nationals

Nationals agree to terms with four 2011 more draft picks

July 14, 2011, 8:28am

The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with four players selected in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft: right-handed pitchers Taylor Hill (6th round), Greg Holt (8th round) and Dixon Anderson (9th round) and left-handed pitcher Nicholas Lee (18th round). To date, the Nationals have now agreed to terms with 22 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...

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Rhinehart and Gilbert with base hits as West rolls in All-Star game

July 13, 2011, 11:58am

Nationals

Rhinehart and Gilbert with base hits as West rolls in All-Star game

Double-A Harrisburg Senators outfielder Bill Rhinehart, who smacked a double and scored a run in the Eastern League All-Star Game for the West, finished the first half of the season on a surge. The Western All-Stars beat the Eastern All-Stars 8-3 on Wednesday in Manchester, N.H. Rhinehart has gone 8-for-18 the last five games, including three straight multi-hit games. He has crushed six homers in the last 10 games, with a .394 average during that run. Overall, the former Arizona Wildcat has...

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Wang to now pitch Thursday for Double-A Harrisburg

July 13, 2011, 3:09pm

Nationals

Wang to now pitch Thursday for Double-A Harrisburg

Nationals right-handed pitcher Chien-Ming Wang will now make his fourth rehab start on Thursday for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, confirmed a team source. Wang was scheduled to pitch Wednesday night for the Single-A Potomac Nationals, but the game was postponed due to inclement weather in Woodbridge, Va. Wang has looked very good so far as he recovers from a right shoulder surgery in July 2009. Wang has gone 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings, allowing two earned runs, two walks and...

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Prospect Moore excelling at next level after historic Potomac season

July 12, 2011, 11:38am

Nationals

Prospect Moore excelling at next level after historic Potomac season

Double-A Harrisburg Senators first baseman Tyler Moore has continued his solid play all season, seeking to match his defense with the power he displayed last season on the way to the Carolina League Player of the Year honor. No one will forget his amazing run in 2010, where he ended up with 31 homers and 111 RBIs, leading the Single-A Potomac Nationals to the Mills Cup championship title. This season Moore is batting .254 with 23 doubles, four triples, 18 homers and 58 RBIs in 87 games. His...

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Wang set for fourth rehab start Wednesday at Potomac

July 12, 2011, 3:18am

Nationals

Wang set for fourth rehab start Wednesday at Potomac

Nationals right-handed pitcher Chien-Ming Wang will make his fourth rehab start Wednesday for the Single-A Potomac Nationals against the Kinston Indians at 7:05 p.m. in Woodbridge, Va. Wang has looked very good so far as he recovers from right shoulder surgery in July 2009. Wang has gone 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings, allowing two earned runs and two walks and striking out seven batters. He has not allowed a run in his last nine innings of work. He last pitched for the New York Yankees...

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Antonelli added to International League All-Star team

July 11, 2011, 5:53pm

Nationals

Antonelli added to International League All-Star team

Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs second baseman Matt Antonelli began the season with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators and played just four games before being promoted. He has not missed a beat at the next level, batting .308 at Triple-A. This week, Antonelli was named to the International League All-Star squad alongside teammate and pitcher Tom Milone in Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game from Salt Lake City, Utah. The pair are the lone Syracuse players so honored this season. Antonelli's overall...

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Johnson looking to alter Sean Burnett's role in bullpen

July 08, 2011, 1:17pm

Nationals

Johnson looking to alter Sean Burnett's role in bullpen

As he had said before, Nationals manager Davey Johnson has complete confidence in left-hander Sean Burnett, despite his recent struggles. Thursday, Burnett allowed a game-tying two-run shot to the Cubs' Carlos Pena after inheriting a man on first with the Nationals leading 8-6 in the seventh inning. Burnett has now allowed four earned runs and seven hits in his last four appearances, and was pretty hard on himself last night, saying he has been struggling with all of his pitches since the...

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VanAllen is major part of first-place Senators' relief corps

July 10, 2011, 2:53pm

Nationals

VanAllen is major part of first-place Senators' relief corps

It is an extremely noteworthy accomplishment for the franchise to see five All-Star invites for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. Even prior to the arrival of heralded No. 1 prospect Bryce Harper, the Senators were 13 games above .500 and cruising along in the western division of the Eastern League. Harrisburg stands at 53-36 at the All-Star break, with a 5Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â½-game lead over Richmond atop the division. The Senators begin the second half of the season with a seven-game...

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Guest bloggers rotation set for season's second half

July 10, 2011, 6:30pm

Nationals

Guest bloggers rotation set for season's second half

It's hard to believe the first half of the 2011 season has come to a close. And for the Nationals, it has to be one filled with great optimism. With impressive starting pitching, the surprise power from first baseman Michael Morse and a bullpen that's been solid throughout the first few months, the Nationals, a team that was poised to do great things in 2012 or later, look like they're not really willing to wait that long to make some noise in the National League. Here at Nationals Buzz,...

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Thoughts at the All-Star break

July 11, 2011, 4:46am

Nationals Orioles

Here are one writer's thoughts as baseball shifts to the All-Star break: * The Orioles' season is in shambles. The only way to fix it is to get more pitching into system, and the only way to do that is to make everyone available before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and hope that market will allow pitching to come their way. The Orioles' biggest trade chips are Jeremy Guthrie, Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara and J.J. Hardy, assuming he doesn't sign. * The Nationals should try to trade...

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Prospect Ramirez sees bat wake up just in time for Potomac to get going

July 09, 2011, 6:24pm

Nationals

Prospect Ramirez sees bat wake up just in time for Potomac to get going

Single-A Potomac Nationals outfielder J.P. Ramirez crushed his first career grand slam this week as he continues to swing a hot bat with the second half of the Carolina League season underway. You will remember this is the time of year the P-Nats got on an incredible roll last season en route to their second Mills Cup championship in three seasons. The team raced out to 7-6 start to begin the final three months of the season and Ramirez is one of the reasons for that success. The...

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Nationals play host to 50th Congressional Baseball Game

July 09, 2011, 1:02pm

Nationals

Looking for some baseball to fill the void during the All-Star break? Nationals fans, you're in for a treat. On Thursday, July 14, Democrats and Republicans will meet on the diamond, as Nationals Park serves as host for the 50th anniversary of the Congressional Baseball Game for charity. It's a chance for fans to watch our nation's two primary political parties become even more divided, this time substituting the podium and microphone for a glove and a bat. The game itself is an intense,...

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Nationals place C Ivan Rodriguez on 15-day DL, recall C Jesus Flores from Syracuse

July 08, 2011, 11:33am

Nationals

The Washington Nationals today placed catcher Ivan Rodriguez on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 7, with a right oblique strain and recalled catcher Jesus Flores from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Flores, 26, joins the Nationals after batting .234 (49-for-209) with 15 doubles, five homers and 30 RBIs in 56 International League contests with Syracuse....

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Kimball's surgery set for Wednesday in New York

July 08, 2011, 4:01pm

Nationals

Kimball's surgery set for Wednesday in New York

Nationals right-handed relief pitcher Cole Kimball is scheduled to undergo surgery for a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder Wednesday in New York, performed by Dr. David Altchek. Kimball said it will be a full year of rehabilitation and he hopes to be back to 100 percent during the All-Star break in 2012. Kimball was called up May 14 and pitched very well in 12 appearances, going 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA. He had 11 strikeouts and 11 walks with only three earned runs allowed. The 11 walks were...

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Mattheus makes rare early appearance, fights for five outs

July 08, 2011, 7:03pm

Nationals

Mattheus makes rare early appearance, fights for five outs

It certainly was not the situation Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus expected so early in Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies. His teammate, Nationals starter John Lannan, had gone down after getting hit in the face on a single up the middle by the Rockies' Ty Wigginton. Lannan left the game immediately with assistance from trainer Lee Kuntz. But as a reliever, you are expected to go in the game at any point when your team needs you. Lannan was out after 3 and 1/3 innings, diagnosed...

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Capture a piece of Washington's baseball history

July 08, 2011, 12:16pm

Nationals

Capture a piece of Washington's baseball history

It's the history of the game of baseball that has always attracted me to the sport. Growing up, I would listen to the stories from my parents about the Orioles of the 1960's and 70's and the childhood icons they watched on the diamond nearly 50 years ago. It's the history of baseball which is unlike any other in professional sports. Baseball has been around the longest, with origins dating well back into the 19th century. Through the years, despite the finer tweaks and tuneups, the game...

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Morse falls short in Final Vote contest

July 07, 2011, 2:19pm

Nationals

Sad news to report, Nationals fans. After a tremendous effort and certain bruises to thumbs around the DC area, all in an attempt to send Nationals right fielder Michael Morse to next week's All-Star game, Major League Baseball announced that Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino has won the National League Final Vote contest. The 9.2 million votes for Victorino helped the "Flying Hawaiian" edge out the Dodgers' Andre Ethier, Rockies' Todd Helton, Diamondbacks' Ian Kennedy...

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Burnett says a bad slider brought the Cubs back

July 07, 2011, 8:11pm

Nationals

Burnett says a bad slider brought the Cubs back

Left-hander Sean Burnett said it was his slider that the Cubs' Carlos Pena turned on and tied the game up at 8-8 in the seventh. It was a major turning point in the series finale that Chicago trailed 8-0, coming all the way back to stun the Nationals, 10-9. Burnett said the location of the slider was not where he wanted it to end up and Pena took advantage. Sean Burnett talks about giving up a home run in the Nats' 10-9 loss to the Cubs "It was a badly executed slider," Burnett said....

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Rachel Levitin: Winning three of four vs. Cubs shows progress

July 08, 2011, 5:01am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Winning three of four vs. Cubs shows progress

The Nationals couldn't sweep the Cubs this series though they tried. On the upside, they're still above .500 with a 44-43 record. Whether or not last night's dropped contest should define a half-season's worth of progress is irrelevant. Fact of the matter is that the Nationals have shown improvement from the 2010 season and that should be noted. There are few lessons to be learned from this four-game series: A tired bullpen is not a strong bullpen. Bullpen coach Jim Lett and his squad of...

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Rodriguez likely headed to disabled list with strained oblique

July 07, 2011, 7:43pm

Nationals

Rodriguez likely headed to disabled list with strained oblique

Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez suffered a strained right oblique during batting practice Thursday against the Chicago Cub, and the injury is likely to send the veteran backstop on the 15-day disabled list. "Those things happen just like this and got me today," Rodriguez said. "I have never experienced this kind of injury. It never happens to me. We will see what happens tomorrow. We will take it day to day. If tomorrow is not better, (then) we will need a catcher." Rodriguez said...