How do Nats make next 40 games better than first 40?

How do Nats make next 40 games better than first 40?
It began, shockingly enough, with the biggest offensive explosion of the season. The Nationals opened their just-completed, seven-game road trip with a 17-2 dismantling of the Diamondbacks, a blowout win that saw everyone in the starting lineup score at least once. At last, here was evidence the Nats' sluggish offense was ready to bust out for good. Instead, the road trip turned into a bust for this team, and specifically its still struggling lineup. Over their next six games in Arizona and...

Nats cap eventful night with tight win at Wrigley (updated)

Nats cap eventful night with tight win at Wrigley (updated)
Maybe it's Wrigley Field. The Friendly Confines just seem to bring out the highest of drama when the Nationals are in town, and have so for many years now. From epic playoff games to devastating walk-off grand slams to intentional walk records to wild back-and-forth contests, the Nationals and Cubs have experienced it all at the corner of Clark and Addison streets on Chicago's North Side. Add tonight's 4-3 victory to the list. Maybe the stakes weren't as high as some of the previous...

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Cubs
Remember how we all wondered if Max Scherzer would ever be able to pitch at a Cy Young Award-caliber level again? Well, guess what? He's doing it right now. The Nationals ace has been nothing short of magnificent so far season, entering tonight's game against the Cubs seventh in the National League in ERA (2.10), third in WHIP (0.760), fourth in walk rate (1.4 per nine innings) and fourth in strikeouts (68). And when he's been good, he's been really, really good: In six of his eight starts,...

Why has the Nationals offense been grounded?

Why has the Nationals offense been grounded?
One by one, they swung at hittable pitches. And one by one, they pounded the ball into the ground. Whether leading off an inning, trying to get something going with two outs or trying to drive in a runner from scoring position, the Nationals kept meeting the same fate during Monday night's 7-3 loss to the Cubs: Groundball outs. How bad was it? Through the seventh inning, the Nats had put 18 balls into play. Only four of them were hit in the air, and all of those resulted in hits (two singles,...

Groundball-heavy Soto believes he's close to breaking out

Groundball-heavy Soto believes he's close to breaking out
Any discussion of Juan Soto being in a slump has to include the qualifier that a Soto slump isn't like any other hitter's slump. Other hitters go 1-for-30 with 17 strikeouts, and that's clearly a slump. Soto goes 6-for-30 with six strikeouts and we start worrying about him. Soto has set the bar for himself extraordinarily high. But having said that, it's not inappropriate to point out he's not hitting like himself right now. And hasn't been for a while. In his first 10 games since coming...

Ross roughed up as Nationals fall in Arizona (updated)

Ross roughed up as Nationals fall in Arizona (updated)
Davey Martinez knew what Joe Ross had been getting away with in recent starts before tonight's game in Arizona, and so the Nationals manager knew exactly what his right-hander needed to do to be successful in this outing. "The pitches are up," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "When he's down, he's really effective." As such, it wasn't hard to figure out why Ross wasn't effective tonight during an 11-4 trouncing at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Plain and...

Game 31 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

Game 31 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies
The Nationals are in the midst of a rough stretch, no doubt about it. They've lost five of their last six and are back in last place in the division. And yet, when you consider they lost three of those games by one run (two via walk-off) and another by two runs, the situation very easily could be reversed. Is that reason for optimism or pessimism? Guess it depends on how you prefer to view life (or, at least, baseball). The next three nights, then, present an opportunity to flip the script and...

Soto feels good at plate, now looking for more results

Soto feels good at plate, now looking for more results
After a two-week layoff while his left shoulder healed, it was only natural to believe Juan Soto would need some time to rediscover his swing. Even though the Nationals slugger had been able to take batting practice while on the 10-day injured list, it's not the same as facing live pitchers. So it was going to take some time to get right again once he was activated last week. How long? "It just took me three at-bats as a pinch-hitter," Soto said Sunday evening in a Zoom session with...

Soto is DH again today, but plans to be in right field Tuesday

Soto is DH again today, but plans to be in right field Tuesday
The fact Juan Soto was back in right field Saturday for the first time in nearly three weeks didn't necessarily mean the Nationals slugger will be back at his regular position every single day for now. Despite appearing to look fine in his return to the field following a left shoulder injury, Soto is back to serving as the designated hitter for today's series finale at Yankee Stadium. Manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters that this was the plan all along....

Game 30 lineups: Nats at Yankees

Game 30 lineups: Nats at Yankees
In many ways, the Nationals have looked great this weekend at Yankee Stadium. They exploded for 11 runs in Friday night's opener. They've got a decent start from Patrick Corbin in that game, then a brilliant game from Max Scherzer on Saturday. Juan Soto is back in the lineup and back in the field. Victor Robles went 3-for-4 on Saturday. The Nats scored the first run of the season off Aroldis Chapman! Yet because of an uncharacteristic meltdown from Brad Hand in both the ninth and 10th innings...

Hernandez's role changes with Soto's return to field

Hernandez's role changes with Soto's return to field
Juan Soto's return to right field in Saturday's 4-3 11-inning loss to the Yankees was a boost to a Nationals club whose offense has struggled to score runs while the slugger was sidelined with a left shoulder strain. Even though Soto has been available as a pinch-hitter for a few days and served as the designated hitter in Friday's win at Yankee Stadium, the Nats need to count on him for four or five good at-bats during every game. Instead, while he rounded into defensive form, they had to...

Scherzer carves up Yankees, but Nationals fall in 11th (updated)

Scherzer carves up Yankees, but Nationals fall in 11th (updated)
Snarling, grunting Max Scherzer will stomp around the mound like a predator stalking his prey. But his alter ego - masterful, riveted Max Scherzer, who carves up an opposing lineup - can be just as intimidating and effective. The Yankees saw a little of both versions on Saturday in a 4-3 victory over the Nationals, punctuated by a season-high 14 strikeouts by Scherzer plus a couple of notable achievements in the record books by the ace, who was long gone by the time an infield hit scored the...

Soto's return to right field lengthens Nationals lineup

Soto's return to right field lengthens Nationals lineup
Somewhere between Yankee Stadium's unique configuration and Juan Soto's eagerness to return to the outfield, Nationals manager Davey Martinez thinks he's seen enough progress from Soto's strained left shoulder to put the slugger back in right field for today's matinee against the Yankees. Soto, who served as the designated hitter Friday night and contributed a two-run homer in the ninth inning of the Nats' 6-2 victory, passed the final hurdle before Friday's game by showing he could...

Late explosion propels Nats to rout at Yankee Stadium (updated)

Late explosion propels Nats to rout at Yankee Stadium (updated)
The situation - runner on second, nobody out, late in a close game - felt eerily familiar. What happened next felt completely foreign for a Nationals club that has spent weeks trying everything in its power to manufacture some late runs and tonight broke through with an eighth-inning rally that provided as cathartic a moment as these guys have experienced in some time. Knotted in a low-scoring tie game with the Yankees entering the eighth, the Nationals didn't just plate the go-ahead run. They...

Soto could be in field Saturday, Strasburg sim game Tuesday

Soto could be in field Saturday, Strasburg sim game Tuesday
The Nationals have Juan Soto back in their lineup tonight. And they could have him back in right field as soon as Saturday afternoon. With his team playing at Yankee Stadium this weekend, manager Davey Martinez is able to utilize Soto as his designated hitter for tonight's interleague series opener. And prior to the game, the 22-year-old was planning to attempt to make throws from right field to second and third base for the first time since going on the injured list April 20 with a left...

Game 28 lineups: Nats at Yankees

Game 28 lineups: Nats at Yankees
There's really only one question everyone wants answered today: Is Juan Soto in the Nationals lineup? The answer you've been waiting for: Yes. For the first time in 18 days, Soto is starting, albeit as designated hitter. Still unable to make throws in the outfield without fear of further injury to his left shoulder, he's being held back to hit only for the Nats' series opener against the Yankees. But that's still a major development for a team that desperately needs to generate some...

Nats can't convert late chances, get swept by Braves (updated)

Nats can't convert late chances, get swept by Braves (updated)
You can't say the Nationals don't at least give themselves chances. This evening's game against the Braves was right there for the taking late, in the bottom of the seventh, in the bottom of the eighth and again in the bottom of the ninth. In those final three innings alone, they took 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position. And managed only one hit in the process. In their latest bit of late-inning agony at the plate, the Nationals squandered those golden opportunities to finish a rally...

Nats can't convert late chances at plate, lose to Braves (updated)

Nats can't convert late chances at plate, lose to Braves (updated)
With a roster that is less than ideally constructed and a matchup against a left-handed starter this evening, Nationals manager Davey Martinez wound up fielding a lineup loaded with right-handed hitters and a bench loaded with big names who he could choose to insert somewhere along the way when the right situation arose. Trouble is, Martinez never got around to using Juan Soto or Josh Bell when either would've had a chance to bat with a chance to make a big difference. Instead, it was Yadiel...

Soto still feeling his way back in return from IL

Soto still feeling his way back in return from IL
Juan Soto didn't quite know what to expect when he stepped up to bat in the bottom of the eighth Tuesday night at Nationals Park. In his first game appearance in 15 days, the young slugger was about to find out just how difficult it is to pinch-hit in the major leagues. But first, he was about to find out just how much Nationals fans missed him while he was on the injured list with a strained left shoulder. "I didn't know the crowd was going to get me so pumped, that they were going to get...

Nats can't deal with Braves starter's arm or bat in loss (updated)

Nats can't deal with Braves starter's arm or bat in loss (updated)
Baseball folks don't like to talk about momentum, because they've been doing this long enough to understand that what happened in recent days doesn't necessarily portend what will happen tonight. The Nationals had every reason to enter their series opener with the Braves feeling like they held the upper hand, based on their four-game winning streak, Atlanta's four-game losing streak and everything that transpired to make both events possible. Of course, it doesn't actually work like that....