Nationals' manager Davey Johnson believes Ian Desmond in the leadoff spot is a work in progress as they continue to search for the answer to the biggest question mark in the batting order for 2011.
Recently, Desmond has hit leadoff the last two games against the Reds and again Friday versus the Phillies. He is 0-for-6 in those two games, the first time he has hit leadoff since a stretch from March 31 to April 14.
On Thursday, Desmond induced a walk and laid down a nice 3-4 sacrifice to...
Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper injured his right hamstring running the bases in the eighth inning Thursday for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators in Akron, Ohio.
The Nationals announced Harper suffered a right hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated Friday. Harper was injured rounding second base in front of a double by Archie Gilbert. Harper was replaced by outfielder Chris Rahl. Harrisburg won the game 4-2 over the Aeros.
Harper went 1-for-3 in the game and had walked to lead off the...
The Nationals' Jonny Gomes said he had three choices as he watched Joey Votto's blast approach him in left field corner. One, he could watch it drop and Votto would have a double. Two, he could turn and see if the ball ricocheted off the wall and Votto would be standing at second base. Or, three, Gomes could go after the ball and get the out.
Gomes took option No. 3, a running catch where the foul line meets the green outfield wall. Gomes caught the ball and collided hard into the padding in...
Nationals manager Davey Johnson said right-hander Stephen Strasburg will make his fourth rehab start Monday night in Hagerstown for the Suns against Hickory. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.
Johnson said Strasburg would be scheduled to go four innings and maximum of 65 pitches. He also said that Strasburg would then go to Syracuse August 27 and pitch for the Chiefs in his fifth rehab start.
Strasburg will throw Friday at Nationals Park. Johnson and Nationals pitching coaches will...
HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg left his fastball up a bit and struggled with his breaking stuff in his third rehab assignment Wednesday night for the Hagerstown Suns against the Lexington Legends at Municipal Stadium.
Strasburg finished up with 1 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, five runs, all earned, two walks, three strikeouts and one wild pitch on 49 pitches, 29 for strikes.
Despite getting roughed up early, Strasburg was able to get his velocity in the 96-99...
HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg said last week in Potomac that there would be times where he would get knocked around, that it was all a part of the rehab process.
Wednesday night in Hagerstown, in his third rehab start, Strasburg got knocked around, allowing five runs, all earned, with two walks, three strikeouts, one wild pitch in 1 2/3 innings. He threw 49 pitches, 29 for strikes, and was relieved in the second inning after recording the second out.
The...
Jayson Werth is suffering through arguably one of the most disappointing seasons for any player in Major League Baseball right now, as Dan Uggla seemed to turn his around, stringing together a 33-game hit streak.
Werth cashed in this past winter, literally jumping from the best to the worst team in the National League East. It's hard to blame him - I mean, what would you do in that situation? Lots of people have been ragging on him because of his dismal performance so far in 2011, where in...
It has been a frustrating couple of weeks for veteran Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez as he continues to rehab from a right oblique strain suffered in early July.
He had a setback last Wednesday in Harrisburg and has been in Washington ever since.
Rodriguez played catch with Livan Hernandez on Tuesday and expects to play catch again Wednesday, but there is not a set timetable as to when he will swing a bat again.
Rodriguez met with team doctors prior to Tuesday's game against the...
It was announced Tuesday afternoon that the Nationals would honor America's fallen heroes, more specifically the service members involved in the deadly Aug. 6 helicopter crash, with pregame activities.
The Nationals honored our servicemen and women in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy (including the SEALs division), Marines and all military reserves before the game by donning caps bearing the insignias of the various branches in addition to wearing their patriotic uniform for batting...
After two starts and 12 runs allowed, there was concern about how far Nationals' right-hander Chien-Ming Wang needed to go to get back to his form from 2006 and 2007.
Then came wins over the Chicago Cubs and Tuesday over the Cincinnati Reds, where he surrendered four runs in two starts, showing the potential of Wang in a Nationals uniform.
He still has a long ways to go, but to see a positive turn in results, where he was pitching out of bad spots, even without his best stuff, was certainly...
Nationals manager Davey Johnson talked about the 40-man roster Tuesday and speculated as to some of the possibilities offensively in September the Nationals might bring up to the big club when rosters can be expanded.
Johnson mentioned first baseman Chris Marrero and a name we had not heard before, outfielder Corey Brown. Both are on the 40-man roster.
Marrero is batting .309 in 117 games, with 14 homers and 67 RBIs. It is about time he gets a chance to face major league pitching.
Brown is...
There had been a lot of skepticism about TCU left-hander Matt Purke's enthusiasm to return to school in hopes of a bigger deal, and possibly a top selection, in next year's draft.
After all, figures such as $6 million and $4 million had been connected to his name in the 2009 draft when he tried to work out a contract with the Texas Rangers.
Nationals executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo never got the sense that Purke wanted to return to TCU. This...
Since April 2007, I've been writing stories mostly about Washington D.C. baseball history at Nationals Daily News. A lot of my stories are based off of a date in time in D.C. baseball history. Today's story is about a pitcher, Allen "Bullet Ben" Benson, who made his Washington Senators debut this week in 1934.
What makes this story so different than any of my other stories is the way I learned about Benson. It happened a little less than two years ago when I received an e-mail from a...
The Single-A Hagerstown Suns announced that Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg will start Wednesday in his third rehab start as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
Strasburg is expected to go four innings and throw a maximum of 60 pitches as he continues his road to a healthy return to the Nationals lineup.
Friday in Woodbridge, Strasburg fired 33 pitches, 26 for strikes, consistently hitting 98 mph and once touching 99 mph in the second inning. He threw three shutout innings and...
The Nationals have signed fourth round selection left-hander Kylin Turnbull, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.
Turnbull is 6-foot-4, 195-lb., and reportedly inked for $325,000, which is $100,000 over the slot.
Turnbull attended Santa Barbara Community College and has a 94 mph fastball, going 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA over 80 innings, striking out 92 hitters. He was selected in the 30th-round of the 2010 draft by the Chicago White Sox.
The Washington Nationals tonight agreed to terms with Rice University third baseman Anthony Rendon, their first-round (sixth overall) selection in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. The Nationals have agreed to terms with 29 players from this year's Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint...
The Washington Nationals tonight agreed to terms with Miami Dade College outfielder Brian Goodwin, their sandwich-round (34th overall) selection in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. To date, the Nationals have agreed to terms with 27 players from this year's Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the...
The Washington Nationals tonight agreed to terms with University of Kentucky right-handed pitcher Alex Meyer, their first-round (23rd overall) selection in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. To date, the Nationals have agreed to terms with 28 players from this year's Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made...
The Washington Nationals tonight agreed to terms with Texas Christian University left-handed pitcher Matt Purke, their third-round (96th overall) selection in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. To date, the Nationals have agreed to terms with 26 players from this year's Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline...