Game 1 lineups: Nats at Braves

Game 1 lineups: Nats at Braves
ATLANTA - And so it begins. And it could not begin under more perfect conditions. It is an absolutely spectacular day for baseball here at Turner Field, not a cloud in the sky, a nice northerly breeze blowing, temperatures in the low 70s. The Nationals and Braves officially get underway at 4:10 p.m., with Max Scherzer taking the mound for the first time since his no-hitter at Citi Field. Scherzer will be facing an Atlanta lineup featuring noted Nats killer Freddie Freeman and ... well, these...
Continue reading

2016 Nats media season predictions

2016 Nats media season predictions
ATLANTA - The day has arrived. At long last, it is officially baseball season. The Nationals and Braves will be taking the field later this afternoon for Game 1 of 162 (or possibly more). Which means it's time to make some official 2016 predictions. Many of you may remember this from previous years on previous websites, but for the uninitiated: My colleagues who cover the Nationals on a daily basis are kind enough to submit their predictions for a whole bunch of team-related questions. We...
Continue reading

Burnett and Johnson released, Ryan reassigned to minors

Burnett and Johnson released, Ryan reassigned to minors
The Nationals officially announced their opening day roster, which was reduced to the requisite 25 players after the club released veterans Sean Burnett and Reed Johnson and reassigned Brendan Ryan to the minor leagues. The 25-man roster essentially was finalized Friday night when the club announced Chris Heisey had secured the final spot on the bench and Blake Treinen would round up the bullpen. But the fates of Burnett, Johnson and Ryan remained somewhat up in the air, with each veteran on...
Continue reading

2016 MLB predictions

2016 MLB predictions
The time has arrived at last: It's opening day for Major League Baseball! OK, so the Nationals (like most clubs) don't open until Monday, when they face the Braves in Atlanta. But for the first time, there are three MLB games on the Sunday slate (Cardinals-Pirates, Blue Jays-Rays, Mets-Royals) so the season does officially get underway today. Which means it's time to make some predictions. What follows are purely my own thoughts. For those who have been reading me over the years and are...
Continue reading

Sunday morning Q&A

Sunday morning Q&A
With yesterday's early exhibition game at Nationals Park, we shook up the Q&A schedule, pushing it back to today. This might become a recurring thing during the season, changing up the day it runs based on the team's schedule that particular week. This is a good morning to do this, though, because the opening day roster is now set, the exhibition slate is complete and the countdown to Monday's 4:10 p.m. opener in Atlanta is underway. Submit your Nationals questions in the comments...
Continue reading

Nats' impressive spring wraps up in encouraging fashion

Nats' impressive spring wraps up in encouraging fashion
Given how well they played all spring, it just wouldn't have felt right for the Nationals to lose their exhibition finale. Never fear, because thanks to a slowly-but-surely rally over the final three innings, they indeed came back to tie the Twins 8-8 and at least not send themselves down to Atlanta for opening day reeling from a loss. "I'm proud of these guys, how they performed," said manager Dusty Baker, whose club finished the exhibition slate 19-4-4 (the top winning percentage in...
Continue reading

Zimmerman, Taylor homer again in Nats' spring finale (game ends in 8-8 tie)

Zimmerman, Taylor homer again in Nats' spring finale (game ends in 8-8 tie)
The Nationals purposely brought Ryan Zimmerman along slowly this spring, not wanting the veteran first baseman to experience too much early wear and tear on a foot that was injured most of the 2015 season. As opening day approaches, Zimmerman not only appears healthy. He's also red-hot at the plate. The Nationals' cleanup hitter launched another home run today in the final exhibition game of the spring, a two-run shot to left off Twins right-hander Ricky Nolasco that gave his team a 2-1 lead...
Continue reading

Dusty Baker explains Nats' final cuts of spring

Dusty Baker explains Nats' final cuts of spring
Dusty Baker has been making roster cuts for two decades, and he admits they're never easy, especially those that come on the cusp of opening day. The cuts the Nationals' new manager had to make Friday night might have been his toughest ever. "My heart goes out to these guys," Baker said. "I didn't really sleep that well last night, at all, because it affects him. I've been there. I know their families are affected. But it's a big boy game, and that's part of the game." The club's...
Continue reading

Strasburg, not Gonzalez, will start season's second game

Strasburg, not Gonzalez, will start season's second game
The Nationals have switched up their rotation plans for the season's first series, choosing now to start Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday in Atlanta following Max Scherzer in Monday's opener. Manager Dusty Baker had said two weeks ago that Gio Gonzalez would start the second game in Atlanta, with Strasburg in Thursday's home opener against the Marlins. But the coaching staff decided to change things around after several rainouts during the final week of spring training. "It was a product of...
Continue reading

Nats face Twins again in exhibition finale

Nats face Twins again in exhibition finale
Hello from Nationals Park, where it's currently raining (shocking, I know), but the forecast calls for clearing skies in time for today's 12:05 p.m. exhibition finale between the Nationals and Twins. It will be a bit chilly, though, good practice for what the first few weeks of the regular season could be like. After last night's 4-3 victory here, Dusty Baker is going with nearly the same lineup. The only change: Michael A. Taylor gets the start in center field instead of Ben Revere....
Continue reading

Five reasons to be pessimistic about the 2016 Nationals

Five reasons to be pessimistic about the 2016 Nationals
Yesterday, we offered up five reasons to be optimistic about the 2016 Nationals. Today, we take the devil's advocate approach and offer up five reasons to be pessimistic about this season. Truth be told, it was a lot tougher to come up with five negatives than it was to come up with five positives. That, in itself, should offer up reason for everyone to be optimistic about the Nationals. But this is far from a perfect team, and there are legitimate areas of concern entering the season. Or at...
Continue reading

Five reasons to be optimistic about the 2016 Nationals

Five reasons to be optimistic about the 2016 Nationals
There is no rational way to review the Nationals' just-completed spring and not emerge optimistic. Pretty much everything of consequence the Nationals needed to see or do over the last six weeks came to fruition. There were hardly any setbacks along the way. Players are healthy. The new manager has instilled a much-needed laid-back and confident vibe around the clubhouse. And then there's the actual on-field performance. The Nationals won the mythical Grapefruit League pennant, going a...
Continue reading

Nats close out spring with another offensive outburst (Nats rip Mets 12-1)

Nats close out spring with another offensive outburst (Nats rip Mets 12-1)
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 12, Mets 1 Recap: After two straight rainouts, the Nationals finally got a chance to play a full game without interruption this afternoon, then proceeded to stomp on their National League East rivals in their Grapefruit League finale. Ryan Zimmerman homered off Matt Harvey, Jayson Werth homered off Noah Syndergaard and Stephen Drew homered off Zack Thornton to lead the power attack. With Max Scherzer held back in Viera to pitch in a minor league game, the...
Continue reading

Dusty Baker on the altered pitching schedule and final decisions

Dusty Baker on the altered pitching schedule and final decisions
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Nationals' Grapefruit League finale today got underway on time, with sunshine actually hovering over Tradition Field. This was no mundane fact, considering the weather the Nats have had to deal with over the last week. Four rainouts in 10 games, including back-to-back washouts the last two days, forced Dusty Baker and pitching coach Mike Maddux to alter their plans, multiple times over. To wit: Max Scherzer originally was scheduled to start Tuesday's game against...
Continue reading

With rain again in forecast, Nats using relievers only today vs. Mets

With rain again in forecast, Nats using relievers only today vs. Mets
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - And so, after 42 days of camp, 24 completed exhibition games and four rainouts, the final day of spring training has arrived. The Nationals and Mets are set to square off here at Tradition Field, a preview of what could be quite an entertaining pennant race all season between these two rivals ... if they're able to play this one. Yes, once again there's rain in the forecast. The tarp has been on the infield all morning and batting practice was canceled. It does appear...
Continue reading

Breaking down the final bench candidates

Breaking down the final bench candidates
JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals essentially have two more roster decisions to make by Sunday's major league deadline. One involves the bullpen. The other involves the bench. We've gone through the various bullpen options (which are complicated some by the possibility of the Nats carrying eight relievers until they need a fifth starter on April 13), but we haven't spent as much time running discussing the final bench options. There are all sorts of factors to consider here. It's not nearly as...
Continue reading

Nats, Strasburg try to adjust after yet another rainout

Nats, Strasburg try to adjust after yet another rainout
JUPITER, Fla. - There are two ways to react to bad weather: complain about it or just accept it. Dusty Baker most definitely takes the latter approach. The Nationals manager could be lamenting the fact that four of his team's last 10 exhibition games have been rained out, but he knows it wouldn't make the clouds go away, so why bother? "You've still got to deal with it," Baker said after today's game against the Cardinals was called in the top of the fourth when a thunderstorm struck...
Continue reading

Nats rained out for fourth time in their last 10 games

Nats rained out for fourth time in their last 10 games
JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals simply can't catch a break with Mother Nature right now. They also probably can't wait to get out of Florida after a week of scorching heat, humidity and enough rain and lightning to significantly interfere with their end-of-spring preparation. It happened again today, with a thunderstorm sweeping through Roger Dean Stadium and forcing the cancelation of the Nationals' game against the Cardinals in the top of the fourth inning. This is the fourth time in their...
Continue reading

Nats want Turner to work on defense, leadership at Triple-A

Nats want Turner to work on defense, leadership at Triple-A
JUPITER, Fla. - Trea Turner knew the cards were stacked against him to make the Nationals' opening day roster. So when the news came down Monday afternoon that he was being sent to Triple-A, the 22-year-old shortstop wasn't shocked. That doesn't mean Turner wasn't disappointed to learn he'll be opening the season in Syracuse, especially after he got a taste of Washington and the big leagues late last season. "I would assume that nobody ever wants to go back," he said. "You get spoiled a...
Continue reading

Strasburg faces Cardinals in final spring tune-up

Strasburg faces Cardinals in final spring tune-up
JUPITER, Fla. - Hello from Roger Dean Stadium. Again. Why does it feel like we're here every other day? Probably because we are. This is the Nationals' third scheduled game in Jupiter in the last five days. The first (against the Marlins) was rained out. Then they played the Cardinals on Saturday. Now they're playing St. Louis one more time this afternoon. After yesterday's rainout in the scheduled finale at Space Coast Stadium, Stephen Strasburg was pushed back to start today. He'll be...
Continue reading