Click to Read an Important Member Update Regarding Our Comment System
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.
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After the Nats traded for Ben Revere, Steve M. dove into the deep end to look past traditional Slugging % and OPS and even OBP to try to make sense of the greater value for these speed demon players like Revere and Turner in an attempt to give them credit for the speed game. A steal equals an extra base just like a double compared to a single and a caught stealing gets removed from the On-Base-Percentage as if the runner was never on base:Speed is the part of the game that is the hidden intangible
Here is what Steve M. came up with for his theory with Ben Revere:
Although it doesn’t sound like it’s official yet, Dusty seems to have decided that Max will pitch on Opening Day against the Braves in Atlanta, and Stras will get the home opener on April 7 against the Marlins. That means Gio is the likely starter of our second game against the Braves.
Dusty keeps hinting w/o flat out saying Scherzer will start opening day. But did admit Gio goes second game & Strasburg gets home opener.
Gio Gonzalez was excused from camp for a few days as his fiancée Léa gave birth to their first child, a son, named Enzo which is a name shared with the great Enzo Ferrari. Well wishes to the Gonzalez family. One special note about Gio’s fiancée Léa is that she was very excited about the Maryland Terps basketball win last night as she is an alumna of the University of Maryland where she received her degree in economics. Gio was also happy that his favorite team, University of Miami, also advanced in the NCAA tournament. Continue reading →
Michael A. Taylor will turn 25 years old this week, and he is turning heads in Florida as opposing players have watched and turned their heads to see MAT bombs leave the stadium 3 times so far this Spring. While those home runs might be impressive to lead the Nationals this Spring, his stat-line with a .484 Batting Average would freeze Ted Williams head without cryogenics.
Dusty Baker has said that Michael A. Taylor will see “a lot of playing time” and also gave a basketball analogy to say MAT is like his “6th man” which is a key man off the bench, and a player who could start on almost any other team. Sometimes the 6th man becomes the starter like James Harden (the beard of the Houston Rockets) and Jamal Crawford who were both 6th Man of the Year Award winners. In fact Jamal Crawford won the award twice!
You can expect Jayson Werth to start on April 4th for Opening Day this year, but there are not any guarantees that say Werth will be the primary starter if he doesn’t prove to be the best leftfielder on this Washington Nationals team, and we anticipate Ben Revere will get some rest days when lefties are on the mound as we’ve written before that Dusty will platoon at the right time.
The Nats are on their way to Lakeland, Florida to play the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium at 1:05pm. Yusmeiro Petit was supposed to start today and due to yesterday’s rain-out, Joe Ross will now start the game versus Justin Verlander.
Also, the Nats projected Opening Day starters will make the trip and all will be in exactly what was predicted for Opening Day here last night with the stacked lefties that Dusty seems to favor against RHPs:
There are 21 position players still on the roster in Spring Training. The stats (below) say that if Michael A. Taylor could stay at this pace the entire season he will be MVP and break many records, and that is just not reality. Spring Training stats have very little reflection on what will happen in the regular season; however, let us give Michael A. Taylor credit that he has come into camp ready to play. Dusty Baker made a basketball analogy and called Taylor ‘his 6th man’ which is a strong compliment.
The best laid plans sometimes are spoiled by Mother Nature and MASN is set to televise one of the few games in Florida this Spring and this one could be a wash-out.
Joe Ross is set to take the mound for the Nats in this scheduled 1:05pm start in Viera vs. a Mets travel roster.
The Nats insert a new doubleplay combo for today as Brendan Ryan gets the start at shortstop with Jason Martinson at 2nd base. The rest of the Nats starting lineup looks like mostly regulars with Tony Campana doing the DH’ing duties to start the game.
Ben Revere CF
Anthony Rendon 3B
Bryce Harper RF
Jayson Werth LF
Clint Robinson 1B
Wilson Ramos C
Brendan Ryan SS
Jason Martinson 2B
Tony Campana DH
Joe Ross RHP
Other notes on the day include MLB Network is in Viera to continue their 30 in 30 coverage of the Nats and they have begun interviewing players for a 7pm broadcast.
As you can see Heidi Watney was out there as the sun was rising!
Post-rainout update: Jason Martinson was supposed to start the game today and after it was postoned Martinson was sent to minor league camp while OF Logan Schafer received his unconditional release.
Thanks to Jake Russell for answering my questions on his new book 100 Things Nats Fans Should Know and Do Before they Die. Hopefully we can get him to stop by to respond to comments to this post.
Life is about adjustments. And sometimes, you just get very lucky and draw to that inside straight. So after a good night’s sleep and a morning workout, we had planned an afternoon visit to minor league camp to check out the team’s future. Maybe see Robles, Fedde, Lopez, or Voth. Write a glowing report or two, head down to Port St. Lucie for the evening’s main event.
The great thing about baseball on the back fields is how it’s the same game, played differently. No scoreboards, no P.A., no walk-up songs. The outfield “wall” is a chain link fence with a yellow pad on top. You can hear things that only are heard in the intimacy of a small field, like the hum of a Scherzer fastball or a grunt of exertion as it is delivered. No grandstand, just portable metal bleachers with bench seating. Spectators number in the low double digits, and… wait, why is the entire minor league system seemingly crammed onto that tiny bleacher, groaning under the unaccustomed weight? Hmm. Hello Mr. Lerner…
OK, why is the owner in minor league camp on a Friday afternoon in March? Well, with a night away game, against a division rival—the division rival even—the Nats decided that Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark would not make the trip south, that’s why. Lucky us that they were getting their work in in Viera rather than on Tradition Field against the Mets!
For the record, Max pitched into the sixth inning of the AAA game against the Astros farm hands. Many were struck out as Max dominated, although they did send up an entirely left-handed lineup in his final inning, managing to scratch out a single run before his pitch limit was reached. On the AA field, Roark also dominated. Although he does not have Max’s soundtrack, Tanner hit his spots and held the young ‘Stro’s to one run over six strong. Photos from the day follow below.
In the nightcap, the Nats pounded Bartolo Colon and the Mets 12-7, and it wasn’t that close. The Nats again were off to a fast start, plating five in the first, highlighted by a Danny Espinosa three run homer that landed half way up the right field berm. Michael Taylor and Chris Heisey added solo shots, and the Nats sealed it when they batted around and added four more in the sixth. Lucas Giolito threw two scoreless and a quartet of relievers contributed four more scoreless innings. Giolito finished his evening with a nasty curveball that took a turn straight down into the dirt that had Palwicki so befuddled that he swung and missed for strike 3 on a pitch he missed by not inches, but feet.
On the not-so-bright side, Felipe Rivero was hit hard and often, giving up two runs and showing quite too much frustration. Erik Davis pitched the ninth and may have sealed his fate for 2016, walking two and giving up a hit before allowing a grand slam to Michael Conforto to make the score deceptively closer.
UPDATED: 3/19/16 Here is the newest installment of what is wrong with Bronson Arroyo’s shoulder. It appears to not be the bursa sac or the labrum as the problem as was recently reported, and the good news that what is wrong just requires rest and taking some anti-inflammatory medicince. The issue seems to be inflammation of the rotator cuff, and an old injury giving Arroyo discomfort. Mike Rizzo announced this morning that Arroyo still has a partial tear in the rotator cuff tendons which are inflamed and have caused some discomfort. That is also consistent with a MRI taken on Arroyo’s shoulder in 2014, meaning there is not a new injury. Arroyo could be back on the field in 4-to-6 weeks followed by a rehab assignment.
UPDATED: 3/18/16 In one of the most miraculous turnarounds of a medical diagnosis, Bronson Arroyo goes from ‘career over’ to ‘not so fast’ as the Nationals want to examine the results before announcing their diagnosis as to what it really is going on with Arroyo’s right shoulder. It was being reported earlier this evening that the MRI on Arroyo’s right shoulder that revealed a torn rotator cuff had been mis-read by another doctor, and another doctor says it’s just bursa sac inflammation requiring 7 to 10 days of rest. Then the Nationals put out this:
The Nationals have compared Arroyo's MRI with his from two years ago, say the reports tonight are not consistent with their findings.
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.