We continue today a periodic look at the state of the Nationals roster at the point spring training was suspended and project how things may look whenever baseball is played again. Up next is the catching corps ... As a whole, Nationals catchers were among the most productive in the majors last season. They totaled 28 homers (seventh-most in baseball), 100 RBIs (third-most) and a .743 OPS that represented a 119-point upgrade from the 2018 season. The club has every reason to believe this group...

One way to see it was that a former player abandoned the interests of the current baseball players. That is probably how most took the comments on ESPN yesterday by former New York Yankee Mark Teixeira, someone not very well liked by Orioles fans. The Severna Park native essentially sided with the owners in what appears to be a brewing dispute with players as the sides try to hammer out plans to have a 2020 season. Owners have reportedly approved a proposal of 82 games with seven playoff teams...

Young students should be filing into Camden Yards this morning for the annual "Weather Day" event at the ballpark. A chance to watch baseball after they learn about barometric pressure. Sun is in the forecast with temperatures in the upper 60s. It's been a little chilly for the second week of May, but no one would be complaining. The weather doesn't really matter. We're stuck at home, wondering whether there's going to be a season. So yes, it's "Whether Day." My optimism fluctuates...

When you watch a baseball game - whether in person or from the comfort of your basement recliner - there's a certain end game at play. Simply put, you want your team to win. You don't really care how they do it, as long as they have more runs than the other guys at the end of the game. Sometimes it takes nine innings, sometimes more. Sometimes it's a stellar pitching performance that does the trick, other times it's a fortuitous piece of offense that's the catalyst. Sometimes, weird things...

Flash back to May 9-12, 2019, as the Nationals continued their long road trip with a four-game set against the defending National League champion Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. Today marks the anniversary to the end of that series, with the Nats coming home with some added confidence that they could hang with the big boys in the NL, even though they were not at full strength. It was the introduction of veteran Gerardo Parra as a member of the Nationals. His grand slam on May 11, 2019, propelled the...

Major League Baseball owners reportedly agreed Monday to a proposal for a 2020 season, one that would include an abbreviated second round of spring training in June, then a regular season of roughly 80 games that would run from July through September, then an expanded postseason that includes two more wild card teams in each league but could still be wrapped up around Halloween. Sounds great, right? Our long national nightmare is almost over! The only thing the league needs now is approval of...

If every at-bat and every swing from Chris Davis in spring training led to a series of dissections, discussions and debates, Rio Ruiz's trips to the plate by comparison seemed to be shrouded in secrecy. The player with the second-highest average on the team and the third-highest on-base and slugging percentages didn't get nearly as much attention. There isn't a dome at Ed Smith Stadium, but it's possible to operate beneath a cone of silence. The spring also was important for Ruiz, who...

If you can get up at (or stay up until) 4 a.m., you can now watch live baseball. It's on the tube at that hour because it's coming to you live from South Korea, where COVID-19 precautions have eased up enough to permit the Korea Baseball Organization to play ball, albeit without fans in the stands. It's a little surreal, watching players you don't know in ad-emblazoned batting helmets and umpires in surgical masks, all rattling around in an empty ballpark at a time of day when the vast...

If reports of the latest proposal to play Major League Baseball in 2020 are true, the Orioles may have a very tough schedule. Whether it be 78 gmes, 82 games or some other number. The latest plan reportedly calls for teams to only play in their geographical region. The Orioles would play against teams in the American League East and the National League East. The same would be true for the Central and West in both leagues. The six divisions would remain intact, but instead of the Orioles playing...

As part of its ongoing COVID19 relief and recovery efforts, No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America, and Nationals Philanthropies, the official charitable arm of the Washington Nationals, have issued matching grants of $25,000 to Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) and Prince George's County Public Schools (MD) for a total of $50,000 to each school district. These funds will help Fairfax County and Prince George's County Public Schools make sure kids stay...