Assistant GM Bryan Minniti leaving organization

Assistant GM Bryan Minniti leaving organization
As the Nationals get set to upgrade their roster this offseason, trying to add players that can help them return to the postseason and push past the National League Division Series for the first time in team history, they will also see some changes in their front office. Assistant general manager Bryan Minniti has announced that he will be leaving the Nationals after five years with the organization, a source confirmed. Minniti came to the Nationals in 2009, and has served as general manager...

Asdrubal Cabrera: "I would love to stay here"

Asdrubal Cabrera: "I would love to stay here"
This trading deadline, we saw Cy Young award winner David Price get dealt to the Tigers. The Red Sox shipped stud left-hander Jon Lester to the A's for slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Martin Prado, John Lackey, Allen Craig, Gerardo Parra and Andrew Miller were also part of deals this July 31. It was a busy trade deadline, one in which the Nationals' acquisition of infielder Asdrubal Cabrera didn't draw much attention. Cabrera ended up being a key piece of the Nats' run to the National League...

Evaluating the last three years isn't so easy

Evaluating the last three years isn't so easy
Over the last three years, the Nationals have won 280 regular season games, most in the major leagues during that time. In 2012, they picked up 98 wins, the most in the game, and earned their first National League East title since baseball returned to D.C. in 2005. In 2013, even in a year that was considered a bust in Davey Johnson's "World Series or bust" campaign, the Nats still earned 86 wins, sixth-best in the NL and far from anything worth being ashamed of in the grand scheme of...

Bats go quiet at the worst time

Bats go quiet at the worst time
For much of the regular season, especially the second half of the 2014 campaign, the Nationals were a team that got balanced offensive production throughout their lineup. This wasn't a team that was carried by one or two players from an offensive perspective. Despite the fact that the Nats finished with 96 wins, the most in the National League, they don't have a clear-cut MVP candidate. (Although Anthony Rendon should get quite a few votes.) The Nats prided themselves on their ability to...

Nats' season ends with 3-2 loss in Game 4

Nats' season ends with 3-2 loss in Game 4
SAN FRANCISCO - Seven Giants hitters came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning. Only one hit the ball out of the infield. And San Francisco has a 2-0 lead. Gio Gonzalez could have had an inning-ending double play on Juan Perez's tapper back to the mound with one on and one out, but he couldn't handle the slow roller which had loads of spin on it, and it went for an error. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong then dropped down a nice bunt which neither Gonzalez nor Anthony Rendon made a...

Strasburg available in relief tonight, Nats' Game 5 starter still TBA

Strasburg available in relief tonight, Nats' Game 5 starter still TBA
SAN FRANCISCO - Giants manager Bruce Bochy said today that all his pitchers are available for tonight's Game 4 of the National League Division Series - even Jake Peavy, who would otherwise be tabbed as San Francisco's Game 5 starter. Nationals skipper Matt Williams will go with the same everyone-is-available approach. Williams said this afternoon that he is not ready to announce his Game 5 starter, saying, "We have a couple guys that would be certainly ready for Game 5. But we don't know...

Nats run out same lineup for Game 4

Nats run out same lineup for Game 4
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals are running out the same lineup as they did in the first three games of this series. No changes from one through eight in Game 4. The Giants, however, are going with a new left fielder - right-handed-hitting Juan Perez - against left-hander Gio Gonzalez, and they've bumped third baseman Pablo Sandoval down to the No. 5 spot in the order. For the Nats CF Denard Span 3B Anthony Rendon RF Jayson Werth 1B Adam LaRoche SS Ian Desmond LF Bryce Harper C Wilson Ramos 2B...

Looking for another win by the bay

Looking for another win by the bay
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals have life. Their clubhouse after yesterday's Game 3 win was brimming with energy. Now they turn the ball over to their most energetic starting pitcher. After yesterday's dramatic victory, Gio Gonzalez now gets the ball for the Nats today in their second straight must-win ballgame. The left-hander hasn't started a game in 12 days, but with their season on the line, the Nationals will look to Gonzalez to help them extend the National League Division Series and...

The break they've been waiting for

The break they've been waiting for
SAN FRANCISCO - As the ball got past Pablo Sandoval's outstretched glove hand and trickled down the left field line, multiple Nationals knew that moment could be it. It could be the momentum-shifter, the play that they had been looking for. "I mentioned it yesterday, that we just need one break," reliever Drew Storen said. "It's been a tough couple games here to start. And we got our break." Prior to starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner's errant throw to third on Wilson Ramos'...

Nats live to see another day with 4-1 win in Game 3

Nats live to see another day with 4-1 win in Game 3
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals said coming into San Francisco that if they just played their game and got a break or two along the way, that they could very easily come back to win this series. They might have just gotten that break. Madison Bumgarner's throwing error on a Wilson Ramos sacrifice bunt led to two runs, and the Nats tacked on an additional run in the seventh inning to take a 3-0 lead. Ramos came up with two on and nobody out after Ian Desmond's leadoff single and a Bryce Harper...

A scoreless ballgame through five

A scoreless ballgame through five
SAN FRANCISCO - Doug Fister's command hasn't been there early on. But he's thrown two scoreless innings, keeping this game knotted at zeros as we go to the third. Fister has needed 43 pitches to get through two, including 27 in the second inning, when the Giants loaded the bases on a Pablo Sandoval single to left-center and two walks. That brought up Giants starter Madison Bumgarner with the bases loaded, and by no means is the left-hander (who bats right-handed) an easy out. Bumgarner has...

Williams on lineup stability: "We trust our guys, we have faith in our guys"

Williams on lineup stability: "We trust our guys, we have faith in our guys"
SAN FRANCISCO - Constructing a lineup when you're down two games to none in a best-of-five series isn't easy. You might want to shake things up a bit, find a way to inject some life into your team, especially when the lineup you've gone with in Games 1 and 2 has only scored three total runs and is batting .160 to this point. But you also don't want to blow things up and send a message to your team that you're panicking. The Nats have had plenty of offensive success over the last few...

Nats going without Zimmerman in Game 3 lineup

Nats going without Zimmerman in Game 3 lineup
SAN FRANCISCO - After the Nationals scored just three runs in the first two games of the National League Division Series, Matt Williams is running out the same lineup again for Game 3. That means no Ryan Zimmerman, who Williams said he would consider adding to the lineup against Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco's Game 3 starter. Zimmerman has not played third base since returning from a strained right hamstring in late September, leaving left field or first base as the only...

Preaching patience at the plate

Preaching patience at the plate
SAN FRANCISCO - There's been a lot of attention put on Matt Williams' decision to take Jordan Zimmermann out in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series in favor of Drew Storen. Williams' plan didn't go as he had hoped, the Nationals' 1-0 lead evaporated, and they ended up losing 2-1 in 18 innings. Some fans and media members also spent part of Friday night and Saturday morning discussing Stephen Strasburg's outing, in which he went five innings and allowed two...

Moving on from the marathon

Moving on from the marathon
SAN FRANCISCO - Postseason losses can be tough to deal with. Postseason losses in 18-inning games can be brutal. Postseason losses that put you down 0-2 in a five-game series can be torturous. But the Nationals say they're moving on from last night's 2-1 loss to the Giants, a loss that left them another defeat away from elimination. They hopped on busses for the airport after 1:30 a.m. on the east coast, boarded their cross-country flight to San Francisco and arrived around 5:30 a.m....

Williams on decision in ninth: "I kicked myself ... but we have a reason for that move"

Williams on decision in ninth: "I kicked myself ... but we have a reason for that move"
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals have the day off in the sense that they don't have a game to play today. They will get the afternoon and evening to acclimate themselves to the Pacific time zone and to get a bit of a breather before tomorrow's Game 3. They do have an optional workout here at AT&T Park, however, and Matt Williams was impressed with the turnout he saw from his players. "The buses are full," Williams said. Williams and tomorrow's starter, Doug Fister, met with the media this...

Nats now viewing NLDS as "a chance to do something special"

Nats now viewing NLDS as "a chance to do something special"
SAN FRANCISCO - The flight from D.C. to San Francisco wasn't as long as that ballgame was last night. After a 6:23 marathon in Game 2, which became the longest game time-wise in Major League Baseball postseason history, the Nationals find themselves in a tough spot, with their backs against the wall. They've now dropped the first two of a best-of-five series, and will need to take the next two here in San Francisco followed by a decisive Game 5 in D.C. in order to advance. A tall order, for...

Desmond could miss postseason action due to birth of son

Desmond could miss postseason action due to birth of son
As Ian Desmond takes part in the National League Division Series, his mind is also with his pregnant wife Chelsey, who is currently in Sarasota, Fla., with her and Desmond's families. Depending on when Chelsey ends up giving birth to the couple's third son, Desmond might need to step away from the Nationals' postseason run to tend to his family. Desmond said prior to Game 2 that Chelsey is currently three centimeters dilated, and while all is well with mom and baby - which is obviously most...

Post no-no, Zimmermann ready for start in Game 2 (with start times)

Post no-no, Zimmermann ready for start in Game 2 (with start times)
Six days ago, Jordan Zimmermann delivered the start of his life. He retired 27 of the 28 batters that he faced. He struck out 10. He threw the first no-hitter in Nationals history. Now, the Nationals need the right-hander to put that outing behind him, go out and deal again. Boy, do they need it. I shouldn't say "put that outing behind him" as if anyone's concerned about Zimmermann moving past his no-hitter. The players and coaches inside the Nats clubhouse know what type of guy Zimmermann...

Trying to turn the page

Trying to turn the page
The Nationals had the last four days to look ahead to this afternoon's ballgame. The last two and a half weeks, if you count the time since they clinched the National League East title. They had a couple of days to wonder about whether they would face the Giants or the Pirates, and a couple more to map out how they might match up against San Francisco. Now they have less than 24 hours to turn the page and move on to a crucial Game 2. In the regular season, the focus is on the big picture. You...