Stephen Strasburg looks ready for April, but Drew Storen seems stuck in October. Strasburg threw more than 90 pitches in his fifth spring start (93, 64 for strikes to be exact), surrendering a solo HR to former teammate Rick Ankiel to account for the lone run he gave up over five and a 1/3rd innings. …
St. Louis had its way with starter Dan Haren, roughing up the veteran for four runs on two home runs in the first and five runs overall to hand Washington a 5-1 defeat this afternoon. Haren gave up six hits and two walks overall across the five innings he threw in his fourth spring appearance. …
Micah Owings hit a grand slam in the 7th off former White Sox and Dodgers farmhand John Ely as the Nats took their third straight Grapefruit League game, 6-3 over the Houston Astros this afternoon in Viera. Owings, a former RHP in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization [insert reference to Mike Rizzo’s tenure here], is attempting …
This morning the Nationals announced the second major cutdown, sending seven guys to the backfields, including top prospects Nathan Karns, Anthony Rendon, and Matt Skole. Also sent packing: Eury Perez, Sandy Leon, Pat McCoy, and Will Rhymes. Officially, Perez was optioned to AAA Syracuse, Leon and Rendon were optioned to AA Harrisburg, while the rest …
In split-squad action, the Nats regulars beat the Mets 8-5 in Viera, while the reserves beat the Astros 9-7 in Kissimmee. Jordan Zimmermann got the home start and tossed four and 2/3rds innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks. He struck out six, but was denied the “W” as …
A little more than a month ago, I wrote a post about the upcoming Nationals 2013 Spring Training, which is de rigeur when it’s cold and/or February; the day after: a post about options (self-referencing is also obligatory). For the most part, it’s been as expected… Anthony Rendon has had his moments, which have been …
With three weeks to go before Opening Day, the good news is that Stephen Strasburg breezed through the first five innings on slightly more than 50 pitches. The bad news: A six-run sixth inning by the Braves broke the 0-0 tie as the Nationals ultimately fell, 7-2. Strasburg was charged with four runs on four …
Davey Johnson got his wish for a fast game, but not the result as Washington dropped a 2-1 decision to Detroit in a brisk two hours and twenty-five minutes this afternoon in Lakeland. Dan Haren was stretched out to four innings in his third spring start, giving up both Tigers runs on five hits as …
Four times the Nationals put up crooked numbers, including a two-run 8th that featured a Zach Walters solo shot and an RBI single from Carlos Rivero as Washington returned to .500 with an 8-7 win over Miami yesterday afternoon. The home run was the second in as many days for the 23-year-old Walters, who is …
A seven-run 9th fattened some meaningless spring training stats, but wasn’t enough to overcome the earlier mistakes as the Nats lost 16-10 to the Cards yesterday afternoon. Jordan Zimmermann was lit up for eight runs on nine hits and two weeks, the bulk of the damage coming in a six-run 3rd inning. The proverbial “dead …