nationals

First Wang, now Lannan

March 05, 2012, 12:51pm

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A day that started with Chien-Ming Wang's strong intrasquad start continues here as the Nationals prepare to take on the Mets at Digital Domain Park. It was just a 75-minute drive south from the Nats' facilities in Viera here to the Mets' complex, which, from my perspective, is actually fairly nice considering I had multiple people tell me it's "a dump" on my way in. To be fair, though, this is only the third spring training stadium I've stepped foot in since...

Comments

Tags:

chien-ming wang dan kolko davey johnson john lannan nationals spring training frontfeatured_nationals

Spring competition begins for Lannan (Nats win 3-1)

March 05, 2012, 3:35pm

Nationals

Spring competition begins for Lannan (Nats win 3-1)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - This spring is a little different for John Lannan. Instead of going into Grapefruit League competition knowing that he's got a spot in the Nationals' rotation all but guaranteed, Lannan is now aware that his chances of making the Nats' starting five are dependent on how he performs in spring training. Still, Lannan says he's approaching this spring as he would any other. "I compete every year," Lannan said in the Nationals clubhouse moments ago. "I've competed...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko nationals spring training featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals1

Johnson on Chien-Ming Wang: "He's back"

March 05, 2012, 9:26am

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - Both right-hander Chien-Ming Wang and manager Davey Johnson were pleased with the two-inning effort turned in by the Nationals starter during a minor league intrasquad game this afternoon. "I liked what I saw," Johnson said. "He's obviously stronger than last year, even in his warm-ups. He looks like the old Chien-Ming." Wang, who had been dealing with some stiffness in his throwing shoulder, allowed one unearned run in his two innings of work. He gave up three hits - a...

Comments

Tags:

chien-ming wang dan kolko davey johnson nationals spring training featured_sidebar frontfeatured_nationals frontstory_nationals1

Lannan done after three innings, Ankiel goes yard

March 05, 2012, 2:29pm

Nationals

Lannan done after three innings, Ankiel goes yard

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - All things considered, John Lannan's first start of spring went just fine. It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible, but Lannan worked his way through three innings tonight against the Mets, allowing one run and three hits, walking one and striking out one. The run came in the first when Lannan allowed a leadoff walk to Mets center fielder Andres Torres, allowed Torres to steal second base and then gave up an RBI single to second baseman Daniel Murphy. But Lannan settled...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko john lannan nationals rick ankiel spring training frontfeatured_nationals

Nationals' Rosenbaum focusing on fastball start of camp

March 05, 2012, 10:57am

Nationals

Single-A Potomac Nationals Player of the Year Danny Rosenbaum is getting a lot of attention as spring training moves along and with good reason. The Xavier Musketeer southpaw put up top numbers in the Nationals' system in 2011, going a combined 9-6 with a 2.52 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and 171 1/3 innings, striking out 135 and walking 52. Rosenbaum told me in last month he wanted to come into camp slimmer and was excited to get this season started. Double-A Harrisburg Senators pitching...

Comments

Tags:

byron kerr danny rosenbaum nationals paul menhart potomac nationals frontstory_nationals2

Waiting on Wang in intrasquad (plus tonight's lineup)

March 05, 2012, 6:48am

Nationals

Waiting on Wang in intrasquad (plus tonight's lineup)

VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals have a night game in Port St. Lucie tonight, but there's still action around Space Coast Stadium early this afternoon. Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang will take the mound in the Nationals' intrasquad game at 1 p.m., which will be the veteran's first time throwing to hitters since last Monday's live batting practice. Wang is working through some stiffness in his pitching shoulder, but assuming all goes well today, he's scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko danny espinosa ian desmond jayson werth nationals spring training frontfeatured_nationals featured_sidebar

Shared experience will link Solis, Zimmermann

March 04, 2012, 6:07am

Nationals

Shared experience will link Solis, Zimmermann

VIERA, Fla. - The call may not come tomorrow, or even in the next week or the next month. But Jordan Zimmermann is sure he'll pick up his cell phone sometime in the near future and punch in Sammy Solis' phone number. When Solis picks up, he'll have a lifeline to someone who's gone through what he's facing. Solis, a promising left-hander, will undergo Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday, with Dr. Lewis Yucom performing the operation that will rebuild Solis'...

Comments

Tags:

jordan zimmermann nationals sammy solis spring training stephen strasburg pete kerzel featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Strasburg: "It was pretty much a breeze" (Nats lose 10-2)

March 04, 2012, 11:09am

Nationals

Strasburg: "It was pretty much a breeze" (Nats lose 10-2)

VIERA, Fla. - It's probably a good thing when a pitcher leaves the mound after his first spring training start feeling like he has a good bit more in the tank. That's how Stephen Strasburg felt after throwing 44 pitches in 2 2/3 innings today against the Astros. "I felt good," Strasburg said. "Arm felt strong. The big thing was going out there trying to pound the zone. Obviously, it's been a while since throwing offspeed to hitters and stuff, and I think the biggest thing I noticed was...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko nationals spring training stephen strasburg featured_sidebar frontfeatured_nationals frontstory_nationals3

Meeting with the manager

March 04, 2012, 12:05pm

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - In Davey Johnson's eyes, Stephen Strasburg had a bit too much adrenaline running through him while out on the mound today, leading to a little bit of wildness. "Stras was too hyped up, amped up," Johnson said. "You could tell from the first pitch he threw he was loaded for bear. But other than that, everybody came through all right." Johnson said he could understand Strasburg's emotions being high for the Nationals' Grapefruit League home opener; after all, as Strasburg...

Comments

Tags:

bryce harper dan kolko davey johnson nationals spring training stephen strasburg tom gorzelanny featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals1

This sure isn't pretty

March 04, 2012, 10:04am

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - It's only spring training. It's only spring training. Just repeat after me. And do the "

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko nationals spring training tom gorzelanny frontstory_nationals3

Strasburg's day is done

March 04, 2012, 9:01am

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Davey Johnson had said that Stephen Strasburg was on a 45-pitch limit today. Strasburg's 44th pitch of the afternoon set down Astros shortstop Marwin Gonzalez swinging, and that marked the end of his day. The right-hander finishes having thrown 2 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a wild pitch. Strasburg had three strikeouts, two of which were swinging. He allowed a solo home run to catcher Chris Snyder with one out in the second, and was on the...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko davey johnson featured_sidebar nationals stephen strasburg frontstory_nationals3

Flores flourishing early in camp

March 04, 2012, 7:01am

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - Not too long ago, Jesus Flores was viewed as the Nationals' catcher of the future. Now, he's just trying to prove he can stay healthy for a full season and contribute at the big league level. Right shoulder problems - a fractured shoulder blade and a torn labrum - have in many ways wiped out the 27-year-old's last three seasons. He played in just 29 games in 2009 and missed the entire 2010 campaign due to the injury, then struggled in 2011, hitting just .216 in 86 games...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko davey johnson jesus flores nationals spring training frontstory_nationals3

Don't expect Morse to see time at first base

March 04, 2012, 5:54am

Nationals

Don't expect Morse to see time at first base

VIERA, Fla. - They just pulled the tarp off the field here at Space Coast Stadium, and the rain appears to be gone for the rest of the day. We're just left with 56-degree temperatures and a strong wind. For those of you up north who are rolling your eyes right now, I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. Stephen Strasburg will take the mound for the Nationals today, but the righty shouldn't have a problem with these conditions. It seems like every time he takes the mound, it's cool and...

Comments

Tags:

adam laroche dan kolko michael morse nationals spring training davey johnson featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Strasburg works a perfect first (and is through the second)

March 04, 2012, 8:18am

Nationals

Strasburg works a perfect first (and is through the second)

VIERA, Fla. - It might be his first game action this spring, but Stephen Strasburg looked like Stephen Strasburg in his first inning of work this afternoon. Strasburg set the Astros down in order in the top of the first, retiring Jordan Schafer on a fly ball to right, getting Marwin Gonzalez on a first-pitch grounder to first base, and striking out Brian Bogusevic swinging. Strasburg tossed 14 pitches in the first inning, eight of which were for strikes. He threw mostly fastballs, but looked...

Comments

Tags:

dan kolko nationals spring training stephen strasburg frontfeatured_nationals

This season, it's all about the Natitude

March 04, 2012, 7:49am

Nationals

This season, it's all about the Natitude

Teenagers have attitudes. Senior citizens have attitudes. Yours truly stuck in Beltway rush hour gridlock has an attitude. But Natitude? That's all you, Nationals fans. We're only a few weeks away from the start of the 2012 regular season and the buzz in the nation's capital is fierce. This year's squad is young, they're hungry and they're in prime position to reach the postseason for the first time since coming to D.C. And in honor of the impending rise of Nationals baseball, the...

Comments

Tags:

brian eller nationals nationals buzz

Nationals' top pick Rendon out to prove he can stay healthy

March 03, 2012, 11:51am

Nationals

Top pick Anthony Rendon, a third baseman, is completely healthy and thrilled to be in his first spring training with the Washington Nationals. "It is really exciting," Rendon said. "First game, I want to take a step back and soak it all in. (It is special) looking around at all these guys I watched them on TV the last couple years, and now I am in the same clubhouse." Rendon said his injuries to his shoulder and ankles were more quirky and "freak accidents" than signs of long-term...

Comments

Tags:

anthony rendon byron kerr nationals rice university rick hague featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals2

Nats trying not to harp on Harper

March 03, 2012, 12:51pm

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - Bryce Harper is the story of Nationals camp to 99 percent of the interested public. But the 19-year-old phenom isn't the story of camp in Davey Johnson's world. Asked a Harper-related question by a national reporter yesterday - far from the first he's had to answer on that topic this spring - Johnson made it clear that he's getting a little tired of all the Harper hype. "Is he on my mind every day? No," Johnson said. "I've known of him and seen him swing the bat for...

Comments

Tags:

bryce harper dan kolko davey johnson nationals spring training featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Storm passes, leaving wind in its wake

March 04, 2012, 3:33am

Nationals

VIERA, Fla. - We've survived a gullywasher that blew through Brevard County this morning, and now Space Coast Stadium is being whipped by gusty winds. On my drive from my hotel in Melbourne this morning, I was three blocks from the ballpark when a weather advisory warning of winds in excess of 50 mph interrupted my morning helping of classic rock. How windy is it? Well, while setting up my laptop, I was treated to some theater of the absurd that tested the mettle of the grounds crew. All of a...

Comments

Tags:

frontstory_nationals1 nationals pete kerzel spring training

Facing Nats a strange feeling for Livan Hernandez

March 03, 2012, 10:29am

Nationals

Facing Nats a strange feeling for Livan Hernandez

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - As much as he wanted to return to the Nationals, Livan Hernandez knew he'd be pitching elsewhere in 2012. That destination, unknown when he had an end-of-season meeting with manager Davey Johnson, wound up being Houston, and the soft-tossing right-hander made his Astros debut by pitching two scoreless innings against his old mates Saturday. The night before he took the mound at Osceola County Stadium, Hernandez said he received playful text messages from the Nationals'...

Comments

Tags:

featured_sidebar nationals pete kerzel spring training bryce harper livan hernandez frontstory_nationals3

Talking hurlers and Harper

March 03, 2012, 11:56am

Nationals

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Edwin Jackson said he spent today's outing focusing on his adjusted mechanics which should help him avoid tipping his pitches. Pitching coach Steve McCatty would prefer the righty didn't let those thoughts run through his head while on the mound. "To me, we're not going to make a mechanical issue about anything," McCatty said. "I'm not worried about tipping, nothing. I want him to be athletic, I want him to feel nice and smooth, I want him to feel like everything's...