NEW YORK - As they prepare to open a four-game series against a reeling Mets club, the Nationals are remaking their bullpen on the fly again.
The Nats have activated left-hander Tony Sipp off the injured list while also claiming veteran right-hander Javy Guerra off outright waivers from the Blue Jays. Dan Jennings, an in-season acquisition who never found his footing, was designated for assignment to clear one roster spot. They'll need to clear another spot on the 25-man roster for Guerra once...
A lot happened Thursday before, during and after the Nationals' 7-6 victory over the Mets. And a lot of it matters heading into this weekend's series against the Cubs, then into next week's road trip to New York.
So let's run through several key developments and what it means tonight and beyond ...
* Trea Turner is probably coming back tonight.
Though Davey Martinez was noncommittal Thursday about the possibility of Turner coming off the injured list, it already seemed likely before the...
The double blow of AnÃbal Sánchez walking off the field with a hamstring injury in the top of the second and Erick Fedde then giving up four runs in the span of two pitches in the top of the third this afternoon had to send shivers up and down South Capitol Street.
Just when you thought the Nationals might be on their way to their first back-to-back wins in a month, here they were dealing with yet another key injury and yet another bullpen implosion.
And then the home team did something...
Just when his teammates finally put him in prime position to earn his first win of the season, AnÃbal Sánchez suffered an injury and was forced to depart this afternoon's game at Nationals Park with only one out in the top of the second.
Sánchez had pitched effectively, retiring the first four Mets batters he faced before allowing a one-out single to J.D. Davis in the top of the second. Pitching with a 4-0 lead after his teammates busted out early against New York starter Zack...
The Nationals may have Trea Turner back in their lineup Friday night.
Turner, who broke his right index finger 6 1/2 weeks ago, emerged from back-to-back rehab games with Single-A Potomac feeling well. He was back at Nationals Park this morning, working out before the Nats' series finale against the Mets.
A final decision hasn't been made yet, but club officials will consider activating their starting shortstop off the injured list Friday for the opener of a weekend series with the Cubs.
"He...
The Nationals haven't won back-to-back games since April 17-18. Today, of course, is May 16. That's a long time to go without winning consecutive games. That's also the last time the Nats won a series (against the Giants). That's a long time to go without winning two of three.
Suffice it to say, the Nationals would love to snap both of those streaks this afternoon. If they can beat the Mets, they'll have won back-to-back games and captured the series.
In order to do that, they'll need...
There are nights, like this, when you are reminded the Nationals indeed are capable of playing good baseball. They can get a dominant outing from one of their elite starters, and they can reward him for the effort by stringing together big hits in multiple innings, making all the plays they need to make behind him and then closing things out sans bullpen drama.
The Nationals couldn't have drawn up a much better formula for success than they did tonight during a 5-1 victory over the Mets.
"It...
For weeks, Davey Martinez insisted he preferred to keep Victor Robles at the bottom of his daily lineup, believing the rookie outfielder was benefitting from the lower-pressure position in his batting order.
Circumstances - injuries, plus Robles' success - left Martinez with no choice but to move the 21-year-old up in the lineup. But three weeks later, it's becoming clearer why Martinez felt the way he did all along.
Though he homered Tuesday night during the Nationals' 5-2 loss to the Mets,...
Patrick Corbin has already faced the Mets twice this season, and he pitched well enough both times to emerge with a win. The left-hander, alas, did not get credited with a win after either of those starts. So he'll try to get over that hump tonight when he faces New York for the third time in 2019.
The Nationals, in a recurring theme, haven't taken full advantage of the performances of their top three starters. Corbin, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg have combined for a 3.50 ERA in 26...
Here's one thing that's going well for the Nationals right now: Erick Fedde as a reliever.
Long touted as the organization's top starting prospect, Fedde has made a smooth transition to the bullpen over the last two weeks and is thriving in his new role.
It's only four total outings, but Fedde has yet to allow a run in eight innings of work, with only three hits surrendered in the process.
"I have a newfound confidence right now," he said. "And I'm just trying to ride it out."
So are...
It takes an awful lot for the Nationals to win a baseball game these days. It takes excellent starting pitching. It takes timely hitting from a lineup that seems to only score in one inning per contest. It takes effective work from the majors' least effective bullpen. And it takes clean defense, an occurrence most clubs can assume will be on display most nights but for this team represents the clear outlier.
The Nats pretty much can't afford for any one of those four things to go wrong in...
The Nationals opened a key homestand this evening needing to play clean baseball and get things off on the right foot.
Three batters into their series opener against the Mets, they couldn't turn a routine double play. And three batters after that, they gave up a grand slam to a former teammate and fan favorite.
Yep, things are going swimmingly so far tonight on South Capitol Street.
Wilson Ramos' grand slam off Jeremy Hellickson gave the Mets a 4-0 lead before many in the crowd had even...
Trea Turner is taking the field tonight in Woodbridge, Va., for his first game action in six weeks. Ryan Zimmerman was on the field this afternoon at Nationals Park for his first baseball activities in 2 1/2 weeks.
Slowly but surely, the Nationals are getting healthier, and the next player on track to return from the injured list appears to be Turner, who tonight is beginning a rehab assignment with Single-A Potomac.
Turner is scheduled to play shortstop and bat second tonight at Pfitzner...
There's a ballgame being played tonight in Washington, and that in and of itself is good news for the local club, which last set foot on the turf here 12 days ago. The Nationals have a six-game homestand against the Mets and Cubs, and they'll try to get things off on the right foot tonight against a New York team that has lost 10 of its last 16 and is facing an important week itself.
The Nationals lineup is healthier than it was the last time they played here, with Anthony Rendon and Juan...
It's been 12 days since the Nationals last played a ballgame in D.C. Derek Lilliquist was still their pitching coach. Juan Soto and Matt Adams hadn't gone on the injured list yet. Gerardo Parra was still employed by the Giants.
Yeah, a lot has happened since then. Most of it negative, with a few positive developments sprinkled in around the edges.
When the Nationals finally return home tonight to open a week's worth of games on South Capitol Street against the Mets and Cubs, they'll do so...
I'll admit I've been holding off doing a Q&A for a few weeks, because I know where this is likely going. There's a lot of aggravation out there among Nationals fans, and while it's certainly justified, it also tends to lead to irrational and unproductive conversations that put your trusty beat writer in awkward and no-win situations.
But I know you have thoughts, and I know you want my thoughts on those thoughts. And so I thought I'd give this a shot today and see how it goes. But here...
The Nationals knew this was going to be a tough road trip. But this tough? Yikes.
Already 1-5 at Philadelphia and Milwaukee, the Nats now must head to Los Angeles for a four-game series at Dodger Stadium against the National League's best team to date in 2019. And they'll do so with a lineup still decimated by injuries, a bullpen still lacking in reliable arms and a defense still unable to make routine plays (let alone non-routine plays).
This team has gone 3-14 over the last 2 1/2 weeks. And...
MILWAUKEE - No matter how agonizing the losses have been up to this point, the Nationals have been able to legitimately say they played hard and walked off the field at the end of the day confident that a lack of effort was not the issue.
They had to answer that question, though, after today's 7-3 loss to the Brewers, even after a last-ditch rally in which they brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. The outcome of the game was understandable, but the manner in which they came...
MILWAUKEE - Desperate for healthy position players and more veterans on their bench, the Nationals are in discussions with outfielder Gerardo Parra and could finalize a deal in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the talks.
No deal is done at this point, the source said, but the addition of Parra would make sense for a Nationals club that has been decimated by injuries to its lineup and has felt the domino effect on its bench.
Parra, 32, is a career .277 hitter with a .324...
MILWAUKEE - The Nationals haven't been swept in any of the 11 series they've played to date. For all their woes, they've managed to go 8-3 in series finales and 5-0 when facing a potential sweep. So that's what's at stake this afternoon at Miller Park, where the Nats have dropped two in a row despite getting dominant starts from Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
Obviously, they could use a quality start out of Jeremy Hellickson today. But as we've seen, that's not enough. They have to...