The Nationals entered the 2021 season determined to be a better defensive club after ranking last in the majors in that department during the previous, pandemic-shortened season. And in late July, a quick glance at the sport's defensive rankings showed they indeed had achieved that goal.
On the morning of July 30, the Nationals as a team ranked sixth in Defensive Runs Saved, a massive improvement from 2020. Of course, by the end of that day, their roster looked nothing like it did 24 hours...
A lot of things with the Nationals went wrong this season, horribly wrong. But not everything. And one thing that did work out in the end, surprisingly enough, was a lineup that was productive both prior to and after the massive trade-deadline sell-off.
The Nats ended the season with the highest team batting average (.258) and on-base percentage (.337) in the National League. Their .754 OPS was fourth-highest in the NL, tied with the NL East champion Braves and only five points lower than the...
Alcides Escobar, who enjoyed a career renaissance after joining a Nationals club desperate for healthy infielders this summer, will return in 2022. The club re-signed the veteran shortstop to a one-year contract today, taking care of that pressing matter less than 48 hours after its season ended.
Escobar became an unlikely regular for the Nats during the season's second half, filling in admirably following the trade of Trea Turner (along with Max Scherzer) to the Dodgers as the club began a...
Since taking over as Nationals general manager in 2009, Mike Rizzo has believed in one path to success above all else: Elite pitching. And not just elite pitching, but elite starting pitching.
It was the hallmark of the franchise's eight-year run as a contender from 2012-19. Pick any year the Nats reached the postseason, and you'll find a rotation that ranked among the majors' best.
"Our mantra here has been that starting pitching is the most important thing, and pitchers have to go deep in...
The high point of the 2021 season for the Nationals, as it turned out, came June 30, probably right at the moment Trea Turner slid into third base to complete the third cycle of his career. The Nats were well on their way to a 15-6 romp over the Rays, completing a 19-9 month of June to raise their record to 42-40, standing in second place in the National League East, only 2 1/2 games behind the Mets.
Everything seemed to be right there in front of them, and an exciting second half of baseball...
The outcome of the game was important - to the Red Sox. The Nationals wanted to respect that. And yet there were things the Nats felt they needed to do in this Game 162, whether putting a 23-year-old rookie on the mound for his major league debut, giving a retiring catcher a chance to take the field one last time or giving a potentially retiring franchise icon a chance to depart the field to the celebration he deserves.
So it was that today's season finale played out on South Capitol Street in...
Mike Rizzo wasn't about to put a timetable on the Nationals' rebuilding project to become a contender again, but the longtime general manager seemed to make it clear today in an end-of-season session with reporters that he views this year as the low point in the process, with significant improvement expected in 2022.
"Our goal is to win," Rizzo said during a 25-minute session in the home dugout prior to the Nationals' season finale. "It's to win the division. It's to win the World...
Well, here we are. It's Game 162, the end of a long and winding and eventful but ultimately disappointing baseball season in the nation's capital. If someone told you on opening day everything that would transpire over the ensuing six months, would you have believed it? Probably not.
There is, however, meaningful baseball to be played today on South Capitol Street. Perhaps not so meaningful for the Nationals, but critical to the Red Sox, who enter the day tied with the Yankees atop the...
The Nationals pitching staff enters today's season finale sporting a 4.79 ERA, seventh-worst in the majors. And that number has only gotten worse as the season has played out. Since the All-Star break, the Nats' ERA is a gaudy 5.60, third-worst in the majors.
So as they prepare to evaluate what went wrong this year, and what changes could be necessary to try to prevent it from happening again, the Nationals would be expected to at least consider whether pitching coach Jim Hickey deserves any...
The closest the Nationals are going to get to meaningful October baseball occurred around 7 p.m. tonight on South Capitol Street, as the sun set behind the first base stands, the temperature inched down toward the 60s, and a sellout crowd of 41,465 watched in nervous anticipation as the most feared hitter in the sport stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and the home team trailing by a run.
"I love that feeling," Juan Soto said in his Zoom session with...
Gerardo Parra is getting one last shot to finish the season on the field, but it appears Luis GarcÃa's season may have already ended.
Parra was activated off the 10-day injured list prior to this afternoon's game against the Red Sox, with left-hander Josh Rogers placed on the IL with a right hamstring strain. It's a fortuitous break for Parra, who last played Sept. 4 before being taken off the roster with inflammation in his right knee.
The popular veteran outfielder, whose future beyond...
The Nationals put up a fight Friday night against the Red Sox, but couldn't convert a few golden opportunities with runners in scoring position and wound up losing 4-2. In the process, the Red Sox moved a step closer to clinching a spot in Tuesday night's American League wild card game. Their magic number is at two entering the day, so they're in with a win and losses by the Blue Jays (who play at 3:07 p.m.) and Mariners (who don't play until 9:10 p.m.).
It's up to the Nats to try to delay...
Kyle Schwarber was meeting a friend of his on the Cubs coaching staff who was in town for the upcoming weekend series in D.C. at 10:30 p.m. on July 29 when his phone rang and Mike Rizzo's name showed up as the caller. He didn't need the Nationals general manager to tell him why he was calling, only to tell him the name of the team he had just been traded to.
Turns out it was the Red Sox, who were sending pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez to the Nats in exchange for the 28-year-old slugger....
It had been a while since Nationals Park experienced this kind of energy, provided by a crowd of 32,521 filled with fans with varied reasons to get amped up for the opener of the season's final series.
Some were excited to see Juan Soto's last charge for a batting title and possible MVP honor. They perhaps took solace in the four walks he drew - the last of them his 144th of the season, something only Barry Bonds had previously done this century - but that's not really what they came to...
Juan Soto has three more days to make his case to win National League MVP honors. He already locked up a slightly less significant honor today.
Soto was named the Nationals' 2021 Player of the Year, the second straight season the young star won the award given out annually in a vote of media members who regularly cover the team.
Soto is joined by Kyle Finnegan (Pitcher of the Year) and Josh Bell (Good Guy Award) in receiving this year's honors, which are being presented prior to the start of...
We have arrived at last at the final homestand of the season. Three more games to wrap up what undeniably has been a season most everyone around here wants to forget. But first, there are three games to play against a team that very much needs to win as many of these as it can.
The Red Sox enter play tied with the red-hot Mariners for the second wild card berth in the American League, two games behind the Yankees, one game ahead of the Blue Jays. There are all kinds of scenarios that could play...
At some point in each of the next three evenings, Ryan Zimmerman is going to step to the plate at Nationals Park and receive a massive ovation each time. It won't matter what he does, whether he drives a ball off the wall for a double or strikes out on three pitches. The crowd will shower him with adulation whenever his name is mentioned, anytime he does anything of note, really, on the field.
And when he steps off the field for the last time during or after Sunday's season finale against the...
Well, we've reached the final leg of a long and often painful season. The Nationals flew home from Denver late Wednesday night after a long and painful, 10-5 loss to the Rockies. And now after a well-earned day off, they'll face the Red Sox over the weekend to wrap things up in 2021.
There are some compelling storylines to come over the next 72 hours, from Ryan Zimmerman's potential final games to Juan Soto's attempt to finish hot and win either the batting title or the National League MVP...
They played two-plus innings in a little more than an hour before the heavy rain arrived in Colorado, then waited through a two-hour delay before taking the field again. They then played 6 1/2 more innings across nearly three more hours, each team using up most of its expanded bullpen, all in a vain attempt simply to complete this 159th game of a season that long ago was lost by both participants.
And when it finally ended, when the Nationals lost 10-5 some 5 hours and 57 minutes after Rockies...
Turns out Patrick Corbin's start Tuesday night in Colorado was his final outing of the season.
Nationals manager Davey Martinez met with the left-hander this morning and emerged with the decision not to send him back to the mound for one final start in Sunday's season finale against the Red Sox, for both physical and emotional reasons.
"You saw Patrick make his last start yesterday," Martinez said in his Zoom session with reporters prior to today's game against the Rockies. "He's got a...