Is anyone else blown away by the fact that yesterday was just the second time in 25 career starts that Stephen Strasburg allowed more than three earned runs in a game? I still had trouble believing that was accurate, even after I had looked over all of Strasburg's outings and then double-checked the numbers later on yesterday afternoon. That's remarkable consistency out of the 23-year-old. While Strasburg has been grooving through much of this season, Ryan Zimmerman has not yet been able...

Single-A short season Auburn Doubledays manager Gary Cathcart raved about the progress he saw in Georgia Tech third baseman Matt Skole during his rookie campaign. The 2011 fifth-round selection certainly delivered at the plate, hitting .290 with 23 doubles, one triple, five homers and 48 RBIs in 72 games. Skole also concentrated on his fielding and overall defense, especially with the one-on-one coaching provided by Nationals infield coordinator Jeff Garber and others. Garber said Skole has a...

The next wave of prospects from the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays, including several late round picks, will begin to fill the rosters of Single-A Hagerstown and advanced Single-A Potomac when the 2012 season draws closer. One of those players we will hear from is former Georgia Tech third baseman Matt Skole, who had a very promising start to his career with Auburn. Skole hit .290 with five homers and 48 RBIs in 72 games. He smacked 23 doubles and one triple, while stealing two...

The intructional league season, which continues for two more weeks at the Nationals complex in Florida, benefits players who have not had much time in the Nationals' organization, and others who are getting back from injury and need extra at-bats under the watchful eye of the coaching staff. Shortstop Zach Walters, acquired in the July trade from Arizona for Jason Marquis, started to get on a roll with the Single-A Potomac Nationals at the end of the season and that has carried over into...

I checked in this week with Gary Cathcart, manager for the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays, who are off to a nice start at 26-19 and have recently battled out of a losing streak to win four straight games. The roster is filled with elite college players and quality late round draft picks working hard to make a statement in the organization. One of them is named Bryce. As in, Bryce Ortega. The Doubledays third baseman has been tearing the cover off the ball, now hitting .381 with...

There is something about Atlantic Coast Conference third basemen and the Nationals. The team grabbed a guy by the name of Ryan Zimmerman from Virginia in 2005 and now have signed