Game 134 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 134 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
If the Nationals are going to halt their six-game skid, they're going to need a decent start from right-hander Erick Fedde (6-9, 5.08 ERA), who goes in the seven-inning opener of a doubleheader this afternoon. Though he's coming off a loss to the Mets on Sunday at Citi FIeld, Fedde has won two of his last three outings after a stretch that saw him drop four consecutive decisions. In his 9-4 loss to the Mets in his last start, Fedde allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits over 5 1/3...

Nats rally in ninth, but fall 6-2 in 10 innings (updated)

Nats rally in ninth, but fall 6-2 in 10 innings (updated)
A last-of-the-ninth rally nearly made up for eight innings of Nationals offensive struggles, but an out-of-contention club playing only for pride (and to stay in fourth place in the National League East) opened a five-game holiday weekend series with another loss. The Mets tallied four times in the 10th inning off Austin Voth for a 6-2 victory that extended Washington's losing streak to six games. "The guys are competing," manager Davey Martinez said in his postgame Zoom session with the...

Soto hitting at high level again without sacrificing walks

Soto hitting at high level again without sacrificing walks
Juan Soto has known for some time now opponents aren't going to pitch to him. At least not with any regularity. He's drawn 48 walks in 42 games since the All-Star break, far and away most in the majors. And that has produced a whopping .516 on-base percentage during that time, also far and away the highest in the majors. If you've been paying even scant attention, you already know this. We're not treading into new territory with this subject. But here's what has changed in more recent...

Game 133 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 133 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Sean Nolin (0-2, 6.57 ERA) will take the hill tonight to face the Mets.Since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 11, the lefty has made three starts, two of them against the Mets, against whom he's gone 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA and a 1.680 WHIP, allowing six runs on 14 hits with no walks, three strikeouts and three homers yielded in 8 1/3 innings. The way things are going, the Nationals would be thrilled to get some length out of Nolin, whose...

Inexperienced Nats once again hand game to Phillies (updated)

Inexperienced Nats once again hand game to Phillies (updated)
The Nationals understand there are going to be growing pains as they play out the string of a season that has now long since morphed from one with legitimate visions of success into one that is solely about starting a difficult organizational rebuild. But it's one thing when those growing pains come in the form of rallies made possible by a superior opponent's performance. It's quite another when they come in the form they did this afternoon during a nightmare of a 7-6 loss to the...

Nationals end road trip with a thud in 9-4 defeat (updated)

Nationals end road trip with a thud in 9-4 defeat (updated)
The Nationals ended a nine-game road trip with a thud Sunday afternoon, managing just one hit against a rookie pitcher and falling 9-4 to the New York Mets to finish their 11-day trek with a 3-6 record. Nationals starter Erick Fedde pitched in trouble for much of the afternoon, but much of the traffic was of his own making. He hit two batters, yielded a home run and balked home a run. Josh Bell homered twice and Juan Soto also went deep for the Nationals, Bell taking the team lead in the...

Marlins reel in Corbin in 7-5 Nationals loss (updated)

Marlins reel in Corbin in 7-5 Nationals loss (updated)
After each of his 24 previous starts this season, Patrick Corbin has plopped himself down in front of a laptop in the Nationals Zoom room and patiently tried to explain what did - or more likely didn't - work in each outing. But time is running out for the veteran southpaw to figure out how to return to form, and no one would blame Corbin if he was at a loss for words after another disheartening start. Trying to follow up his best start of the season - when he allowed a run on three hits over...

Game 126 lineups: Nats at Marlins

Game 126 lineups: Nats at Marlins
After suffering through a stretch of six straight outings in which he yielded at least four runs in each start, left-hander Patrick Corbin (7-12, 5.82 ERA) turned in a gem on Aug. 20 at Milwaukee, holding the playoff-bound Brewers to a run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings to pick up his first victory since July 7. Now Corbin just has to do it again. An aggressive young Marlins team will be the latest test for the southpaw's improved fastball velocity, which allows him to set up his slider. In...

Four things to watch over last 40 games

Four things to watch over last 40 games
The Nationals have 40 games remaining in the 2021 season, starting with this afternoon's series finale in Milwaukee. It's hard to believe that we're already this close to the end of the baseball season. Fall is right around the corner. On this week's episode of the "MASN All Access Podcast," Amy Jennings and I set goals for a handful of Nationals players to reach before season's end. I wanted to expand on a couple of those goals and bring up some new ones as things to look out for over...

Soto content for now to take walks, keep raising OBP

Soto content for now to take walks, keep raising OBP
From the moment he arrived in the big leagues in 2018, Juan Soto's ability to reach base has outshone every other baseball skill of his. And he's got plenty of elite skills. For all his prowess hitting for power, hitting to the opposite field, just hitting in general, Soto has always made a name for himself first and foremost because of his batting eye. That, more than anything, has led to his .422 career on-base percentage, a mark that during that four-season span has been bested by only one...

After blown lead, late homers help Nats sweep Blue Jays (updated)

After blown lead, late homers help Nats sweep Blue Jays (updated)
A lot of games are going to be wild rides for the Nationals as they close out this season. Some will end on a high note. And others, as we've seen a lot recently, won't. Wednesday's game was another up-and-down affair that actually went the Nats' way in the form of an 8-5 win to sweep the Blue Jays in front of 18,336 at Nationals Park. The highs: Josiah Gray's fourth start with the Nats and late homers by Josh Bell and Carter Kieboom to deliver the victory. The lows: more home runs allowed...

How many current players are locks for the 2022 roster?

How many current players are locks for the 2022 roster?
On Sunday afternoon, Lane Thomas became the 54th player to appear in a game for the Nationals this season. That's an exceptionally high number, only three shy of the club record set way back in 2006. And with 44 games still to go, and more players likely to join the roster before this is over, it's quite possible this year's team will establish a new record. The pertinent question right now, though, isn't how many guys will play for the Nationals in 2021. It's how many of the guys...

Nats keep it close, but can't avoid sweep (updated)

Nats keep it close, but can't avoid sweep (updated)
As miserable as things have been lately for a Nationals team that has turned winning baseball games into an increasingly difficult task, one not insignificant truth has emerged: They've given themselves an opportunity to win just about every one of these games. Sure, there have been a few duds along the way, and Saturday night's blowout loss to the Braves was probably the worst of them all. But most of the time, the rebuilding Nats step to the plate in the ninth inning with a chance to turn a...

Gray impressive again, but done in by late homers (updated)

Gray impressive again, but done in by late homers (updated)
There are things you find out about ballplayers at 10 p.m. in front of a sellout crowd, and then there are things you find out about them at midnight in front of a few thousand fans who were willing to wait out the longest rain delay of the season. They all matter in the end, and all of these experiences ultimately shape young ballplayers into the finished products they will become in due time. And they don't always have to produce positive results, as much as everyone wishes they...

Game 116 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Game 116 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
The Nationals are back home again, having just suffered through a brutal 1-5 road trip to Atlanta and New York that included blown saves, rain delays, rainouts and other assorted calamities. All of that leaves this team in a prolonged funk unlike any they've experienced in a very long time. The Nats have lost 27 of their last 37 games. The only worse stretch in club history came near the end of the 2009 season, the last time this franchise lost 100 games. That's how bad things have...

Temperature check two weeks after trade deadline

Temperature check two weeks after trade deadline
Two weeks ago today, the Nationals completed six franchise-altering trades, admitting this season was a lost cause. They were able to move eight players (seven on expiring contracts) to net 12 prospects in return. Ten of those 12 are already in MLBPipeline.com's ranking of the top 30 Nats prospects. Six of those 12 are in the top 16. And three of those six are in the top 10, including Nos. 1 and 2, Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray (both acquired in the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner deal with the...

Nats rally late, but suffer sweep against Mets (updated)

Nats rally late, but suffer sweep against Mets (updated)
Nationals manager Davey Martinez spent his morning Zoom session with reporters detailing his pitching plans for today's doubleheader against the Mets. After a suspended game on Tuesday and last night's postponement, the mound plans had been thrown into a state of flux. Of course, like much of this season, nothing really ever goes according to plan for the Nationals. But today, the pitching plan held up: Sean Nolin and three relievers got through the first game and Erick Fedde got through four...

Nats go quietly in opening loss to Mets (updated)

Nats go quietly in opening loss to Mets (updated)
The recipe for success for the Nationals the rest of the way this season is going to be one of two things: keep the score close, take a late lead and hope to hold on, or explode for a lot of runs early and win in a blowout. Neither of those scenarios took place in today's 4-1 doubleheader opening loss to the Mets. Let's start with keeping the score close. The Nationals did get a gutsy effort from Sean Nolin in his first major league appearance since 2015. But the left-hander served up a...

Game suspended in second inning, to be resumed Wednesday

Game suspended in second inning, to be resumed Wednesday
Everything was going swimmingly for the Nationals in New York tonight. Until the skies opened in the second inning and left everyone at Citi Field swimming in a deluge. The Nats' series opener against the Mets ultimately had to be suspended in the top of the second inning, the visitors leading 3-1, after a long and ultimately fruitless wait for a major storm system to clear out of the region. It will be resumed from the point of suspension Wednesday at 4:10 p.m., still scheduled to complete...

Soto returns to lineup, coaches return to Nats dugout

Soto returns to lineup, coaches return to Nats dugout
Juan Soto is back in the Nationals lineup, his right knee feeling better five days after he tweaked it running the bases. Soto, who was held out of the lineup for the Nats' entire weekend series in Atlanta, was cleared to return to full-time duties tonight for the opener of a three-game series in New York. "I talked to him; he felt pretty good," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "He felt like he could play today. He went through his routine. He's...