by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
Some might point to the addition of Sean Doolittle to the Washington Nationals coaching staff as a reason for optimism. Others believe that the only way to go was up. But so far, it has been a mixed bag of results for the Nats’ pitching staff in nearly two turns through the starting rotation. The stats and the W/L record say the Nats are a bad team — but don’t be so quick to judge.
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The Washington Nationals find themselves in the middle of the NL East in third place and a disappointing 2-6 record. They desperately needed some wins in this series, and lost the first two games of this series — leaving today as a salvage game. Once again, the team will be without CJ Abrams in the starting lineup after he jammed his hand on second base in a slide on Friday.
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Real life can throw you curveballs beyond your control. In normal life, retirement is reserved for sexagenarians, generally speaking. In baseball terms, the mid-30’s is a very common point for a player to retire. When Stephen Strasburg opted-out of his original contract extension with the Washington Nationals, and subsequently signed a 7-year, $235 million deal, after the 2019 season, his retirement should have transpired at some point after the 2026 season. But health issues from thoracic outlet syndrome clearly caused an early baseball retirement to be a reality — sooner than later — and that day came today via a simple transaction log entry on MLB’s website. No press release, no advanced notice from the PR department, and just a single line entry as if this would not trigger “breaking news.”
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The Washington Nationals find themselves in the middle of the NL East in third place and a disappointing 2-5 record. They desperately need a win today, and they will have to play the start of the game without CJ Abrams who jammed his hand on second base in a slide yesterday. There is no telling if this is a serious injury or just a “rest day” for the hand.
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While the rains that pounded the Washington D.C. region are leaving the area this afternoon, it brought in a cooler temperatures dropping into the mid-40’s by the late innings. This weekend series is against the Phillies, and the first NL East games for the Washington Nationals for the season.
The Nats are tied for second place in the NL East with the Phillies entering this second week of the season. The division is really struggling out of the gates with the Mets at one win and the Marlins still winless as of yesterday.
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“I’m not a pitching coach…but” were not words spoken by Jim Hickey of the Washington Nationals. Those are words of my own confession. Hickey actually holds the title of pitching coach. We’ve heard his manager, Dave Martinez, say over and over that Josiah Gray must establish his fastball to be effective…and that is great in theory. But in reality, Gray has to pitch to zeroes, and be efficient in doing so with his best stuff. You also have to accept who you are as a player, and what you do well — and what you don’t.
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The Washington D.C. rainforest weather cooperated yesterday to give almost enough of a window to play the game without precipitation. Today is a new day with some afternoon light rain expected after a sunny D.C. morning.
The Nats are in sole possession of second place in the NL East in this first week, and the division is really struggling out of the gates with both Miami and the Mets winless as of yesterday. With last night’s win by the Nats, they have a chance to win the series today.
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The Washington D.C. rainforest weather strikes again. Who knows if they will play tonight. Tomorrow was supposed to be a getaway game for the Pirates which MLB could require a doubleheader. If they play tonight, expect a sparse crowd given the conditions. Baltimore experienced that last night at 9,404 of which most were no-shows, and Washington could have less — the difference is Washington is in a rebuild and a last place team. After a sell-out for the Nats at Opening Day at 40,405, the team should have a good April as the schedule has good matchups.
The Nats are in third place in the NL East in this abbreviated first week, and the division is really struggling out of the gates. That taste of second place after Saturday’s game felt so good until Kyle Finnegan‘s blown save on Sunday sent the fanbase into a tizzy on social media.
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Today marks the 20th Opening Day of Washington Nationals baseball. From those immortal words from 20 years ago from former D.C. Mayor, Anthony Williams, “Baseball is back in Washington D.C.” to the present, this marks another milestone of two decades of Nationals baseball. This season also coincides with the 100th anniversary of Washington’s first World Series win in 1924, and the fifth year since the Nationals won their World Series in 2019.
With three games under our belts, and a gut-punch blown-save-loss yesterday, we are seeing what the personality of this team is in the here-and-now. The Nats are in second place in the NL East, and will have a chance to get back to .500 today.
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The Washington Nationals battled back last night to win a game in the Queen City that could only be described as the “Scrappy Nats” are back! Manager Davey Martinez pushed every button in the ninth inning while using every position player except for Riley Adams, and the go-ahead run was scored by pinch-runner and Rule-5 pick, Nasim Nunez. They scored five runs in the final three innings to win by a final score of 7-6. Every Nats player contributed in that one, and the newbie, Trey Lipscomb, had a hit, stolen base, and a few highlight reel defensive plays to make his mark — and set a Nats record.
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