Mark Zuckerman

Nats expect Kieboom to return once swing progresses

August 26, 2020, 10:20pm

The Nationals' decision to demote Carter Kieboom on Wednesday, while surprising, came down to one irrefutable fact: The rookie infielder wasn't hitting enough to continue warranting a spot on the major league roster. It was not, manager Davey Martinez insisted, a reflection of a change in the organization's long-term belief in Kieboom. "I told him: 'Hey, you're going to be our third baseman,' " Martinez said during Wednesday night's postgame Zoom session with reporters, the first...

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Nationals play on, lose another to Phillies (updated)

August 26, 2020, 5:25pm

Nationals

As a significant portion of the sporting world stepped off the field and the court tonight in an attempt to redirect attention toward racial inequality and police brutality, the Nationals and Phillies played as scheduled, the domino effect of the Milwaukee Bucks' decision to call off their NBA playoff game having not had much time to reach Washington before this early 6:05 p.m. ballgame. Players, managers and others with both clubs surely will have things to say about what's happening in this...

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Slumping Kieboom demoted, Doolittle activated off IL

August 26, 2020, 11:34am

Nationals

Slumping Kieboom demoted, Doolittle activated off IL

Their 60-game season nearly halfway complete, the Nationals decided to pull the plug (at least temporarily) on Plan A for replacing Anthony Rendon at third base. The Nats optioned struggling rookie Carter Kieboom to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg this afternoon, an unexpected transaction that also saw reliever Sean Doolittle activated off the 10-day injured list. Though Kieboom had been struggling at the plate - he was batting .200 (10-for-50) with zero extra-base hits, 11...

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Game 28 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

August 26, 2020, 11:24am

Nationals

The Nationals need a good start tonight from Patrick Corbin. It's that simple. With their own lineup ailing and ace Aaron Nola on the mound for the Phillies, it's probably too much to count on a big night at the plate. So it's up to Corbin to provide quality innings, hold the Philly lineup down and allow Davey Martinez to use only a couple of his best relievers late instead of asking them to provide the kind of length that has been required more often than not this season. The left-hander...

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Nats lose battle of bullpens to Phillies after rain delay (updated)

August 25, 2020, 6:31pm

Nationals

Nats lose battle of bullpens to Phillies after rain delay (updated)

Rarely do we think of D.C.'s summer weather as an advantage for the Nationals, who lament the heat, humidity and evening thunderstorms as much as any commuter from Fairfax or Silver Spring. But when a storm rolled through South Capitol Street at the end of the fifth inning tonight, it felt appropriate to wonder if the Nats might actually benefit from the situation. When play resumed, the Phillies were probably going to have to pull starter Jake Arrieta, even though he had cruised through five...

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Martinez sticking with Voth, wants him to trust fastball more

August 25, 2020, 11:38am

Nationals

Martinez sticking with Voth, wants him to trust fastball more

Davey Martinez hadn't yet met with Austin Voth when he held his daily pregame Zoom session with reporters this afternoon. But the Nationals manager was more than willing to share in advance what he planned to say to his struggling right-hander. "I can tell you now: I'm not going to give up on him," Martinez said. Despite a consistent pattern of ineffectiveness in his first five starts of the season - typically coming the second time he has to face an opposing lineup - it appears Voth will...

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Game 27 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

August 25, 2020, 10:12am

Nationals

The season is nearly halfway complete, and tonight the Nationals and Phillies finally meet for the first time in 2020. And they meet as co-cellar-dwellers in the National League East. Who saw that coming? For many reasons, this is an important three-game series. The Nats need to start winning more games than they lose. And they need to start getting more consistent work from their rotation. Erick Fedde has been a pleasant surprise so far this year. Now that he's permanently starting in place...

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Tuesday morning news and notes

August 24, 2020, 10:02pm

Nationals

They're four games under .500, tied for fourth place in the five-team National League East, the season now 43.3 percent completed. The Nationals are in trouble, right? Well, not entirely. Yes, they're on the outside looking in right now, and they're going to have to turn things around in a more positive direction soon. But they're not as far out of the race as you might think upon first seeing that 11-15 record. "It doesn't seem like things are out of hand. At all," catcher Yan Gomes...

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Spirited rally can't make up for Voth's continued struggles (updated)

August 24, 2020, 6:08pm

Nationals

Spirited rally can't make up for Voth's continued struggles (updated)

That the Nationals stayed in the fight tonight and didn't roll over after trailing the Marlins by seven runs early is testament to their gumption - even in the middle of a crowd-less, disappointing-to-date 2020 season. But at the end of an 11-8 loss that saw the home team's spirited rally fall short, the most significant development of the night was the manner in which that early seven-run deficit came about. If these were normal times and they had one of baseball's best rotations, the...

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Romero breaks right hand, Braymer gets promoted

August 24, 2020, 11:26am

Nationals

Romero breaks right hand, Braymer gets promoted

Seth Romero, the highly touted pitching prospect who made his major league debut for the Nationals two weeks ago and had become the club's only active left-handed reliever, broke his right hand in a fall late Saturday night and has been placed on the injured list. Romero, who faced four batters in the bottom of the fourth inning during the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader against the Marlins, told manager Davey Martinez he slipped on a set of stairs later that night after he left Nationals...

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Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

August 24, 2020, 10:50am

Nationals

Tonight is the rubber game of a five-game series, and how often do you get to say that? The Nationals and Marlins have played a lot this weekend, and they're not done yet. Tonight they'll play the finale of this extended series, the winner taking three of five and perhaps carrying some momentum into the rest of the week. After Sunday's 9-3 win, the Nats have to feel good about their lineup, but they still need to prove they can maintain some consistency at the plate. They've got about as...

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Despite struggles, Nats need only to reach mediocrity in 2020

August 22, 2020, 7:42pm

Nationals

Despite struggles, Nats need only to reach mediocrity in 2020

Twenty-four games is not enough to adequately evaluate a ballclub. It's certainly not in a 162-game season. No club executive, manager or reasonable outside observer would try. But in this most unusual baseball year, 24 games represents 40 percent of the regular season. And under normal circumstances, 40 percent of a season is ample time to start making judgments. Even the 2019 Nationals could tell at that juncture they were headed in the right direction after their terrible start. So how do...

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Defense betrays Crowe in debut, Nats lose nightcap (updated)

August 22, 2020, 6:21pm

Nationals

Defense betrays Crowe in debut, Nats lose nightcap (updated)

Because he doesn't possess the kind of eye-popping "stuff" his counterpart Sixto SÃ¡nchez has, Wil Crowe wasn't going to win tonight's battle of rookie pitching debuts unless his eight Nationals teammates around him on the field did their part to make every play they had a chance to make. And because those guys didn't come close to making every play they had a chance to make, Crowe was left to suffer a hard-luck loss to SÃ¡nchez in the nightcap of today's doubleheader at Nationals...

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Game 24 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

August 22, 2020, 3:32pm

Nationals

Major league debuts are always special. But how about two starting pitchers making their major league debuts against each other? That's a rare special occasion. Tonight we'll witness it when Wil Crowe and Sixto SÃ¡nchez square off in the nightcap of this 14-innings doubleheader between the Nationals and Marlins. Crowe isn't as highly touted as SÃ¡nchez, who was the key piece Miami got from Philadelphia in the J.T. Realmuto trade, but he's no slouch. The Nationals' second-round pick in...

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Game 23 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

August 22, 2020, 9:29am

Nationals

Who's ready for 14 innings of thrilling baseball action? For the first time, the Nationals are playing a doubleheader today, 2020 style. That means seven innings per game (unless it's tied at the end of the seventh, of course, in which case they continue into the eighth using the new extra-inning rules). There's going to be some different strategy to this. All of a sudden, the fifth and sixth innings have more importance and would be prime time for top relievers. Or, a successful and...

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Nationals bats are quiet again in 3-2 loss to Marlins (updated)

August 21, 2020, 5:11pm

Nationals

All night long, they waited for their lineup to strike. It felt like it was going to happen eventually, right? Someone would get a rally going against the Marlins bullpen and bring the Nationals back from the one-run deficit they had faced nearly the entire game, right? Well, no. It never happened. And so another eminently winnable ballgame was won not by the Nationals but by their opponents. Held to two early solo homers by Yan Gomes and Trea Turner, the Nats were silenced the rest of the...

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Surgery possible for Strasburg to fix carpal tunnel neuritis

August 21, 2020, 11:38am

Nationals

Surgery possible for Strasburg to fix carpal tunnel neuritis

Stephen Strasburg's follow-up exam with a hand specialist confirmed the Nationals' initial diagnosis of carpal tunnel neuritis. The veteran right-hander and the club are still discussing a course of action to address the injury, but manager Davey Martinez acknowledged surgery is a possibility. "I'm going to talk to him, see what his options are and what he wants to do," Martinez said this afternoon during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "But I think it's something that's going...

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Game 22 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

August 21, 2020, 10:13am

Nationals

The Nationals return to action tonight. Howie Kendrick does not. For the sixth straight scheduled game and seventh straight day overall, Kendrick is not in the team's starting lineup. That's a growing concern, because before Wednesday night's game in Atlanta was rained out, manager Davey Martinez made it sound like there was a good chance the veteran hitter would be ready to play tonight against the Marlins. Clearly, he's not. Stay tuned. With Kendrick and Starlin Castro out for the last...

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Long weekend of baseball still on tap for now

August 20, 2020, 9:42pm

Nationals

Long weekend of baseball still on tap for now

After their first scheduled series was postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak that swept through the Marlins roster, the Nationals finally will face Miami for the first time in 2020 this weekend, with a rare five-game series on tap that includes the first 14-inning doubleheader in club history. At least, that's the plan as of right now. All systems appeared to be go for tonight's opener at Nationals Park, but then Thursday evening the Marlins' series finale against the Mets was called...

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Thursday morning Nats Q&A

August 19, 2020, 3:46pm

Nationals

Well, the Nationals are getting back-to-back days off, thanks to last night's rainout in Atlanta. (For those who wonder why they scheduled a doubleheader for Sept. 4 instead of making up the game today, players generally tend to prefer doubleheaders over losing scheduled days off, especially at home. Plus, they would've already checked out of their hotel before heading to the ballpark yesterday afternoon.) It was an eventful road trip, one that saw the Nats officially go 5-4 but also lose the...