TORONTO - A very pleasant good day to you from Rogers Centre, where the Nationals are making their first appearance since 2012, when their 19-year-old slugger was asked a clown question by a Canadian reporter. What does this weekend have in store for the lads in curly W caps? The Nats face a reeling Blue Jays club that opened the season 13-6 and has since gone 17-32, including a three-game sweep at Tampa Bay to begin this week. They'll hope to take advantage of that, and the generally friendly...

The MASN broadcast booth will have a familiar face in an unfamiliar role this weekend as the team heads north of the border. Instead of the usual duo of Bob Carpenter and F.P. Santangelo calling the Nationals' three games against the Blue Jays, former Nats player and local fan favorite Michael Morse will take on the role of color analyst alongside play-by-play man Carpenter. Santangelo will be in California for his son's college graduation. Morse, 36, has begun transitioning his career from...

The Nationals have been scuffling thus far in June with a 5-5 record. In particular, the offense has been struggling, scoring only 39 runs in those 10 games. And if you eliminate their 11-run explosion last week against the Rays, the Nationals are averaging only 3.11 runs per game in June. While it takes many hitters collectively struggling at the same time to produce these results, the Nationals catchers have been particularly dreadful recently. Starting catcher Matt Wieters was having a solid...

Through 67 games this season, the Orioles pitching staff has totaled 32 quality starts. They rank seventh in the major leagues in that category. If you had told me back in February that the O's rotation would rank in the top third of the league in quality starts in 2018 after finishing 27th a season ago, I would have predicted a playoff team with a serious chance of winning the American League East. Who saw this coming? Instead, the Orioles have a winning percentage below .300. They are 27 1/2...

Manager: John Gibbons (11th season) Record: 30-38 Last 10 games: 5-5 Players to watch: INF Yangervis Solarte (.252, 12 HR, 37 RBIs), RF Teoscar Hernández (11 HR, 31 RBIs), 3B Josh Donaldson (.234, 5 HR, 16 RBIs). RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.66 ERA), RHP Tyler Clippard (4-2, 3.34 ERA) Series vs. Nationals: 1st meeting (2-1 in 2015) Pitching Probables: May 28: RHP Aaron Sanchez (3-5) vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez, 7:07 p.m., MASNMay 29: RHP Marco Estrada (3-6) vs. RHP Max Scherzer, 4:07 p.m., MASNMay 30:...

Fans, reporters and even baseball executives can debate the stats in the game - advanced, traditional or any others. There is probably no one stat that summarizes a player's contribution in a nice and neat number, although Wins Above Replacement and others attempt to do that. It at least gives us a framework for some level of a comparison. But for an admitted somewhat simplistic look at Orioles players and comparing their offense from 2017 to 2018, we could look at OPS+. It provides a...

Getting a feel for Danny Valencia's placement in the lineup isn't as simple as it used to be back when he was typecast. An opposing left-handed starter usually worked in Valencia's favor in a platoon-type role. He mashed them. It didn't say so on his business card, but word spreads quickly in baseball. The Orioles didn't sign Valencia, in his second tour with the team, to be an everyday player or to become their cleanup hitter. Little has gone according to plan this season, but Valencia is...

TORONTO - Some Friday morning news and notes for you as the Nationals prepare to play their first series north of the border since a 19-year-old Bryce Harper was asked a "clown question" back in 2012 ... * Erick Fedde's second big league start of the season was less impressive than his first start, but this one was a far tougher assignment. After getting his feet wet against a Padres lineup that scores 3.87 runs per game (sixth-worst in the majors), the rookie right-hander had to go up...

The Washington Nationals announced the signing of a two-year Player Development Contract extension with the Short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays on Thursday. The extension, which begins in 2019, runs through the 2020 season. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Vice President and Senior Advisor to the General Manager Bob Boone, Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Harris and Director of Player Development Mark...

A new set of baseball trading cards which feature the all-time legendary trading card lineups for all 30 Major League Baseball teams are being unveiled all season long. The Nationals' all-time legendary trading card lineup according to Topps and Beckett Media was recently revealed, and includes starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, relief pitcher Chad Cordero, catcher Wilson Ramos, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Jose Vidro, third baseman Anthony Rendon, shortstop Trea Turner, left...