Though the Nationals haven't announced anything yet, Jeremy Guthrie is lined up to start Saturday's game against the Phillies, completing a remarkable journey back to the big leagues as a member of one of baseball's best rotations.
The club announced Max Scherzer as the starter for Friday afternoon's game at Citizens Bank Park, with Stephen Strasburg pitching Sunday's series finale (and thus getting an extra day of rest after his opening day start Monday).
Saturday's starter is "TBA"...
I know what you're thinking: There's no way they can play baseball in D.C. today. Well, that may prove to be true, but I don't think we're going to get definitive word on that for a while. Because as hard as it is raining right now, and as much as it's expected to continue raining this afternoon, it is expected to stop at some point, perhaps sometime around or shortly after scheduled first pitch at 4:05 p.m.
So in other words, stay tuned.
If they do play, the Nationals will be going for...
The lineup is not clicking on all cylinders, yet the Nationals are 2-0, courtesy of two comeback wins over the Marlins.
On Monday, the Nationals got a pinch-hit two-run homer from Adam Lind in a 4-2 win.
On Wednesday, the Nationals plated four runs in the fourth inning to top the Marlins 6-4.
But even with 11 hits on the board in Game 2, there was Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon going 0-for-4.
Even with Daniel Murphy going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, manager Dusty Baker admits his...
Enny Romero's first pitch as a National didn't go quite where he wanted it to go. Nor did it produce the kind of reaction he or anyone else in the park Wednesday night could have foreseen.
Summoned by manager Dusty Baker to pitch the seventh inning with his team up four runs, Romero threw his very first pitch inside to Derek Dietrich, striking the Marlins third baseman in the elbow with a 98 mph fastball.
Dietrich, who was one of two Miami batters hit by starter Tanner Roark earlier in the...
Two innings into his season debut, Tanner Roark might well have been forced into changing his goals for the night. His pitch count at 46, his command unusually off, he could have gone into survival mode and hoped simply to reach the fifth inning without the game getting out of hand.
Fast-forward an hour or so, and there was Roark walking off the mound to a hearty ovation from the crowd at Nationals Park, having retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced and having turned what could have been a...
First baseman Ryan Zimmerman delivered a big time solo homer early in Wednesday's game, when not much was going right for the Nationals offense, already trailing 2-0 to the Marlins.
Miami starter Dan Straily had recorded four consecutive outs to begin the game. But with one out in the second inning, Zimmerman lined a solo shot over the right-center field fence to get the Nationals rolling.
The Nats would go on to score five more runs, highlighted by a four-run fourth inning, in a 6-4 comeback...
Tanner Roark looked awfully rusty early in his first start of the season, but the right-hander settled down nicely and then watched as his Nationals teammates went to work against the Marlins pitching staff en route to their second win of the season.
Behind Roark's quality start and a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth, the Nats beat Miami 6-4 tonight and improved to a perfect 2-0 on the young baseball campaign.
Bryce Harper followed up his opening day heroics with a pair of RBI hits,...
Tanner Roark didn't get a lot of work this spring, and unfortunately he looks like it in his first start of the season.
Roark labored through his first two innings against the Marlins, walking two batters and hitting two others. He also was charged with a wild pitch that advanced a pair of runners into scoring position.
Luckily, the Nationals right-hander has been able to keep the damage to a minimum so far, allowing two runs on Marcel Ozuna's bases-loaded single in the top of the first but...
Some managers like to have a say in everything that happens to their baseball team. Whether it's on the field, in the clubhouse or even in the front office.
Some managers also like to be the spokesperson for everything that happens in the baseball game, and the game-changing decisions that can decide a win from a loss.
So is the Nationals' Dusty Baker a controlling manager? Does he have to check off on everything that happens? Does he veto each decision?
Baker says he puts together a coaching...
For all the attention, ink and pixels devoted this spring to the question of who would be pitching the ninth inning for the Nationals in 2017, Dusty Baker knew all along that was a short-sighted take on the situation.
"I'm always stressing to our guys: Let's win the seventh, eighth and ninth, if necessary," the manager said. "Which we did the other day."
Indeed, the Nationals' opening day victory over the Marlins was made possible by their performance in the game's final three innings,...
The hoopla of opening day is over. The frustration of the day-off-after-opening-day is over. Now we begin the grind of the baseball season, Game 2 of 162.
For the Nationals, there is good news before they take the field tonight against the Marlins: Anthony Rendon is in the lineup, his left calf feeling better a full nine days after he fouled a ball off it in Florida. Not that there was ever serious concern about him, but as we've seen, until a guy is actually in the lineup, you just never know...
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that eight minor league players have been suspended following their violations of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, including Nationals minor league second baseman Emmanuel Burriss.
Burriss received a 50-game suspension without pay following a second positive test for a drug of abuse. He is currently on the roster of the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs of the International League according to the Major League Baseball...
The Nationals' opening day payroll was up 16 percent from last season and ranks ninth among all Major League Baseball clubs, according to figures compiled by USA Today.
The players who made the Nats' opening day 25-man roster or disabled list have a combined salary of $162,742,157. That ranks ninth in the majors, behind the Dodgers, Tigers, Rangers, Giants, Mets, Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs.
The Nationals' average salary of nearly $6.3 million ranks fifth in the sport, while their median...
Greetings from the "New Kid on the Block" at MASNsports.com! Well, except I'm not new, I'm not a kid, and my wife is the one from South Boston.
What I am is a minor celebrity in the "Natmosphere," as I've been covering the Nationals' farm system for eight seasons at NationalsProspects.com, with the help of some volunteers and some gratuitous use of bulldogs.
Tomorrow is opening day for Washington's four full-season affiliates - low Single-A Hagerstown, high Single-A Potomac, Double-A...
Here is the full rosters for each of the Nationals' affiliates, announced by their respective clubs today.
Left-hander John Lannan continues to work on his transition to a sidearm delivery at the Palm Beach facility. When ready, he could get into games at an affiliate on a future date.
TRIPLE-A SYRACUSE CHIEFS
Pitchers
Joe Ross A.J. Cole Austin Voth Jacob Turner Taylor Hill Matt Albers Michael Broadway Neal Cotts Dustin Antolin Trevor Gott Matt Grace Rafael Martin Austin...
What an exciting opening day at Nats Park on Monday!
The new baseball season got off on the right foot for the Nationals as they beat the Marlins 4-2 in front of a sellout home crowd. This opening day had everything a Nats fan could want: fantastic pregame ceremonies, strong starting pitching, home runs, efficient bullpen work and of course a Nationals victory.
And an eventful opening day means we have a lot to talk about on the District 34 podcast to get you through the first off-day of the...
So, how did everybody out there enjoy opening day? On the field, you certainly couldn't have many complaints about the Nationals' performance in a 4-2 victory over the Marlins. In the stands, it sounds like there were some unfortunate issues with concessions and the distribution of the ballpark giveaway. On the air ... well, I can't speak to that since I was covering the game from the press box with my own eyes, but hopefully everything was smooth in that regard.
Since today is an off-day -...
Stephen Strasburg was still in the first base dugout at Nationals Park during the bottom of the seventh Monday afternoon, having only completed his work a few minutes earlier, when he watched with glee as Adam Lind's pinch-hit homer sailed over the fence, turning a 2-1 deficit to the Marlins into a 3-2 lead.
Until that moment, Strasburg was staring at a hard-luck loss next to his name, his first in four opening day starts. And then in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly in line to take the...
Monday was the first regular season game with the Nationals' new lineup in place. It was highlighted by the addition of Adam Eaton and Trea Turner at the top of the order.
Offensively, the duo combined to go 2-for-6 with two doubles, two walks, two stolen bases and a run scored.
Turner appreciated what Eaton was able to do, especially the two walks.
"It was awesome," Turner said. "If I wasn't on base, he was. He had some great at-bats today and I think that's what we need at the top of...
One has been hitting big home runs in front of big crowds seemingly from the moment he reached the big leagues, especially on opening day. The other, despite 186 career home runs to his name, had never before taken a curtain call.
Bryce Harper and Adam Lind don't share a whole lot in common, either in baseball pedigree or off-field personality, but they will forever share the two biggest moments on this opening day, the pair of late home runs that propelled the Nationals to a 4-2 victory over...