Josh Land

Patrick Reddington: Denard Span's big month for the Nationals

Patrick Reddington: Denard Span's big month for the Nationals
Determined as he was to produce over a full season what he did in the final two months of his first year in the nation's capital, Nationals center fielder Denard Span struggled to a .233/.295/.314 line in the first 96 plate appearances of 2014. Three weeks later, after a 5-for-5 game against the Cincinnati Reds on May 20, the Nats' 30-year-old leadoff man was up to a .263/.308/.363 line. A 17-game stretch in which he put up a .297/.325/.418 line in 77 plate appearances helped him start to...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: Looking back at the Nats' first draft

David Huzzard: Looking back at the Nats' first draft
This evening, the Nationals will take part in the First-Year Player Draft for the 10th time. In their existence, they've drafted near the top more often than not, and their first season in 2005 was no different. The Nationals held the fourth pick in what would turn out to be one of the best first rounds of any MLB draft. With the fourth pick that year, the Nationals selected third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Two other third basemen were taken within the first five picks that year. All three of...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: Markakis has taken nicely to leadoff role

Zach Wilt: Markakis has taken nicely to leadoff role
How about that? The Orioles have won four straight, and have scored 27 runs and racked up 50 hits over that streak. As I type this post, MLB.com's headline says the Orioles continued their "upswing in Texas" with their 6-5 victory on Wednesday. Upswing, huh? The O's are definitely trending in the right direction and appear to be gaining a bit of momentum. Tonight, they look to sweep the Rangers in Arlington and have now elevated themselves to 30-27, second place in the American League East,...
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Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: Examining fallout of Zimmerman's move

Rachel Levitin: Examining fallout of Zimmerman's move
I didn't want to have to echo someone else's sentiments this morning, but I do find myself in agreement with MASNsports.com's Pete Kerzel. While I concur with Kerzel when he says he understands why the Nationals are turning Ryan Zimmerman into a utility man - since that appears to be what they have an urgent need for - I, too, feel it's more than a little strange. Last week, I floated the thought of moving Zimmerman to second base. I'm still not completely convinced that it's a bad idea,...
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Josh Land

Daniel Clark: Where would O's be without Cruz?

Daniel Clark: Where would O's be without Cruz?
As the Orioles continue their inconsistent season, which between short-term winning and losing streaks has left them with a fragile record of 29-27, their most valuable player through 56 games continues to shine. Nelson Cruz was a late signing for the O's, having only inked a deal in the last week of February. At the time, the one-year deal worth a reported $8 million was touted as being an absolute bargain for the O's. Now, almost a third of the way through the season, it's become evident...
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Josh Land

Stuart Wallace: Fister's fielding continues to back his pitching approach

Stuart Wallace: Fister's fielding continues to back his pitching approach
As a pitcher not blessed with the high-octane fastball of some of his Nationals starting rotation cohorts, Doug Fister must do a lot of things, well, sometimes perfectly in order to succeed. Much of this success, which he appears to have finally found as a Washington National after a brief convalescence for a back injury, lies in his ability to locate his pitches on the corners and for these pitches to have movement, not so much in order to generate swings and misses, but to generate contact....
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Josh Land

Jon Shepherd: Nick Markakis is everything

Jon Shepherd: Nick Markakis is everything
Over the first third of this season, there has been considerable discussion about how well Nick Markakis has performed. Depending on your perspective, he has been doing poorly, has been a breath of fresh air or something in between. Amazingly, all of those stances are somewhat equal in being accurate. Markakis has been doing poorly, he has been excelling and he has been merely adequate. How is this so? It depends on what you choose as your baseline. Back in the day, we nailed what Markakis...
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Josh Land

Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers

Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers
Yu Darvish's performance on Sunday (five hits in eight innings with 12 strikeouts) certainly qualifies as one of the better games ever pitched against the Nationals, but this was also his first time facing them. Luckily for Washington fans, Darvish plays in the American League, so as Bob Carpenter might say, they'll "see Yu later" (most likely in three years). But over the past few weeks, some players who seem to make a regular living off the Nats have been up to their old tricks, turning a...
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Josh Land

Andrew Stetka: O's window doesn't have to close

Andrew Stetka: O's window doesn't have to close
There's been much made of a so-called window the Orioles are playing with over the next two seasons. Many believe the club's best chance to compete is when Chris Davis and Matt Wieters are under contract. Additions like Nelson Cruz for this season enhance that thought, and having a lack of superior competition in the American League East makes eyes widen even larger. The problem I have with this mindset of a window is that it was built by those running the ballclub. For years, Orioles fans...
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Josh Land

Patrick Reddington: The Nationals' once and future closer

Patrick Reddington: The Nationals' once and future closer
In 6 2/3 innings pitched this spring, 26-year-old former Nationals closer Drew Storen gave up nine hits, six walks and six earned runs (8.10 ERA) with opposing hitters posting a .310 batting average against him in Grapefruit League action. Storen endured a tough 2013 campaign in which he was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse for a stretch before returning to finish strong with 19 1/3 innings in the majors that saw him allow just three earned runs (1.40 ERA), while holding opponents to a combined...
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Josh Land

Matthew Taylor: O's single-season homer list undergoes modern renovations

Matthew Taylor: O's single-season homer list undergoes modern renovations
Cal Ripken Jr. stepped to the plate in the sixth inning on Sept. 29, 1991, and stroked his second home run of the game against the Detroit Tigers. It would be his 34th and final homer of the season. Ripken, Baltimore's career home run leader, tied Boog Powell for seventh on the O's single-season home run list with that effort; both players now rank 17th. Powell, who has the third-most career home runs in Orioles history, held four of the top 10 spots on the single-season list when Ripken...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers

David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers
The trade deadline is a little over two months away, and as with anything in baseball when there is a deadline, nothing will happen until it is upon us. With the Nationals two games under .500 and falling further out of the playoff race every day, the question of if the Nats are going to be sellers at the trade deadline should be asked, and if they are a seller, who could go? The most obvious candidates to be traded are the veterans in the last year of guaranteed club control: Adam LaRoche,...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: Building on the core with Samardzija is the right move

Zach Wilt: Building on the core with Samardzija is the right move
For years, I wanted to see the Orioles stockpile their farm system and build a winner through their homegrown talent. I understood that they would never outbid the teams in major media markets for big-name free agents and truthfully, there was something more satisfying about the thought of beating those teams with guys that have come through the system. In 2012, the O's snapped their 14-year losing streak and made the postseason for the first time since 1997. You remember, it was a magical...
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Josh Land

Daniel Clark: Time to make most of offensive resurgence

Daniel Clark: Time to make most of offensive resurgence
After an inconsistent start to the season, the Orioles offense really started to step it up a notch over the past 10 days and their American League rivals have been forced to take notice. In their past nine games, dating to May 18, the Orioles produced 137 base runners (101 hits, 30 walks, six hit batsmen) which resulted in 55 runs being scored. This was a significant increase in offensive production from their previous seven games, where a combined total of just 15 runs were scored. The...
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Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?

Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?
Tuesday night's rainout that left a game postponed between the Nationals and Miami Marlins gave a lackluster D.C. offense a night off from its recent mediocrity. No matter the combination manager Matt Williams attempts to string together this season, a list of injuries to key pieces of the Nats' offensive puzzle is plaguing this team. June is days away, the starting rotation is down a solid lefty with Gio Gonzalez on the disabled list and there's no set timeline regarding third baseman...
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Josh Land

Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form

Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form
Tyler Clippard's start to the season was about as unceremonious and odious as they come: Through 6 2/3 innings over seven appearances through April 11, the typically steadfast Nationals reliever scuffled through two home runs, a blown save, a 5.40 ERA and a minus-1.18 RE24. This had many shaking their heads in disbelief, calling for his demotion or at least questioning whether four consecutive seasons of at least 70 innings of relief had finally caught up with the hurler. Victims to small...
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Josh Land

Jon Shepherd: An adequate catcher is hard to find

Jon Shepherd: An adequate catcher is hard to find
A week ago, it was announced that Matt Wieters had received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to help his recovery for his strained right elbow. Without knowing anything about his particular case, as well as reminding you that he has not yet been scheduled for surgery, I suspected that the team would soon be welcoming another catcher because PRPs tend to be a Hail Mary sort of treatment. The concept behind the PRP treatment is that your blood has a variety of components that assist with...
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Josh Land

Andrew Stetka: Viewing Markakis' place in O's history

Andrew Stetka: Viewing Markakis' place in O's history
One of the big questions the Orioles will have this offseason is what to do with right fielder Nick Markakis. As many are aware, the 30-year-old has a mutual option in his contract which expires at year's end. The six-year deal worth more than $66 million was signed before the 2009 season when Andy MacPhail was the team's president of baseball operations. The team can decline its end of the option and pay a $2 million buyout at the end of the season or pick up the option of $17.5 million. The...
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Josh Land

Matthew Taylor: 1950s bonus baby Nelson never hit it big

Matthew Taylor: 1950s bonus baby Nelson never hit it big
He was buried in his Orioles jersey and his obituary read, "He especially loved having a beer or two while watching baseball on TV." Robert "Tex" Nelson is a guy who's worth getting to know more about. I first learned about Nelson, who played for the Orioles from 1955 through 1957, thanks to my wife. She sent me a profile of former O's public relations director and current director of Orioles alumni Bill Stetka that ran in The Baltimore Sun last month. I give her flowers, she...
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Josh Land

Patrick Reddington: Is A.J. Cole the Nationals' next big thing?

Patrick Reddington: Is A.J. Cole the Nationals' next big thing?
Two unearned runs scored on a bases-loaded error by Harrisburg Senators third baseman Adrian Sanchez and two more on came in on a two-out RBI double later in the sixth inning of last night's game in Arm and Hammer Park in Trenton, N.J., where the Senators beat the Trenton Thunder 6-4 with a five-run comeback in the top of the ninth inning. A.J. Cole, 22, left his ninth start of the season after 5 2/3 innings with a 1.97 ERA on the year and the Senators down 4-1. But the Matt Skole-led rally in...
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