The Orioles are going to have a couple of interesting decisions to make going into the offseason. I'm not for a second proclaiming the Birds out of the running for a postseason berth, but whether there is October baseball in Baltimore or not, the offseason will come about. The lineup seems pretty set for this team going into 2014. Aside from finding an everyday designated hitter (if that's something the team wants to do), only two positions are really up in the air - left field and second...
Last night was the first Nationals game I watched since Thursday, and that isn't because I have been so frustrated by the season I've given up on baseball. It is because I spent the last five days on a whirlwind tour of minor league ballparks. This trip was to include two of the Nationals affiliates, but short-season Single-A Auburn was rained out. Luckily for us, it was called early enough that it gave us time to make it to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in time for the second inning of the second...
If given the choice, how would you want to fail?
Failing miserably - which is to say not even being in the mix for whatever you're after - sucks. On balance, though, it's better than coming up just short.
Failure itself is absolute. The final marker is always either "you did" or "you didn't." Within that construct, however, there exists a hierarchy. One that has little bearing on the end results but plays a major role in how we feel about them.
Coming close hurts because it teases...
The Washington Nationals today recalled right-handed pitcher Ryan Mattheus from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League and optioned left-handed pitcher Xavier Cedeno to Syracuse. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Mattheus is 0-1 with five holds and a 6.26 ERA in 23 games with Washington this season. The 29-year-old allowed just one earned run with three strikeouts (no walks) in 5.1 innings during his five-appearance stint...
On Friday, I opened up my mailbox to see an envelope from the Orioles with my season ticket holder postseason order form. This was both exciting and nerve-racking as a guy who has experienced the many highs and lows of the 2013 season to date. I want my money to go toward more games this season, not a down payment for 2014.
It's funny how quickly spoiled the Orioles have made me after having such low expectations for the majority of my life. This time last year, I was counting down the games...
The Nationals have started to dig out of the hole. The mark of the good ballplayer and the good team is competing consistently, going out and playing to win day-in and day-out. Washington has been consistently competitive in recent weeks. Even when they have been down early in games, they have punched and clawed their way back to key wins against the Royals and Phillies.
Had they not lost six of seven games against the Braves during August, the Nationals would be 12 of 16 for the month,...
The Nationals took two out of three over the weekend from the Kansas City Royals to keep their dwindling playoff hopes just barely alive. Starting play Monday, the Nats sit 8 1/2 games behind Cincinnati, with just 32 games remaining, for the last invitation to the playoff party in the National League.
The loss on Sunday halted a five-game winning streak, matching the longest the Nats have had all season long. If they're to get back in this thing, they are going to have to take advantage now...
If the Orioles end up going to the postseason, Wednesday's victory over Tampa Bay might be looked back upon as one of the bigger wins of the year. First off, it goes without saying that the entire series was tough on the Orioles and on the fans. Dropping two of three to a team that you're chasing in the standings is never a favorable result. The mere fact that the Orioles salvaged one game was a moral victory.
However, that game should be looked upon as one where the Orioles finally stepped...
This Wednesday at Nationals Park, we will be hosting our first live video chat of the season, which will stream live on the homepage of MASNsports.com. The chat will be a tripleheader as Denard Span, Ryan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez will be participating and answering your questions live.
In order for this to be successful, we need your help. Submit your questions on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #NatsChats or leave a comment in the section below.
We also want to reward our "Touch...
This Wednesday, we will be hosting our first video chat of the season, live on MASNsports.com. We will be have a tripleheader as Denard Span, Ryan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez will all be participating and answering your questions.
In order for this to be successful, we need your help. Submit your questions on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #NatsChats or leave a comment in the section below.
We also want to reward our "Touch 'Em All" participants with 15 bonus points for those taking...
The Washington Nationals today recalled catcher Jhonatan Solano and left-handed pitcher Xavier Cedeno from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Solano is a career .239 (17-for-71) big league hitter with five doubles, two home runs and eight RBI in 28 games for the Nationals. He debuted with Washington last season and impressed both offensively (five extra-base hits in 12 games) and...
It's just not Stephen Strasburg's year. It was supposed to be, but it's not. Strasburg was efficient Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. He was pounding the zone. He was striking batters out, with eight Ks. He was inducing ground balls, with eight groundouts. He had seven scoreless innings on 86 pitches.
He gave up a leadoff home run by Brian Bogusevic on the first pitch of the eighth. That ended Strasburg's bid for a shutout, but he got the next three outs on 10 pitches to finish the...
The Washington Nationals today acquired right-handed pitcher Dakota Bacus from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for catcher Kurt Suzuki. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Bacus, who will report to Hagerstown of the Single-A South Atlantic League, joins the Nationals after going 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA (48 ER/121.1 IP) in 26 games/21 starts for Beloit of the Single-A Midwest League. Bacus ranked among Athletics farmhands in ERA...
Chris Davis has tied Jim Gentile for third on the Orioles' all-time single-season home run list. Barring injury or an unimaginable power outage, Davis will hit his 47th homer and push Gentile further down the list he once topped. This is familiar territory for Gentile, who established at least a half-dozen team records in 1961.
The past half-century has been an extended exercise in removing pieces of that magical 1961 season from the record books, one by one. Rather than diminishing the...
When I got a text message from a Cubs fan friend of mine on Monday night, I can't say I was surprised by the what he had to say: "Look for me at the game. And David DeJesus is a good pickup."
While I didn't see that friend on my television set, I did shoot him a message back in agreement. It's this move - a veteran pickup for the Washington bench - that continues to demonstrate that the Nationals organization is willing to make changes when changes need to be made.
They showed that when...
If there is one part of the 2013 Orioles that has been steady from the start, it's without question been defense. The O's are on pace to break records for both fielding percentage and fewest errors in a season. Of the three major elements in baseball - pitching, hitting and defense - the latter is the one part where there are simply no worries.
It's those other two that have had ups and downs throughout the season. Whether it's the starting pitching, the bullpen arms, or the inconsistent...
The Washington Nationals today returned from rehab and reinstated right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf from the 15-day disabled list and optioned left-handed pitcher Ian Krol to Syracuse. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Ohlendorf is the Nationals' scheduled starting pitcher tonight at Wrigley Field.
The 31 year-old Ohlendorf is 2-0 with one hold and a 1.85 ERA (7 ER/34.0 IP) in 10 games/two starts in his first season with the...
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Washington Nationals fans who renew their expiring season plan or purchase a new 2014 season plan can earn Bonus...
Sometimes the best moves a general manager can make are the ones that look confusing at first. Keep in mind general managers are allegedly smarter than the media and bloggers, and should be a couple of steps ahead of us. One the surface, the David DeJesus trade looks weird. The Nats don't need him for this season and his $6.5 million option is a lot to pay for a bench player for 2014, but let's look at the Nationals bench, or let's not because H.P. Lovecraft couldn't describe a monster as...
Anyone who has read even a handful of my work here or over at The Loss Column (where I'm not posting as much as I want to), knows that I'm bullish on the Orioles. Not optimistic per se, but certainly inclined to point out when the sky is not falling.
I also do my best to be honest. Just because the sky's not falling doesn't mean all is well.
Right now, all is not well.
There comes a point toward the end of every season - usually around now - when you get a feeling about things. The...