The Nationals have officially placed catcher Sandy Leon on the 15-day DL with a high right ankle sprain and selected catcher Carlos Maldonado from Triple-A Syracuse. Maldonado made it here in time for today's game, although he might be a little bit worn out after making the late-night trip from Columbus, Ohio. To make room for Maldonado on the 40-man roster, the Nats have moved catcher Wilson Ramos from the 15-day to the 60-day DL. Lot of catcher maneuverings today. Here is the Nats'...

The Washington Nationals today selected catcher Carlos Maldonado from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League and placed catcher Sandy Leon on the 15-Day Disabled List with a high ankle sprain (right ankle). The Nationals also transferred catcher Wilson Ramos from the 15- to the 60-Day Disabled List. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. The 33 year-old Maldonado, who will wear No. 49 when he joins the Nationals...

The Nationals are dealing with lots of injuries. I mean, lots and lots of injuries. If you look at the list of Nats players that are down and out, it would be comical if it weren't so brutally sad and frustrating. Let's remind ourselves of these injuries, consider how ridiculous it is that the team is somehow still 22-13 and evaluate the biggest need for the team. Wilson Ramos, Sandy Leon: This is quickly becoming the biggest storyline for the Nats. Catchers are always a commodity for a...

If you were wondering whether last night's performance by Henry Rodriguez - in which the righty walked the bases loaded while leading by three runs in the ninth - changed Davey Johnson's view on how Rodriguez will be used, the answer is a simple one. Nope. Within a five-minute press conference after last night's game, Johnson referred to either himself or the Nationals as a team having "confidence" in Rodriguez four separate times. "I went up to him after the game, I said, 'Henry,...

Like some of you, I am having a feeling that the Orioles are teetering on the brink a bit right now. You have to wonder if the club hasn't hit a bump in the road that might turn into a longer tailspin now that the starting pitching has started to struggle and the team has had to make so many recent roster moves. Some of that just has to be catching up with this club. In the last nine games, the Orioles have just two quality starts and a starting pitcher ERA of 7.25 in that stretch. Yet we...

Manager Buck Showalter said he found four teams, including the Red Sox, who have more players on the disabled list than the Orioles. But did anyone exceed the Orioles' 22 player moves in one week? Joel Pineiro is scratched from his start at Triple-A Norfolk and isn't listed among their upcoming starters, and I immediately wonder if he's headed to Camden Yards. Dana Eveland tweets that he flew back to Norfolk and then drove to Baltimore, and I immediately assume that the Orioles changed...

With it being a Monday night and rain falling throughout the afternoon and into the evening, there wasn't a huge crowd on hand at Nationals Park Monday. But in the third inning, when Bryce Harper bounded into the dugout after his first major league home run, those in attendance stayed on their feet, kept clapping and called for the 19-year-old rookie to take a bow. It was all set up to be a great Nationals moment, similar to the one Stephen Strasburg had when he took his curtain call out of...

It was the close of a miserable 2008 campaign. The Nationals were in the midst of losing 14 of their final 17 games en route to dismal 59-102 overall mark. In late September 2008, the San Diego Padres traveled to D.C. for a three-game set against the Nationals. The Padres swept the Nationals - winning 11-6 in 14 innings, 6-1 and 6-2 during a weekend series from Sept. 19-21, 2008. Following that sweep, the Padres went 2-4 the rest if the way. The Nationals went 1-4. San Diego finished...

If anything good came out of tonight's start for Jason Hammel, it was the condition of his right knee. "Knee is good to go," he said. "That's a positive, I guess. No setbacks." Hammel took the brunt of the blame for tonight's 8-5 Orioles loss. "Honestly, we should have won the ballgame," he said. "I let them back into the game twice. A 2-0 lead and then guys come back and get me some runs to get me ahead again, and I gave them right back. Early in the game, very much in command,...

A player's major league debut is supposed to be a thrilling time in his life, a day he'll never forget. Unfortunately, years from now, Sandy Leon will not look back too fondly on his first-ever game in the big leagues. Manager Davey Johnson announced after today's game that Leon suffered a high right ankle sprain when he was run into at the plate by Padres third baseman Chase Headley in the fourth inning, an injury which will land Leon on the DL just a day after he was officially activated...