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VIERA, Fla. - Javier Vasquez has pulled out of the World Baseball Classic and decided not to pitch in the major leagues this season, according to El Nuevo DÃÂa, a Puerto Rican newspaper.
The Nationals had scouted Vasquez in Puerto Rico this offseason prior to the veteran right-hander suffering a meniscus injury. General manager Mike Rizzo went down to watch Vasquez in person, and had been considering Vasquez as an option to give the Nationals increased starting pitching depth within the...
VIERA, Fla. - The Marlins have arrived at Space Coast Stadium, and after all the roster turnover that team underwent this offseason, Davey Johnson doesn't really know exactly what he's looking at.
"I'm still trying to learn their names," Johnson said. "And I'm not even sure what position the names are going in."
The Marlins will have Donovan Solano starting at second base today -he's the brother of Jhonatan Solano, a catcher in the Nationals' system. Other than that, there are very...
When it comes to baseball's best rotations, the Nationals, Phillies, Giants and Braves are usually the four teams mentioned first. But the team with the deepest rotation is usually overlooked. We're talking about the Reds.
With Aroldis Chapman, a lefty reliever who can throw 100 mph, moving from closer to the rotation, the Reds have six quality starters. Like the Nationals' John Lannan a year ago, one talented Reds pitcher with nothing to prove will start the season at Triple-A.
The Reds...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Jake Arrieta makes his second Grapefruit League start of 2013 today when the Orioles travel to Tampa for a split-squad game against the New York Yankees.
In his debut, Arrieta walked one batter in a scoreless inning Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.
Most of the regulars are staying back for the 7:05 p.m. game against the Boston Red Sox.
Danny Valencia is making his second start at first base after being scheduled to play third base yesterday before rain washed away the...
VIERA, Fla. - After having a rain delay of at least an hour disrupt two of the Nationals' last three games, it looks like we're in the clear for today's 1 p.m. game against the Marlins at Space Coast Stadium.
That is, unless I've jinxed us. If it starts pouring this afternoon, I'll have no one to blame but myself.
Dan Haren will get the ball today for his first spring start in a Nationals uniform. After a recent live batting practice session in which Haren was admittedly a bit too amped...
When the Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Monday with a roster filled with the future of the organization, the team's development staff had to be beaming with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
It wasn't too long ago the Nationals would bring 80 guys to camp and didn't know if they had a handful of major leaguers in that lot.
The entire starting lineup Monday night featured the best the minor league system had to offer, sprinkled with a couple of players already with the...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles were denied the chance to face a left-handed starter yesterday when their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was rained out, but there's always another one right around the corner.
They stepped into the box on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays' Mark Buerhle in Dunedin and on Monday against the New York Yankees' Vidal Nuno in Sarasota. They never saw the Pirates' Wandy Rodriguez yesterday, but they get the Yankees' Nik Turley and the Boston Red Sox's...
Here is a baseball topic worth discussion: How and when did the sport become so obsessed with a pitcher's velocity? I include myself in this and, it seems in the game today, when discussing a pitcher, we focus on it, almost at the exclusion of other aspects of pitching that are important too.
I can remember a day last summer when I had a conversation with someone about this and we both agreed reporters, fans and even the scouts can become too focused on this. A few minutes later I remember...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Rather than start Wednesday night's split-squad game against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium, left-hander Zach Britton will follow Chris Tillman to the mound and work in relief.
Tillman was supposed to start today against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton before heavy rains caused a cancellation and a bit of a rotation shuffle.
Dylan Bundy, also slated to pitch today, is currently scheduled to follow Jake Arrieta Wednesday afternoon against the New York Yankees in...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Had the rain postponed today's game between the Nationals and Braves, Ross Detwiler's pitching schedule would have gotten thrown all out of whack.
Detwiler was scheduled to start today and then get one more outing with the Nats on March 3 before joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic on March 4.
If the rain that fell heavily from about 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. had forced a postponement and not just a one-hour delay, the Nationals would have needed to...