Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ catcher and shortstop... KEIBERT RUIZ CLOSE TO RETURN: Keibert Ruiz (influenza) hasn’t been in the Nationals’ lineup since April 8th when the club was in San Francisco, CA. Ruiz, 25, is close to returning, according to manager Davey Martinez, but the illness has taken a toll on the catcher, who told reporters he has lost significant weight over the past few weeks. “He lost like 18-20 pounds,” Martinez said when he spoke the D.C. press corps on Sunday. “He was sick. It stinks. I feel like we’re going through some rough stuff right now.” Ruiz, for his part, sa ..read more

Mitchell Parker is 2 for 2 with solid starts early in his career. Notes and quotes on the Nats’ starter’s second outing... Talking about Mitchell Parker’s MLB debut on the road in Dodger Stadium last week, which came four years after the Nationals selected the southpaw in the 5th Round of the 2020’s truncated COVID Draft, GM and President of Baseball ops Mike Rizzo described the lefty’s rise through the ranks as an organizational success story. It was the result of a lot of hard work on the part of Parker himself and the Nationals’ player development staff throughout the minor league system ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ walk-off win over the Astros... “Look, I’ve known Trevor for a while,” Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez told reporters after he pulled Trevor Williams at 77 pitches on the road in Oakland, with Washington up 6-1 over the A’s. Williams got through five innings on 67 pitches, giving up just one run, but a walk to the leadoff batter in the sixth inning, and a one-out double put runners on first and third, so Martinez went to the bullpen. “Right about that 80-pitch mark, I think that’s good for him,” the Nats’ skipper told reporters. “My decision was to take ..read more

Notes and quotes from the series opener with the Astros in the nation’s capital... FOULED OFF: When 25-year-old starter MacKenzie Gore is at his best, as he was at times while striking out 11 over five innings on the road in Oakland during the last road trip, he’s really something. “It’s beautiful,” Davey Martinez said after the southpaw dominated the Athletics and kept the home team off the board in a 3-1 win in Oakland Coliseum. “He goes out there and he attacks the strike zone, you know?” Martinez said. “He goes out there and competes. This is — hopefully, we can now see that consistency ..read more

Notes and quotes from the series finale in Chavez Ravine... ABRAMS UP TOP: CJ Abrams took a four-game hit streak into the series finale in LA, with five of six hits over the four games extra bases hits, (three doubles, a triple, and a HR). Abrams, 23, extended the streak early in the third of three in Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, taking the debuting Dodgers’ starter Landon Knack’s second pitch, a 1-0 fastball pretty much down the middle to right-center field (392 ft. from home) for a leadoff home run, and a 1-0 lead early in the rubber match of the series. It was the 5th home run of the year ..read more

Notes and quotes from the series opener in Los Angeles... NO PRESSURE, MITCHELL!: As the Nationals’ Communications Department noted before last night’s game, 24-year-old, 2020 5th Round pick Mitchell Parker, who made his MLB debut in the series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodger Stadium, became just the second pitcher in MLB history to, “... face three former MVPs as the first three hitters of his career,” with the Dodgers lining up Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddy Freeman against Washington’s southpaw. Citing info from Elias Sports, the Nationals wrote Parker, “... [join ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ weekend in Oakland, CA. MITCHELL PARKER TO MAKE MLB DEBUT IN LA: When he spoke to reporters before the second of three with the A’s in Oakland on Saturday, Davey Martinez was not ready to announce who’d start for Washington in the series opener with the LA Dodgers tonight in Chavez Ravine. “No. I was talking to [GM Mike Rizzo] today about some other things,” Martinez said, “... but we haven’t decided who’s going to pitch on Monday, but I will hopefully let you guys know tomorrow.” Asked at the time if a bullpen game was a possibility, the manager said it w ..read more

Notes and quotes from MacKenzie Gore’s dominant start against the A’s... Mackenzie Gore, Eno Sarris wrote at The Athletic this week, appears to have done the work necessary to take a step in his development, at least early in his third season in the majors. “This season,” Sarris noted, “Gore is…”: • Throwing the four-seam 2 mph harder, with more ride • Throwing the slider 3 mph harder • Throwing the curve 1 tick harder, with more drop • Throwing the changeup almost 2 ticks slower Going into start No. 3, Gore was averaging 97 MPH on his fastball, up from 94.7 and 95.0 MPH in his first two se ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nats’ series opener with the A’s in Oakland Coliseum... With two on and two out in the third inning of his outing against the Phillies last week in Nationals Park — after a two-out double by Trea Turner and an intentional walk to Bryce Harper — Jake Irvin got up 0-2 on J.T. Realmuto, but left the next pitch, a curve, up in the zone for Philadelphia’s catcher. Realmuto hit it 390 feet to left-center for a three-run blast which accounted for 3 of 4 runs the 26-year-old starter gave up in what ended up being a six-inning start. “The outing as a whole was really good,”Ir ..read more

Notes and quotes following an off-day for the Nationals... PUTTING THE O [AND SB?] IN NATINALS: Davey Martinez praised the work his hitters did after an 8-1 win in the first game of three with the Giants in San Francisco this week. “We’re going to run. We’re going to bunt. We’re going to create havoc. And we’re going hit home runs...” - Davey Martinez on 2024 Nationals The Nationals combined for 10 hits and took seven walks in the series opener, with Martinez telling reporters the club stuck to their plan against a still-building Blake Snell, and knocked him out after just three innings in wh ..read more