PHILADELPHIA - Stephen Strasburg continues progress in his return from a shoulder injury and appears to be a few days away from throwing off a mound for the first time since landing on the disabled list.
Strasburg, three weeks removed from his last outing for the Nationals, threw pitches off flat ground in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon, ramping up from the simple game of catch he played last weekend.
Next up for Strasburg would be a bullpen session, which Davey Martinez...
PHILADELPHIA - A big series? During the final weekend of June? For the Nationals, well, yeah I think it's safe to say this qualifies.
Having lost nine of their last 12 games, including back-to-back shutouts at Tampa Bay earlier this week, the Nats come to Citizens Bank Park desperate to get back on track. To do that, they'll have to play well in a four-game series against a Phillies club that took two of three from them last weekend in D.C. (the lone win coming via a dramatic, eighth-inning...
Jayson Werth always insisted he could play well into his 40s, that as a late bloomer who didn't become a big league regular until his late 20s and someone who was big into nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, he was uniquely positioned to continue his playing career beyond the norm.
And no doubt Werth still believed that deep in his heart when he went out to Tacoma two months ago to play for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate.
There were three factors, however, Werth couldn't...
After losing a mid-June game in frustrating fashion and staring up at two teams in front of them in the standings for the first time, the Nationals manager insisted this was no time to panic.
"I don't worry about that," the skipper said. "It's a little too early for me to start watching the scoreboard."
After a different mid-June loss that left them hovering just over the .500 mark and firmly behind the division leaders, a Nationals veteran looked at the bright side.
"We're in a good...
It's not a make-or-break series, not in late June, but if the Nationals wanted to remind the Phillies in tonight's weekend opener on South Capitol Street that they're still top dogs in the division, they didn't do a particularly convincing job.
With another laborious and ineffective start from Tanner Roark and another lackluster performance from their lineup, the Nats were roughed up by rivals from up Interstate-95, falling 12-2 and falling into third place in the National League East.
The...
Two weeks removed from his last start, Stephen Strasburg is throwing again, his right shoulder inflammation having cleared up enough to allow the Nationals right-hander to get back to baseball activities.
Strasburg has thrown off flat ground in the outfield twice this week, most recently this afternoon. It was only a light game of catch, and there are several steps left for him to take before he could return from the disabled list, but it's nonetheless an encouraging sign that his injury does...
So, as you know, it's been raining all day here in town. But as I type this, the rain has mostly halted, and they're currently working on the infield with the tarp off. And the forecast suggests that perhaps they can actually start tonight's game on time, though it probably won't stay dry all evening. In other words ... your guess is as good as mine.
The Nationals are facing the Phillies for only the second time this season, having won 2-of-3 here in May and having not yet even made an...
Hard as this may be to believe, the Nationals' season is nearly half complete. They've now played 72 games, a full 44.4 percent of the regular season.
Just as hard to believe, the Nats have only played three games to date against the Phillies, their geographically closest division rivals. And they haven't even been to Citizens Bank Park yet in 2018 (that will finally happen next weekend.)
So this weekend's head-to-head matchup on South Capitol Street provides the Nationals their first...
Among the plethora of compliments bestowed upon Juan Soto in his first month in the big leagues, perhaps this latest one from the mouth of his manager tonight is most meaningful.
"He's got unbelievable poise," Nationals manager Davey Martinez said, "no matter what the situation is."
Martinez already knew that before Soto stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth tonight, the Nats' game with the Orioles on the line, and watched the 19-year-old deliver the two-run double that...
When the Nationals really needed to deliver a late rally to pull out a close ballgame, they turned to Bryce Harper to set the table and Juan Soto to drive him in.
Hey, these are strange times in the nation's capital. What used to work can't be counted on to work anymore. Sometimes you've got to try something different.
Davey Martinez did just that tonight, moving the slumping Harper to the leadoff spot in the hopes he would draw more walks and not worry about driving in runs, then moving...
Brandon Kintzler and Jeremy Hellickson each have passed significant throwing tests in the last few days and now are set to face minor league hitters this weekend in a final tune-up before returning to the Nationals' active roster.
Kintzler threw a bullpen session Wednesday, his first since going on the disabled list with a flexor strain in his right forearm. The reliever focused on throwing fastballs during that mound session, so he'll do another round Friday and focus on his off-speed...
Juan Soto reached the big leagues in near-record time because of his supremely advanced offensive skills. The Nationals knew his defensive skills in the outfield weren't on par at this point, but they figured that would come with time.
Now that Soto appears to be here to stay, though, the Nats are trying to give him a crash course in some fundamentals in left field. It hasn't necessarily paid off yet, but they hope it does soon.
Wednesday afternoon, long before the rest of the team took the...
The diehard few who decided to wait out a 2-hour, 43-minute rain delay tonight at Nationals Park were rewarded for their patience with an offer from the club to move down to the best seats in the house for the final five innings of this game.
By night's end, you couldn't help but wonder if those fans would happily have remained in their original nosebleed seats in exchange for a more inspiring offensive performance from the home team.
Alas, that's a lot to ask for right now out of a...
With a major line of storms approaching from the west, the Nationals and Orioles got underway on time tonight, both clubs fully aware the odds of nine innings being played before the rain hit were dubious.
And so this may have become a race to get five innings in, ensuring this would be an official game in the event it could not be continued. Which made Mark Trumbo's second-inning blast all the more significant for the Orioles.
Trumbo's two-run homer off Gio Gonzalez gave Baltimore a quick...
There has been no more productive hitter on the Nationals roster over the last two weeks than Michael A. Taylor. Since June 6, he's sporting a monstrous .545/.600/.636 offensive slash line, tops on the roster in each of those categories.
So why has the hottest hitter on the team started only six of the team's 12 games during this stretch, none of the last three?
The answer involves a combination of recent matchups with opposing pitchers, the emergence of Juan Soto as an offensive force in his...
The Nationals scored nine runs last night, so you can understand why Davey Martinez is going with the same lineup tonight (aside from a swap of catchers, and of course pitchers). That does mean, however, that Michael A. Taylor is again on the bench, despite the fact he's 12-for-22 with a .600 on-base percentage and 1.236 OPS the last two weeks.
That lineup is going up against right-hander Andrew Cashner, one of the Orioles' big offseason signings who like the rest of the team has been...
Nearly all of Adam Eaton's tenure with the Nationals has been spent trying to get comfortable, whether that was in the form of assimilating into a new roster and clubhouse last season or twice trying to get back into daily action after missing significant time due to injury.
It's an ongoing process, but through it all the dynamic outfielder has remained a consistently productive hitter.
Eaton has now played 40 total games for the Nationals the last two seasons combined, with major knee and...
The hits finally came, in rapid succession, both from guys who have been hitting recently and from guys who haven't been doing it for a while.
And then after turning the rest of the game over to their newly reconfigured bullpen, the Nationals looked like the best version of themselves again, outlasting the Orioles for a 9-7 victory that ensured a small bit of history for the home club.
Having now beaten their Beltway rivals in all four head-to-head meetings in 2018, the Nationals ensured their...
Just when it looked like they were getting healthier, the Nationals found out today they're losing another key regular for some time.
Matt Adams, who while trying to bunt Friday in Toronto took a pitch off his left hand, has been diagnosed with a fractured left index finger and placed on the 10-day disabled list.
The Nationals aren't offering any firm timetable for Adams to return, but he won't be able to swing a bat until the facture is completely healed, and only after that will he be able...
It was scorching hot this afternoon ... and then a storm of biblical proportions broke out and doused the entire area. What does that mean for tonight's opener of Part 2 of the Battle of the Beltways at Nationals Park? Stay tuned, but it does appear as though the rain will be clearing out before scheduled first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
Assuming that first pitch does happen, it'll be Jefry Rodriguez on the mound making his first career start, his second career major league appearance. The lanky...