PHILADELPHIA - At a time when they can't afford to lose any more middle of the order hitters, the Nationals now find themselves without yet another middle of the order hitter.
Juan Soto, still dealing with back spasms, is not in the Nationals' lineup for the third straight night. And if this continues much longer, the club may have to consider putting the young outfielder on the injured list like it already did with Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman.
"I'm hoping that after...
PHILADELPHIA - Paul Menhart was walking his Australian Shepherd Husky Mix, Gracie, at home in Richmond Hill, Ga., three days ago when Nationals assistant general manager Doug Harris called.
Menhart and Harris have worked together for years as two key members of the organization's minor league operation, and they kid around with each other plenty. So when Harris explained why he was calling, Menhart at first thought this might be a joke.
Menhart was supposed to fly to West Palm Beach the next...
PHILADELPHIA - We're only five weeks into the season, but the Nationals already are making their second trip to Citizens Bank Park. In something of a scheduling quirk, they'll have faced the Phillies eight times before they ever see the Braves for the first time in 2019. This is also the start of an odd but difficult road trip that also features stops in Milwaukee and Los Angeles before the Nats come home. Suffice it to say, this is going to be a challenge.
As you know, the Nationals are...
The timing may have felt odd, given that it came minutes after a much-needed win that included a dominant start and effective relief with zero margin for error. And that it came after a little mini-run of five games that has seen improved pitching across the board, but especially from a bullpen that is attempting to stabilize itself after a disastrous opening month.
But what became clear as Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez spoke following Thursday night's 2-1 win over the Cardinals was that the...
The Nationals don't take lightly the decision to call up a top prospect. It's not as simple as promoting a young player because his minor league stats jump off the page. There's a mental component to it as well, and they've got a pretty good track record at knowing the right time to summon budding stars like Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto to the majors.
And they believe they picked the right time to summon Carter Kieboom to take over for the injured Trea Turner at...
Given the current state of their depleted lineup, the Nationals cannot afford to give the opposition extra runs with shaky play in the field.
They certainly can't afford to give them four extra runs.
The Nationals lost to the Cardinals for the third straight night, this time by a 5-1 count. They again struggled to come up with productive at-bats when they had opportunities to do something significant at the plate. But they also made life a whole lot tougher on their lineup - not to mention ace...
OK, it's only three games on the heels of 25 games with decidedly worse results. It's going to take much more time for the Nationals bullpen to be considered fixed after a disastrous opening month to the season.
But that doesn't mean the last three days can't be viewed with optimism, because it's been a night-and-day performance for this beleaguered group.
Beginning with Erick Fedde's four-inning appearance Sunday in relief of Jeremy Hellickson, the Nationals bullpen has turned itself...
It's a new month, and the Nationals can only hope things go better in May than they did in April. One way to try to make that happen? Dominant performances from the top of their rotation. They're sending Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg to the mound the next two days against the Cardinals, so the table is certainly set for this to happen.
Scherzer was fantastic in his last start against the Padres, striking out 10 while allowing only two runs in seven innings. He did surrender a homer to...
Amid all the questions that were being asked of him following Tuesday night's 3-2 loss, Davey Martinez had one question for the assembled media in his postgame press conference.
"Is tomorrow May 1?" the Nationals manager asked. "I can't wait until tomorrow."
The calendar indeed has turned, and not a moment too soon for a Nats club that just endured through an awfully frustrating April (plus a couple days in March prior to that).
Losers in eight of their last 11 games, the Nationals now...
The bullpen has managed to straighten itself out over the last three days. The rotation, while not pitching up to its lofty potential, is mostly giving the team a chance to win. The Nationals lineup? Well, that has now become the roster's biggest problem area.
With three key regulars on the injured list and several others struggling mightily to produce with any consistency, the Nationals just aren't doing enough at the plate these days. And so they squandered a golden opportunity to win a...
When Anthony Rendon took a pitch off his left elbow April 20 in Miami, the Nationals knew he was in pain. But they also believed the star third baseman, who had suffered only a bad bruise, wouldn't need more than a handful of days to make it back.
And so they kept Rendon on their active roster, electing to play with a short bench while waiting for him to heal.
Rendon did heal enough to return to the lineup Friday, a full six days after suffering the injury. But after an 0-for-3 performance...
If you've been following, you knew this was coming: Anthony Rendon is now on the injured list. The Nationals officially placed the third baseman on the 10-day IL with a bruised left elbow today, a move that's backdated the maximum three days allowed but now prevents him from being activated until May 7 at the earliest.
The Nats are using that roster spot to help the bullpen, purchasing the contract of left-hander Dan Jennings, who had just recently been signed to a minor league deal. To clear...
Just about every day over the last week-plus, Davey Martinez has been asked if Anthony Rendon will be available to pinch-hit that night, and the Nationals manager has almost always answered in a hopeful manner.
Martinez, though, sounded less hopeful when asked about the possibility Monday afternoon as the Nationals prepared to face the Cardinals with their star third baseman still out of the lineup with a bruised left elbow.
"He's going to take swings later on in the day, and we'll see,"...
They slogged their way through a rough stretch against less-intimidating competition, and now the Nationals were opening a 13-game stretch against three division leaders and another team that came within one game of reaching the World Series last fall.
It's going to require improvement in all facets of the game for the Nats to emerge successful from this daunting stretch. And though they got some much needed improvement in one key area - the bullpen - tonight, it meant little when their...
Anthony Rendon has played once in the last nine days, leaving the Nationals a man short on their active roster. But if you assumed that would've convinced the team to place its star third baseman on the injured list by now, you'd be wrong.
Though his bruised left elbow continues to prevent him from fully extending when he swings, Rendon believes he's only a day or two away from returning to action. So the Nationals continue to put off an IL move, not wanting to risk losing him for even more...
The Nationals just completed a stretch in which they went 6-9 against the Pirates, Giants, Marlins, Rockies and Padres. Now they open a 16-game stretch in which they'll face the Cardinals, Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers and Mets. Suffice it to say, they need to play better in every facet of the game if they are going to survive this.
It doesn't help matters that tonight they don't have Anthony Rendon in the lineup for the seventh time in eight games with a bruised left elbow. As of this moment,...
As Carter Kieboom rounded the bases following his game-tying homer in the fifth inning - this on the heels of Victor Robles' solo homer the previous inning, that on the heels of Juan Soto's three-run blast the inning prior to that - Davey Martinez paused to consider what the three youngest players on the Nationals roster had just accomplished.
"I sat there, and I go, '20, 21, 21: That's pretty cool,' " Martinez said. "I started thinking, 'Has that been done before?' "
The answer: No,...
It took just about every ounce of intestinal fortitude the Nationals had in them just to get into position to win this afternoon, whether overcoming an early six-run deficit, asking their three youngest players to ignite a rally with a historic trio of homers or asking a couple of longtime rotation prospects to deliver a bunch of scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
It was an impressive display of gumption on the Nationals' part. But it still left them in an uncomfortably familiar position:...
Ryan Zimmerman is now on the injured list with plantar fasciitis. Anthony Rendon isn't there yet, but if his elbow doesn't heal real soon he may wind up off the active roster as well.
All of which leaves the Nationals with a makeshift lineup for today's series finale against the Padres, a short bench and an extra bullpen arm in the form of Erick Fedde.
The official roster move made this morning: Zimmerman was placed on the 10-day IL with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, with Fedde...
The Nationals already are assured of losing their third straight series. It's too late to change that. But they have to win today to avoid their first series sweep of the season, and if that isn't motivation enough for this afternoon's contest with the Padres, what else is?
We know the Nats need to be able to lock down games late, their biggest problem area. But they also need to be able to score more runs, no matter the inning. Over their last eight games, they're batting a collective .235...