Luke Erickson: Do Nats have bullpen arms ready on the farm?

Luke Erickson: Do Nats have bullpen arms ready on the farm?
It's never been lost on me that some folks are only interested in the Washington farm insofar as who can replace (fill in name of player struggling). These days, it's the Nationals bullpen where the firemen are bringing the gas and not the water, if you know what I mean. Before I go any further, let me be very plain: I believe the Tony La Russa-style bullpen with so-called roles is both overblown and overrated. I'm with Dick Radatz, who famously sneered, "Your job is to throw strikes when...

Johansen released, Valdez to DL in Nats' minor league moves

Johansen released, Valdez to DL in Nats' minor league moves
The Nationals announced they have released right-handers Jake Johansen and Mark Blackmar. The club has assigned right-hander Taylor Hill to Double-A Harrisburg from Triple-A Syracuse. Also, catcher Nick Rickles and right-handers Andrew Robinson and Derek Eitel have been assigned to Harrisburg from extended spring training. Johansen is the biggest name of those released today as a 2013 second-round selection. Early on, some in baseball circles envisioned a one-two punch of the 6-foot-6 Johansen...

Nats' early camp roster: Johansen and Silvestre

Nats' early camp roster: Johansen and Silvestre
Moving on, we'll spotlight a couple of the pitchers from the Nationals' early camp roster. Right-hander Jake Johansen showed well in the Arizona Fall League to wrap up his season. In nine games for the Glendale Desert Dogs, Johansen posted a 2.13 ERA without a decision. He allowed 13 hits and three earned runs in 12 12/3 innings, with five strikeouts and three walks. After making 30 starts in his first two seasons in the minors, Johansen has focused on coming out of the bullpen since...

Jake Johansen focuses on throwing strikes and a new breaking pitch

Jake Johansen focuses on throwing strikes and a new breaking pitch
Right-hander Jake Johansen was able to break through with his consistency in the Arizona Fall League. Johansen found the strike zone and got out good hitters to the tune of a 2.13 ERA over 12 2/3 innings in nine appearances. He struck out five and walked three, allowing only three total runs. Glendale Desert Dogs pitching coach Sam Narron, whose regular season job is with the Single-A Hagerstown Suns, has worked with Johansen a lot since he was selected by the Nationals in the second round of...

Five Nats prospects help lift Glendale to win in final AFL game

Five Nats prospects help lift Glendale to win in final AFL game
Glendale did their part to reach the Arizona Fall League title game, stopping Peoria 3-1. The Desert Dogs (17-15) won seven of their last 10 games, finishing the fall season as the hottest team in the league. But Surprise also won their final game to win the West division by a half-game. The Saguaros (17-14-1) face Mesa in Saturday's championship. In the final game, five Nationals prospects got to play. Center Fielder Andrew Stevenson went 1-for-3 with a walk from the leadoff spot. Stevenson...

Where the Nats' 40-man roster stands on decision day

Where the Nats' 40-man roster stands on decision day
There's a deadline this afternoon around baseball. It's not one of the major deadlines, like the trade deadline or the qualifying offer deadline. But it's nonetheless a potentially significant one when it comes to organizations keeping their best prospects from getting swooped up by another club. By 5 p.m. EST, all teams must add any players they wish to protect from being selected in the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster. What does that mean? A quick primer for those who aren't familiar...

Stevenson collects five hits in 15-3 Glendale runaway

Stevenson collects five hits in 15-3 Glendale runaway
The Glendale Desert Dogs got off to a slow start in Arizona Fall Leaque play, but led by the likes of Nationals prospects Andrew Stevenson and Drew Ward, they are surging to the finish line. The D-Dogs (11-12) won their fifth straight game in a 15-3 shellacking of first-place Peoria on Monday. Glendale posted 16 hits and enjoyed outbursts of five runs in the third and fifth innings. Glendale's elimination number is seven. They are just 1 1/2 games behind Peoria and Surprise for the West...

Andrew Stevenson showing he can meet major need for Nats

Andrew Stevenson showing he can meet major need for Nats
Center fielder Andrew Stevenson ignited the Glendale offense in a 6-3 win over Salt River, to end the week in Arizona Fall League play on a high note. The win improved the Desert Dogs' record to 6-11, holding their elimination number at 10. Peoria (10-5-2) has a five-game lead on the D-Dogs in the West Division. Stevenson went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. He raised his average to .324. Stevenson spoke with MLB.com after his performance and said he takes practice time seriously when...

Jake Johansen focuses on breaking pitch, command in AFL work

Jake Johansen focuses on breaking pitch, command in AFL work
Right-hander Jake Johansen moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen to start the 2015 campaign. He continues to make solid progress as he wraps up play in the Arizona Fall League. Johansen has the frame the Nationals love. The 25-year-old is 6-foot-6 and 235 lbs. That imposing frame, coupled with a high-90s fastball makes baseball life difficult on hitters. Johansen was a combined 4-1 with a 3.19 ERA and one save in 24 appearances in 2016 with three different levels. He had 29 strikeouts...

Taylor Hearn and Jake Johansen rehab updates; Carter Kieboom GCL debut

Taylor Hearn and Jake Johansen rehab updates; Carter Kieboom GCL debut
Left-hander Taylor Hearn rehabbed with the Gulf Coast League Nationals on Friday in their 7-3 11-inning win over the Gulf Coast League Mets. Hearn is working his way back from a foot injury he suffered in mid-April. He tossed three innings, allowing no runs and one hit with four walks and two strikeouts. It was his first game since April 13. Nationals top-selection infielder Carter Kieboom made his GCL Nats debut. Kieboom went 1-for-5 with a RBI. As the designated hitter, he had a single in his...

Instructional league work paying dividends now in cold January days

Instructional league work paying dividends now in cold January days
The progress the young pitchers in the Nationals system make during this offseason began with October and early November instructional league workouts and games. The fruits of that labor are not seen by fans right now. The work these players are doing right now is fortified by what they learned at instructional league this year. Thirty pitchers descended on the Nationals' Florida training facility at the end of the 2015 campaign and were given specific offseason regimens and points of emphasis...

Minor league notes: Ramsey, den Dekker, Kieboom, Ward and more

Minor league notes: Ramsey, den Dekker, Kieboom, Ward and more
Right fielder Caleb Ramsey had two hits including a home run, but Double-A Harrisburg could not hold a lead in a 4-3 loss to New Britain. Ramsey went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and cranked his first homer of the season. He had two of the three hits for Harrisburg. Starter Joe Ross allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings, but Gilberto Mendez and Brian Dupra came on to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings the rest of the way, allowing no hits and striking out four batters. Ross had six strikeouts and no...

Patrick Reddington: The Nationals' yearly search for a gem

Patrick Reddington: The Nationals' yearly search for a gem
With the 57th pick of last June's draft, the Nationals selected left-handed pitcher Andrew Suarez out of the University of Miami. Suarez, 21, and a 6-foot-2 southpaw, went 6-3 with a 2.95 ERA in 16 starts for the Hurricanes, walking 15 (1.23 walks/nine innings) and striking out 87 (7.14 strikeouts/nine innings) in 109 2/3 innings pitched. "We tried to take the best player available," assistant general manger and vice president of scouting operations Kris Kline told reporters when asked about...

A rundown of the Nationals' 2015 minor league early camp roster

A rundown of the Nationals' 2015 minor league early camp roster
Here is a look at the Nationals' minor league early camp roster for 2015. It is filled with a lot of the prospects you will be able to see this summer throughout the organization. The roster, obtained by MASNSports.com, includes the likes of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Erick Fedde, Nick Pivetta, Joe Ross, Wander Suero, Austin Voth, Jakson Reetz, Raudy Read, Chris Bostick, Anderson Franco, Tony Renda, Drew Ward, Isaac Ballou, Rafael Bautista and Victor Robles. The teenagers are always...

Baseball Prospectus No. 8 Nats prospect: Jake Johansen

Baseball Prospectus No. 8 Nats prospect: Jake Johansen
It is intriguing to watch the progress of one of the top Nationals pitching prospects as he gains experience and also gets to work with first-rounder Lucas Giolito. At 6-foot-6 and 235 lbs., Jake Johansen is an imposing fixture on the mound. It had to be little fun for South Atlantic League batters to face a one-two punch of a pair of 6-foot-6 hurlers in the Nationals low Single-A rotation. No. 8: right-hander Jake Johansen Baseball Prospectus ranked the Dallas Baptist right-hander No. 8 on...

Hagerstown spotlight: Starters and bullpen getting it done

Hagerstown spotlight: Starters and bullpen getting it done
It is amazing the amount of talent that is building up from rookie-level to low Single-A for the Nationals this season. A good amount of the players that helped guide the Gulf Coast Nationals to a 52-9 record and a league championship now play for the Hagerstown Suns. So far, the success this team had at the GCL level is translating to the South Atlantic League. Sixteen of the players on the current roster played for the GCL Nats, 10 of them pitchers. The Suns are managed by Patrick Anderson....

Giolito and Johansen shine in weekend series for Hagerstown

Giolito and Johansen shine in weekend series for Hagerstown
The low Single-A Hagerstown Suns continue to roll, and are now 9-2 to start the season after a 6-1 disptach of Lakewood on Sunday, completing a four-game sweep of the BlueClaws. Center fielder Isaac Ballou and shortstop Wilmer Difo had back-to-back doubles to highlight a four-run third inning. Right-hander Jake Johansen (1-0) pitched five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with four walks to garner the victory. He struck out six batters. Right-hander Ryan Ullman, who was just called...

Patrick Reddington: Casting a watchful eye to the farm

Patrick Reddington: Casting a watchful eye to the farm
Four of Washington's minor league affiliates started their respective 2014 campaigns Thursday night. There are interesting prospects to follow throughout the Nationals organization, so we decided to take a look at five players we'll be following closely this season on MiLB.tv or on trips to minor league parks. Matt Purke: Taken 14th overall by the Texas Rangers in 2009, Purke didn't sign, choosing instead to attend Texas Christian University where the left-hander put together an impressive...

Giolito and Johansen making strides, focusing on consistency in development program

Giolito and Johansen making strides, focusing on consistency in development program
I got an update on a handful of pitchers that are continuing their work at the Nationals accelerated development program in Viera, Fla. New low Single-A Hagerstown Suns pitching coach Sam Narron, who was the pitching coach for the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays last season, updated the current progress of three starting pitchers he worked with: right-handers 19-year-old Lucas Giolito, 23-year-old Jake Johansen and 21-year-old Austin Voth (Voth sounds like "both"). "Voth, Giolito...

Early look at how 2014 Potomac Nationals roster might shake out

Early look at how 2014 Potomac Nationals roster might shake out
The Potomac Nationals are coming off a tremendous season that saw them win both halves of the Carolina League Northern Division season and appear in the Mills Cup Championship final series. Most of those prospects from 2013 will now move on to Double-A Harrisburg. That will mean that new high Single-A manager Tripp Keister will have most of his roster from low Single-A Hagerstown to follow suit and join him in Woodbridge, Va. Here is my educated guess as to who will be on the field for the...