Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: Lacking consistency, Nats must hope shakeup helps fix team

Rachel Levitin: Lacking consistency, Nats must hope shakeup helps fix team
A common saying among the Nationals' players and coaches this season is, "We're better than this." My question in retort is, "But, are you really?" Let's be frank here - this conversation has been running in circles for weeks now. Despite the thrilling victory on opening day in which Stephen Strasburg pitched a gem and Bryce Harper came up big at the plate, wins have been rare and cries lamenting that the team hasn't been meeting its potential are aplenty. Sure, the successful 2012...
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Josh Land

Neal Shaffer: Don't become what we've lamented

Neal Shaffer: Don't become what we've lamented
So we know that times are changing in Birdland. Winning doesn't seem so weird. The Orioles no longer rank among the bottom feeders. With that comes renewed interest in the team, and with that comes more activity on game day. That means it's time to sound a clarion call for all O's fans to hear: Act like you know. When I read about the recent altercation down at Camden Yards between a couple of supposed Orioles fans and a guy in a Yankees hat, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I'm no...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: Getting them on and getting them in

David Huzzard: Getting them on and getting them in
After Sunday's loss to the Braves, tragic news broke that the Nationals' OBP had sunk lower than the Marlins. The Marlins offense has often been ridiculed and laughed at for how comically bad it is and while the Marlins are well on their way to losing 100 games, more was expected from the Nationals. The Nationals' failure to score runs is the biggest reason for their record this season and not having a lot of baserunners is no way to score runs. While watching a Nationals game or listening...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: Who's a bigger surprise, Chris Davis or Manny Machado?

Zach Wilt: Who's a bigger surprise, Chris Davis or Manny Machado?
Chris Davis leads Major League Baseball with 20 home runs, and he's on pace to hit 57 this season. Across the diamond, Manny Machado leads the league in doubles with 25. Over at BaltimoreSportsReport.com, in our little corner of the internet, we have been debating the biggest surprise on the O's roster this season. Is it Davis or Machado? On Monday, Davis was named the American League Player of the Week for the second time this season after hitting .481/.500/.963 with four home runs and six...
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Josh Land

Ted Leavengood: Winning is never a sure thing

Ted Leavengood: Winning is never a sure thing
The exuberant confidence that gripped Washington in March was a false dawn. It was not backed up by the play of the Nationals in Viera, Fla., and now two months later, the giddy talk about the postseason does not deserve ink. Happy talk does not win games. The precious commodities absolutely essential to winning - determination and focus -were not there in the spring and they have been missing for much of the first two months of the season. The hell-bent-for-the-World-Series Nationals have a...
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Josh Land

Domenic Vadala: Is Chris Davis an MVP candidate?

Domenic Vadala: Is Chris Davis an MVP candidate?
Going into the 2013 season, one of the big questions surrounding the Orioles was Chris Davis at first base. In 26 games at first last year, Davis fielded at a .989 clip and committed four errors before Mark Reynolds became the Orioles' everyday first baseman. However, for the season overall, Davis hit .270 with 33 homers. I remember saying on Birds Watcher during spring training that the nightmare scenario for the Birds would be for Davis to struggle in the field to the point that the O's...
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Josh Land

Patrick Reddington: New wave of arms looming in Nats' minor leagues

Patrick Reddington: New wave of arms looming in Nats' minor leagues
On Wednesday morning at McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C., 22-year-old 2011 third-round pick Matt Purke made his first start of the season for the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns. It was just the fourth professional start for the 6-foot-4 left-hander and one-time Texas Rangers first-round pick who failed to sign with Texas, went to college instead and suffered a shoulder injury, which caused his stock to drop and left him available for selection by the Nationals when the 96th pick of the 2011...
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Josh Land

Matthew Taylor: Tracing the battle to before there were Beltways

Matthew Taylor: Tracing the battle to before there were Beltways
The Orioles and Nationals wrapped up the 2013 edition of the Battle of the Beltways on Thursday night with the O's winning their third game of the four-game, split-stadium series. The series got me to thinking about the early days of this match-up and how much I'd forgotten since these two teams starting playing each other again. And then there's the stuff I never knew from the original days of Baltimore-Washington baseball. I took a look back at the first games between the two franchises in...
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Josh Land

Anthony Amobi: Is Chris Davis for real?

Anthony Amobi: Is Chris Davis for real?
At this point in my life, as a sports fan, I'm not often surprised by much. So far this season, Chris Davis has me wondering if what I am seeing from him is for real, based on his track record. I was not sure if he could replicate what he did last season, especially toward the end, coming into 2013. However, he is exceeding that - and a whole lot more. His nickname among fans and the media is "Crush", based on his power at the plate, size and physique. Since opening day, he has been doing...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: The end of the 100-inning reliever

David Huzzard: The end of the 100-inning reliever
Baseball is always looking to innovate. Most baseball fans' bookshelves include books like Moneyball and The Extra 2 Percent - books about how the A's and Rays innovated in order to win at baseball despite not having the money to win the way everyone else did. This desire to find advantages is nothing new to baseball and wasn't always about statistical analysis. Candy Cummings was a major league pitcher from 1872-77 and is in the Hall of Fame as the pitcher credited with inventing the...
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Josh Land

Neal Shaffer: J. Johnson's struggles illustrate why baseball should rethink closer role

Neal Shaffer: J. Johnson's struggles illustrate why baseball should rethink closer role
Timely piece of work on Tuesday from SI's Tom Verducci about struggling closers around MLB, with our own Jim Johnson starring as co-Exhibit A with Fernando Rodney of the Rays. It's worth a read, but here's the salient point: It's not a surprise that Johnson, 29, and Rodney, 36, are struggling, especially given their age and workload last season. The surprise would have been if they pitched as well this year as they did last year. I'm on record as one who argues against statistics...
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Josh Land

Ted Leavengood: The malaise of near-.500 baseball

Ted Leavengood: The malaise of near-.500 baseball
The pitching match-up favored Washington at Nationals Park yesterday. Gio Gonzalez had home field advantage and the better record in the majors going for him against the Orioles' Jason Hammel. But he could not beat Hammel because he could not get Yamaico Navarro out. The scrub second-baseman, just up from Triple-A Norfolk, got a key hit for the Orioles in the fourth inning that proved the undoing of the Nationals. When things are going well for a team, their call-ups from Norfolk will...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: What makes a rivalry?

Zach Wilt: What makes a rivalry?
The purists tell me that interleague play doesn't belong in baseball. If they're fans of the National League, they despise the use of the designated hitter, and if they root for a team in the American League, vise versa. Personally, I've never understood the disdain on either side. In fact, interleague rivalry week is one of my favorite parts of the long baseball season. What makes a true sports rivalry? Some people argue that because the Orioles and Nationals don't play in the same...
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Josh Land

Marty Niland: Looks like Strasburg has learned his lesson

Marty Niland: Looks like Strasburg has learned his lesson
Two weeks ago, Stephen Strasburg was taken to task in this space for basically acting childish on the mound. He lost his composure after a throwing error in a scoreless game against the Chicago Cubs, allowing four unearned runs to score and letting the game get out of hand. It was a game he - and just about all Nationals fans - would like to forget. It seems that's exactly what happened. In three starts since that tragic outing at Nationals Park, Strasburg has pitched more like the mature...
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Josh Land

Domenic Vadala: Some thoughts on the Battle of the Beltways

Domenic Vadala: Some thoughts on the Battle of the Beltways
First off, I want to offer my thanks to our nation's veterans who we celebrate today on this Memorial Day. I hope that all Americans remember that we should keep the heroism of our nation's service members in mind on all days, not only today. My late grandfather, Dr. Anthony Launi, was a World War II veteran, and later a catcher in the Washington Senators' minor league system before settling in Bethesda to practice dentistry and raise his family, which included my mother. Today is also a...
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Josh Land

Patrick Reddington: Zimmermann right at home in nation's capital

Patrick Reddington: Zimmermann right at home in nation's capital
Nothing against Jordan Zimmermann's stats away from Nationals Park, but the starter from Auburndale, Wis., has been even more impressive in his adopted home in the nation's capital so far in 2013. The Nationals right-hander, who turned 27 yesterday, is 3-2 with a 1.91 ERA, four walks (0.96 BB/9) and 29 Ks (6.93 K/9) in five starts and 37 2/3 innings pitched away from the nation's capital early this season. Opponents have a .193/.225/.281 line against Zimmermann in his road starts. In D.C.,...
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Josh Land

Matthew Taylor: Ballpark franks aren't the answer in Toronto

Matthew Taylor: Ballpark franks aren't the answer in Toronto
I can't watch the Orioles play in Toronto without thinking of my trips to see games there in its pre-2005 SkyDome days. Both of those visits were memorable in their own right - I'm sure I'm not the only one who has neglected to convert kilometers to miles upon first driving into Canada. However, it was the latter adventure some nine years ago that nearly landed me in a Major League Baseball video. The purpose of my trip to the Great White North was to attend an academic conference. I was a...
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Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: It's tough to predict whether Nats will rebound from struggles

Rachel Levitin: It's tough to predict whether Nats will rebound from struggles
At the end of each month of play last season, I remember sitting down along side some of my fellow Nats bloggers and chatting up a storm about how we just couldn't believe how well this team was doing week in and week out. No one wanted to get ahead of themselves by predicting a possible extraordinary outcome in fear of jinxing the team. Now the team that proved itself worthy of the postseason (despite an early exit in the first round), is struggling to find its footing. The Nationals are...
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Josh Land

Anthony Amobi: Gausman to the rescue?

Anthony Amobi: Gausman to the rescue?
Tonight will be quite an event for the Orioles and their fans as Kevin Gausman - one of the organization's top pitching prospects - takes the mound against the Toronto Blue Jays. The fans have wanted him called up for a while, and they have gotten their wish. As of early last week, executive vice president Dan Duquette noted to the media that Gausman would not be in line for a promotion to the majors soon; however, considering the precarious state of the starting rotation, the Orioles may...
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Josh Land

Neal Shaffer: Was O's frustrating skid a necessary evil?

Neal Shaffer: Was O's frustrating skid a necessary evil?
Now that it's over, thanks to Nate McLouth and his walk-off 10th-inning heroics, I feel comfortable stating the less-than-obvious: Thank goodness for that six-game losing streak. Perhaps that sounds odd at best, a little stupid at worst. It should. But dig a little deeper with me and I think you'll see what I mean. It was just a week ago in this space that I declared the O's a good team and talked about how strange it was to adjust to the idea that they're no longer a band of losers. So,...
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