Mark Zuckerman
Mark Zuckerman

Improvement from Hernandez in left field, but more to learn

Improvement from Hernandez in left field, but more to learn
The book on Yadiel Hernandez entering the 2021 season was pretty straightforward. He could hit fastballs, though he needed to prove he could hit off-speed pitches to have a chance of sticking in the big leagues, probably as a bench player. And if he was going to have any chance of playing the outfield with any regularity, he was going to have to take major strides in improving his defense. So, what have we learned all these months later about the 33-year-old with zero major league experience...
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Mark Zuckerman

Bullpen delivers in Colorado to secure win for Gray (updated)

Bullpen delivers in Colorado to secure win for Gray (updated)
Ask an inexperienced bullpen that has been on fumes for weeks to protect a one-run lead at Coors Field in late September and you're asking for trouble by default. Not that Davey Martinez had any choice tonight. Despite five scoreless innings from Josiah Gray to begin the Nationals' series opener in Colorado, the rookie starter faded quickly in the sixth and got the hook with his team clinging to a 4-3 lead. So it was up to a beleaguered bullpen to hold that lead, with no margin for error, in...
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Mark Zuckerman

Gray, Corbin could each get one more start this weekend

Gray, Corbin could each get one more start this weekend
The Nationals are still mapping out pitching plans for the season's final week, but it's possible both Josiah Gray and Patrick Corbin could get another start this weekend against the Red Sox. Gray and Corbin are starting the first two games of the team's penultimate series against the Rockies, with Gray on the mound at Coors Field tonight and Corbin to follow Tuesday. If the Nats stick with a five-man rotation, Gray would then be in line to pitch Sunday's season finale in D.C. But manager...
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Mark Zuckerman

Game 157 lineups: Nats at Rockies

Game 157 lineups: Nats at Rockies
We have reached the final week of the season, which makes this the final road series of the season. The Nationals are at Coors Field for the first time since April 24, 2019. Things have changed just a bit since then. That day, Aníbal Sánchez took the loss and fell to 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA. Matt Adams was the cleanup hitter. Jake Noll batted seventh. Wilmer Difo batted ninth. Trevor Rosenthal gave up three runs on two hits, a walk, a hit batter and three wild pitches. Now, a completely new...
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Mark Zuckerman

Why the Nats could really use a multi-inning reliever or two

Why the Nats could really use a multi-inning reliever or two
Nationals relievers have thrown a total of 545 1/3 innings this season, which works out to roughly 3 1/2 innings per game. It's actually the fifth-lowest total in the majors, which may come as something of a surprise given how much it feels like their starters have struggled to pitch deep into games. Here's a bigger problem, though: The Nationals have totaled 540 relief appearances this year, 12th-most in the majors. And that also works out to nearly 3 1/2 appearances per game. It doesn't...
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Mark Zuckerman

Another short start, another grand slam in Nats loss (updated)

Another short start, another grand slam in Nats loss (updated)
Condense this lost season for the Nationals down to one issue, one reason above all else to explain why this organization is where it finds itself today with one week to go until a long winter, and the answer is obvious: Pitching. It's all about the pitching. It's always been about the pitching. And until something is done about the pitching, it's hard to envision the franchise's rebuilding efforts taking a significant step forward. Today's 9-2 loss to the Reds was merely the latest...
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Mark Zuckerman

Adams making most of limited starts behind plate

Adams making most of limited starts behind plate
Riley Adams has done just about everything the Nationals could've asked of him since joining the club following his acquisition from the Blue Jays. The 25-year-old catcher enters today's series finale in Cincinnati batting .288 with a .420 on-base percentage and .920 OPS in 81 plate appearances, with nine extra-base hits to his name. So how is it that he's in the lineup today for the first time in 11 days? That's where it gets a bit complicated. Adams, for all he's shown to date, is not...
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Mark Zuckerman

Game 156 lineups: Nats at Reds

Game 156 lineups: Nats at Reds
The Nationals won't be winning back-to-back series. That possibility flew out the window with back-to-back, walk-off losses in Cincinnati the last two nights. But they do have a chance to salvage a four-game split if they can win today's series finale over the Reds. They would certainly love to get another quality start out of Josh Rogers, who has been an absolute revelation since his arrival earlier this month. The left-hander has made four starts so far and has gone 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA....
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Mark Zuckerman

Ruiz's bat heating up, Kieboom getting MRI on forearm

Ruiz's bat heating up, Kieboom getting MRI on forearm
It always felt like it was only a matter of time. Keibert Ruiz's track record in the minor leagues, not to mention his approach in his first extended stint in the major leagues, suggested the hits were going to start falling in. And once those did, the power would likely follow soon thereafter. So consider what is now happening vindication for anyone with the Nationals who didn't panic when their young catcher got off to such an underwhelming start with the club earlier this month. There's...
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Mark Zuckerman

Soto's streak ends at 12, Nats lose in extras again (updated)

Soto's streak ends at 12, Nats lose in extras again (updated)
As captivating as it is to watch Juan Soto step to the plate and continually find ways to reach base, the truth is he can't carry the Nationals on his own. He needs some support around him. And you may be surprised to know he has had a healthy amount of support for a couple of months now, even after the Nats' late July sell-off. They entered tonight's game in Cincinnati having scored 181 runs since Aug. 15, most in the National League. And then they added seven more to the total, getting a...
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Mark Zuckerman

Robles is hitting at Triple-A, but unlikely to return this season

Robles is hitting at Triple-A, but unlikely to return this season
Victor Robles is playing at Triple-A exactly how the Nationals hoped he would, but it doesn't appear the club intends to call the outfielder back up to the majors before the season ends in nine days. Robles has appeared in 18 games for Rochester since the Nats demoted him Aug. 31, and entering tonight, he's batting a robust .324 (23-for-71) with eight doubles, a triple, three homers and a .952 OPS. He's also been successful on five of six stolen base attempts. "They said he's playing well,...
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Mark Zuckerman

Game 154 lineups: Nats at Reds (updated)

Game 154 lineups: Nats at Reds (updated)
What's this, a winning streak? By the Nationals? Why, yes, it is. Three in a row by manager Davey Martinez's bunch after Thursday night's 3-2 victory over the Reds in Cincinnati. It's the club's first three-game winning streak since Aug. 17-20. These guys haven't won four in a row since June 27-30, which brought them to their high point of the season at 40-38 thanks to Trea Turner's third career cycle. Things have gone just a little bit downhill since then, I suppose you could say. But...
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Mark Zuckerman

Is Rainey ready to take over closer's job from Finnegan?

Is Rainey ready to take over closer's job from Finnegan?
What should have been a nice and tidy, 3-0 victory for the Nationals in Cincinnati on Thursday night instead turned into a real nail biter. Handed that three-run lead for the bottom of the ninth, Kyle Finnegan proceeded to give up two quick runs and then let the winning run step to the plate with two outs. Finnegan would ultimately escape, striking out the Reds' Tyler Stephenson with a slider to wrap up a 3-2 win and record his 11th save, but it was hardly a straight and easy path to get...
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Mark Zuckerman

Soto's remarkable run continues in win over Reds (updated)

Soto's remarkable run continues in win over Reds (updated)
We've reached the point of absurdity with Juan Soto. It has become impossible to note anything the young Nationals star does without comparing him to the greatest hitters who have ever played this game. And it's not hyperbole. Soto legitimately deserves the comparison. Because you can't really compare him to anyone else currently hitting in 2021, not right now. Yes, Bryce Harper is having a phenomenal season for the Phillies and might still hang on to win the National League MVP. But Soto is...
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Mark Zuckerman

Three years after trade, Romero joins Nats bullpen

Three years after trade, Romero joins Nats bullpen
Three years ago, a Nationals club stuck around the .500 mark made only one deal at the July 31 trade deadline, and it wasn't one anybody expected. They dealt veteran reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Cubs for a Single-A relief pitching prospect named Jhon Romero. The move seemed to have more to do with moving Kintzler and his salary than in acquiring someone who was likely to make an impact for them in the near future, but three years later the Nats called Romero up. And if he takes the mound...
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Mark Zuckerman

Game 153 lineups: Nats at Reds

Game 153 lineups: Nats at Reds
The Nationals have finally completed the National League East portion of their 2021 schedule. They played all 76 required games against the Braves, Mets, Phillies and Marlins, going a combined 30-46 along the way. (Not great, obviously.) So what's left on the slate? Three series against non-division opponents: the Reds, Rockies and Red Sox. It begins in Cincinnati with a four-game series that opens tonight. The Reds are trying to hang on the race for the final NL wild card berth, a wild race...
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Mark Zuckerman

Garcia's power, Rainey's return and Cavalli's mixed results

Garcia's power, Rainey's return and Cavalli's mixed results
Juan Soto and Josiah Gray stole the show Wednesday night in Miami, but there were some other notable developments during the Nationals' 7-5 win over the Marlins, plus one that took place in Worcester, Mass., of all places ... * Luis García had another big night at the plate, again showing off his power stroke. The 21-year-old second baseman went 2-for-5 with a double and a homer, helping provide some early offense for the Nats and continuing his late-season surge. García is now batting...
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Mark Zuckerman

Another big night from Soto ensures Gray's first win (updated)

Another big night from Soto ensures Gray's first win (updated)
Juan Soto, unquestionably, is having a remarkable season. The Nationals, unquestionably, are not. And those two facts might just be on a collision course in a week and a half, when members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America have to decide if the latter disqualifies the former from earning their National League MVP vote. Yes, Soto has very much thrust himself into that age-old debate with his late-season surge at the plate for a team that tonight won its 63rd game, 7-5 over the...
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Avila gets start in hometown, chance to help Gray

Avila gets start in hometown, chance to help Gray
Alex Avila's three starts behind the plate this month all came with Patrick Corbin on the mound, a calculated move by Nationals manager Davey Martinez in hopes the veteran catcher could get the left-hander out of a long funk. Tonight, Avila will be behind the plate again, this time tasked with helping rookie Josiah Gray turn things around after a ragged stretch. "I'm just curious to see how it all plays out," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters, adding: "The...
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Mark Zuckerman

Game 152 lineups: Nats at Marlins

Game 152 lineups: Nats at Marlins
It's been a while since the Nationals last won a series. How long? How about Aug. 17-18, when they swept the Blue Jays in a two-game series in D.C. They haven't won a three-game series since July 30-Aug. 1 against the Cubs. That's a long time. Tonight, though, the Nats have a chance to end that streak if they can beat the Marlins in their series finale and follow up Tuesday night's 7-1 victory with another. It's also an opportunity for Josiah Gray to turn his season back around. The rookie...
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