As we count down the final days of 2017, 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. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 7: Bryce Harper's knee injury As he took the field on Aug. 12 - after waiting out a 3-hour, 1-minute rain delay - Bryce Harper was about three-quarters of the way through a potential MVP...

Happy 2018, Nationals fans! As the calendar flips to a new year, we're that much closer baseball returning. The countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach is winding down. For our first 2018 Throwback Thursday moment as part of our "Nationals Classics" airing on MASN, we're taking you back to a grand old time down in Atlanta from April 19, as Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman put on a show. Harper, who continued his torrid start to the season, homered in each of his first...

The rotation was the Orioles' primary concern before and during the 2017 season and it remains long after Rays reliever Chaz Roe struck out rookie Trey Mancini for the final out at Tropicana Field. It dominates, but it doesn't distract. There's other serious business that needs to get done before opening day. Try creating a mock lineup and count the number of left-handed hitters in it. Let's put a right-hander on the mound for the opposition. Let's try to stay in step with manager Buck...

Happy New Year, everyone! As we inch closer and closer to Spring Training and the 2018 season we'll continue to take at more memorable throwback moments from last year to get you through the next few weeks. One of the best parts of the 2017 season was MLB's new player-focused initiative, Players Weekend. With customized alternate jerseys, nicknames and commemorative patches, players got the chance to show us all a different, more personal side of themselves that they don't normally get to...

Left-hander Matt Grace made quite a transformation in his role out of the bullpen in 2017. He faced lefties and righties, came at different points in the game and even started a game at San Diego, providing a versatility on the roster that was close to unmatched. But that was no big deal to Grace, who didn't appear in a game until April 26 and bounced around in May before finally staying on the Nationals roster beginning with a June 17 game. Hit total usage was less than seven innings in May...

According to MLBTradeRumors.com, this time last year, 15 of its top 20 free agents had signed. This year that number is five of 20. Why have the signings been slow to develop? When the situations with Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton got resolved, some felt there would be a flurry of signings to follow. It didn't happen. Some thought the Winter Meetings would be active with signings. Nope. We are closing in on six weeks to spring training and the movement has been slower than Matt Wieters...

As we count down the final days of 2017, 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. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, beginning right now with ... No. 8: The bullpen makeover The Nationals cruised through the first half of the 2017 season. They took over first place in the National League East Division on April 18 and never gave it back. They carried...

Another day has passed for the Orioles with Manny Machado at third base, three openings in the rotation and the same need for a left-handed bat or two. A veteran catcher and utility player also haven't been crossed off the list. This is going to be a process. Here are three more pitchers worthy of a blog discussion while waiting for the hot stove to no longer feel cool to the touch: Orioles manager Buck Showalter predicted early in 2017 that pitcher Jesus Liranzo could have an impact on the...

Catching up on more news during my vacation last week, I see that ESPN unveiled roughly one-half of its "Sunday Night Baseball" slate for the 2018 season. And lo and behold, the Nationals are actually prominently featured in a manner we haven't seen before by the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The Nats were selected to play in three of the first seven "Sunday Night Baseball" games of the season, including the April 8 finale of their opening home series against the Mets. They'll also appear...

It was interesting to read a report from MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko a few days ago about the Orioles approaching Zach Britton earlier this year to gauge his interest in returning to a starter's role. It seems Britton was just fine with staying as a closer and all of this happened before his recent Achilles surgery, which will delay his start to the 2018 season. While the Orioles seem very unlikely to move a reliever into a starter's role for 2018, I have often thought the reliever best...