Looking at Dave Martinez‘s face, you usually cannot tell what happened that day. He is an optimist, and also a man of mystery. Humble and caring about others, he recognizes a friendly from dozens of feet away. He is trying to do what few managers have ever done — win a second championship after a rebuild. Most managers don’t survive rebuilds after success. Look at Bruce Bochy and the Giants.
Last week, the Washington Nationals went west for a 9-game road trip that some thought a 4-5 W/L would have been a likely result given that the only easy series was going to be against the Oakland A’s. What if we told you the Nats went 1-2 against the A’s? Right. The Nats would be lucky to go 3-6 facing the San Francisco Giants and the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. Then if we told you that the first game of the road trip, the Nats would be facing the reigning NL Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, you might think 2-7. Well, the Nats and Trevor Williams beat Snell and the Giants, and the Nats won that series. Then in the Dodgers series, the Nats had an MLB debut with starter Mitchell Parker and won that game, and Jake Irvin and the Nats’ bullpen collared the Dodgers with their first shutout of the season — leading to a Nats’ series win. It was quite the road trip going 5-4.
The Washington Nationals came out swinging last night, and one terrible decision quickly derailed everything. Once again a miss-sized batting helmet cost the Nats. Instead of stopping at third base, CJ Abrams was a costly out at homeplate because he tried catching his batting helmet that popped off his noggin as it does every single time he runs the bases. Discretion is the better part of valor, and they make batting helmets in 1/8th sizing increments!
If Abrams stopped at third base with no outs, and trusted in his teammates, who knows what happens. That Abrams mistake as manager Dave Martinez called it, just changed everything in an instant. Jesse Winker‘s two-run homer a few innings later couldn’t save the Nats from another horrendous start from Patrick Corbin who walked four Dodgers to go with nine hits that included a booming home run. A 2.053 WHIP won’t cut it. This is Groundhog Day with Corbin who somehow saw his ERA improve to 8.06 from 8.44. That is a tongue-in-cheek joke. Corbin gave up five earnies over his 6 1/3 innings — and truth be told, the defensive and defensive positioning saved Corbin who gave up an eye-popping 66.7 percent hard hit rate. Compare that to the Dodgers’ Ryan Yarbrough who averaged 28.6 percent on his hard hit rate.
The Washington Nationals came up with a huge win last night at Dodger Stadium tonight on Jackie Robinson Day. It was the MLB debut for left-hander Mitchell Parker, and he did not disappoint Nats’ fans. Tonight it will be the veteran Patrick Corbin who got to watch the newbie dominate with basically just a fastball and a curveball, and the occasional splitter.
The scouting report on Mitchell Parker was that he lacked pinpoint control on his fastball, and walked too many batters. So what did Parker do in his MLB debut against an offense featuring Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman? He walked zero batters. In fact he had two strikeouts on Betts and one on Ohtani of his four K’s. A debut you can only dream about came true.
In a game of inches — literally — on a throw from Lane Thomas to third base that the runner beat by two inches — turned out the difference between two earned runs over 5.0 innings instead of one run. Still great, and Parker is the first Washington Nationals’ pitcher since Stephen Strasburg on June 8, 2010 to win his MLB debut. Parker joins Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann as the best known of the five Nats pitchers to achieve that feat that also included Collin Balester and Luis Atilano.
Photo by Clint Often for TalkNatsPhoto by Steve Mears for TalkNatsPhoto by Abbie Headington for TalkNats
The Washington Nationals left Las Vegas Oakland a lot poorer. The Nats were just 11 outs from victory, but had a blow-up in the 6th inning that turned a 6-1 lead into a 7-6 deficit against the Oakland A’s. All of that turned into a tough luck loss. A game of inches. What could have been. The team got another good start from Trevor Williams who departed in that 6th inning with one-out and two runners on-base. He finished with three earnies on his record.
Today is a new day and the Nats woke up in Los Angeles to play at Dodger Stadium tonight on Jackie Robinson Day. Tonight will be the MLB debut for left-hander Mitchell Parker. We have seen him through the years from his humble beginnings in Fredericksburg.
The Washington Nationals got on top and stayed on top with a wire-to-wire win last night in Oakland. Today, the two teams wrap-up their season in a rubber game matchup, and the final time the Nats will play in the Oakland Coliseum.
After an 11-K performance last night by MacKenzie Gore over his 5.0 scoreless innings and 90-pitches, the bullpen only gave up one-run in the remaining 4.0 innings of work to seal the win. The Nats got 2-hit games from CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., Riley Adams, and Jacob Young. The team was a poor 2-for-12 in RISP spots last night, and are 2-for-22 in the series. They obviously have to improve, and at least take advantage with productive outs.
Not all great Nats players technically made history as a Washington National. Before the team relocated to America’s capital, their first seeds were sown in the Great White North as the Montreal Expos.
The Expos era was like a time capsule — a moment in history full of challenges, brief successes, and a failed disbanding that eventually led to its purchase by the MLB and subsequent relocation. It also produced some highly-recognized Hall of Famers, including Gary Carter, Tim Raines, and Andre Dawson, names more celebrated than even some of the top-ranked social casinos on casinos.com. The red, white, and blue established its home in Washington, D.C., in 2005, which ended up being quite fitting.
The Nationals finished their first season in 2005 at an exact .500 with an 81-81 record and went on to select their first draft pick, Ryan Zimmerman — one of the greats on this list. With a record of 284 home runs in his career, he’s tied for 184th on the MLB career home run leaders list. But who else on the Nats is considered one of the greatest scorers in history?
(*all statistics are accurate as of January 2024)
Bryce Harper
Bryce Harper is a highly acclaimed outfielder, first baseman, and DH (designated hitter) who was signed and played for the Nats between 2012 and 2018. Considered a five-tool player, he absolutely excels on the field and has the career highlights to prove it. Harper currently has 184 career home runs, notably hitting his first grand slam on his 100th home run against the Braves in 2016.
As his time with the Nationals went on, his game only improved, ending his 2018 season and final season with the team with a career-record 130 walks, 34 home runs, and 100 RBIs. He is a seven-time MLB All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and two-time NL Hank Aaron Award winner, among his many other accolades.
Ryan Zimmerman
This list wouldn’t be complete without Mr. National himself, Ryan Zimmerman — the reason why number 11 is retired. Before his retirement, he left behind a legacy of baseball records and established himself as an all-time leader in a variety of stats for the franchise.
His MLB debut was with the Nats in their inaugural season in 2005, and he played his entire career with the team up until October 2021. Zimmerman tops the list of all-time home run leaders for the Washington Nationals, surpassing second-place Vladimir Guerrero by 50 home runs. In his 2009 season, he had a hitting streak of 30 games, tied with the likes of Freddie Freeman and Stan Musial. He also has a unique flair for walk-off home runs, with 11 career walk-off homers, and boasts 1,061 all-time RBIs.
Vladimir Guerrero
Nine-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero needs no introduction. The Dominican Republic native played for the Montreal Expos between 1996 and 2003 and is known for his aggressive batting style. Although Guerrero didn’t even own a real baseball glove until he was 15, it’s clear that he was destined for the game.
With 234 all-time home runs, he remains second on the list of home run leaders for the Nats (Expos). Complementing that record, he boasts a range of single-season records in total bases, home runs, batting average, and more, as well as all-time records in batting at .323 and slugging at .588.
In 2018, he was finally — and deservedly — inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Juan Soto
While Juan Soto had a short tenure with the Nats, his imprint on the franchise is certainly unforgettable. Since his rookie season, it was obvious that Soto was destined for greatness. He entered record books as the youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run and the first teen to homer in a major-league game since his fellow Nats teammate Bryce Harper did so back in 2012.
Soto won a World Series title at just 21 years old, leading the Nationals in the series in four categories: hits, runs scored, walks, and home runs. It was the franchise’s first and only World Series win, making it a true moment of glory in Soto’s career. Time and time again, he’s been considered the most disciplined hitter in baseball, with a league-low of 15.1% of pitches swung outside the strike zone.
Andre Dawson
The Hawk, as he’s affectionately nicknamed, is a Hall of Famer who played with the Expos for 10 years. As an eight-time All-Star, eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, and four-time Silver Slugger Award, Dawson’s time with the MLB was nothing short of legendary. Andre Dawson was highly underestimated at first, being pick #250 in the 1975 MLB draft, but eventually hit a total of 225 home runs, putting him third on the all-time Nats list.
Within his 1,443 games with the Montreal Expos, he set plenty of single-season records for RBIs, extra-base hits, and sacrifice flies — which he still holds the record for. He’s even remarkably hit two home runs in the same inning two times, against the Braves and the Cubs in 1978 and 1985, respectively.
Tim Wallach
Tim Wallach was with the Expos for 12 years, between 1980 and 1992. He is fifth on the all-time home run leaders list with 204 home runs and also holds the franchise record for the most RBIs in a game (a total of 8) against San Diego in 1990. Wallach once held team records for most hits and runs batted until Ryan Zimmerman came along and surpassed them both in 2017 and 2018.
As a five-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove Award winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award, he’s an enduring player within the Montreal Expos franchise and the MLB. Wallach has accumulated an impressive collection of offensive stats and continued his baseball career as a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins.
The Washington Nationals were down to their final swings in the 9th inning by a score of 1-0, and received a gift from Jesse Winker in the form of a game-tying home run that erased a possible shutout and took away an L from starter Jake Irvin who pitched six brilliant innings, surrendering just one run. Winker had a 4-4 day, and was the clear star for the Nats along with Irvin who notched the first quality start of the season for the Nats.
Unfortunately, the Nats were 0-10 in RISP spots and could not score any other runs in the game. Once again, consistency was lacking in an offense that had numerous opportunities. An early Nats run was reversed on a video review which might be the play of the night. A baserunning mistake in the 10th inning might be circled as the biggest blunder, but the lack of execution with RISP spots really was the difference. That baserunning TOOTBLAN was a mistake by the recent callup, Trey Lipscomb, who was the ghost runner in the 10th inning at second base and was thrown out trying to advance to third base on a hard ground ball to the first baseman that turned into a 3-3-5 double play. The A’s needed a single in the bottom of the 10th inning to score their run, and they got it with one out to walk-it-0ff.
The Washington Nationals went from San Francisco to a short trip across the bay to Oakland. With Oakland’s planned move to Sacramento before landing in Las Vegas, this could be the final series for the Nats in the Oakland Coliseum. The Nats are coming off of a nice series win in San Francisco. They have a chance to get above .500 in this series, and as they say, it all begins with a Nats’ win tonight.
The team made the expected roster move adding Amos Willingham as an extra arm in the bullpen as they decide what to do with a starter that could be needed on Monday or Tuesday unless they decide to pitch a bullpen game. Also, when the team optioned Drew Millas back on Wednesday evening, they found out that Keibert Ruiz is not feeling better from a bout with the flu. Your backup catcher tonight is Ildemaro Vargas.
In one game yesterday, James Wood matched Eddie Rosario‘s hit total for the season, and then Wood beat his home run total in his final at-bat before the rains cut Thursday’s game short in the 8th inning. Wood was a triple shy of a cycle yesterday as he faced Toronto’s No. 1 prospect in lefty Ricky Tiedemann who is also the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball.
