Right-hander Lucas Giolito is making good progress in his first full season of pro baseball with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Nationals. The Nationals' top pitching prospect is 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA in eight games for the GCL Nats. The 19-year-old has thrown back-to-back five inning starts. He said that first start back from Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on July 3 worked on the nerves a bit because of such a long layoff since high school baseball. "It was a little weird at...

The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms on a professional contract with international free agent third baseman Anderson Franco. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals Director of International Scouting Johnny DiPuglia made the joint announcement. Franco, who was the top unsigned international free agent according to Baseball America, projects as an athletic right-handed power hitter. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder from the Dominican Republic...

The Nationals have been hesitant to dish out large contracts to international free agents since the Esmailyn Gonzalez incident, but they made a splash in the international signing pool today, signing 16-year-old Dominican third baseman Anderson Franco for $900,000, according to Baseball America's Ben Badler. Franco was ranked as the 29th-best international prospect in this year's class by Baseball America. He became eligible to sign today, which is his 16th birthday. Quite a birthday...

What's been different over the last six days that has allowed the Nationals to rattle off five straight wins following an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the Braves? Well, part of what's been different has been the competition. The Braves have the best winning percentage in baseball, while the Phillies and Giants are a combined 29 games under .500. That'll certainly play a factor. Outside of that, however, different Nats players seem to have different theories for what's...

When it comes time to reflect on the Nationals' 2013 season, my thought is that this one will be all about managing expectations. After last night's victory against the San Francisco Giants - the Nats' fifth win in a row - I found myself on the Metro amid the postgame foot traffic. While sitting there, I gathered nuggets from people's conversations and took notice of those who were wearing curly W attire. The general consensus, as far as I was able to infer, is that the big issue people...

A whole lot will be written and even more will be said following the Orioles' recent 4-4 road trip to the West Coast. There was a whole lot that went down on the field that led to a 4-1 start to the swing but saw it finish with three devastating walk-off losses to the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Let this be a bit of a break from all of the on-the-field talk and chatter. I was able to attend four out of the eight games on the trip and had an outstanding experience everywhere I went. As an...

With 44 home runs, Chris Davis now ranks fourth on the Orioles' single-season list. He is chasing Brady Anderson's 50 homers in 1996, Frank Robinson with 49 in 1966 and Jim Gentile, who hit 46 in 1961. Gentile, had a breakout season in 1961 and that was quite a year for Major League Baseball. While Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle of the Yankees were chasing Babe Ruth's all-time single-season home run record of 60 (which Maris would top by hitting 61), a young first baseman in Baltimore was...

I hadn't intended to write about Jim Johnson this morning. The subject was covered quite thoroughly again yesterday after his third consecutive blown save. But I'll offer my two cents here before finding another topic. First of all, anyone suggesting that the Orioles should release Johnson - or cut him, as if it were the NFL - needs to get a clue. There's no reason to do it and he's too good for such treatment, no matter how much he's scuffling at the moment. At his best, Johnson has...

There were actually a few factors working against Denard Span as he tried to track down Hunter Pence's liner in the left-center field gap with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. First of all, Span was shading Pence towards right-center field, increasing the amount of ground he had to cover in order to prevent the ball from dropping in, tying the game and possibly giving the Giants the lead. On top of that, Span took a false step when the ball was first hit, coming in a bit before...

Davey Johnson didn't just let out a figurative sigh of relief after Denard Span made a game-saving catch in the top of the ninth, laying out in the left-center field gap to rob Hunter Pence of a hit that would have at least tied the game and possibly given the Giants a lead. Johnson literally let out a sigh of relief as he met with reporters following the Nationals' 6-5 win, their fifth straight victory. "Whew. Heck of a play," Johnson said. "I didn't think he was going to get to it....