Harrisburg's solid lineup one reason for quick start

Harrisburg's solid lineup one reason for quick start
The Double-A Harrisburg Senators dropped Bowie 6-1 Saturday behind big hits from Rick Hague and Steven Souza, Jr., and a spectacular one-two punch on the mound by Paul Demny and Trevor Holder. Destin Hood smacked his first double of the season and Souza crushed his first homer to get the scoring going. Demny went five innings for the win and Holder an amazing four innings for the save. Justin Bloxom had an RBI double and Hague a two-run single. Demny struck out six and allowed just two hits...

Harrisburg Senators announce opening day roster

Harrisburg Senators announce opening day roster
The Double-A Harrisburg Senators released their opening day roster today. The talented roster includes top prospects Anthony Rendon, Matt Skole, Brian Goodwin and Nathan Karns. According to a press release, the roster includes eight players listed in the Baseball America's Top 28 Nationals prospects: Rendon (1), Goodwin (3), Skole (4), Karns (5), Sandy Leon (15), Rick Hague (16), Destin Hood (17) and Paul Demny (28). Harrisburg home opener is April 4 versus Bowie Baysox. Here is the roster...

Johnson discusses Rendon's role this season, other cuts

Johnson discusses Rendon's role this season, other cuts
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals officially sent seven players to minor league camp today, a group that includes infielders Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole and right-hander Nathan Karns. None of those three had a legitimate chance to make the Nationals' 25-man roster out of spring training, but all three still made good use of their time in big league camp. Rendon was the one who turned the most heads; the 22-year-old - who is the Nationals' top prospect - hit the cover off the ball this spring,...

Rendon among Nats' cuts (updated with more cuts)

Rendon among Nats' cuts (updated with more cuts)
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals sent four more players over to minor league camp this morning, according to a team source: infielders Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole, right-hander Nathan Karns and left-hander Pat McCoy. Update: In addition to the four players listed above, infielder Will Rhymes, catcher Sandy Leon and outfielder Eury Perez have also been sent to minor league camp, manager Davey Johnson announced. Rendon, Karns and Leon were optioned to Double-A Harrisburg, Perez was optioned to...

Johnson pleased with Haren, Storen and Skole in 2-1 loss

Johnson pleased with Haren, Storen and Skole in 2-1 loss
LAKELAND, Fla. - It was a fairly uneventful afternoon from an offensive perspective here at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Nationals and Tigers combined for three runs on 11 hits in a 2-1 Detroit win, and all four of the hits in the Nats' column were singles. From a pitching perspective, however, Davey Johnson saw a bunch of positives. Dan Haren went four strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts. The veteran right-hander threw 61 pitches (43 for strikes), and if not...

Nationals' top prospects fortified by "second wave" of talent

Nationals' top prospects fortified by "second wave" of talent
When the Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Monday with a roster filled with the future of the organization, the team's development staff had to be beaming with a sense of pride and accomplishment. It wasn't too long ago the Nationals would bring 80 guys to camp and didn't know if they had a handful of major leaguers in that lot. The entire starting lineup Monday night featured the best the minor league system had to offer, sprinkled with a couple of players already with the...

Rizzo on Garcia's role, Skole's progress, Rodriguez's health

Rizzo on Garcia's role, Skole's progress, Rodriguez's health
VIERA, Fla. - Is Christian Garcia a starter? Is the promising 27-year-old a reliever? No one knows at this point, not even Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo or manager Davey Johnson. The Nationals' decision makers are coming into this spring with an open mind on Garcia, letting how the righty pitches and how their pitching staff is constructed steer their decision on how Garcia will be used. "We know he can do both, and that's an important thing," Rizzo said early this afternoon....

Various Monday morning odds and ends

Various Monday morning odds and ends
VIERA, Fla. - He might have a new team's colors on these days, but Michael Morse can still crush a baseball. That apparently hasn't changed. Now a member of the Mariners after being traded out west this offseason, Morse reportedly struck a ball so well during batting practice yesterday that it not only flew over the outfield fence, but also had enough distance to carry a road before coming down in a parking lot beyond left field. Here's a picture of exactly how far Morse's shot reportedly...

Nats' minor league rosters slowly being filled in

Nats' minor league rosters slowly being filled in
With spring training just around the corner, the makeup of the some of the minor league rosters are starting to take shape as names are quietly appearing on the Web sites of Nationals affiliates. For the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, pitchers Yunesky Maya, Jeff Mandel, Pat Lehman, Brad Meyers, Hassan Pena and Tanner Roark are familiar. Also on the list is right-hander Matt Torra. Torra, out of the University of Massachusetts, is 6-foot-3 and 225-lb. righty starter who made 26 appearances (23...

Source: Matt Skole invited to big league spring training

Source: Matt Skole invited to big league spring training
Nationals minor league Player of the Year Matt Skole, who hit 27 homers and 92 RBIs for low Single-A Hagerstown, has been invited to major league spring training, a baseball source has confirmed. The news was first reported by Skole's brother Jake

Daubach on the Dominican and updates Perez, Skole and Burns

Daubach on the Dominican and updates Perez, Skole and Burns
High Single-A Potomac Nationals manager Brian Daubach recently completed winter ball as the hitting coach for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Republic. Daubach worked with 30 hitters from several teams, including Nationals outfielder Eury Perez. Daubach said their is nothing like baseball in the Dominican. He said the way the fans get into the games, being right on top of the action, reacting to every pitch and every swing, makes it feel like every game is a must-win. "It is pretty...

Baseball America's No. 4 Nats prospect: Matt Skole

Baseball America's No. 4 Nats prospect: Matt Skole
It was a tremendous summer for Matt Skole. He demonstrated his raw power over and over at low Single-A Hagerstown. Skole hit .286 in 101 games for the Suns, smacking 27 homers and recording 92 RBIs. He then got moved up to high Single-A Potomac. He hit .314 for the P-Nats, with 11 extra-base hits, although no homers, and 12 RBIs. The Nationals liked what they saw so much they gave him the opportunity to continue his season in the Arizona Fall League, where he played first base exclusively....

Rendon and Skole selected to AFL Top Prospects Team

Rendon and Skole selected to AFL Top Prospects Team
The Arizona Fall League announced its Top Prospects Team and a pair of Nationals prospects made the list. Both are third basemen - Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole. The team was put together by AFL managers and coaches. The Top Prospects Team recognizes players who distinguished themselves throughout the league's six-week 2012 schedule against other top prospects from every organization in Major League Baseball. Voters also were asked to consider AFL performance and major league...

AFL season provides plenty to like for Nats fans

AFL season provides plenty to like for Nats fans
Not all that much went on in the baseball world over the weekend, but the last couple days were pretty eventful for Michael Morse. Morse and his fiancé Jessica got married on Saturday, tying the knot with a number of Morse's Nationals teammates and manager Davey Johnson in attendance. Congrats to the happy couple. Morse tweeted out a number of pictures from the reception and posted a couple to his Facebook page, as well. My favorite is this one, in which the Nationals' left fielder...

Perry gets roughed up early in finals, Salt River comeback falls short in 4-3 loss

Perry gets roughed up early in finals, Salt River comeback falls short in 4-3 loss
Nationals right-hander Ryan Perry allowed four runs in three innings, and Peoria held off Salt River 4-3 to win the Arizona Fall League championship at Scottsdale Stadium. Perry surrendered eight hits and two walks to suffer the loss (0-1). He gave up a leadoff triple from Billy Hamilton and two RBI singles by Mike Zunino. Peoria built a 4-1 lead before Salt River rallied in the third. Kent Matthes slapped a run-scoring single and Corey Dickerson added an RBI double to make it 4-3. Brian...

Martinson pinch-hit HR highlights Salt River's 7-3 victory in finale

Martinson pinch-hit HR highlights Salt River's 7-3 victory in finale
Taxi squad member Jason Martinson hit a ball so hard and so far in his first game in Arizona last month that pitching coach Mark Grater said the umpires did not know how to rule it and called it foul. But it definitely was close to being fair. There was no doubt Thursday for Martinson, who crushed a two-run shot in the eighth as a pinch hitter, capping off a 7-3 regular season finale win for the Salt River Rafters over Surprise. Designated hitter Brian Goodwin had a double and run scored,...

Salt River advances to AFL championship game; Ryan Perry will start

Salt River advances to AFL championship game; Ryan Perry will start
The Salt River Rafters downed Billy Hamilton and the Peoria Javelinas, 6-4 Wednesday afternoon at Salt River Fields in Arizona Fall League competition. Salt River improves to 16-13, guaranteeing a winning regular season record, and with one game left to play Thursday. Scottsdale (15-15) will be unable to catch them because the Scorpions would have played one more game, and they lost that game. First baseman Matt Skole went 0-for-3 with a walk, but is still batting .305. Third baseman Jason...

Rendon doubles twice, Perry grabs win in Salt River's 8-4 dispatch of Mesa

Rendon doubles twice, Perry grabs win in Salt River's 8-4 dispatch of Mesa
Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole each had two hits and Ryan Perry allowed just one run as Salt River cruised past Mesa 8-4. Rendon smacked two doubles and Skole had two RBIs, while both players scored two runs. Skole is hitting .321 and Rendon .319. The Rafters managed at least one run in six different innings. Perry (2-0, 4.98 ERA) allowed a solo homer, but went four innings, scattering three hits and three walks, with two strikeouts to get the win. Cole Kimball gave up three runs in 1 2/3...

Goodwin and Skole have RBI doubles, but Mesa drops Salt River 7-5

Goodwin and Skole have RBI doubles, but Mesa drops Salt River 7-5
Brian Goodwin and Matt Skole smacked RBI doubles, but a four-run second inning set the tone as Mesa edged Salt River 7-5 in Arizona Fall League competition Friday afternoon. Batting leadoff as the designated hitter, Goodwin went 1-for-5, with a RBI double, a run scored and two strikeouts. His average is at .239. Skole, at first base, went 1-for-3 with a run-scoring double and a walk. His average is .302. Anthony Rendon, playing third base, went 0-for-4 and struck out twice. The Solar Sox...

Goodwin, Skole get day off; Surprise edges Salt River 5-4

Goodwin, Skole get day off; Surprise edges Salt River 5-4
Surprise returned the favor Thursday with a 5-4 win at Salt River, despite a furious ninth-inning rally that came up short. Down 5-1 heading into their last at-bat, the Rafters scored three runs, but Chris Owings struck out to end the game. Matt Davidson's solo shot and Jake Marisnick's two-run homer had cut the deficit to one. The Rafters did not have that many opportunities against the Surprise pitching staff, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Nationals prospect Anthony...