The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

The Nats face a player they are very familiar with tonight. Robbie Ray was the Nats’ 12th round draft pick out of Brentwood High School in 2010. Ray was a fast riser in the Nats system, and he became the centerpiece of the Doug Fister trade with Detroit.  The Tigers subsequently traded the lefty to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a three-team trade.

Robbie Ray has been inconsistent so far in his career and has struggled with command. Ray is lefty power pitcher and averages 96mph with his fastball, and he throws a reach-back heater at 98mph. His fastball will move from 92 to 98mph in a game. His secondary pitch is a slider, and he will throw a few slurves. Ray will issue walks, and give up some location mistakes that get hit far.

Tanner Roark starts for the Nationals, and Dusty Baker had this to say about him earlier, “He’s built kind of like Roger Clemens a little bit, and the guy’s got some big….you know…..guts.”

Ryan Zimmerman is out of the line-up again tonight as he nurses his injured wrist. There is still no mention of Zimmerman’s availability off of the bench. We do not know if he took batting practice, but he did take grounders at first base during BP.

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There is a game tonight which has been over-shadowed most of the day by the trade deadline which passed with the Nationals not making an acquisition for a big bat.

The prices teams paid today for players like Lucroy and Beltran was steep. Mike Rizzo could try to make a move in the waiver-claim market like he has done in the past when he got Matt Thornton. For all we know, Mike Rizzo might have a plan for Koda Glover, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito for the September bullpen, but it is unclear what the Nats do to improve the offense unless the Nats see players like Ryan Zimmerman, Ben Revere and Bryce Harper return to their career stat-lines.

The Nationals send Stephen Strasburg to the mound tonight, and the Diamondbacks have righty Archie Bradley. The Nationals have never faced Bradley before. The scouting report on Bradley is that he is a two-pitch pitcher with a 93mph fastball and a slow curve. He throws from a high arm slot with downward tilt. When he is not locating his fastball, he is very hittable. Lefties have a .922 OPS against him, but he has dominated righties to a .194 BA.

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As expected, Mark Melancon is with the Nationals in San Francisco and has been activated to the 25-man roster, and to make room for Melancon, the Nationals have optioned Reynaldo Lopez back to Triple-A Syracuse.

For those wondering, Melancon will wear jersey number 43. Melancon wore number 35 with the Pirates and as he has done with every team he joins, he has changed to a new jersey number. Ross Ohlendorf was the last Nat who wore number 43. Could it be that Melancon is a Larry Brown fan?

Jonathan Papelbon will begin a new role in the Nationals bullpen with the acquisition of Melancon, and Papelbon took the news of his demotion like a pro.

“I think anybody losing their job is a hard thing to accept, period,” Papelbon said after yesterday’s game. “I think that’s just a hard pill to swallow, no matter who you are and what job you’re in. … I think for me I’m just going to have to do whatever it takes to accept a new role and a new challenge for myself.”

The Nats hope today is the day they get to debut Melancon in the 9th inning. For today’s game, Daniel Murphy will get a second consecutive day off to rest his sore hamstring, and Jayson Werth gets a scheduled day off. Continue reading →