Werth on hamstring after rehab game: "Step in the right direction"

Werth on hamstring after rehab game: "Step in the right direction"
WOODBRIDGE, Va. - Right fielder Jayson Werth completed the first game of his rehab from an injured hamstring Wednesday for the high Single-A Potomac Nationals at Pfitzner Stadium. Werth made the most of the four innings he played, going 1-for-2, getting in a rundown on the base paths that enabled a run to score and throwing a runner out at home plate from right field. But the biggest concern on this night was a true-game situation test of his tight hamstring, which has kept him out of the...

Ramos likely back to DL with hamstring injury; back spasms for Detwiler

Ramos likely back to DL with hamstring injury; back spasms for Detwiler
Wilson Ramos is heading back to the disabled list yet again. Manager Davey Johnson told reporters in Los Angeles that Ramos injured his left hamstring in tonight's 3-1 loss to the Dodgers, the same hamstring that Ramos strained back in April. The Nationals' opening day catcher missed 15 games with the hamstring injury the first time around. He returned to action April 30 in Atlanta but played in just eight contests before injuring the hamstring again. This time, he'll likely be out a...

Ramos, Detwiler both leave game with apparent injuries (Nats lose 3-1)

Ramos, Detwiler both leave game with apparent injuries (Nats lose 3-1)
The Nationals have lost both members of their battery to apparent injuries in the fourth inning. Wilson Ramos came out after singling with two outs in the top of the fourth. Ross Detwiler also made his way down into the Nats' clubhouse with a trainer by his side, his night done after just three innings of work. I'll start the injury-filled blog with notes on Ramos, who just cannot seem to catch a break. After smoking the ball twice in two at-bats tonight, resulting in two hits, Ramos left...

Bats staying quiet, Detwiler laboring a bit

Bats staying quiet, Detwiler laboring a bit
The Nationals last scored a run in the fifth inning Monday night. Since then, they've gone 16 scoreless frames. Yeah, for the bulk of those innings they've faced Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, two of the top arms in the majors. But there haven't been many quality at-bats during that 16-inning stretch, and the results have shown. The Nats trail 2-0 after three innings tonight, as the Dodgers have scored single runs in the first and second innings. The second run off Nats starter Ross...

Harper out of Nats lineup again

Harper out of Nats lineup again
The Nationals will have to play another day without Bryce Harper. Harper, the Nats' leader in pretty much every major offensive statistical category, is out of the lineup for the second straight day after colliding with the right field wall Monday night. The collision left Harper with a bruised knee and shoulder, and he'll get another day to rest those - among other - ailments. Denard Span is back in Davey Johnson's lineup tonight after getting most of last night's game off. Steve...

Taylor Jordan off to good start following promotion to Double-A

Taylor Jordan off to good start following promotion to Double-A
Right-hander Taylor Jordan was promoted last week from the high Single-A Potomac Nationals to the Double-A Harrisburg and did well in his first game with the Senators. The 24-year-old Jordan made his Harrisburg debut Sunday with four innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts. In seven minor league starts this season, Jordan has gone 2-1 with a 1.12 ERA in seven starts, with 32 strikeouts and seven walks. Nationals director of player development Doug...

Some movement on the Nationals' long quest for a new spring training home?

Some movement on the Nationals' long quest for a new spring training home?
It's been a while since we've gotten a whiff of news about the Nationals' pursuit of a new spring training home. Depending on how you view the machinations, the saga has either plot twists befitting a taut mystery or all the kind of awkward exchange you felt when asking a date to the middle school dance. But there's new news, courtesy of this story in The News-Press of Fort Myers, one of the possible Sunshine State destinations for the Nationals. (a tip of the 'ol ballcap to @misschatter...

Taking the good with the bad

Taking the good with the bad
I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. Let's start with the positive stuff, shall we? There's a decent chance the Nationals won't have to face Clayton Kershaw again this season. After what we saw from Kershaw last night, I'm sure the Nats' hitters are good with that. If the Nats do see the 2011 National League Cy Young Award winner again during the regular season, it'll be in one of three games at Nats Park from July 19-21, meaning they have at least two months of...

Can something be done to improve safety of outfield walls?

Can something be done to improve safety of outfield walls?
It was difficult to watch the replays of Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper crashing into the outfield wall and fence at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, and then to see him go down to the ground. The jammed shoulder and 11 stitches under his chin are an example of how hard he went into the wall, and what the phenom will do to try to record an out at all costs. It is important for Harper to be careful in those situations, but it also a part of his go-all-out mentality, which is one of the...

David Huzzard: Advanced metrics hint that Suzuki would flourish in two-hole

David Huzzard: Advanced metrics hint that Suzuki would flourish in two-hole
Danny Espinosa, Steve Lombardozzi and Roger Bernadina all have something in common - and they shouldn't. Each and every one of them has an under-.300 on-base percentage and all of them have batted second. Overall, Nationals No. 2 hitters are hitting .176/.216/.275. That isn't just bad production, that is horrid. The plan for the Nationals was to have career .267/.361/.460 hitter Jayson Werth in that spot, but that hasn't worked out as Werth moved down in the order when Ryan Zimmerman was...

An early missed opportunity might loom large (Nats lose 2-0)

An early missed opportunity might loom large (Nats lose 2-0)
It's not often you can put up a crooked number against Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers left-hander came into today with a 1.62 ERA on the season, having allowed more than two earned runs in just two of his eight starts in 2013. The Nationals had a chance to get to Kershaw early on in tonight's game, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Kershaw had already thrown 25 pitches in the first inning by the time Tyler Moore stepped into the batter's box with the sacks packed and two down. The...

Harper out of Nats' lineup after yesterday's wall collision (Span out, too)

Harper out of Nats' lineup after yesterday's wall collision (Span out, too)
Not surprisingly, Bryce Harper is out of the Nationals' lineup the day after crashing face-first into the right field wall at Dodger Stadium, a collision that left him with a bruised knee and shoulder, as well as 11 stitches in his chin. Harper will miss his third game in the last five days. He sat out last Friday and Saturday's games against the Cubs after having surgery to remove an ingrown toenail. That procedure surely hurt (I had an ingrown toenail removed a handful of years ago, and...

On Harper and his all-in, all-the-time mentality

On Harper and his all-in, all-the-time mentality
What is it about Bryce Harper that has allowed him to have so much success at such a young age? Well, he's immensely talented, of course. At 20, Harper can do things on a baseball field that many players with a decade's worth of experience cannot dream of doing. Beyond that, however, is Harper's work ethic, his drive, his desire to give his all in every single facet of the game. Harper's going to outwork you off the field, then he's going to outhustle you on it. That's his goal every...

11 stitches, bruises, but no concussion after Harper collides with wall

11 stitches, bruises, but no concussion after Harper collides with wall
Scary moment out in Los Angeles, as Bryce Harper left tonight's game against the Dodgers after colliding face-first with the right field fence. Harper was chasing a deep fly ball hit by A.J. Ellis, and lost track of where he was in relation to the wall. As the ball came down over his head, Harper turned and went face-first into the wall, colliding with the chain-link portion of the fence that protects the video board. He went down in a heap, and after the Nationals were able to corral the...

Zimmermann keeps rolling as Nats beat Dodgers 6-2

Zimmermann keeps rolling as Nats beat Dodgers 6-2
Eight starts, seven victories, a 1.69 ERA. Jordan Zimmermann keeps on rolling. Zimmermann went 7 2/3 innings tonight, allowing two runs on nine hits, striking out five and walking none as the Nationals beat the Dodgers 6-2 in the first game of a three-game set. He's now 7-1 on the season. The main concern coming out of this game, however, is the health of Bryce Harper, who left in the bottom of the fifth inning after colliding face-first with the right field wall. We'll wait for updates...

Breaking down the bench blues

Breaking down the bench blues
As productive as the Nationals bench was last season - with Chad Tracy, Roger Bernadina, Tyler Moore and Steve Lombardozzi coming through with countless pinch-hits in clutch spots and getting significant playing time in the place of a few injured starters - that group has been pretty quiet through the first six weeks of the 2013 campaign. In 51 pinch-hit opportunities this season, Nationals hitters have gone just 7-of-48 with two extra-base hits and three walks. That's good for a .146 batting...

Lombardozzi in left for second straight game

Lombardozzi in left for second straight game
The Nationals kick off a 10-game West Coast road trip with a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the MASN broadcast beginning at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time with "Nats Xtra" pregame. Jordan Zimmermann pitches for the Nationals and will be opposed by the Dodgers' Josh Beckett. The two right-handers have had distinctly different seasons: Zimmermann is 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA, while Beckett is 0-4 with a 5.13 ERA. Steve Lombardozzi will make his second straight start in left field for the...

Zimmerman and Zimmermann remain hot (the lead increases)

Zimmerman and Zimmermann remain hot (the lead increases)
That headline would have been a heck of a lot smoother if Ryan Zimmerman and Jordan Zimmermann would just get together and agree to have their last names spelled the same way. Make it happen, fellas. Do it for the sake of my headlines, if nothing else. The Zimmerman(n) boys have helped the Nationals to an early 4-0 lead over the Dodgers after three innings. Zimmerman has a two-run double and three RBIs, and Zimmermann has thrown two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Both guys are on...

Looking for the offense to heat up out west

Looking for the offense to heat up out west
After going 3-2 on their brief homestand, the Nationals packed the bags and took off for the west coast, where they'll play 10 games in 10 days. First is a stop in Los Angeles for three against the Dodgers, who shockingly have started the season 15-21 and are currently last in the National League West. Yup, the team with the $216 million payroll sits behind the Rockies and Padres nearly a quarter of the way through the season. You can't predict ball. Following their three-game set...

Suzuki on rough ninth-inning throwing error and subsequent ejection

Suzuki on rough ninth-inning throwing error and subsequent ejection
The last inning was not exactly how catcher Kurt Suzuki wanted it to go. A double steal attempt by the Cubs was set up Alfonso Soriano racing to third base in the top of the ninth of a 1-1 game. Suzuki's throw to third base hit Welington Castillo's bat. The ball rolled into foul territory, which allowed Soriano to score the go-ahead run. Later, a called third strike and subsequent argument with home plate umpire John Tumpane got him tossed. Who could have thought the Nationals appeared...