New Nationals manager Dusty Baker was the subject of MLB Network's one-hour documentary, "Dusty: A Baseball Journey," which aired Tuesday evening. The show details Baker's early life growing up in Riverside, Calif., and then eventually moving to Sacramento, Calif., where he experienced racial divide in the mid-1960s.
Baker, a gifted athlete from an early age, and his friends eventually found an outlet in music. After attending the famous Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967, the group briefly...
Right-hander Max Scherzer arrived in Washington last January after pitching the previous five seasons in Detroit, which included winning the American League Cy Young award in 2013. In his first season pitching in the National League since 2009 with the Diamondbacks, Scherzer dominated hitters, tossing two no-hitters and challenging to win another Cy Young.
"Last year, I thought I had the upper hand a little bit because it was the first time for me to actually face them," Scherzer told ESPN...
On Sept. 29, a day after Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper tangled publicly in dugout, the eventual National League MVP attempted to sweep the mess underneath the rug.
"If Pap's gonna help us win a World Series next year, that's what I need," Harper said in front of his locker after serving a team-imposed one-game suspension for his role in the fracas.
During the same rap session, Harper indicated he planned to reach out to Papelbon at some point since the veteran closer had already been...
Baseball is close. The biggest sports day of the year is upon us, as we'll all gather around for tonight's Super Bowl. But once the Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the Broncos or Panthers, we can truly the flip the calendar, allowing our attention to shift to the national pastime as spring training nears.
There will be more than $100 million wagered legally in Las Vegas on tonight's game on anything from the final score to whether there will be an earthquake in the Bay Area during the game....
Despite knowing the Nationals were losing right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister from their rotation, there was still plenty attractive about coming to D.C. for new pitching coach Mike Maddux.
"What an inventory of arms over here, man," said an excited Maddux when asked about the opportunity. "I look at a rotation that features Max Scherzer up top ... Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Joe Ross, Tanner Roark. Everybody's got their own little shtick going on there. One guy is...
Dan Uggla and Clint Robinson were among a host of veterans brought to Nationals spring training on minor league deals last year with seemingly no shot to crack a packed roster fresh off a division crown. Longtime major league outfielder Reed Johnson joined them in final days of camp.
After years as one of the game's best power-hitting second basemen, Uggla's offense had dropped off a cliff in the couple of seasons prior and his appearance was considered more of a charity case when he showed...
On Monday, left-hander Gio Gonzalez showed a video on Instagram of his first flat ground throwing session of the new year. It was just some standard warm-up for Gonzalez as he prepares once again for a major role in the Nationals starting rotation in 2016.
But yesterday, maybe a more significant video from a Nationals pitcher was posted. Last Sept. 3, reliever Aaron Barrett underwent Tommy John surgery and then had a procedure to repair bone spurs and bone chips in his left ankle on Dec. 3. On...
He's got pop in his bat and range while manning the hot corner. Unfortunately, third baseman Anthony Rendon was limited to 80 games last season due to injury.
However, some experts are saying that Rendon could become a top infielder in the National League in 2016.
Rendon certainly showed off his talent in the 2014 season. He scored 111 runs en route to finishing fifth in National League MVP voting and being named a Silver Slugger.
So what could be on deck for a healthy Rendon? Hopefully, many...
On last week's #TBT post, we watched second baseman Jonathan Schoop absolutely destroy a baseball, sending it 484 feet for a huge homer at Kauffman Stadium.
This week, we're looking at a play that's equally as dazzling, but switching gears to the defensive side of things.
While he didn't have his healthiest season in 2015, All-Star center fielder Adam Jones continued to make some spectacular grabs. One of his best was against the A's, robbing Coco Crisp.
After Jones made the diving snag,...
By now we've thoroughly defined how historic Bryce Harper's record-breaking 2015 season was. But while expected after becoming one of the most hyped prospects the game has ever seen, Harper's year could also be described as a breakthrough.
After bursting onto the scene with 22 homers in his rookie season, Harper couldn't exceeded that total as nagging injuries bothered him the following two years. In 2016, he mashed 42 longballs.
Harper batted .330 in 2015, a whopping 58 points higher...
Count Gio Gonzalez among those itching for the return of baseball when pitchers and catchers report in 16 days. The Nationals left-hander posted a video on his Instagram account yesterday showing off his first flat ground throwing session in 2016.
Last spring, Gonzalez showed up at Space Coast Stadium appearing noticeably heavier and joking about enjoying plenty of good Cuban food during the offseason. Followers of Gonzalez on social media know that Gonzalez appears much trimmer now after...
A flip of the page in the calendar, and you can almost hear the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove and the smell the hot dogs. February is here and in just 17 days the clubhouse lockers at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., will be filled with brand new snow-white Nationals jerseys.
So how close is general manager Mike Rizzo from establishing which 25 players will don the curly W cap on opening day in Atlanta?
Probably the biggest surprise this offseason for the Nationals is that...
This is the last day of the last month without baseball for a long time. Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 18 and then it's on. Barring injury, the Nationals appear set at every position around the diamond. But what about shortstop?
With Ian Desmond - though still unsigned - departing in free agency, Danny Espinosa is expected to get his first full-time shot at shortstop. But just a year ago, the Nationals were so down on Espinosa's offense that they tried to make him drop switch-hitting...
From a perception standpoint, it hasn't been a most favorable winter for the Nationals. A dugout brawl between eventual National League MVP Bryce Harper and hothead Jonathan Papelbon in the final days of the season set the stage for piling on.
But general manager Mike Rizzo strapped up and went for it, attempting to make a statement that the Nationals were still the big, bad boys to contend with in the NL East. The problem was that nobody bought it.
First, they reportedly swung and missed...
During his introductory press conference earlier this month, the new Nationals infielder Daniel Murphy revealed that he pays close attention to the First-Year Player Draft. Murphy, a seven-year veteran, was asked which of his new, younger Nationals teammates stick out most from recent drafts.
He chose Joe Ross, a pitcher he recalled from their encounters last season.
"Ross was the easy one to remember because he punched me out a couple times on that slider on my back foot," Murphy recalled....
Free agent right-hander Doug Fister has signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Astros after pitching the last two seasons for the Nationals.
Washington acquired Fister from the Tigers in December 2013 in exchange for infielder Steve Lombardozzi, left-hander Ian Krol and minor league lefty Robbie Ray. Fister became arguably the Nationals' most effective starter in 2014, going 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA and winning the only game for Washington in the National League Division Series.
Fister, who...
Just over a year ago, Max Scherzer arrived in the nation's capital with a ton of fanfare and a monumental contract. The former American League Cy Young Award winner then backed it up, becoming just the sixth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a season.
If not for a bizarre blip in Scherzer's season during August, the dominant right-hander might have found himself with a matching Cy Young Award for the National League. Scherzer shut down the Brewers, Pirates and Phillies during a three-game...
At just 24, Jonathan Schoop has proven to be a strong defensive asset in the middle of the infield. He has also showcased his power.
Despite being limited to 86 games in 2015, the second baseman still belted 15 homers for the Birds. And were any of his home runs more impressive than his mammoth bomb off Johnny Cueto at Kauffman Stadium? Schoop got all of it, but the sky-high ball flirted with the foul pole and was just fair.
Rewatch the huge 484-foot homer (and Adam Jones' awesome reaction)...
So what's an easier task: walking four times in a single game or walking down any street in the area without wiping out on the snow and ice?
OK, I'll admit the latter is probably a much easier feat in comparison, but I figured I'd try to at least garner some sympathy for my clumsiness. But I digress ...
In this week's #TBT, let's look back at one of the most amazing moments at the plate in 2015. OK, so when you think of a key offensive moment, you probably think of a huge home run or a...
The Nationals added some competition to the mix for their starting rotation when pitchers and catchers report next month by signing Bronson Arroyo to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training.
Arroyo, who turns 39 on Feb. 24, hasn't pitched professionally since undergoing Tommy John surgery while with the Diamondbacks in July 2014. During his rehab, the veteran right-hander was traded to the Braves last June and then dealt to the Dodgers in July before becoming a free...