Fans have been excited to see right-hander Koda Glover make a meteoric rise to the big leagues this season. With Glover, they have had a chance to see the focus the youngster brings to his job - that closer mentality and killer instinct - used to get each hitter he faces out.
Glover started this season for high Single-A Potomac and pitched for Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse before joining the Nationals.
Just last season he pitched for NCAA Division I Oklahoma State, got drafted in...
Here's yet another sign that Bryce Harper has nearly made it all the way back from his months-long slump at the plate: Teams are intentionally walking him again.
That was the strategy early this season for opposing clubs facing the reigning National League MVP. Harper was intentionally walked 13 times in his first 43 games.
But as he slid into his funk, the strategy changed. No longer as fearful about losing the game in that situation, opposing managers intentionally walked Harper only three...
After taking care of business last night with an 8-1 trouncing of the Mets, the Nationals did the bare minimum they needed to do in this series: Avoid getting swept. Anything they do from here on out is just gravy. But since they now lead the division by 10 games with 18 to play, with their magic number down to nine, why not go for the jugular?
We'll see if they can do that tonight when A.J. Cole squares off against Noah Syndergaard. It looks like a mismatch on paper, but it was only 11 days...
Mat Latos didn't know if this opportunity would come, certainly not this season. Ditched by the White Sox in June, the odds of the journeyman right-hander starting a key pennant race game for a first-place club in mid-September seemed ludicrous.
Yet there was Latos tonight, not only taking the mound in the top of the first inning for the Nationals in their series opener with the Mets, but pitching effectively and even homering for the home team during an 8-1 victory that brought its magic...
Is it time to rearrange the lineup to thwart the competition? The Nationals have been stacking left-handed hitters Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper for months. Both players hit left-handed pitchers well. Harper actually has a higher slugging percentage (eight points) against left-handed pitchers versus the right-handed pitchers, but his on-base-percentage is 53 points lower against left-handers.
Would the lineup do better putting Anthony Rendon between Murphy and Harper to take advantage of the...
The Washington Nationals announced today that tickets for potential National League Division Series games at Nationals Park will go on sale for Nationals Insiders on Friday, September 16, at 10:00 a.m. (available for purchase online only).
Fans can still guarantee access to ALL 2016 Postseason games by becoming a NATS PLUS Member for the 2017 season. By placing a deposit for a 2017 Full or Half Season Plan, fans will have access to purchase full 2016 Postseason strips, as well as access to...
The Washington Nationals renewed their player development contracts through the 2018 season with Single-A Auburn of the New York-Penn League and Single-A Potomac of the Carolina League. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Vice President and Senior Advisor to the General Manager Bob Boone, Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Harris and Director of Player Development Mark Scialabba made the joint announcement.
...
Second baseman Daniel Murphy collected a pair of hits early Monday night, beginning the Nats' 8-1 victory over the Mets with a single and then following up with a double in his second at-bat. He finished 3-for-5 and is now hitting .347.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Murphy now has a hit in all 17 games the Nationals have played against the Mets this season. Murphy tied three players who have had a 17-game hitting streak against the Mets: Rennie Stennett (1974), Luis Castillo (2002) and...
It was unfortunate that Nationals starter Mat Latos had to leave Monday's game against the Mets before getting out of the fifth inning. Up to that point, the veteran right-hander had allowed only three hits and one run.
But the bullpen took over, highlighted by right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, who threw three scoreless innings to record his third major league victory in an 8-1 dispatch of the Mets.
Lopez (3-3) allowed no hits in the three innings with two walks. It was his first appearance since...
Given a surprise opportunity to start a mid-September ballgame for a first-place club trying to put the finishing touches on its chief division rival, Mat Latos delivered both on the mound and at the plate.
Unfortunately, what was shaping up to be a memorable night for the 28-year-old journeyman ended prematurely when he was forced to depart the Nationals' 8-1 victory over the Mets in the top of the fifth inning with an apparent leg injury.
As disappointing as the end of Latos' night was, he...
It's looking like Joe Ross will be ready to rejoin the Nationals rotation later this week when his turn comes up. Until then, they'll take their chances with short-term insurance policies like Mat Latos and A.J. Cole.
Ross emerged from his simulated game Saturday with no problems and, according to manager Dusty Baker, looks ready to pitch in his first big league game in more than two months.
"I think he's game-ready," Baker said. "He's just not game-endurance-ready. But that can play,...
It certainly did not take long for the Mets to score a run off of Nationals right-hander Mat Latos.
Jose Reyes doubled to right field to lead off the game and went to third on a groundout. He scored on a Yoenis Cespedes sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Mets lead.
The Nationals looked to get in right back in the bottom of the first facing right-hander Rafael Montero. Trea Turner reached on an infield single and stole second and Jayson Werth walked.
Daniel Murphy singled to load the bases. With that...
Barring a history-making collapse, the Nationals are going to clinch the National League East. The Chicago Cubs are dominating the NL Central.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are leaders in the NL West, but the San Francisco Giants, despite a miserable record since the All-Star break, are hanging in there.
The Dodgers and Giants play six games in the final days, likely meaning nothing will be settled until the final weekend when the Dodgers go to San Francisco.
And while the American League wild-card...
It's one of the biggest games of the season, a mid-September matchup of the first- and second-place teams in the National League East, one of them trying to move closer to the division title, the other trying to continue a late surge toward a wild card berth that looked implausible only a couple weeks ago.
And the pitching matchup for the opener between the Nationals and Mets will be ... Mat Latos vs. Rafael Montero?
Such is the state of both clubs' rotations, which have been disrupted by...
For months, this week loomed large on the calendar. It's the final regular season meeting between the Nationals and Mets, and there was every reason to believe it would be a critical series between two rivals battling for the National League East title.
That's not quite what it will actually be, though. Yes, the next three days do represent one of the more significant series of the season for the Nationals, but it won't be nearly as significant as everyone assumed it would.
With the...
Right-hander Koda Glover has pitched in the eighth inning in his last two outings. Each time, he allowed a homer.
On Friday, Glover surrendered a three-run shot to Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp. Then Sunday, it was a solo shot on his first pitch to Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis.
After allowing only one run in six of his previous seven outings, Glover allowed four runs in back-to-back appearances.
This was unchartered territory for Glover. Nationals manager Dusty Baker felt Glover was taking...
Manager: Terry Collins (6th season)
Record: 76-67
Last 10 games: 7-3
Who to watch: CF Yoenis Cespedes (.293 average with 30 HR, 78 RBIs); SS Asdrubal Cabrera (.277 average with 125 hits); RF Curtis Granderson (26 HR, 108 hits); RHP Noah Syndergaard (13-8 with 2.48 ERA); RHP Robert Gsellman (2-1 with 3.92 ERA).
Season series vs. Nationals: 6-10
Pitching probables:
September 12: RHP Rafael Montero vs. RHP Mat Latos, 7:05 p.m., MASNSeptember 13: RHP Noah Syndergaard vs. RHP A.J. Cole, 7:05...
Catcher Wilson Ramos takes a lot of punishment behind the plate but has still been able to play solid defense and hit well this season.
On Friday night, Ramos was dinged up a couple of times, falling over on his hands an knees after 90-95 mph pitches glanced off his body and feet. He doubled over in pain and was attended to by trainer Paul Lessard and manager Dusty Baker, but would not come out. This has happened on more than a few occasions this season where Ramos gets hit by a pitch, fights...
This past week produced a couple of milestones for the Nationals in the 2016 season, as they continued their hopeful march toward the National League East title.
Their sweep of the Atlanta Braves guaranteed the Nats their fifth consecutive winning season. Does that seem pretty ho-hum for a team that's seems bound for a third postseason in that span? Ask the most experienced baseball fan you know if they can recall the last time that happened in this town. They won't be able to, because it...
Dusty Baker isn't mincing words. He's challenging Gio Gonzalez to step it up during Stephen Strasburg's absence and give the Nationals the quality starter they desperately need right now to round out their rotation.
Suffice it to say, Baker was one happy man this afternoon after watching the left-hander toss seven innings of one-run ball during a 3-2 victory over the Phillies.
"He seemed like a guy on a mission," Baker said. "We talked the other day, and I told him that he's very...



-1745819772711.png)
