nationals buzz

Ramos returns for finale vs. Brewers

July 04, 2013, 5:53am

Wilson Ramos has been activated from the 15-day disabled list and will catch rookie Taylor Jordan for today's 11:05 a.m. finale of a four-game series against the Brewers at Nationals Park. Ramos has been out since May 15 with a left hamstring strain, an injury which has twice landed him on the DL this season. Today's lineup sees shortstop Ian Desmond move into the second spot in the order, with right fielder Jayson Werth dropped to the six-hole. The Nationals will don patriotic...

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Rachel Levitin: Continuing my Fourth of July tradition at Nats Park

July 04, 2013, 7:28am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Continuing my Fourth of July tradition at Nats Park

Happy Fourth of July from Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.! It wasn't always the case, but attending baseball games at Nats Park on Independence Day has become a tradition of mine. While I've lived in the District since 2005, I've been able to watch the Nationals as they've developed since their inception. It's been a staple of my summers. Just as being at Nats Park to watch baseball in the nation's capital on the day in which we celebrate our country's birth, heading down to the...

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David Huzzard: Too early to judge impact of Harper's return

July 03, 2013, 5:25am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Too early to judge impact of Harper's return

Baseball is not a momentum sport. Score 13 one night, 10 the next and then get shut out. The only thing predictable about baseball is that on any given night it is unpredictable. The best player on the team will go 0-for-4, while a fill-in scrub has a career night, and all of this is why no one analyzing the game puts any merit into what happens in one night, one week or even one month. For three months now, the Nationals have hovered around .500. They struggled in April because Adam LaRoche,...

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Ted Leavengood: On NL mounds, youth being served

July 02, 2013, 6:32am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: On NL mounds, youth being served

Watching Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler pitch for the New York Mets this past weekend, one has to be concerned about the quality arms that are sprouting like weeds around the National League. The Nationals still have the best threesome of starting pitchers in the NL, but the performance gap is narrowing. The Nationals avoided Jeff Locke in their first series against the Pirates, but he is right behind Harvey in the ERA race. Harvey leads all NL pitchers so far in 2013 with a 2.00 ERA to Locke's...

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Marty Niland: At the midpoint, a mid-season Nationals report card

July 01, 2013, 5:01am

Nationals

The halfway point of the season is an ideal time to take stock of what the Nationals have accomplished so far and what they need to improve. Here are the grades so far: Starting Pitching: B-plus. Jordan Zimmermann (11-3, 2.28 ERA) is the main reason the Nats are still in contention in the National League East. He has accounted for 11 of their 41 wins and only 29 of their 283 earned runs. He is unbeatable (8-0, 1.09 ERA) at home and has given up more than three earned runs only twice this...

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Harper's rehab moving to Double-A tonight, nine innings possible

June 27, 2013, 6:38am

Nationals

Harper's rehab moving to Double-A tonight, nine innings possible

If you believe what you read on Twitter, the high Single-A Potomac phase of Bryce Harper's minor league injury rehabilitation assignment is done. The Double-A Bowie Baysox, an affiliate of the Orioles, have tweeted that Harper will continue his recovery from left knee bursitis by playing for the Harrisburg Senators tonight and Saturday at Prince George's Stadium. Want to see Harper for yourself? Just follow the handy link for tickets. Nationals star Bryce Harper is scheduled to play in...

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Dave Nichols: Fifth spot in rotation a headache for Nationals

June 26, 2013, 11:46am

Nationals

In no uncertain terms, Dan Haren has been an unmitigated flop for the Nationals this season. The 32-year-old veteran right-hander, signed to a one-year, $13 million contract over the offseason, has shown moments of competency, as in his four-hit, one-run win over Atlanta on May 2. But more often than not, he's been pounded by opposing batters, having lost his last six decisions. The Nats have not won a game he's started in his last eight starts. The move to officially place Haren on the...

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David Huzzard: For Nationals, winning streak is inevitable

June 26, 2013, 5:27am

Nationals

The Nationals are going to go on a run. Every team gets at least one. The Houston Astros this season have an eight-game winning streak. The 2009 Nationals twice had a winning streak of at least eight games. In baseball, every team gets hot at least once during the season. Every team gets to enjoy at least one long winning streak. The key for the Nationals is to stay around .500 until it comes, and it may be coming sooner than people think. Talk to people about any baseball team and they will...

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Ted Leavengood: The ugly downside of the nouveau riche

June 25, 2013, 5:40am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: The ugly downside of the nouveau riche

The Nationals front office wants to do something about the mess the team finds itself in. But where do they turn? Tom Boswell on Monday made the case that the Nationals have joined the club of elite teams with money enough to buy their way out of the jam. Washington has been a huge untapped media market for decades and one lonely winning season is all it took to bring baseball fans out of the woodwork in D.C. Average attendance in D.C .is almost 34,000 per game. Fans are coming out because...

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Rachel Levitin: Desmond solidifying his status as Nats' leader

June 20, 2013, 5:08am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Desmond solidifying his status as Nats' leader

In the early days of his career with the Nationals, shortstop Ian Desmond racked up more errors than web gems. Presently, he's solidifying himself as a leader in the Nats clubhouse. It's a role that seems to suit him now that he's growing into himself as a player and maturing as an adult. With the heart of the Washington batting order not doing its job on a consistent basis and the Nats struggling to find a stream of positive momentum, Desmond is leading this team. Fresh off an 11th-inning...

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Through the Vine

June 18, 2013, 4:53pm

Nationals

With the All-Star break just a little less than a month away, we're encouraging fans to vote so that D.C. is well-represented at Citi Field on July 16. One way that we're doing so is through one of our new favorite social media sites, Vine. Be sure to give @masnNationals a follow, as we being to upload behind-the-scenes looks of Nats Park, MASN contests and more! And while you're at it, be sure to vote Nats. Voting ends July 4.

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Ted Leavengood: It's going to be a long and bumpy ride

June 18, 2013, 5:49am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: It's going to be a long and bumpy ride

Chad Tracy could be a poster child for this season. He has been down so long, that any kind of up looks awfully good. One wonders if the high expectations for a team still lost in the desert, are weighing this whole enterprise down. Would that Tracy home run have been enough last season? Tracy took out Jonathan Papelbon, which is no mean feat. It was Papelbon's first blown save of the season. But only scoring two runs against John Lannan, that is a mean feat. It is hard to watch Lannan...

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Marty Niland: "Can't anybody here play this game?"

June 17, 2013, 5:09am

Nationals

Marty Niland: "Can't anybody here play this game?"

As the Nationals struggled again to bring runners home in their 2-0 loss in Cleveland on Sunday, their fans must have been fuming. With apologies to Casey Stengel, or whoever initiated the quote that became the title of Jimmy Breslin's book chronicling the 1962 Mets, the question, "Can't anybody here play this game?" comes to mind. Eleven times, Washington hitters came to bat with at least one runner in scoring position, and eleven times, they failed to get the runner home. Four of...

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Strasburg departs after five innings of one-hit ball (Nats lose 2-0)

June 16, 2013, 10:00am

Nationals

Strasburg departs after five innings of one-hit ball (Nats lose 2-0)

That lat strain that sent Stephen Strasburg to the disabled list seems a distant memory. Through three innings at Progressive Field, the Nationals right-hander has yet to allow a hit, walked two and struck out two in a scoreless tie. Strasburg has thrown 47 pitches, but has only 25 strikes - an unusually high rate of balls for the power pitcher. He's got five outs on ground balls. Now the Nationals have to generate some offense. They had Anthony Rendon on second in the first on a one-out...

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Gonzalez holding form against Tribe (Indians walk off with 2-1 win)

June 14, 2013, 4:22pm

Nationals

Gonzalez holding form against Tribe (Indians walk off with 2-1 win)

Gio Gonzalez is very familiar with the Indians after pitching the first four seasons of his career in the American League. In fact, the Tribe is a favorite opponent of the lefty. He really likes pitching at Progressive Field. His all-time mark of 5-0 with an 0.72 ERA against Cleveland includes a 4-0 record and 0.68 ERA on the shores of the Cuyahoga River. That's not just good, that's domination. Gonzalez is through four innings of Friday's interleague start against the Indians, and so far...

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Rachel Levitin: Time to focus on the 2013 Nationals' positives over negatives

June 13, 2013, 5:30am

Nationals

With a win against the Colorado Rockies last night, the Nationals are back at .500 with a 32-32 record and are six games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East. There's been a lot of talk about expectations for the 2013 Nationals and how they're not living up to the alleged hype. Instead of getting bogged down in that, it may be best to realign expectations moving forward for the rest of the season. It's time to focus on what is working as opposed to what's not. Ian...

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Space Coast Stadium beer vendor - yes, that one - coming north

June 12, 2013, 6:43pm

Nationals

Space Coast Stadium beer vendor - yes, that one - coming north

You might not know Vincent Rainey's name, but you know him - well, you know him if you've ever watched a spring training game on MASN, caught a broadcast on the radio or taken in a Grapefruit League contest at Space Coast Stadium. He's the beer guy with the phrase and unique delivery that pays dividends. In the middle of an inning, you'll hear him - above the din of the crowd, the chatter on the field, the fire engines screaming from the nearby station. "Ice ... cold ... beer," he...

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Go head-to-head with Ryan Zimmerman in the CareFirst Fan Challenge

June 10, 2013, 4:04pm

Nationals

Go head-to-head with Ryan Zimmerman in the CareFirst Fan Challenge

So maybe you can't knock 95 mph fastballs out of Nats Park. Can't glove line drives at the hot corner like Ryan Zimmerman either? Well, that's OK because MASN's giving you the chance to challenge Zimmerman at your own game. With the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Ryan Zimmerman Fan Challenge, we're giving you the chance to submit a video to our Facebook page challenging the third baseman to anything. Think you can eat more hot wings than him in a minute? Can you paint a better picture...

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Ted Leavengood: The third No. 1 truly arrives

June 11, 2013, 6:08am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: The third No. 1 truly arrives

Anthony Rendon leapt high into the air to snare a line drive during Sunday's game. It was not until the slow motion replay was available that the athletic nature of the play could be appreciated. Rendon was easily three feet or more off the ground when the ball settled into his outstretched mitt. His standing leap was one that most basketball players would covet. It was the kind of play that Danny Espinosa has been making routinely at second base for the past three seasons. When Rendon made...

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Marty Niland: Werth the straw that stirs Nats' drink

June 10, 2013, 7:37am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Werth the straw that stirs Nats' drink

The Nationals have been hit hard in recent weeks by injuries to key players like Bryce Harper, Wilson Ramos, Ross Detwiler and Stephen Strasburg. But perhaps the most important injury to hit the Nats this season was the hamstring injury that kept Jayson Werth out of the lineup from May 3 until last Tuesday's game against the Mets. The Nats missed not only his talent on the field, but his leadership in the clubhouse. Now it's apparent by the team's improved intensity that they're reaping the...