Mark Zuckerman

For Scherzers, crazy Sunday was just how they wanted it

May 06, 2021, 11:35am

Upon learning he would be pitching on opening day for the Nationals, Max Scherzer began preparing to face the Mets. Erica Scherzer began preparing to give birth to the couple's third child. "My wife, as soon as she knew that I was going to be opening day starter, she had already done the counting out days and knew I was going to be pitching either May 2 or May 4," Max Scherzer said today during a Zoom session with reporters. "So it came down to asking (manager Davey Martinez): 'All right,...

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Game 27 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

May 06, 2021, 8:33am

Nationals

The Nationals need to score runs. Early in games. Too often they've found themselves trailing early and it's cost them. Their record this season when they score first: 10-2. When they don't: 2-12. There are all kinds of factors we can discuss when trying to decide why they're 12-14 overall, but that stat right there pretty tells the entire story. So it's incumbent upon today's lineup to do something early on against Drew Smyly. The good news: They did score early off Smyly back on opening...

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Martinez will become Nats' longest-tenured manager today

May 05, 2021, 9:58pm

Nationals

Martinez will become Nats' longest-tenured manager today

There won't be any ceremony to commemorate the occasion. No formal mention of the achievement or announcement on the scoreboard. Nor should there be, because it's not exactly a major accomplishment under the circumstances. And yet it's not insignificant that today Davey Martinez will manage his 411th game for the Nationals. What's significant about 411 games in the dugout? Well, believe it or not, it's the most games anyone will have managed in club history. Yep, that's right. Even though...

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Nats can't convert late chances at plate, lose to Braves (updated)

May 05, 2021, 5:56pm

Nationals

Nats can't convert late chances at plate, lose to Braves (updated)

With a roster that is less than ideally constructed and a matchup against a left-handed starter this evening, Nationals manager Davey Martinez wound up fielding a lineup loaded with right-handed hitters and a bench loaded with big names who he could choose to insert somewhere along the way when the right situation arose. Trouble is, Martinez never got around to using Juan Soto or Josh Bell when either would've had a chance to bat with a chance to make a big difference. Instead, it was Yadiel...

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Strasburg, Suero to pitch in simulated game Thursday

May 05, 2021, 12:14pm

Nationals

Strasburg, Suero to pitch in simulated game Thursday

Stephen Strasburg and Wander Suero will take the next important step in their return from injuries when they pitch in a simulated game Thursday afternoon before the Nationals' series finale against the Braves. It'll be the first time both right-handers have faced live hitters since going on the 10-day injured list April 18, Strasburg with shoulder inflammation, Suero with a left oblique strain. Both Strasburg and Suero had successfully thrown off flat ground and then off a bullpen mound in...

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Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

May 05, 2021, 11:37am

Nationals

The Nationals didn't have an answer for Huascar Ynoa on Tuesday night. They better have one for Max Fried tonight or else they're going to drop their second straight to the Braves. Fried returns to Atlanta's rotation after spending the last three weeks on the injured list with a strained hamstring. The Nats already got to the lefty back in early April, to the tune of five runs and eight hits in two innings. And that was before they had a healthy lineup. Manager Davey Martinez is again...

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Soto still feeling his way back in return from IL

May 04, 2021, 10:25pm

Nationals

Soto still feeling his way back in return from IL

Juan Soto didn't quite know what to expect when he stepped up to bat in the bottom of the eighth Tuesday night at Nationals Park. In his first game appearance in 15 days, the young slugger was about to find out just how difficult it is to pinch-hit in the major leagues. But first, he was about to find out just how much Nationals fans missed him while he was on the injured list with a strained left shoulder. "I didn't know the crowd was going to get me so pumped, that they were going to get...

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Nats can't deal with Braves starter's arm or bat in loss (updated)

May 04, 2021, 6:01pm

Nationals

Nats can't deal with Braves starter's arm or bat in loss (updated)

Baseball folks don't like to talk about momentum, because they've been doing this long enough to understand that what happened in recent days doesn't necessarily portend what will happen tonight. The Nationals had every reason to enter their series opener with the Braves feeling like they held the upper hand, based on their four-game winning streak, Atlanta's four-game losing streak and everything that transpired to make both events possible. Of course, it doesn't actually work like that....

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Soto back, but limited to pinch-hitting; Harris ready to pitch

May 04, 2021, 12:23pm

Nationals

Soto back, but limited to pinch-hitting; Harris ready to pitch

Juan Soto is back on the Nationals roster, just not in their lineup. Will Harris is back in their bullpen, and hoping he will remain available as much as he's needed. With a pair of mid-afternoon transactions today, the Nats moved closer to full strength. They're still missing Stephen Strasburg and Wander Suero, but for now, this is a significant step in the right direction. Soto, of course, is the biggest addition. The star slugger was activated off the 10-day injured list in time for...

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Game 25 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Soto, Harris activated)

May 04, 2021, 11:21am

Nationals

Game 25 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Soto, Harris activated)

The Nationals have clawed their way back to the .500 mark, sweeping the Marlins over the weekend. Their next challenge is climbing over that mark and staying there, against some stiffer competition: the Braves. The three-time defending National League East champs are back in town for their second visit of the season already. They took two of three in the season-opening series on South Capitol Street, sweeping a 14-inning doubleheader after the Nats won in dramatic fashion on opening day. Things...

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How call-ups and rehab assignments will work in 2021

May 03, 2021, 6:59pm

Nationals

How call-ups and rehab assignments will work in 2021

Throughout their 60-game season last summer and the first month of this season, when the Nationals needed to add a player to their big league roster they simply sent word to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg and waited for the player to make the short drive up Interstate 95 to Nationals Park. It was, under the circumstances, the safest way to make transactions while playing through a pandemic. No more. Beginning today, all major league clubs will have the ability to call players...

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Minor league rosters set on eve of long-awaited opening day

May 03, 2021, 10:21am

Nationals

Minor league rosters set on eve of long-awaited opening day

It's been an astounding 20 months since official Minor League Baseball games were last played, an interminable length of time for prospects, staff members, and fans in communities large and small across America to wait since the end of the 2019 season. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of eager folks right now on the eve of a long-awaited 2021 opening day. "It's going to be an exciting day tomorrow for everyone involved," Mark Scialabba, the Nationals' assistant general manager for player...

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Diminished role hasn't dulled Zimmerman's production

May 02, 2021, 8:44pm

Nationals

Diminished role hasn't dulled Zimmerman's production

For nearly two weeks, Ryan Zimmerman mostly sat on the Nationals bench, readying himself for pinch-hitting opportunities that often didn't come. Yes, he started back-to-back games last week against the Blue Jays, but that was possible only because the Nats were facing an American League opponent and needed a designated hitter. So when Zimmerman found himself in Sunday's lineup against the Marlins, it represented his first start in a National League game since April 18. And given his lack of...

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Dad-to-be Scherzer goes the distance, Nats sweep Marlins (updated)

May 02, 2021, 11:44am

Nationals

Dad-to-be Scherzer goes the distance, Nats sweep Marlins (updated)

There is, believe it or not, a scenario more imposing for a lineup than facing Max Scherzer. Daunting as that is, it's nothing compared to the challenge of facing Scherzer five days after he was roughed up by another club. Or, apparently, facing the longtime Nationals ace hours before his wife is due to give birth. Every pitcher insists he wants to bounce back from a rough outing, but nobody actually does it better than Scherzer, who was battered around by the Blue Jays on Tuesday night and...

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Could Soto be ready to return Tuesday vs. Braves?

May 02, 2021, 8:08am

Nationals

Could Soto be ready to return Tuesday vs. Braves?

Juan Soto isn't in the Nationals lineup for today's series finale against the Marlins, but there's a chance he could be back for Tuesday's series opener against the Braves. Soto, on the 10-day injured list since April 20 with a strained left shoulder, continued to ramp up his throwing program before today's game at Nationals Park, throwing from 120 feet. "We'll see how he gets through today, and then we'll go from there. Hopefully it won't be that much longer," manager Davey Martinez...

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Game 24 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

May 02, 2021, 7:11am

Nationals

The Nationals have already secured their first three-game winning streak of the season. Now they've got a chance to secure their first three-game sweep of the season. Having taken the first two games of the weekend against the Marlins, the Nats will look to finish the job this afternoon, with Max Scherzer on the mound looking to rebound from a ragged start against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. How often has he struggled in back-to-back starts? Hardly ever. Eight times since he signed with the...

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April by the numbers

May 01, 2021, 8:21pm

Nationals

April has come and gone for the Nationals, and nobody can say they saw the season's first month playing out the way it did. A COVID-19 outbreak sidelining nine players? Injuries to Juan Soto and Stephen Strasburg? An implosion by Patrick Corbin? A complete lack of production from Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber? There were, of course, surprisingly positive developments as well. Who expected Joe Ross and Erick Fedde to become consistently dominant pitchers? Josh Harrison and Yadiel Hernandez to...

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Corbin's arm, Bell's bat lift Nats to third straight win (updated)

May 01, 2021, 12:04pm

Nationals

Corbin's arm, Bell's bat lift Nats to third straight win (updated)

The Nationals don't need Patrick Corbin to be elite right now. They would happily settle for solid. Which is precisely what he was today during a 7-2 victory over the Marlins. With seven innings of two-run ball, Corbin turned in the exact kind of performance the Nationals have been seeking from their erratic left-hander since the season began one month ago. He wasn't in peak form, but he displayed improved command of his fastball and slider and provided length to help take pressure off the...

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Strasburg throws off mound, Soto throws in outfield

May 01, 2021, 8:23am

Nationals

Strasburg throws off mound, Soto throws in outfield

Stephen Strasburg and Juan Soto each took another step toward returning to the Nationals roster prior to today's game, Strasburg throwing off the bullpen mound for the first time since he landed on the 10-day injured list and Soto continuing to throw in right field to test out his strained left shoulder. Both players are now eligible to be activated off the IL, but both still have additional steps they need to take before the club makes the move, especially in Strasburg's case. Strasburg, who...

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Game 23 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

May 01, 2021, 7:16am

Nationals

A quick turnaround from a night game to a day game is never easy, but when it comes on the heels of a walk-off win, it does at least brighten everyone's mood a little bit. So the Nationals have to be feeling pretty good about themselves after Friday night's 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Marlins, capped by Kyle Schwarber's 454-foot blast to right-center. In order to keep the good vibes going, they'll need Patrick Corbin to give themselves a chance to win today. Once this season, the...