Trey Mancini underwent successful surgery today to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. The tumor was discovered last week during a colonoscopy. Lab results and the timetable for Trey's recovery will not be known until next week. In the interim, Trey and his family continue to appreciate the respect for his privacy.
"The outpouring of love and support I have received has made an extremely tough week so much better," said Mancini. "I have the best family, friends, fans, and teammates...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - For all his stomping on the mound and cursing when he misses painting the black, Max Scherzer is at heart a student of pitching. There's nothing the right-hander likes more than delving into the game within the game, the subtext of an at-bat that may not be discernable to the naked eye.
That's how he approached his 54-pitch outing in the Nationals' 5-3 victory over the Orioles on Tuesday: an opportunity to mesh with catcher Kurt Suzuki on some of the intricacies of...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - For reasons both practical and personnel-related, the Nationals' competition to determine a fifth starter will likely go on until the end of spring training.
"It's gonna go" on for a while, manager Davey Martinez said.
To recap, three right-handers - Austin Voth, Joe Ross and Erick Fedde - are competing to be the fifth member of the starting rotation. All were drafted and developed as starting pitchers, and the Nationals appear ready for one of them to seize the...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Victor Robles again tested his sore side by hitting in the cage today, and with a little luck, the center fielder could be back in the Nationals lineup sometime this weekend.
Robles has not appeared in a game since injuring himself on a throw Wednesday in Tampa, but manager Davey Martinez said he's "getting better."
With the Nationals off tomorrow, how Robles feels when he reports to camp ahead of Thursday night's game will go a long way toward determining his next...
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. - Every time manager Davey Martinez or general manager Mike Rizzo outline their plans for the Nationals bullpen, they include hard-throwing right-hander Tanner Rainey. And with good reason.
Throw triple-digit fastballs complemented by a wipeout slider and you make people take notice.
But any thoughts that he's secured a position in the Nationals relief corps is definitely news to Rainey, a 27-year-old who has no intention of assuming anything while he battles to make the...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's a while since the Orioles traveled to West Palm Beach for a Grapefruit League game - 1997, to be exact. That's when the Braves and Expos shared Municipal Stadium and the Birds would travel up from their spring camp in Fort Lauderdale.
But the opening of Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter spelled the end to the Braves-Expos pairing in 1998. The Braves headed to Orlando and the Expos to new digs in Jupiter before swapping complexes with the Viera-based Marlins...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Joe Ross knows he's immersed in a battle to be the Nationals' fifth starter. A few more outings like he had Monday in a 3-2 victory over the Marlins and the right-hander might just lock up the spot he covets.
Emilio Bonifacio played the hero's role, though it got a little sticky in the bottom of the ninth with the teams knotted at 2-2. Cody Wilson broke for home on what was supposed to be a safety squeeze with Bonifacio batting and was easily tagged out. But Bonifacio...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Astute fans might recall Emilio Bonifacio's first tour of duty with the Nationals. He played the second half of the 2008 season in D.C., coming over from the Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Jon Rauch in July and being sent to the Marlins as part of the deal that netted pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham about four months later.
What does Bonifacio remember about his time as a National on that 59-102 team?
"Not much," he laughed. "Wally and...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - With observers focusing on every swing he takes and every grounder he fields at third base, Carter Kieboom is off today. He's getting a chance to reset and Nationals manager Davey Martinez continues to preach to the 22-year-old that he needs to relax.
Given an extended opportunity to replace the departed Anthony Rendon at third base, Kieboom has struggled this spring. He's hitting .083 (1-for-12) without an extra-base hit and has committed two errors at the hot corner....
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The competiton for the Nationals' No. 5 starter role takes front and center this afternoon, when right-hander Joe Ross faces the Marlins in his second spring start.
Ross, who is battling right-handers Austin Voth and Erick Fedde for the last spot in the rotation, worked two perfect innings in his last outing on Wednesday against the Yankees in Tampa. Ross was supposed to follow Max Scherzer in the team's exhibition opener, but rain cost him that opportunity after he'd...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If spring training is a time to try new things, Wander Suero is a perfect candidate to learn.
After two seasons in the Nationals bullpen, the lanky right-hander continues to tantalize with his willingness to take the ball whenever asked and a cutter that can be an effective out pitch.
So what does manager Davey Martinez want to see out of the 28-year-old coming off a season in which he pitched in 78 games, went 6-9 with a 4.54 ERA and struck out 81 batters in 71 1/3...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Sean Doolittle's primary goal in his first game action of spring training was to focus on his secondary pitches.
For a guy who usually makes hay with an array of rising fastballs, challenging hitters to square up a pitch they know is coming at them, that can be a tall order - especially when he hasn't faced hitters in a game yet this spring.
"I have some different grips I'm trying," he said after throwing a scoreless inning, fanning a pair and allowing a hit in a 3-1...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The calendar has turned to March and Ryan Zimmerman's line on the stat sheet is not full of zeros.
Zimmerman made his spring debut Thursday night and played first base again yesterday. Today, he's back in the lineup for his first back-to-back assignments of spring, a steppingstone that didn't bypass manager Davey Martinez like a car ignoring the speed limit on Interstate 95.
"I got Zim four at-bats in February," Martinez deadpanned this morning. "We got to look it...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Nationals hit the road for a second straight day, facing the Mets at Clover Park with AnÃbal Sánchez taking the mound for his second spring start.
Facing the Cardinals in Jupiter on Feb. 25, Sánchez worked two innings, surrendering one run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
In his second start, Sánchez is likely to increase his workload to three innings and/or about 50 pitches.
Among those pitching in relief today will be closer Sean Doolittle,...
JUPITER, Fla. - When Nationals manager Davey Martinez outlined his desire to delay Patrick Corbin's first Grapefruit League start until the beginning of the second week of exhibition games, the left-hander took the one-week deferral in stride.
"I actually didn't think too much about it," Corbin said. "I was told the 29th was my first game, but it was good. I think it was smart, a smart move, just with how much a lot of us did throw last year. Max (Scherzer) wanted to throw Game 1, so he...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Growth can manifest itself in many forms, and sometimes it takes only a few inches to portend increased development of a young ballplayer.
A few days ago, Nationals manager Davey Martinez was eyeballing a live batting practice session when he noticed something in the way one of the club's top prospects, infielder Luis GarcÃa, was preparing to hit.
Batting against a changeup pitcher, GarcÃa took a fastball for a strike before subtly adjusting his stance.
"Before...
JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals are about to start getting a better look at the three pitchers who will form the back end of their bullpen in 2020.
Closer Sean Doolittle and setup man Daniel Hudson, neither of whom has pitched in a Grapefruit League game this spring while manager Davey Martinez slow-plays them into action, are both nearing their debuts.
Doolittle, a left-hander, has progressed through a side session, will get today off and is scheduled to pitch Sunday when the Nationals travel to...
JUPITER, Fla. - And then there was one.
When Patrick Corbin toes the rubber at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium against the Cardinals this afternoon, he'll become the last of the Nationals starting pitchers to pitch in a Grapefruit League game.
Manager Davey Martinez held back Corbin and Stephen Strasburg, who started yesterday against the Rays in West Palm Beach, as a way to compensate for the exceedingly long postseason that went through Oct. 30 and the club's victory over the Astros in the...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Ever the routine-oriented pragmatist, Stephen Strasburg found both good and bad in his first Grapefruit League start - and he took both in stride.
The good: He retired the first four batters he faced in order, striking out three of them.
The bad: The next four batters reached base, and Vidal Bruján's two-run double to center gave the Rays a 3-1 lead in the second inning en route to an 8-1 victory.
Strasburg wasn't able to escape the second frame, manager Davey...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - In some ways, Ryne Harper is like the new kid in class. The proverbial new kid doesn't know where the library is, isn't sure who to sit with at lunch and stands alone at the bus stop.
Harper might be new to the Nationals, traded from the Twins on Jan. 29 in exchange for minor league right-hander Hunter McMahon, but the 30-year-old who reached the majors for the first time last season is not new to changing teams.
This is the third time he's done so in his career....