nationals buzz

Harper only Nats player in NL All-Star running

June 03, 2014, 11:06am

It's a good thing All-Star voting continues until July 3. Why? The Nationals are barley visible in the most recently released All-Star balloting figures. In the most recent results, Bryce Harper is the only Nats player with a shot at being in the National League's starting All-Star lineup, and it's not looking promising. Harper sits in 15th place among NL outfielders with 314,860 votes, which is understandable considering he has only played in 22 games this season due to surgery to repair a...

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Stuart Wallace: Fister's fielding continues to back his pitching approach

June 03, 2014, 5:00am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Fister's fielding continues to back his pitching approach

As a pitcher not blessed with the high-octane fastball of some of his Nationals starting rotation cohorts, Doug Fister must do a lot of things, well, sometimes perfectly in order to succeed. Much of this success, which he appears to have finally found as a Washington National after a brief convalescence for a back injury, lies in his ability to locate his pitches on the corners and for these pitches to have movement, not so much in order to generate swings and misses, but to generate contact....

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Harper, Rendon have ground to make up in NL All-Star balloting

May 28, 2014, 1:15pm

Nationals

Harper, Rendon have ground to make up in NL All-Star balloting

The first update on the National League All-Star voting was released on Wednesday, and two Nationals are in the running for starting gigs on July 15. As voted by fans, Nats second baseman Anthony Rendon and Nats outfielder Bryce Harper are both in the mix on the first ballot, but they have some ground to make up before being pinned as NL starters. Rendon sits in fourth place among NL second basemen with 183,600 votes. He trails the Phillies' Chase Utley (509,390 votes), the Dodgers' Dee...

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Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers

June 02, 2014, 4:54am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers

Yu Darvish's performance on Sunday (five hits in eight innings with 12 strikeouts) certainly qualifies as one of the better games ever pitched against the Nationals, but this was also his first time facing them. Luckily for Washington fans, Darvish plays in the American League, so as Bob Carpenter might say, they'll "see Yu later" (most likely in three years). But over the past few weeks, some players who seem to make a regular living off the Nats have been up to their old tricks, turning a...

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David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers

May 29, 2014, 4:37am

Nationals

David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers

The trade deadline is a little over two months away, and as with anything in baseball when there is a deadline, nothing will happen until it is upon us. With the Nationals two games under .500 and falling further out of the playoff race every day, the question of if the Nats are going to be sellers at the trade deadline should be asked, and if they are a seller, who could go? The most obvious candidates to be traded are the veterans in the last year of guaranteed club control: Adam LaRoche,...

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Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?

May 27, 2014, 6:41pm

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?

Tuesday night's rainout that left a game postponed between the Nationals and Miami Marlins gave a lackluster D.C. offense a night off from its recent mediocrity. No matter the combination manager Matt Williams attempts to string together this season, a list of injuries to key pieces of the Nats' offensive puzzle is plaguing this team. June is days away, the starting rotation is down a solid lefty with Gio Gonzalez on the disabled list and there's no set timeline regarding third baseman...

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Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form

May 27, 2014, 5:37am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form

Tyler Clippard's start to the season was about as unceremonious and odious as they come: Through 6 2/3 innings over seven appearances through April 11, the typically steadfast Nationals reliever scuffled through two home runs, a blown save, a 5.40 ERA and a minus-1.18 RE24. This had many shaking their heads in disbelief, calling for his demotion or at least questioning whether four consecutive seasons of at least 70 innings of relief had finally caught up with the hurler. Victims to small...

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David Huzzard: Nationals reaching a critical juncture

May 22, 2014, 5:05am

Nationals

There is some solace in the fact that a team that has had its opening day lineup on the field for all of three innings and has relied largely on backups is only 1 1/2 games back of the division lead, but how much longer can backups be expected to tread water? The injury to Wilson Ramos was one the Nationals were built to withstand. They acquired Jose Lobaton expressly for that purpose. The loss of Ryan Zimmerman was a blow that was not going to be easily recovered from. Zimmerman was off to a...

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Stuart Wallace: Examining the changes leading to Storen's resurgence

May 20, 2014, 6:32am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Examining the changes leading to Storen's resurgence

It has been a superlative-laden start to 2014 for reliever Drew Storen - and a start that has also seen the righthander's performance at an all-time high. While the sample size is still small--15 1/3 innings pitched--the hot start has Storen amassing a 30.9 percent strikeout rate, 3.6 percent walk rate, 93 percent left on base percentage and a 2.10 fielding independent pitching, all of which surpass his current career bests in each statistic. It's this sort of lights-out pitching from Storen...

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This is Stephen Strasburg: Nats ace stars in SportsCenter ad

May 19, 2014, 6:24am

Nationals

This is Stephen Strasburg: Nats ace stars in SportsCenter ad

Even if you're not a hardcore sports fan, chances are pretty high that you've seen a "This is SportsCenter" ad because, frankly, they are hilarious. We have seen Rafael Nadal, Rickie Fowler, Rajon Rondo and other athlete make appearances in the spots. The latest star to make an appearance? The Nationals' Stephen Strasburg. We won't give the whole commercial away, but we'll let you know that it involves glazed turkey tenderloins. Watch it for yourself below!

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Hide your Lean Cuisines from Stephen Strasburg

May 19, 2014, 6:02am

Nationals

Hide your Lean Cuisines from Stephen Strasburg

Why should Bryce Harper have all the fun? ESPN today unveiled a new "This is SportsCenter" commercial featuring Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. Like most of the network's spots, it has a humorous bent, placing usually stoic Strasburg in the ESPN cafeteria while anchor Bram Weinstein rifles through the refrigerator searching for his Lean Cuisine. What happened to Weinstein's glazed turkey tenderloins (words I never thought I would type when I got into this crazy business back in the...

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Marty Niland: With rotation dinged again, Nats need quality starts - and good luck

May 19, 2014, 5:03am

Nationals

Marty Niland: With rotation dinged again, Nats need quality starts - and good luck

Another week, another key injury for the Nationals. This time it's Gio Gonzalez, who landed on the disabled list of for the first time in his seven-year career after being knocked around for a second straight start. If you're keeping score at home, that makes eight members of the opening day roster who have been sidelined at some point this season, including two from the starting rotation. The prognosis for Gonzalez seems good, but there is still some cause for concern because once again, the...

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Successful Social Media Weekend wraps up at Nats Park

May 13, 2014, 1:37pm

Nationals

Successful Social Media Weekend wraps up at Nats Park

Social media is more than just a place for us to update you with the latest Nationals news. For sports fans, social media platforms have created a community, a place where people can come together and talk about the latest headlines, stats, prospects and more. At MASN, we love seeing loyal Nats fans check in with us night in and night out on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We not only enjoy talking with you, but we also want to reward you for your...

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Rachel Levitin: Making do and searching for consistency

May 14, 2014, 5:24am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Making do and searching for consistency

Earlier this week, Nationals Buzz guest blogger Marty Niland pointed out something I agree with. He wrote, "The Nats need to make hay against the teams they are supposed to beat until injured stars (Adam) LaRoche, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman can return to the lineup and bring them back to full strength." One of the biggest problems facing the Nationals in 2014 is lack of consistency their overall performance due to health-related issues. This, of course, is a plague that haunts any...

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Stuart Wallace: Advanced metrics show third base isn't second nature for Rendon

May 13, 2014, 4:57am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Advanced metrics show third base isn't second nature for Rendon

In the face of a position change, Anthony Rendon has gotten off to a solid start with the bat in 2014. Despite a 2-for-12 showing against Oakland Athletics pitching extinguishing his dalliance with a .300 batting average for the time being, the third baseman is still in good shape, putting up a .349 weighted on-base average (league average is currently .310), good third on the Nationals. Currently manning the hot corner while Ryan Zimmerman is on the mend with a thumb injury, Rendon has done...

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Marty Niland: In era of parity, Nats put disparity on display

May 12, 2014, 6:33am

Nationals

Marty Niland: In era of parity, Nats put disparity on display

Parity seems to be a buzzword in the major leagues these days. Much has been written about how the low-budget, small-market teams like the Oakland A's are competitive with big-spending clubs. It was disparity, however, that best described last weekend's series between Nationals and the A's. It played out like a three-day infomercial for "Moneyball," the 2003 book that chronicled Oakland general manager Billy Beane's tactics in assembling a ball club that is not only the two-time defending...

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Rachel Levitin: Lengthy rain delay turned Monday's Dodgers-Nats game into special experience

May 07, 2014, 5:23am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Lengthy rain delay turned Monday's Dodgers-Nats game into special experience

It's rare that Monday night baseball turns into legitimate Tuesday morning baseball, but that's what happened earlier this week between the Nationals and Dodgers. Once the rain that held up the early evening game had passed, what appeared to be a few hundred people (if that) huddled behind their respective team's dugouts at Nationals Park to root, root, root for their own team well into the wee hours of the morning. One of Washington's most reliable players, right-handed starting Jordan...

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Stuart Wallace: Digging deeper into Span's slow start at the plate

May 06, 2014, 5:51am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Digging deeper into Span's slow start at the plate

On a team that has sputtered defensively to start the 2014 season, Nationals center fielder Denard Span is a playmaking oasis in a desert of bad hops, errant throws and generally poor defensive showings. Currently leading the team in the defensive statistics ultimate zone rating and defensive runs saved, Span has few peers in the outfield or across baseball in general when it comes to his skills with the glove. With the bat, however, the reviews aren't as glowing for Span, especially this...

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Marty Niland: Hang on, help is on the way

May 05, 2014, 5:44am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Hang on, help is on the way

What a frustrating weekend for the Nationals and their fans. After beating up on the hapless Houston Astros and another of their characteristic come-from-behind victories in the series opener in Philadelphia, the road trip went south in a hurry. The Nats' bats fell silent at the hands of A.J. Burnett and Roberto Hernandez in a pair of losses to the middling Phillies. To make matters worse, each of those losses cost the Nats a chance to take over first place in the National League East from the...

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David Huzzard: Breaking Nats down by trips through the rotation

May 01, 2014, 5:18am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Breaking Nats down by trips through the rotation

While it is a pleasant surprise that the Nationals have scored 126 runs and are tied with the Marlins for second in the National League in that category, it is a little alarming that they've allowed 108 and are tied for fourth-most with the Cubs. The Nationals are a team built around run prevention and the season totals show a team that hasn't done a good job of preventing many runs. The team ERA reached its zenith of 4.10 on April 17 after an 8-0 loss to the Cardinals. In those first 16...