Rachel Levitin: Passion alive for baseball in D.C.

Rachel Levitin: Passion alive for baseball in D.C.
It's been an eventful end to the season for the Nationals, to say the least. It's definitely not the conclusion predicted early on in the year. Spoiler alert: The Nats aren't going to the playoffs. The explosion at Nats Park over the weekend sparked a barrage of national media attention. This is may end up being an unpopular opinion, but getting to this end point is something that's been in the making for a decade. When I moved to D.C. in August 2015, all I wanted - more than anything - was...

Rachel Levitin: After season full of Nats' injuries, all eyes will be on Rizzo this offseason

Rachel Levitin: After season full of Nats' injuries, all eyes will be on Rizzo this offseason
After last night's 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Nationals are 6 1/2 games back while the New York Mets maintain first place in the National League East. All other teams in the division have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The magic number is six. No matter what happens at the tail end of the 2015 season, though, the unfortunate part of the year - besides possibly missing the playoffs, since it's not a done deal yet - is the fact that this team...

Rachel Levitin: Reminiscing the Nats' early days at RFK Stadium

Rachel Levitin: Reminiscing the Nats' early days at RFK Stadium
This isn't going to be popular opinion, but I find myself reminiscing of Nationals baseball in the early days at RFK Stadium as of late. RFK was by no means the "right" place to put a brand new baseball team within a city that, up to 2005, hadn't had baseball for so long that they got used to that fact and seemed relatively underwhelmed when it returned to the District of Columbia. What RFK had going for it was that it was grungy, run-down and gritty enough to adopt the Nats and give them a...

Rachel Levitin: Nats' expectations clashing with stark reality

Rachel Levitin: Nats' expectations clashing with stark reality
When it comes to professional sports, looking good on paper can be deceiving when weighed against the actions of a team in any given season. This is what seems to be plaguing the Nationals in 2015. Two division titles in three years and the Nats are struggling to paw their way back to the top of the National League East and dethrone the New York Mets before time runs out on the regular season. And while wins like last night's 15-6 blowout victory against the Rockies in Colorado are nice to see...

Rachel Levitin: Rough run puts Nationals 2 1/2 games back in division

Rachel Levitin: Rough run puts Nationals 2 1/2 games back in division
It's been a rough run for the Washington Nationals as of late. They dropped last night's contest in a 5-0 shutout versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, and are trying to scrape their way back to the top of the National League East as baseball's regular season days die down. The Nats currently sit 2 1/2 games back in their division. Now - with the wild card - sitting a couple games back in the standings isn't necessarily the end all to a season with playoff hopes. However, the issue now lies in...

Rachel Levitin: How will Jonathan Papelbon mix in with Nationals bullpen?

Rachel Levitin: How will Jonathan Papelbon mix in with Nationals bullpen?
It looks like there's a new closing pitcher on Washington's roster. All-Star pitcher Jonathan Papelbon was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday in exchange for minor league pitcher Nick Pivetta, and now it'll be interesting to see how the team's newest player integrates into the clubhouse. Outside of the business of baseball, many fans have expressed displeasure with the selection. That aside, I think the effect Papelbon has on the clubhouse and on...

Rachel Levitin: Reconsidering the roles of Nats relievers

Rachel Levitin: Reconsidering the roles of Nats relievers
Here's the thing about Tuesday night's game at Nationals Park between the Washington Nationals and New York Mets - Washington starter Joe Ross threw a good game. He was able to keep up with 2015 All-Star pitcher Jacob deGrom in a head-to-had match-up, which should be viewed as an accomplishment for the young rookie pitcher. The unfortunate part is that the accomplishment dissolved amid a quiet offense and struggling relief pitchers. The onus isn't completely on the quiet offense. deGrom is a...

Rachel Levitin: Respect for Harper's decision on Home Run Derby

Rachel Levitin: Respect for Harper's decision on Home Run Derby
The votes are in and it's all official - Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper are going to the All-Star Game to represent the Nationals. The 2015 game in Cincinnati is Scherzer's third game and first appearance with the Nats, while this is Harper's third appearance at the All-Star Game and festivities. This time around, Harper will not be participating in the Home Run Derby after receiving a National League record of 13.85 million fan votes. Harper is hot this season, which is why he's landed a...

Rachel Levitin: Nats' depth has come in handy

Rachel Levitin: Nats' depth has come in handy
The Nationals are 3 1/2 games up over the New York Mets in the National League East after their 6-1 victory over the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday night. They've won nine of their last 10 games, have battled through injuries to realign their starting rotation and have witnessed several hitting hot streaks for various players up and down the lineup. Despite a little bit of struggle to get back to first place within their division and stay atop the baseball standings as one of the teams with the...

Rachel Levitin: Pinpointing the Nationals' problem

Rachel Levitin: Pinpointing the Nationals' problem
The Nationals are 58 games into this season, and it's not the Marlins, Mets, Cubs or even the Yankees who remain their toughest foe. As it turns out, they may be their own worst enemy. Though the Nationals have managed to find a groove and settle into first place in the National League East so far this season, they've dropped a game behind the Mets to second place in the division with their 6-1 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday night. It's June 10 and the All-Star break is nearly a month away....

Rachel Levitin: Renion recalls Riggleman's abrupt resignation

Rachel Levitin: Renion recalls Riggleman's abrupt resignation
The Nationals ran into a familiar face last week while in Cincinnati. Former Nats Manager Jim Riggleman, who served as manager from 2009 to 2011, caught up with general manager Mike Rizzo and reflected on his time with the ballclub. Riggleman is now the Reds' third base coach, after serving as a minor league manager in their system for a couple of seasons. According to reports, Riggleman doesn't harbor any ill will against the club and is happy to be working in baseball, regardless of the...

Rachel Levitin: Retracing Wrigleyville roots amid Nationals conversation

Rachel Levitin: Retracing Wrigleyville roots amid Nationals conversation
When I was in Chicago earlier this month, I found myself wandering around the neighborhood I grew up in - Wrigleyville. Back then, I wasn't old enough to appreciate an Old Style at Murphy's Bleachers on the corner of Waveland and Sheffield. But a few weeks ago, I was. One of my favorite parts of growing up in a baseball town like Chicago is that people there, at least in my mind, seemed to really enjoy sports. They enjoyed watching sports, talking about sports and knew intricacies about each...

Rachel Levitin: Another memory for Nats fans, Zimmerman to cherish

Rachel Levitin: Another memory for Nats fans, Zimmerman to cherish
Since their inception in 2005, the Nationals have gone from a cellar-dwelling team to a two-time National League East championship ballclub eager to take home baseball's top prize of a world championship. There have been several major milestone moments along the way, including the team's first no-hitter pitched by Jordan Zimmermann in 2014 and the back-to-back No. 1 draft picks of Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010 that added talent - and mainstream buzz within the American...

Rachel Levitin: Solis a welcome addition to improving bullpen

Rachel Levitin: Solis a welcome addition to improving bullpen
Tuesday night was a tough one for Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals. He did his best to try and push through the night against the Miami Marlins but, three innings in, that was it for the night. Strasburg's right shoulder blade discomfort caused the early exit, but created an opportunity for left-landed reliever Sammy Solis, a recent call-up. The southpaw has pitched five scoreless innings in two major league appearances since being called up and manager Matt Williams was impressed by how...

Rachel Levitin: Seeing what Escobar is all about

Rachel Levitin: Seeing what Escobar is all about
When the Nationals announced that right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard was traded to the Oakland Athletics for infielder Yunel Escobar in January, the public opinion was that folks were sad to see Clippard go. Teammates and fans alike were not ready to see their beloved eighth inning reliever (whose use of the song "Peaches" will always make this particular Nats baseball observer smile) trade in red, white, and blue for green and gold. But now that the 2015 season is a few weeks old, it's...

Rachel Levitin: Nationals still searching for rhythm and momentum

Rachel Levitin: Nationals still searching for rhythm and momentum
If spring training is the warm-up for the start of the season, I think it's safe to say April is the warm-up for the rest of baseball's marathon run from spring to fall. The Nationals are 2-6 to start their 2015 run and there have already been mumblings from various sources around Twitter and otherwise that have people begging the question: Is it time to start worrying? Let's just put this out there now and put that to rest: No, it's not time to start worrying. To be honest, I feel like...

Rachel Levitin: Considering Ryan Zimmerman's legacy

Rachel Levitin: Considering Ryan Zimmerman's legacy
When baseball moved back to Washington, D.C., a decade ago, I also moved to town right around the same time. My dad used to joke with me back then, saying, "Good thing D.C. got a baseball team! They must've known you'd be coming!" He was kidding, of course, but I liked to think that it was somewhat true. The 18-year-old kid headed off to college needed some comfort moving to a new city and knowing that there'd be baseball to watch across town was extremely helpful since I was struggling to...

Starting five MASNsports.com guest bloggers revealed for 2015

Starting five MASNsports.com guest bloggers revealed for 2015
When the Nationals came to D.C. from Montreal for the 2015 season, they created a lot of buzz in the nation's capital. One of the interesting offshoots of their arrival was the plethora of fan blogs that were quickly established. These folks were the ones who created the Natosphere, the wonderful Internet gathering place for new Nats fans and baseball-starved denizens of the District and the surrounding area. Well, we noticed. And in 2011, MASNsports.com started offering daily in-season...

Rachel Levitin: Lackluster October offense shouldn't discredit a quality season

Rachel Levitin: Lackluster October offense shouldn't discredit a quality season
At the end of each baseball season, 29 teams go home without a ring. Unfortunately for baseball fans in Washington, the Nationals are one of those teams that went home without the ring in 2014. The team's playoff run lasted four games against the San Francisco Giants after Tuesday night's elimination match-up in which the Nats fell two games to one against their NLDS competitor. From what I could gather from casual fans I follow on Facebook and Twitter, the majority were discontent regarding...

Rachel Levitin: Ready for another round of October baseball in D.C.

Rachel Levitin: Ready for another round of October baseball in D.C.
When I first moved to D.C. in 2005 to start my freshman year at American University, my dad used to joke and say, "Good thing they've got a baseball team just in time for you to start. They must've known you were coming." This was funny unto himself, to me, and my family since I grew up and went to grade school within walking distance of Wrigley Field. It's because of that particular upbringing that I developed a love for the game of baseball. The sport's storied history was and still...