marlins and Improve to 3-1

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Nats 4-2 win over the Marlins and Joe Ross goes 7 strong innings giving up only 1 run with a Blake Treinen 1-2-3 8th inning, and Jonathan Papelbon earned the save for his 3rd of the season.

The Nats record improves to 3-1 on the season, and compared to a year ago the Nationals did not win their 3rd game last year until game 9 with a 3-6 record. Continue reading →

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Game #4 vs. the Marlins. Harper going for HR history! Game Thread

Posted on April 10, 2016 by DonH

The weather has been the story for a while, and today Mother Nature will cooperate with chilly air but no rain or snow. If you count back 21 days into Spring Training and through yesterday, the Nats have played a total of only 12 games in that time span. Expect temperature’s for 1st pitch around 48°F to 52°F with some sunshine.

Today’s Sunday 1:35pm matchup after Saturday’s cancellation for inclement weather is scheduled with the same starters from Saturday. Joe Ross goes for the Washington Nationals, and Max Scherzer will now pitch on Monday.

This game has some historic implications with the Marlins as Bryce Harper will face his favorite pitcher Tom Koehler who Harper has owned in terms of long-balls per at-bat. Harper is 7-24 and 5 of those hits are HRs. Harper is 1 HR away from career HR 100 and the cold weather will not help the flight of the ball and winds could make things interesting as well.

When Bryce hits his next HR, he will join exclusive company to be among the youngest and fastest to the 100 HR mark joining Hall of Famers like Mel Ott who was the youngest as he hit HR 100 at the age of 22 years 132 days.
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Lucas Giolito could get a call-up on May 14th. Doubleheader duty!

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nationals game scheduled for today was cancelled. Advantage to the Nationals who are playing short-handed without tablesetter Ben Revere and MLB rules also allow for a 26th player to be added to one of the doubleheader games which is the perfect setting for Lucas Giolito‘s debut on the makeup game of May 14th.
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Spotlight on Matt den Dekker of the Washington Nationals

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

When Matt den Dekker was traded to the Nats last year at the very end of Spring Training, it was a surprising trade with the Mets for Jerry Blevins. You usually don’t see division rivals helping to fill the other team’s needs like the Nats did getting the Mets their coveted lefty specialist. Continue reading →

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