Last chance to make moves before tonight's expected lockout

Last chance to make moves before tonight's expected lockout
After an awfully quiet start to the offseason, then a furious 48 hours of nonstop news, now baseball has fewer than 24 hours to wrap up any remaining business before the collective bargaining agreement expires and a league-imposed lockout is expected to commence. All of this has made for an unusual couple of days as clubs around the sport rushed to make moves both big and small before a transactions freeze brings a stop to all activity until owners and players can agree on a new CBA. It could...

Suero, Harper, Ford are non-tendered by Nats before deadline

Suero, Harper, Ford are non-tendered by Nats before deadline
The Nationals chose not to tender contracts to relievers Wander Suero and Ryne Harper, plus minor league first baseman Mike Ford, before tonight's league-wide deadline, making all three free agents only 28 hours before Major League Baseball is expected to begin a lockout of players that could stretch through most of the winter. The Nats did tender contracts to all other unsigned players on their 40-man roster, including seven arbitration-eligible players - Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Joe Ross, Erick...

Nationals face tender decisions with nine players today

Nationals face tender decisions with nine players today
After a frantic Monday that saw a handful of clubs handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to free agents like candy, every major league club now faces a busy Tuesday deciding whether or not to retain a bunch of its own players. By 8 p.m. today, teams must tender contracts to all arbitration-eligible players. Those who don't receive offers are non-tendered and immediately become free agents. So while the Nationals have been awfully quiet on the transaction front so far this winter, they...

Four Nats qualify for early arbitration as Super Two players

Four Nats qualify for early arbitration as Super Two players
Four Nationals players will qualify for salary arbitration this winter despite having yet to accrue three full years of major league service time because each has crossed the lower threshold used to designate each year's so-called Super Two players. MLBTradeRumors.com reported Saturday the cutoff for Super Two qualification this winter is 2 years, 116 days of service time. That means Ryne Harper (2 years, 135 days), Austin Voth (2 years, 127 days), Tanner Rainey (2 years, 127 days) and Andrew...

What kind of payroll is reasonable to expect from Nats next year?

What kind of payroll is reasonable to expect from Nats next year?
The Nationals' lengthy run as one of baseball's most consistently successful franchises coincided with ownership's willingness to spend like one of the sport's richest franchises. In each of the last nine seasons, dating back to 2013, the Nats had one of the majors' 10 highest payrolls. They peaked, appropriately, in 2019, spending more than $205 million on players' salaries en route to their first World Series championship. And while the final tally has fluctuated a bit year to year, it...

Why the Nats could really use a multi-inning reliever or two

Why the Nats could really use a multi-inning reliever or two
Nationals relievers have thrown a total of 545 1/3 innings this season, which works out to roughly 3 1/2 innings per game. It's actually the fifth-lowest total in the majors, which may come as something of a surprise given how much it feels like their starters have struggled to pitch deep into games. Here's a bigger problem, though: The Nationals have totaled 540 relief appearances this year, 12th-most in the majors. And that also works out to nearly 3 1/2 appearances per game. It doesn't...

Another short start, another grand slam in Nats loss (updated)

Another short start, another grand slam in Nats loss (updated)
Condense this lost season for the Nationals down to one issue, one reason above all else to explain why this organization is where it finds itself today with one week to go until a long winter, and the answer is obvious: Pitching. It's all about the pitching. It's always been about the pitching. And until something is done about the pitching, it's hard to envision the franchise's rebuilding efforts taking a significant step forward. Today's 9-2 loss to the Reds was merely the latest...

Nats' late rally goes for naught in 8-5 loss to Braves (updated)

Nats' late rally goes for naught in 8-5 loss to Braves (updated)
For the sixth straight game, the Nationals mounted a furious comeback, erasing a 5-1 deficit by scoring four times in the seventh to give themselves new life in the opener of their series against the Braves in Atlanta. Yadiel Hernandez's three-run homer in the seventh knotted the score at 5-5, but switch-hitter Ozzie Albies, hitting right-handed against righty Ryne Harper in the bottom of the frame, hit a two-run homer as the Braves recorded an 8-5 victory on Tuesday night. Harper started the...

Bullpen can't finish the job this time, Nats lose 5-3 (updated)

Bullpen can't finish the job this time, Nats lose 5-3 (updated)
Having already used up four young relievers to win Friday's game by the slimmest of margins, Nationals manager Davey Martinez had little choice but to turn to another group tonight after getting a solid start from Sean Nolin, hoping these bullpen arms could likewise protect a one-run lead against the Mets. That proved too tall a task for Ryne Harper and Mason Thompson, who combined to allow three runs during the decisive bottom of the seventh that sealed the Nats' fate in a 5-3 loss at Citi...

With flurry of walks, Nats hand series finale to Brewers (updated)

With flurry of walks, Nats hand series finale to Brewers (updated)
An inexperienced pitching staff is going to make mistakes. Davey Martinez understands and accepts that. What the Nationals manager has a harder time accepting is a pitching staff that is killing itself not by getting hit by more accomplished hitters, but by handing them free bases over and over and over. It happened during Saturday's loss in Milwaukee, and it happened in even more mind-numbing fashion during today's 7-3 loss to the Brewers. Five Nationals pitchers combined to issue 11 walks...

After blown lead, late homers help Nats sweep Blue Jays (updated)

After blown lead, late homers help Nats sweep Blue Jays (updated)
A lot of games are going to be wild rides for the Nationals as they close out this season. Some will end on a high note. And others, as we've seen a lot recently, won't. Wednesday's game was another up-and-down affair that actually went the Nats' way in the form of an 8-5 win to sweep the Blue Jays in front of 18,336 at Nationals Park. The highs: Josiah Gray's fourth start with the Nats and late homers by Josh Bell and Carter Kieboom to deliver the victory. The lows: more home runs allowed...

Ross lands on IL but expected to return after break

Ross lands on IL but expected to return after break
The Nationals have been talking for months about the need to monitor Joe Ross' workload after the he opted out of the 2020 season. They weren't necessarily planning to give the right-hander time off right now in advance of the All-Star break, but when he reported tightness in his forearm following his between-starts bullpen session Wednesday, it was an easy decision for the club to take him off the active roster. Ross was placed on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation before...

Bullpen takes another hit with Rainey landing on IL

Bullpen takes another hit with Rainey landing on IL
A Nationals bullpen that already was being stretched thin with the losses of several key late-inning relievers to injury has lost another key late-inning reliever: Tanner Rainey, who today was placed on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his lower right leg. It's a serious blow to a relief corps that has been trying to proceed without the services of Daniel Hudson, Kyle Finnegan and Will Harris and now enters a daunting closing stretch to the first half of the season against...

Castro easing back in from restricted list, plus injury updates

Castro easing back in from restricted list, plus injury updates
The Nationals started the weekend by making a flurry of roster moves ahead of their four-game series against the Mets on Friday. Manager Davey Martinez clarified the statuses of some players while providing other updates on some injured high-profile starting pitchers before tonight's opener. First, the roster moves: * Starlin Castro was returned from the restricted list* Austin Voth was reinstated from the 10-day injured list* Andrew Stevenson was placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June...

Voth out "for some time" after surgery to repair nose

Voth out "for some time" after surgery to repair nose
Austin Voth is recovering from surgery to repair multiple fractures in his nose, and though the Nationals right-hander is feeling fine after getting hit by a fastball during Sunday's game in Philadelphia, he will need some time to heal before returning to pitch. In addition to needing to have his nose reset in multiple places during Monday's surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Voth's left eye is swollen shut. He posted a message to his Instagram account thanking...

Clay can take on any role necessary in Nats bullpen

Clay can take on any role necessary in Nats bullpen
The Nationals added depth to their bullpen Wednesday with the signing of free agent Sam Clay. The left-hander has spent his entire career with the Twins organization, even reached the 60-man player pool this past season, but has yet to appear in a major league game. Clay was drafted out of Georgia Tech in the fourth round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. The 27-year-old made it to Triple-A Rochester for 14 games in 2019. After all the time and work in the minors, Clay was excited and...

Turner hot and Sánchez cool as Nats roll past Marlins 9-3 (updated)

Turner hot and Sánchez cool as Nats roll past Marlins 9-3 (updated)
Trea Turner went 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs and Aníbal Sánchez allowed only one run over seven innings for his first win of the season as the Nationals dispatched the Marlins 9-3 on Sunday afternoon. The Nats offense finally got rolling, tallying nine runs through five innings, including five in the fifth, to coast to their 11th victory on the season, evening the series at two games apiece. In the first, Turner singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He came around...

Strasburg to injured list with right hand injury, Harper returns

Strasburg to injured list with right hand injury, Harper returns
BALTIMORE - The Nationals announced that right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been placed on the 10-day injured list with carpal tunnel neuritis of the right hand. The team has recalled right-handed pitcher Ryne Harper from the alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va. Carpal tunnel syndrome, also called median nerve compression, is a condition that causes numbness, tingling, or weakness in the hand. According to webmd.com, the syndrome "happens because of pressure on your median nerve,...

Bacus promoted, Harper optioned but could still pitch tonight

Bacus promoted, Harper optioned but could still pitch tonight
BALTIMORE - The Nationals made another change to their bullpen prior to today's resumption of Sunday's suspended game against the Orioles, promoting right-hander Dakota Bacus and optioning right-hander Ryne Harper to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg. But that doesn't necessarily mean Harper won't make an appearance at Camden Yards before the night is over. Because clubs are allowed to add a 29th man to their active roster for the regularly scheduled nine-inning game coming...

Martinez keeping close eye on Doolittle, bullpen as season continues

Martinez keeping close eye on Doolittle, bullpen as season continues
The Nationals placed veteran reliever Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list Thursday and promoted rookie left-hander Seth Romero to the active roster. Doolittle is suffering from right knee fatigue. Manager Davey Martinez is devising a plan of how to get his left-handed closer back 100 percent healthy over the next week or so. The hope is that with his knee returning to full strength, the velocity in his fastball will return to normal too. "He's going to go back with us," Martinez said...