The first half of the 2018 season for Bryce Harper was, to put it mildly, a grind. A batting average stuck in the .210s. Strikeouts on pitches he used to crush. A Nationals club that can't seem to get on a consistent roll. And the underlying question of where he's going to be playing in 2019 and beyond.
Harper's mood has reflected all of that. The joy and charisma that so defined him when he burst onto the scene as a teenager had all but disappeared, replaced by a gruff, brooding and...
Blake Treinen sat at a table in the club level at Nationals Park, his name emblazoned beneath the All-Star Game logo behind him, his smile wide as he spoke to familiar faces about his first career selection for the Midsummer Classic.
Only 20 feet to Treinen's left sat Wilson Ramos, also smiling widely as he discussed his second All-Star appearance, though disappointed a recent hamstring strain will prevent him from playing but nonetheless thrilled to be here.
One hour earlier, Felipe...
For the first All-Star Game in Washington in nearly a half-century, who better to start the game for the National League than a guy who is establishing himself as one of the best pitchers of the last half-century - oh, and who, by the way, also happens to be doing all this for the hometown club?
Max Scherzer indeed will start Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, a fairly no-brainer decision for NL manager Dave Roberts, who may have had other worthy candidates for the assignment but...
NEW YORK - If you're not going to take a few chances and push some buttons you don't normally push on the final day before the All-Star break, when are you going to do it?
Davey Martinez, who on Thursday afternoon spoke of the urgency he and his Nationals needed to show in this weekend's series against the Mets, did just that in today's first-half finale.
In the top of the seventh inning of a tie game, the bases loaded and nobody out, Michael A. Taylor at the plate, Martinez called upon...
NEW YORK - The Nationals will close out the first half of their season with a lineup that doesn't include Bryce Harper or Daniel Murphy, and with a couple extra arms in their bullpen in case they're needed.
Both Harper and Murphy were given today's game against the Mets off by manager Davey Martinez, who wanted to give each guy a chance to rest, for different reasons.
Harper had started 93 of the Nationals' first 95 games and was used as a pinch-hitter in one other. He had started 36...
NEW YORK - The first half of the season wraps up today, though as has been pointed out already, the season is well beyond the actual halfway point. Today is Game 96 for the Nationals, and if they want to reach a Game 163 they're going to have to play a whole lot better the rest of the way, beginning this afternoon.
Jeremy Hellickson will need to give his team a quality start. And Davey Martinez will need to be willing to have a quick hook on his starter, as he has all season to date. No need...
NEW YORK - When Nationals players held their closed-door meeting following a July 4 loss to the Red Sox, they found themselves one game under .500. They were in third place in the National League East, seven games behind the first-place Braves, 5 1/2 games behind the second-place Phillies.
All agreed it was time to get serious, time to start making up some ground.
As luck would have it, the schedule was about to get more favorable, as well. After a difficult stretch that included games with the...
NEW YORK - As the bottom of the fifth arrived at Citi Field, Davey Martinez knew what he needed from Austin Voth: one more scoreless inning. One more clean inning, and the rookie manager could pull his rookie starter and be content with the three early runs he allowed, at the very least giving his team a chance to come back from that three-run deficit with four innings yet to play.
But as the bottom of the fifth played out, it became apparent that best-case scenario simply wasn't going to come...
NEW YORK - These days, it feels like it takes four singles in a row for the Nationals to score one run. Imagine how aggravating it was for them when they watched the Mets turn that into a three-run outburst in today's game.
Despite relatively weak contact and nothing more than a single, the Mets managed to manufacture three runs in the bottom of the second today against Austin Voth and take a 3-0 lead on the reeling Nationals.
And then, just when it looked like he might close out his major...
NEW YORK - Davey Martinez said Friday night he'd speak to Bryce Harper today about the manner in which he ran out (or didn't run out) a double-play grounder during the Nationals' 4-2 loss to the Mets, and the rookie manager indeed met with his star outfielder this morning.
The message that was delivered?
"I've spoken to Bryce," Martinez said, "and that's a conversation that will stay between Bryce and I."
Martinez did acknowledge after Friday's game, though, that he would have...
NEW YORK - Hello from Citi Field. Yes, I've swooped into town to cover the rest of the Nationals' weekend series with the Mets while Byron heads back home to handle pregame and postgame hosting duties on Nats Xtra. It's been an interesting series already, with the Nats winning Thursday night behind two homers from Anthony Rendon and one from Bryce Harper, then losing Friday night after Tanner Roark gave up four early runs and the lineup unable to get more than two back.
Today we'll finally...
PITTSBURGH - What's the biggest reason the Nationals are having so much trouble consistently scoring runs this season? The easy answer, as Davey Martinez has said on more than one occasion, to blame the club's struggles with runners in scoring position.
"It's more collectively," the manager said after Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Pirates. "Individually, the guys hit the ball here and there. But it's more like our situational hitting. Runners on second base. Sometimes you've just got to...
PITTSBURGH - Today's game - aired exclusively on Facebook as part of Major League Baseball's new arrangement with the social media giant - was viewed by only a fraction of the fans who usually watch Nationals games on traditional television.
Those who didn't tune in via their laptops or smartphones, though, didn't really need to see firsthand what happened. They'd already seen this game countless times this season.
The Nationals got a quality start, this time from Gio Gonzalez. They put...
PITTSBURGH - Stephen Strasburg is on track to take the mound for the Nationals in their first game coming out of the All-Star break.
Strasburg, out since June 8 with right shoulder inflammation, made his first rehab start Tuesday night for Single-A Potomac, allowing one run on two hits in 3 1/3 innings during a 7-4 win at Lynchburg. He struck out five, walked only one and threw 34 of his 57 pitches for strikes.
"And I like the fact that he (velocity) was pretty good," manager Davey Martinez...
PITTSBURGH - The Nationals and Pirates wrap up their series this afternoon at PNC Park. The Nats are looking to win two in a row and capture their second straight series. Gio Gonzalez is looking to get himself back on track. Bryce Harper is looking to make solid contact after going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and a groundout Tuesday night. And Daniel Murphy is looking to stay hot after going 4-for-4 in Tuesday's win.
And hopefully as many of you as possible will be able to watch the game. But...
PITTSBURGH - As much as he wanted to project an air of confidence throughout his first month back in action following major knee surgery, Daniel Murphy knew he couldn't convince people not to believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.
Murphy simply didn't look like himself after finally making his 2018 debut for the Nationals, eight months after having microfracture surgery on his right knee. The quality of his at-bats just weren't close to the standard he established for himself...
PITTSBURGH - It was the formula that worked so well in April and May - five dominant innings from Jeremy Hellickson, then four innings from the bullpen - but had been long forgotten as Hellickson spent June recovering from a hamstring injury and then made his first start of July while under the weather.
Hellickson, though, is healthy again. And tonight he pitched like the early-season version of himself again. And because his teammates were able to score runs in bunches for a stretch during...
PITTSBURGH - Austin Voth was promoted from Triple-A Syracuse today for the fourth time this season. The right-hander has yet to actually make his major league debut, but it appears safe to say it'll finally happen this time around.
Called up to swap roster spots with Jefry Rodriguez, who labored during Monday night's 6-3 loss to the Pirates, Voth is tentatively slated to start Saturday against the Mets (the next time Rodriguez's spot in the rotation comes up). However, it's possible the...
PITTSBURGH - Sean Doolittle knew something wasn't right in his left foot as far back as Friday, but he didn't think it was anything to be concerned about, that all would be fine if he took a couple days off. But by the time Monday arrived and Doolittle decided to see how the foot felt when he threw off a bullpen mound and simulated fielding bunts, he realized this problem was more serious than he initially thought.
And so today the Nationals were forced to place their All-Star closer on the...
PITTSBURGH - The Nationals need innings tonight from their starter. Which means Jeremy Hellickson may have to be pushed beyond the point they've preferred to push him so far this season. The right-hander has pitched six innings only once in 11 starts this season. He has topped the 90-pitch mark only three times.
None of that may matter given the state of the Nats bullpen, which has been forced to throw a total of 27 innings over the last six days. That group does have two fresh arms added to...