Nationals' instructional prospect updates: Walters, Leon, Skole

Nationals' instructional prospect updates: Walters, Leon, Skole
The intructional league season, which continues for two more weeks at the Nationals complex in Florida, benefits players who have not had much time in the Nationals' organization, and others who are getting back from injury and need extra at-bats under the watchful eye of the coaching staff. Shortstop Zach Walters, acquired in the July trade from Arizona for Jason Marquis, started to get on a roll with the Single-A Potomac Nationals at the end of the season and that has carried over into...

Nationals 2011 season: By the numbers

Nationals 2011 season: By the numbers
The Washington Nationals' season is over and the team improved its record by 11 wins since 2010. The 80 wins is also 21 victories better than 2009's low water mark. Manager Davey Johnson was asked what 80 wins meant in Wednesday's postgame interview on MASN, and he certainly was not jumping for joy. That showed to me how determined he is to get this team to the next level. "Not a whole lot," Johnson said. "We are not playing in postseason. But it shows how far these guys have come. I...

Triple-A Syracuse gets eight extra "home" games in 2012

Triple-A Syracuse gets eight extra "home" games in 2012
Due to renovation construction on the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's home PNC Field during the 2012 baseball season, 10 of the Yankees "home" games will be played at Alliance Bank Stadium, home of the Washington Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs. The International League made the announcement Friday that eight of the games will be against the Chiefs and the other two against Buffalo. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will be the home team in Syracuse on April 14-15, June 14-17, and...

Harper, Rendon, Solis and others arrive at Arizona fall league

Harper, Rendon, Solis and others arrive at Arizona fall league
Nationals instructional league camp continues for another couple of weeks, but few notables left Wednesday for the Arizona fall league. Bryce Harper, Sammy Solis, Derek Norris, Pat Lehman, Rafael Martin and Anthony Rendon head the list of Nationals prospects playing this year for the Scottsdale Scorpions. The groups traveled to Arizona on Wednesday. The Scorpions won the league championship last fall. Harper has looked good in instructional camp, swinging the bat well, according to Potomac...

Rizzo: Nationals' pitching depth necessary currency to pull off major trade

Rizzo: Nationals' pitching depth necessary currency to pull off major trade
The Nationals' September call-ups of left-hander Tommy Milone and right-hander Brad Peacock signal a big step in the organization from a talent perspective. Since the Nationals arrived in D.C., never has the team been able to bring up a pair of starters at this point of the season who show they are ready to pitch right now at the major league level. Couple that with the resurgence of Ross Detwiler, the re-emergence of Chien-Ming Wang and steady pitching of veteran John Lannan, and general...

Stammen states case for long relief role in 2012

Stammen states case for long relief role in 2012
Nationals right-handed reliever Craig Stammen has quietly put together a nice month of pitching as he gears up for the offseason and 2012 spring training. That is not the way the year started off for Stammen. He was sent to Triple-A Syracuse out of spring training, then struggled in his first call to the majors this season. On June 6 in San Francisco, Stammen gave up two hits and a costly earned run in two-thirds of an inning. But since that night, he has not allowed a run in six straight...

Rachel Levitin: Respect in hand, Nats look to 2012

Rachel Levitin: Respect in hand, Nats look to 2012
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and, now, the Nationals' 2011 season comes to a close. Moments of loss, like the end of Jim Riggleman's time as manager in Washington, made way for Davey Johnson to take the helm and lead the team to their most successful season in recent memory. The triumph of a 31-homer season for Michael Morse begs the question, "Is this a fluke, or is that guy as good as his 2011 numbers?" Drew Storen matured in both age and pitching prowess to earn...

Mark Hornbaker: A season to remember

Mark Hornbaker: A season to remember
With only two games remaining for the Washington Nationals and the team making one last run at a .500 record, it is hard not to be excited about the 2012 team. The 2011 team will go down in history as a team that never gave up on themselves. On three different occasions this season, the Nats have looked like they were going into a free fall in the standings. On May 18, the team had a record of 18-18 and wasn't playing all that great but they were able stay around .500 level. Over the next 12...

Rizzo: Nationals have ongoing dialogue in pursuit of re-signing Wang

Rizzo: Nationals have ongoing dialogue in pursuit of re-signing Wang
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday the team continues to speak with pitcher Chien-Ming Wang's representatives as they look to nail down a contract extension. Wang finished up his return to baseball after two seasons away with a serious shoulder injury, by throwing six innings of one run ball and contributing an RBI single in the Nationals 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves Saturday. Wang's record is an impressive 4-3 with a 4.04 ERA. He recorded 16 strikeouts in his final four...

The results are in: Fans "liked" Social Media Weekend

The results are in: Fans "liked" Social Media Weekend
Hats off to you, Nationals fans. During MASNsports.com's inaugural Social Media Weekend, our goal was to text, tweet and post to you, the fans, and show you guys some love for rooting hard for your team and staying loyal to both the Nationals and MASN. Judging by the results, you guys shared the love right back. Through our always-expanding social media platforms -- Facebook, Twitter and our text messaging service -- we wanted to give a little something back by offering chances to win great...

How baseball's postseason awards should shake out

How baseball's postseason awards should shake out
Here's one writer's view on how the postseason awards should go: American League Cy Young: Lots of sleepless nights trying to decide this one. Detroit's Justin Verlander should win the award unanimously in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The Orioles prevented him from winning No. 25, but how can you argue with 251 innings, a 24-5 record and 2.40 ERA? AL Most Valuable Player: There's a grassroots campaign for Verlander to become the first pitcher since Boston's...

Morse singing a different tune

Morse singing a different tune
Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been pleased with progress his hitters have made this season. The best story has to be Michael Morse, who has hit 29 homers and has 91 RBIs, both career highs and team-leading totals. "He is one of the great surprises," Johnson said. "He has been the most consistent guy all year long. He has had to play left field, then first base, then back to left field. He has been given the opportunity, and he has made the most of it. The same could be said for Ian...

Rizzo: Harper will continue to play all outfield positions

Rizzo: Harper will continue to play all outfield positions
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo spoke about the future of top outfield prospect Bryce Harper, who will begin play in the Arizona Fall League on Oct. 4. Rizzo said they will play Harper at every outfield position so he continues to gain experience at the position. Harper was primarily a catcher in high school and at the College of Southern Nevada. He played right field in SIngle-A Hagerstown and right field at Double-A Harrisburg. "I still want him moving to several of the outfield...

Dave Nichols: Dawn of a new era for baseball in the District

Dave Nichols: Dawn of a new era for baseball in the District
Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been in this business for 50 years. He was a world champion as a player and again as a manager, and has specialized in taking teams on the precipice and pushing them over the edge to greatness. So he's seen this movie before from the inside. This season has had plenty of storylines, but the biggest story of all to emerge might just require hindsight to see it after a couple of years - years that Nats fans hope are filled with deep playoff runs. ...

Braves-Nationals lineups for home finale

Braves-Nationals lineups for home finale
Here is today's starting lineups for the final home game of season: Braves: Bourn - CF Prado - LF Jones - 3B Uggla - 2B Freeman - 1B Diaz - RF Ross - C Wilson - SS Minor - P Nationals: Desmond - SS Werth - CF Zimmerman - 3B Morse - LF Marrero - 1B Espinosa - 2B Gomes - RF Ramos - C Detwiler - P

Baseball to add wild card by '13, report states

Baseball to add wild card by '13, report states
Baseball purists, look away. A report announced today a plan to add an additional wild card spot in each league, as well as a one-game playoff to determine which team will move on to their respective Divisional Series. The new playoff scenario, reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, is a "done deal" according to Sherman's source, and will likely be put into effect either in 2012 or, at the latest, 2013. However, another of Sherman's sources said the proposed change will not go...

Desmond drops weight, feels swifter as season comes to a close

Desmond drops weight, feels swifter as season comes to a close
It has been noticeable during recent at-bats that Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond appears to be completely recovered from a nagging quad injury that had him stepping carefully early on in the season. The shortstop went 6-for-18 in Philadelphia, with three runs, a stolen base, two doubles and an RBI. Friday, Desmond once again took advantage of the opportunity to lead off and show his speed, generating a pair of infield singles in the 7-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves. In his first at-bat,...

The final homestand of 2011

The final homestand of 2011
Well, Nationals fans. It's almost over. We're just three games away from the end of the 2011 season at Nationals Park. While the season doesn't officially end for the Nationals until next week, this weekend's three-game series with the Braves is the final homestand for our boys in the nation's capital. If you're heading to the park to take in one final game, there are plenty of perks to get you out there to root on the Nationals, who are aiming for that coveted .500 mark. Tonight in the...

Dominican teenagers showing Nationals' depth at pitcher and catcher

Dominican teenagers showing Nationals' depth at pitcher and catcher
The Nationals' instructional league roster is chocked full of several prized teenage prospects from the team's Dominican academy, including 19-year old right-handed pitcher Ivan Pineyro. Nationals director of player development Doug Harris is pleased with what he has seen from these young players so far in camp, and credits the coaches and scouting department for working so hard to get them ready to play at this level. Harris singled out Nationals international scouting director Johnny...

Jenn Jenson: The last homestand

Jenn Jenson: The last homestand
Here we are at the last homestand of the season. For me, it's bittersweet. On the one hand, today's game begins a sort-of-sad countdown: three games left, two games left and before you know it, the last home game will be over. It's an end of sorts because every baseball season is a little different. The players change, the coaches change and the fan experience changes. Sure, these things are changing all the time, but transitions are bigger during the offseason. The end of the season will...