Nationals still being held out of Sunday night spotlight

If you missed it yesterday, ESPN announced its "Sunday Night Baseball" schedule for most of the first half of the 2017 season. It includes one game involving the Nationals: April 23 against the Mets at Citi Field.

And that's the only game involving the Nationals so far on ESPN's slate. That could change, of course, because only 12 of the 26 scheduled Sunday night tilts have been announced at this point. But it does continue a surprising trend that has left the Nats very much on the outside looking in when it comes to baseball's premier weekly national broadcast.

If you've been paying attention over the years, you know the Nationals rarely get picked for "Sunday Night Baseball." In 12 seasons since arriving in the District, they've played on Sunday night only 11 times.

Here are those 11 games to refresh your memory:

2005: May 1 vs. Mets
2006: April 23 vs. Braves
2008: March 30 vs. Braves
2012: May 6 vs. Phillies, May 27 at Braves, Sept. 16 at Braves
2013: Sept. 1 vs. Mets
2014: Aug. 10 at Braves
2015: July 5 vs. Giants, Aug. 2 at Mets
2016: Sept. 4 at Mets

What stands out is that the 2014 and 2016 Nationals, both division champions, made only one "Sunday Night Baseball" appearance each, same as the 2006 squad that lost 91 games. That's more than a bit odd.

Now, this isn't necessarily a plea for more Sunday night games involving the Nationals. As anyone who deals with these things can attest, Sunday night games are highly disliked. By players. By media members. By many fans who have a hard time attending Sunday games that don't begin until after 8 p.m.

But you have to admit it's strange that the Nationals are such strangers to "Sunday Night Baseball." No, they aren't the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs or Mets, at least one of which is playing in 11 of the 12 "Sunday Night Baseball" games announced yesterday. But they aren't the Brewers or Athletics, either.

The Nationals have been a bona fide contender for five seasons now. They have a roster loaded with star power, headlined by one of baseball's biggest (and most marketable) stars. Why wouldn't ESPN want to put Bryce Harper on national TV every opportunity it gets?

Perhaps someone has determined the Nationals simply don't move the ratings needle on a national scale, at least not to the extent that clubs from New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago do.

But if ESPN was serious about featuring successful and interesting teams from cities other than the aforementioned ones, you'd think they'd focus just a bit more on Washington and the star-laden ballclub that calls this town home.