#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Rendon has record-breaking day in Nats' slugfest over Mets

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Rendon has record-breaking day in Nats' slugfest over Mets
On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in our nation's capital, the Nationals put on a hitting clinic against the Mets pitching staff that ended in a 23-5 victory, making up for dropping the first two games of the series. What fans will remember most is the All-Star performance by third baseman Anthony Rendon. Rendon came out of an early season slump when he went 6-for-6 (including two singles and a double), blasted three homers and collected a career-high 10 RBIs (his previous career high was four...

Could the Nats re-sign any of their free agents?

Could the Nats re-sign any of their free agents?
If you scrolled through yesterday's organizational depth chart blog post, you may have noticed that the Nationals lost a significant amount of depth in a few areas when the season ended and several prominent players became free agents. All of a sudden, that remade bullpen is looking mighty thin. As is the Nats bench, which was such a strength by season's end. It doesn't have to remain that way, of course. The Nationals can (and likely will) fill those holes this winter with new signings or...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Turner hits for cycle in win over Rockies

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Turner hits for cycle in win over Rockies
Despite the freezing cold and rainy temperatures in Denver on April 25th, it was easily the hottest night of Trea Turner's career. The Nationals outlasted the Rockies 15-12, but Turner stole the spotlight as he hit for the cycle, drove in a career-high seven RBIs and scored four runs. With gametime temperature hovering around 37 degrees, donning a ski mask and warm gloves, Turner turned his fourth full game back from the disabled list into a stellar night with: * Single in the first* Two-run...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A healthy filling of homers for Thanksgiving

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A healthy filling of homers for Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving, NatsTown! I hope your Turkey Day is filled with family, friends, delicious food and drink, and football! But if your family is more of a baseball-first kind of group, then we've got a treat for you. Instead of watching the traditional slate of football games this afternoon, tune in to MASN for the first of not one, not two, but three(!) "Nationals Classics" from this past season we're airing this week as part of our Throwback Thursdays! Our holiday special is one of two...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Taylor's inside-the-park grand slam and Wieters' slam

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Taylor's inside-the-park grand slam and Wieters' slam
We're very thankful for "Nationals Classics" during this time of year. With no baseball being played and the holidays approaching, we've stacked not one, but two "Nationals Classics" from this past year into this week's Throwback Thursday. First up this week is one of the most exciting games we saw in 2017. After falling behind early to the Phillies on Sept. 8, the Nationals put together a furious comeback behind Michael A. Taylor, who had one the best games of his career. The highlight...

After seven years with Nats, Werth now faces uncertain future

After seven years with Nats, Werth now faces uncertain future
As we transition into offseason mode here, we're reviewing each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Jayson Werth, whose seventh (and likely final) season in D.C. didn't go the way he hoped it would. PLAYER REVIEW: JAYSON WERTH Age on opening day 2018: 38 How acquired: Signed as free agent, Dec. 2010 MLB service time: 14 years, 102 days 2017 salary: $21 million Contract status: Free agent. (Nats will be paying him $10 million in deferred salary in 2018.) 2017...

Looking at some possible successors to Dusty Baker

Looking at some possible successors to Dusty Baker
With Dusty Baker out as manager after leading the Nationals to back-to-back National League East titles and consecutive first-round playoff departures, one question is on the lips of Nats fans: Who's next? Do the Nats turn to a veteran field boss, someone who's shown a propensity for getting teams deep into the postseason? Do they focus their attentions on someone whose personality is a good match for a star-filled clubhouse? Do they eschew an old-school candidate for someone more cutting...

Reflecting on Werth with the Nats and where he might be next season

Reflecting on Werth with the Nats and where he might be next season
A few days have passed since the difficult Game 5 National League Division Series loss and reflection continues on the impact of left fielder Jayson Werth and whether or not 2017 was his final year in a Nationals uniform. Werth played seven seasons with the Nats from 2011-2017, the longest tenure for him with one team in his career. The Nats won 95 or more games in four of those seasons. In his first season with the Nats, the win total jumped from 69 to 80. That was the only season the Nats...

The Nationals' biggest offseason questions

The Nationals' biggest offseason questions
The Nationals have been in this position before, entering the offseason following an abrupt and disappointing exit from the postseason, facing a handful of significant questions that need to be addressed in the weeks and months to come. There's the managerial situation to sort out. There are some veterans about to become free agents. There are some really important players about to enter their contract years. And there are a few holes that need to be filled. So as we transition into offseason...

What does the future now hold for Baker and Werth?

What does the future now hold for Baker and Werth?
In those immediate moments after elimination, once the reality sets in and everyone understands the season has just ended, it's impossible not to start wondering about the future. And for two of the most prominent members of the Nationals, the future is awfully cloudy in the wake of Thursday night's Game 5 loss to the Cubs. Did Dusty Baker just manage his last game for the Nats (or for anyone)? Did Jayson Werth just play his last game for the Nats (or for anyone)? It'll be a little while...

Nationals once again left to make sense of an NLDS loss

Nationals once again left to make sense of an NLDS loss
Most of them had been through this at least once before, some twice, a select few three times. The Nationals have grown accustomed to - and, quite frankly, tired of - standing inside a dead-silent clubhouse late at night following an agonizing loss in the National League Division Series and trying to make sense of it all. They did it after the ninth-inning fiasco against the Cardinals in 2012. They did it after a poorly played series against the Giants in 2014. They did it after a dramatic...

Mistakes abound in another Game 5 loss for Nationals

Mistakes abound in another Game 5 loss for Nationals
If the Nationals were going to finally do it, if they were going to cast aside their reputation for coming up short when it matters most and at long last win a postseason series, they were going to have to blast their way through some major obstacles. The defending World Series champs were tough enough to beat. But in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the Nationals were left to try to beat themselves, committing one costly gaffe after another during a 4 1/2-hour marathon that...

Baker sticking with Werth, rest of lineup for Game 5

Baker sticking with Werth, rest of lineup for Game 5
Through four games of this National League Division Series, the Nationals have scored a grand total of 12 runs on 16 hits. For the arithmetically challenged, that's an average of three runs on four hits per game. That's not good. Throughout it all, though, Dusty Baker has stuck with the same eight batters in his starting lineup. The order changed for Game 4, but the names remained the same. And they'll remain the same for tonight's do-or-die Game 5. Which means Jayson Werth is again...

Will a third Game 5 at home be the charm for the Nationals?

Will a third Game 5 at home be the charm for the Nationals?
CHICAGO - Jayson Werth has played in two do-or-die games before. Both came with the Nationals, both of them Game 5 in a National League Division Series, both of them ending in heartache. Tonight might well be the last one of these the 38-year-old outfielder gets to experience. And because of that, more than a few of his teammates have made it known they're trying to win this October for one of the guys whose arrival in D.C. had the largest impact on taking this franchise to its current...

Taylor defies elements with grand slam at Wrigley Field

Taylor defies elements with grand slam at Wrigley Field
CHICAGO - A game removed from taking the blame for not catching the Cubs' game-winning bloop hit, Michael A. Taylor stepped to the plate in the eighth inning Wednesday night with rain falling, wind blowing and the bases loaded. With the elements stifling fly balls at Wrigley Field, the only run of the game was the Nats' unearned run in the third inning. After Daniel Murphy's single off Jon Lester, who was pitching in relief, Cubs manager Joe Maddon opted to bring in Carl Edwards Jr., who...

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - And so the Nationals' season has come down to this: They need to win Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Wrigley Field and force a winner-take-all Game 5 at Nationals Park on Thursday night. All of this, of course, is assuming they're able to play today. Your early-afternoon weather update: It's not raining yet, but the rain is on the way, and it's going to hit sometime later this afternoon. It's just a question of whether the rain is significant enough to prevent...

Baker sticks with Werth in Game 3 matchup vs. Quintana

Baker sticks with Werth in Game 3 matchup vs. Quintana
CHICAGO - Whatever urge there may have been to alter his lineup for Game 3 of the National League Division Series, Dusty Baker ultimately decided continuity was more important than playing matchups against an opponent they've never faced. With left-hander José Quintana on the mound for the Cubs this afternoon, the Nationals are going up against an unknown entity. Only three members of their NLDS roster have ever faced him before: Howie Kendrick (5-for-10), Adam Lind (2-for-9) and Matt...

NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs
It feels like we've been waiting around for this postseason for an extraordinarily long time. The Nationals clinched their division title way back on Sept. 10, but truth be told, they knew a lot earlier than that they were going to win the National League East and make the postseason. And they've known for most of that time they almost certainly were going to face the Cubs in the National League Division Series. Well, at long last the day has come. It's Oct. 6, and a highly anticipated...

Baker seeks World Series ring to add to his complete life

Baker seeks World Series ring to add to his complete life
Facing the Chicago Cubs in the post season is a big deal for Dusty Baker. But he countered, then again, he has history with a lot of teams the Nationals could play in the 2017 playoffs. Baker managed the Cubs from 2003 to 2006. The first two seasons they won 88 and 89 games. The last season they finished 30 games under .500. "What comes to my mind is how well we started off and how things certainly could have been different," Baker said. "One pitch, one out, one hit, one something. And then...

Revisiting our opening day media predictions

Revisiting our opening day media predictions
The Nationals' season is far from over. If anything, the last six months were nothing but a big tease for what is still to come over at least the next week, possibly more. But the regular season has concluded, and that means it's time to revisit all those predictions all of us on the Nats beat made way back on opening day. This always leads to embarrassment for us (though traditionally some more than others) but I have to say the crew did a pretty good job overall this year, with a couple of...