As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one per day, continuing with ... No. 4: Davey Martinez's first season as manager Whether you were a fan of his hiring or not, you had to admit Davey Martinez was thrust into a situation last year that was more likely to end...

As the Orioles look to build a consistent winner at the big league level from pretty much the ground up, developing solid pitchers will be a key to that. Maybe the key to that. With Mike Elias, Sig Mejdal and minor league pitching coordinator Chris Holt all coming from Houston, you have to like the Orioles' chances here. In the 2018 season, Houston's four full-season minor league affiliates all led their respective leagues in strikeouts and three of the four also rated first in their league...

Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter always said it's a mistake to take over a losing team and assume that everything is wrong and needs to be fixed or replaced. It wasn't his approach in the summer of 2010, as the Orioles were continuing a streak of losing seasons that reached 14, and Brandon Hyde won't make those assumptions after 115 losses fueled a teardown. "No doubt," he said last week on 105.7 The Fan. "I have a ton of respect for Buck and he's got a ton of experience in that, so...

The Nationals certainly hope that some of their cache of left-handed starters can make their way to the big club over the next few seasons to help bolster the rotation. Seth Romero and Tim Cate - the Nats' No. 6 prospect, according to Baseball America - come to mind. The Nats took Cate in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. The 21-year-old from Manchester, Conn. demonstrated his ability with solid performances for the University of Connecticut over a pair of seasons. Cate,...

As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one each of the next five days, beginning with ... No. 5: The All-Star Game in D.C. From the day Nationals Park opened, Mark Lerner lobbied Bud Selig to give an All-Star Game to Washington. It took a decade, not to mention an...

As the Orioles look to hire and finalize their coaching staff soon, the ability of those coaches to embrace analytics and pass the data on to the players in a useful manner will be a key. It may be the key factor in which coaches Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hires for his first staff. During the recent Winter Meetings, I asked general manager Mike Elias about this. On that staff, are certain coaches more important in disseminating such information? It stands to reason the pitching coach and...

One of the common refrains in baseball is how hustle never goes into a slump. New Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is a firm believer. The Orioles won't present a roster with the same level of talent as the contenders. That's not how a rebuild works. It won't bring the same experience. It won't include the same number of elite prospects. But there's no reason why other teams should be able to outwork the Orioles, to put forth more effort. Jogging up the line on a ground ball, conceding the...

The Nationals went shopping early this winter. They made a bunch of moves in November and early December to address most of their glaring roster needs, leaving only a few remaining items left to cross off during this holiday season. But they're not entirely done yet. There are still acquisitions to be made, vacant positions to be filled. And, of course, there's the biggest prize of all still out there, unsure whether he'll be returning to Washington in 2019 or heading elsewhere for the next...

For Trey Mancini to turn around his season, he had to go back to hitting the ball the other way. The change in direction returned him to normal. Or as close as he was going to get this summer. The contrasting splits on Mancini are as pronounced as anyone in 2018, though he reversed Dylan Bundy and finished on a much higher note. After placing third in Rookie of the Year voting in the American League the previous summer, Mancini slashed .216/.292/.363 with 12 home runs over 91 games in the first...

This is an important year for the No. 7 player in Baseball America's list of the Nationals' top 10 prospects. Talented left-hander Seth Romero had issues that hampered his career at the University of Houston and slowed his start with the Nats after he was drafted as a first-round pick in 2017. But as national writer Carlos Collazo notes, there is no denying the potential for the 22-year-old Romero and the Nationals are being patient right now, hoping he can get it right and demonstrate his...