Darnell Coles and Dave Martinez discuss the batting practice; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats The Washington Nationals have had their best rotation span this season with just four runs given up by the starters in their previous five games, and that equates to just0.80 runs per game. Unfortunately, the offense has been struggling with pushing runs across. The team has only scored a measly 81-runs over 22 games this season and that is 3.68 runs per game. Not good enough. Five Nats’ starters are batting well below the Mendoza divide. On the mound for manager Dave Martinez tonight is Jake Irvin w ..read more

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats One of the highlights for the Washington Nationals early in the 2024 season has been the play of shortstop CJ Abrams. The centerpiece of the Juan Soto trade has continued to build off of a promising end to the 2023 campaign. He’s certainly made it clear that he intends to be Washington’s shortstop of the future. Abrams’ ability to collect extra-base hits, draw walks, score runs, and drive in runs has also helped him to become a great option for fantasy players. The best DFS sites are available in dozens of states and offer a variety of games for fantasy basebal ..read more

Photo by Alec Geis for TalkNats Photo by Alec Geis for TalkNats Photo by Alec Geis for TalkNats The Washington Nationals start their longest span of games today without a day-off as they have 13-games in a row until their next day-off on May 6. The Dodgers are in D.C. for three games to finish up their season series. On the mound for manager Dave Martinez tonight is Patrick Corbin. He is searching for that first great start of the season. The Dodgers have the lefty James Paxton on the mound. The Dodgers and the Nationals are tied in the loss column with 11 games. This could be a real state ..read more

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats Last week, when Mitchell Parker checked into his hotel at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons hotel, he knew something was different in his new life. In his near-term future, no more Holiday Inns of year’s past or postgame meals when the team bus stops at the Chipotle near Erie, Pennsylvania. The pregame and postgame spreads at the MLB level, and the charter flights on the team’s new American Airlines jet are just part of the reasons you want to stay on the Major League roster. Forget about the 5-digit paychecks as big as your zip code — that even a newbie ..read more

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats The Washington Nationals walk-off win yesterday got many people talking about some of those exciting and improbable wins of 2019 and that feeling of déjà vu. Dave Jageler from the Nats’ radio booth said, “Shades of 2019 rallies here in 2024.” On Friday night, Joey Meneses was in a spot where he could have been the walk-off hero. While it didn’t happen then, he got a do-over on Saturday and took care of some RISP business in the 10th inning of a tie game. Baseball redemption is an amazing thing and Meneses said he was happy for another chance. He went oppo and ..read more

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats The Washington Nationals started off their homestand with a 5-3 loss after two unsuccessful shots to walk-it-off. It is hard to hit a sprinkler head on a strikeout. Manager Dave Martinez was ejected from the game in the eighth inning which was like déjà vu back to Game 6 of the 2019 World Series — and once again was correct on his argument. The Nationals have been on the wrong side of critical calls all season it seems. The Nats record fell to 8-11 in this young season with last night’s loss. Last night, the postgame fireworks weren’t as fun to watch after the ..read more

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats The Washington Nationals return from a long and successful road trip on the West Coast, and this weekend celebrates the 5-year World Series win against today’s Nats opponent, the Houston Astros. Many Nats’ alumni are returning for this weekend of celebration. Each day will have some added features for the fans in attendance. With the COVID health crisis in 2020, the Nats were not able to celebrate with their fans. This might be the closest they will come to it this weekend. After tonight’s game, there will be postgame fireworks with a distinct 2019 theme to it ..read more

(Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats) 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 s ..read more

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats 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 t ..read more

Get a helmet that fits!; Photo by Sol Tucker 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 ..read more