nationals

Spring training expectations set for Rutledge and Cavalli

February 20, 2021, 8:01am

Reporting to the first day of spring training as rookies must feel a lot like a freshman arriving on campus for the first day of high school. But instead of being surrounded by jocks, cliques and faculty, you're stepping into a clubhouse full of world champions, a World Series MVP, a Cy Young Award winner and All-Stars. OK, so in a sense, still jocks. But for the sake of the analogy, if spring training is like high school, then rookies are freshman, veterans are upperclassmen, coaches are...

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Increased time behind plate won't be new for Gomes

February 20, 2021, 6:25pm

Nationals

Increased time behind plate won't be new for Gomes

As he evaluated his club's catching corps during the offseason, and then examined the likeliest outside candidates to be added, Davey Martinez quickly came to one conclusion: Yan Gomes was going to be the Nationals' No. 1 catcher in 2021. And that wasn't a bad thing in the manager's mind. "I talked to him a lot this winter and told him that he would get the bulk of the catching this year," Martinez said from West Palm Beach, Fla., during a Zoom session with reporters. "I want him to...

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Ross easing back, Guerra still home, spring tickets go on sale

February 20, 2021, 8:30am

Nationals

Ross easing back, Guerra still home, spring tickets go on sale

Davey Martinez has made no secret about his desire to use Joe Ross as his No. 5 starter. While acknowledging the open competition that also includes Erick Fedde, Austin Voth and perhaps even Rogelio Armenteros taking place this spring, the Nationals manager has openly stated he wants Ross to prove he's earned the job. But in their evaluation, Martinez and new pitching coach Jim Hickey need to consider not only Ross' performance but the state of his arm after he opted out of the 2020 season....

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Players, staff grateful for return to full-length spring training

February 19, 2021, 6:46pm

Nationals

Players, staff grateful for return to full-length spring training

Spring training is too long. Find a ballplayer who disagrees with that assessment. You won't. Six weeks in Florida and Arizona is a long time, and it gets awfully repetitive awfully quick. You can only run pickoff drills and practice fielding bunts so many times before your brain goes numb. But as everyone gathers in the warm sunshine this week, you might find more than a few ballplayers who are actually looking forward to the long slog of spring training this time. They may not have realized...

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Scherzer confident ankle will be fine, not ready to talk contract

February 19, 2021, 8:59am

Nationals

Scherzer confident ankle will be fine, not ready to talk contract

Spring training injuries are nothing new for Max Scherzer. Remember the fractured knuckle that forced him to temporarily throw his fastball with a three-finger grip in 2017? Or the sore right side that cropped up last spring as a result of mechanical changes he made? So Scherzer's newest spring ailment - a sprained left ankle suffered two weeks ago - is merely the latest on the list. And if the 36-year-old ace is to be believed, this one won't have any long-lasting negative effects, just as...

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Nats seek normalcy, fun amid camp protocols, restrictions

February 18, 2021, 6:11pm

Nationals

Nats seek normalcy, fun amid camp protocols, restrictions

Sure, there were obvious signs of the difference between this camp and all previous ones. Staffers wore masks. Players tried to keep their distance from each other whenever possible. And, of course, there were no fans or reporters in attendance. All the same, there was an undeniable sense of normalcy Thursday morning when the Nationals opened spring training with their first official pitchers and catchers workout of 2021. Everyone involved knows things still aren't normal. But after getting a...

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Nationals set minor league coaching staffs

February 19, 2021, 4:22pm

Nationals

Now that Major League Baseball has announced minor league affiliations and schedules for the 2021 season, the Nationals took care of one remaining piece of unfinished business Friday afternoon, announcing their minor league coaching staffs for the upcoming campaign. Matt LeCroy will move up a level to manage Triple-A Rochester after spending the 2016-19 seasons as the skipper at Double-A Harrisburg. In his 13th season in the Nationals organization, LeCroy served as minor league quality control...

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Nationals announce minor league coaching staffs

February 19, 2021, 4:02pm

Nationals

The Washington Nationals announced their Minor League managers, coaches and coordinators for the 2021 season on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. * Matt LeCroy will take over as the manager of Triple-A Rochester. The 2021 season will mark his 13th in a coaching role in the Washington Nationals organization. In 2020, LeCroy served as the Minor League Quality Control Coordinator and he most recently managed the Double-A...

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Nats never pursued other third basemen, confident in Kieboom

February 18, 2021, 10:16am

Nationals

Nats never pursued other third basemen, confident in Kieboom

One by one, Mike Rizzo crossed off five must-have items on his offseason wish list this winter. Power bat: Josh Bell. Corner outfielder: Kyle Schwarber. No. 4 starter: Jon Lester. Left-handed reliever: Brad Hand. No. 2 catcher: Alex Avila. Those were the five roster holes the Nationals absolutely needed to fill. And though some may have felt there was a sixth hole that needed to be addressed as well - third base - Rizzo never believed it was necessary to make anything more than the standard...

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Strasburg back to normal, but Scherzer has sprained ankle

February 18, 2021, 8:23am

Nationals

Strasburg back to normal, but Scherzer has sprained ankle

The Nationals ace everyone's been waiting to hear about is fully healthy and throwing in the early days of spring training. The one nobody had been asking about, however, is currently being held back after suffering a minor injury before camp officially began. While Stephen Strasburg has fully recovered from last summer's right wrist surgery and is fully participating at workouts, Max Scherzer is not throwing for now after spraining his left ankle two weeks ago. According to manager Davey...

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Minor league schedules announced by Major League Baseball

February 18, 2021, 9:23am

Nationals

Minor league schedules announced by Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball this morning announced the schedules for the 2021 Minor League Baseball season, the final step in a year's worth of tinkering that saw MLB assume operations for all of its clubs' farm teams. The Rochester Red Wings, the Nationals' new Triple-A affiliate, will begin play on Tuesday, April 6 at Buffalo, the first of six straight road games against the Bisons. Rochester opens its home campaign at Frontier Field on Tuesday, April 13 with the first of six consecutive home...

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Nats invite 71 total players to big league camp

February 17, 2021, 10:53am

Nationals

Nats invite 71 total players to big league camp

The Nationals have invited 32 players on minor league contracts to spring training, bringing their total big league camp roster to a whopping 71. The extensive list of non-roster invitees includes several well-known veterans with prior experience either with the Nationals (Gerardo Parra, Javy Guerra, Aaron Barrett, AdriÃ¡n Sanchez) or other clubs (Luis AvilÃ¡n, T.J. McFarland, Welington Castillo, Jordy Mercer, HernÃ¡n PÃ©rez, Blake Swihart, Yasmany TomÃ¡s). It also includes several of...

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What to expect as Nationals go to work in West Palm Beach

February 17, 2021, 6:31pm

Nationals

The day has arrived. This morning in West Palm Beach, Fla., Nationals pitchers and catchers will take the fields outside The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches as a group and conduct their first official workout of 2021. It's quite all right if you need a moment here to compose yourself, wipe a tear from your eye or just take a few seconds to enjoy the meaning of all this. If it feels like a long time coming, it is. And it's not just that the 2020 season ended 3 1/2 months ago. It's how little...

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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Soto shows his stuff, Zimmerman knows how to finish

February 13, 2021, 4:48am

Nationals

Here in the real world, it's still winter. Short days, cold nights, walking with eyes peeled for any stray patches of ice. But in the Sunshine State, baseball is back and hope springs eternal. Pitchers and catchers have made their way to West Palm Beach, and the Nationals will soon be playing exhibition games and getting ready for both the parent club and its minor league affiliates to begin their seasons. We're not quite there yet, so for a few more Thursdays we'll continue in this space to...

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Spring training storylines: Strasburg's return from injury

February 15, 2021, 6:23pm

Nationals

Spring training storylines: Strasburg's return from injury

Would you believe we've reached the final countdown to spring training? That's right, pitchers and catchers are holding their first official workout in West Palm Beach, Fla., in two days. So it's time to count down the Nationals' top storylines of the spring. We continue today with Stephen Strasburg's return from carpal tunnel surgery ... Stephen Strasburg pitched a career-high 209 innings in 2019, plus another 36 1/3 in the postseason, and the Nationals went on to win the World Series....

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Spring training storylines: Holding camp in a pandemic

February 16, 2021, 6:58pm

Nationals

Spring training storylines: Holding camp in a pandemic

Would you believe we've reached the final countdown to spring training? That's right, pitchers and catchers are holding their first official workout in West Palm Beach, Fla., tomorrow. So it's time to count down the Nationals' top storylines of the spring. We conclude today with the unique challenges the team will face conducting a six-week camp during a pandemic ... The last time the Nationals worked out as a team at their complex in West Palm Beach, a few precautions had been put in place...

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Nationals announce 2021 non-roster invites

February 17, 2021, 11:03am

Nationals

The Washington Nationals announced their 32 non-roster invites for 2021 Spring Training on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. RHP LHP C INF OF Aaron Barrett Luis AvilÃ¡n Welington Castillo Jackson Cluff (L) Gerardo Parra (L) Bryan Bonnell Tim Cate Israel Pineda Drew Mendoza (L) Carlos Tocci Cade Cavalli Matt Cronin Jakson Reetz Jordy Mercer Yasmany...

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Spring training storylines: Another chance for Kieboom

February 14, 2021, 6:16pm

Nationals

Spring training storylines: Another chance for Kieboom

Would you believe we've reached the final countdown to spring training? That's right, pitchers and catchers are holding their first official workout in West Palm Beach, Fla., in three days. So it's time to count down the Nationals' top storylines of the spring. We continue today with the ever-pressing question: Will Carter Kieboom seize the starting job at third base? ... The Nationals had five clear roster needs when the offseason began - first baseman, corner outfielder, No. 2 catcher,...

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New Nats looking forward to playing with young stars

February 16, 2021, 1:34pm

Nationals

New Nats looking forward to playing with young stars

Spring has sprung and a new baseball season is upon us, as Nationals pitchers and catchers officially report to West Palm Beach today for the start of camp. The start of spring training for returning players and coaches means the start of a new pursuit for a championship. For fans, it means the start of another season of cheering on their favorite club. For new players, it means the opportunity to get familiar with new teammates and a new clubhouse. With the additions of Josh Bell, Kyle...

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Spring training storylines: Who's the fifth starter?

February 12, 2021, 6:39pm

Nationals

Spring training storylines: Who's the fifth starter?

Would you believe we've reached the final countdown to spring training? That's right, pitchers and catchers are holding their first official workout in West Palm Beach, Fla., in five days. So it's time to count down the Nationals' top storylines of the spring. We begin today with a familiar battle for the No. 5 starter's job ... So much about this spring will be different for the Nationals, from the new faces in uniform to the new protocols in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But...