Burnett and Johnson released, Ryan reassigned to minors

Burnett and Johnson released, Ryan reassigned to minors
The Nationals officially announced their opening day roster, which was reduced to the requisite 25 players after the club released veterans Sean Burnett and Reed Johnson and reassigned Brendan Ryan to the minor leagues. The 25-man roster essentially was finalized Friday night when the club announced Chris Heisey had secured the final spot on the bench and Blake Treinen would round up the bullpen. But the fates of Burnett, Johnson and Ryan remained somewhat up in the air, with each veteran on...

Dusty Baker explains Nats' final cuts of spring

Dusty Baker explains Nats' final cuts of spring
Dusty Baker has been making roster cuts for two decades, and he admits they're never easy, especially those that come on the cusp of opening day. The cuts the Nationals' new manager had to make Friday night might have been his toughest ever. "My heart goes out to these guys," Baker said. "I didn't really sleep that well last night, at all, because it affects him. I've been there. I know their families are affected. But it's a big boy game, and that's part of the game." The club's...

Breaking down the final bench candidates

Breaking down the final bench candidates
JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals essentially have two more roster decisions to make by Sunday's major league deadline. One involves the bullpen. The other involves the bench. We've gone through the various bullpen options (which are complicated some by the possibility of the Nats carrying eight relievers until they need a fifth starter on April 13), but we haven't spent as much time running discussing the final bench options. There are all sorts of factors to consider here. It's not nearly as...

Dusty Baker on bench construction

Dusty Baker on bench construction
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - As the Nationals get deeper into spring training, more talk turns toward how new manager Dusty Baker will construct his bench. How will he balance his reserves between left- and right-handed hitters? How much does he value experience over versatility? Does speed count more than the ability to hit cold off the pine? So what about it, Dusty? What factors will the skipper consider as he formulates what is expected to be a five-man bench? Figuring that backup catcher Jose...

Teammates get hacks in against Scherzer in live BP session

Teammates get hacks in against Scherzer in live BP session
VIERA, Fla. - The prospect of the first live batting practice session of the spring brought a little extra sense of excitement to Nationals camp this morning. That excitement, though, was dampened by the prospect of a major line of storms sweeping across Florida and supposedly set to barrel through the Space Coast smack dab during the middle of the workout. Turns out, all they got was a little rain and some strong wind, nothing severe enough to disrupt the workout. "The main thing is we dodged...

Giolito headlines non-roster invitees on eve of spring training

Giolito headlines non-roster invitees on eve of spring training
Taking a closer look at the non-roster invitees to Nationals spring training offers an intriguing list of veterans. Some have pitched or hit well in the past, some have previous Nationals experience, and the list includes the organization's top prospect, who is close to tasting the major leagues for the first time. The biggest name, by far, is baseball's top pitching prospect, right-hander Lucas Giolito. He will obviously be the biggest name to watch in spring training, to see how he fares...

Playing the field with the non-roster invitees

Playing the field with the non-roster invitees
Dan Uggla and Clint Robinson were among a host of veterans brought to Nationals spring training on minor league deals last year with seemingly no shot to crack a packed roster fresh off a division crown. Longtime major league outfielder Reed Johnson joined them in final days of camp. After years as one of the game's best power-hitting second basemen, Uggla's offense had dropped off a cliff in the couple of seasons prior and his appearance was considered more of a charity case when he showed...

What those minor league contracts really mean

What those minor league contracts really mean
More than a few eyes were raised in recent weeks when the Nationals signed a succession of guys who play center field to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training. To be honest, the Nats usually wait a little deeper into the offseason before this news trickles out, and they routinely make a formal announcement only after all of their signings of this kind are in the fold. To recap, the Nats have inked Reed Johnson, Chris Heisey and Logan Schafer - three veteran...

Reed Johnson and Sean Burnett heading back to Nats spring training

Reed Johnson and Sean Burnett heading back to Nats spring training
The Nationals announced this afternoon that they agreed to terms on minor league contracts with invitations to MLB spring training with left-hander Sean Burnett and outfielder Reed Johnson. Burnett didn't pitch in 2015 after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. Elbow injuries interfered with his previous two seasons in Anaheim where Burnett only made 16 appearances with a 1.74 ERA. Before that, Burnett spent four years with the Nationals from 2009-2012, going 8-15 with a 2.81 ERA in 245...

Bryce Harper looks to bust out of mini slump

Bryce Harper looks to bust out of mini slump
Bryce Harper enters today's matinee with the Phillies without a hit in his last four games, all losses for the Nationals. The 22-year-old went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts last night and is 0-for-10 over the four games, his longest hitless streak of the season. "He's a touch frustrated right now getting some pitches to hit and not hitting them," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "And that's human. But he's one swing away from getting right back at it. It's been a pretty special...

Stephen Strasburg takes mound for last home start (with lineups)

Stephen Strasburg takes mound for last home start (with lineups)
Stephen Strasburg takes the mound for the last time at Nationals Park in 2015 this afternoon against the Phillies. The right-hander tied a career high with 14 strikeouts when he faced the Phils at Citizens Bank Park a little over a week ago. Strasburg is 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA and 37 strikeouts over his last three starts. He is 5-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 11 home starts this season and 4-3 with a 4.22 ERA in nine day game starts. Today's outing against Philadelphia will be his fifth this season,...

Span gets day off with back tightness, Roark shines at Potomac

Span gets day off with back tightness, Roark shines at Potomac
Center fielder Denard Span is not in the lineup tonight. The Nationals put left fielder Jayson Werth back in the leadoff role for Thursday night's series finale against the San Diego Padres. Manager Matt Williams said it was nothing serious for Span, who has been on the disabled list already twice this season and has had recurring issues with his back. Instead, it is just a day off because of what Span told Williams this morning. "Yesterday, coming in, he was a little bit tight (and) loosened...

Nats' season of injuries gets bizarre as Reed Johnson strains oblique on sneeze (Update)

Nats' season of injuries gets bizarre as Reed Johnson strains oblique on sneeze (Update)
If the Nationals miss these playoffs, injuries will undoubtedly be blamed for the team not meeting the sky-high expectations placed on them. Some have been blatant like Jayson Werth's fractured left wrist on a darting fastball, while others, such as Anthony Rendon's sprained MCL on a diving play, seemed otherwise harmless. Just last week, there was the unlucky Tyler Moore spraining his left ankle while accidentally stepping on a baseball in the batting cage. But none of the Nationals injuries...

Rendon, Werth and Zimmerman ramping up rehab action

Rendon, Werth and Zimmerman ramping up rehab action
PITTSBURGH - Anthony Rendon went 3-for-3 with an RBI while playing six innings at third base In Single-A Potomac's 5-1 loss to Frederick last night. The 25-year-old is expected to push it to seven innings tonight again at third base. Rendon's left quad strain sent him to the 15-day disabled list on June 25. He's 7-for-10 (.700) with a double, two walks, one RBI and a run scored in four games over the last week for Potomac. Ryan Zimmerman is down the road from his Nationals teammates playing...

Anthony Rendon to 15-day disabled list, Emmanuel Burriss has contract selected

Anthony Rendon to 15-day disabled list, Emmanuel Burriss has contract selected
PHILADELPHIA - After beginning the 2015 season on the disabled list, infielder Anthony Rendon finds himself back on it, this time with a left quad strain. Rendon missed the first 52 games of the season, recovering from a left knee sprain followed by a left oblique strain, and didn't make his season debut until June 4. In his 18 games this season, he is batting .290/.375/.362, with five doubles, nine walks, five RBIs and nine runs scored. He does not yet have a homer on the year. The move is...

Anthony Rendon having side checked out, Casey Janssen is improving

Anthony Rendon having side checked out, Casey Janssen is improving
Infielder Anthony Rendon is in D.C. today undergoing an examination on his troublesome left side with Nationals team doctor Wiemi Douoguih. "Don't know why it's been a problem," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "It's just crept up on him. We're being cautious with it to make sure that it doesn't turn into something we don't want it to turn into. The last couple of days, he's taken it easy. He went through the full workout a couple days ago and it was tight. So yesterday we shut...

Nats recall rookies Michael A. Taylor and Sammy Solis

Nats recall rookies Michael A. Taylor and Sammy Solis
ATLANTA - It didn't take long for prized Nationals rookie Michael A. Taylor to make it back to the big leagues. The 24-year-old was the Nationals' opening day center fielder and leadoff hitter. He validated the hype in his first 12 games, hitting .271 with two homers, three doubles, one triple and eight RBIs. Taylor is considered a rare prospect possessing dynamic speed as well as above-average power. He has battled issues with discipline at the plate, and his 19 strikeouts were among the...

Nats expect momentum to follow emotional win

Nats expect momentum to follow emotional win
ATLANTA - The Nationals have underachieved, without question, in the first month of the season. Grand talks of running away with the National League East have turned to grumblings of early changes. So it's easy to point at last night's dramatic comeback and assume it will be the wake-up call for the baseball gods to reclear the path to October. "Yeah, this has got to," infielder Danny Espinosa said. "This could really take us a long way and get us on a good streak, get us in a good spot....

Stanton, Koehler too much as Nats are shut out 8-0

Stanton, Koehler too much as Nats are shut out 8-0
MIAMI - Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg ran into difficulty to start the fourth when Marlins third baseman Martin Prado ripped a double to the right-center gap to lead off the inning. Right fielder Giancarlo followed with another double down the left line to score Prado easily for the game's first run. Stanton is 2-for-2 today and now 12-for-30 with three homers and six doubles against Strasburg in his career. The Marlins added another run two batters later when first baseman Justin Bour...

Williams gives Espinosa, Johnson first starts (with lineups)

Williams gives Espinosa, Johnson first starts (with lineups)
PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals send tall righty Doug Fister to the mound tonight to try to stop a two-game losing streak. Fister is coming off a questionable spring training, where he allowed an uncharacteristic seven homers en route to a 5.96 ERA in 22 2/3 innings. The Phillies will counter with three-time All-Star Cole Hamels. He took the loss on opening day allowing four runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks against the Red Sox. Nationals manager Matt Williams will give second...