Brian Dozier on playing at Nationals Park, working with Trea Turner, Kevin Long

Brian Dozier on playing at Nationals Park, working with Trea Turner, Kevin Long
New Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier loves to hit the ball to left field. Dozier has hit 172 homers in his career, and 157 of those homers have gone to left field or left-center field. He likes the idea of being able to hit at Nationals Park, which he likens to Target Field. Dozier played 955 games over seven seasons with Minnesota. Dozier is right. Both Parks had HOV Sport (now known as Populous) as the architect. Nats Park broke ground in 2006, Target Field in 2007. Nats Park seats...

Heisey released in latest round of roster maneuvering

Heisey released in latest round of roster maneuvering
A busy week of transactions continued this morning when the Nationals tweaked their roster for their doubleheader against the Rockies by officially promoting top pitching prospect Erick Fedde, releasing veteran outfielder Chris Heisey and making a necessary procedural move involving catcher Pedro Severino. Fedde's contract was purchased from Triple-A Syracuse, allowing the 24-year-old right-hander to start today's opener and make his major league debut. Because Fedde wasn't already on their...

Baker: Heisey, Raburn and Werth will head to West Palm Beach

Baker: Heisey, Raburn and Werth will head to West Palm Beach
Manager Dusty Baker confirmed that Chris Heisey, Jayson Werth and Ryan Raburn will accompany the team to Florida when the Nationals begin their six-game road trip in Miami. All three will rehab at the club's West Palm Beach facility. "Raburn and Heisey could be ready pretty soon, not sure when exactly," Baker confirmed, but Werth is not close to running yet. "They backed him off from running because it's not quite healing as fast as we would've liked," he said. "We are hoping," Baker...

Updates on injured and excused players

Updates on injured and excused players
Besides an update on right-hander Stephen Strasburg, manager Dusty Baker also had updates on other injured or excused Nationals players. * Shortstop Trea Turner (right wrist fracture, June 30, 18 games missed): "Trea is getting an X-ray and follow-up this afternoon," Baker said. "I talked to him. He says he's feeling pretty good, but he's also in the hands of the doctor and the X-ray machine to see how he's coming along." During batting practice, Turner was fielding grounders with his...

Stevenson, Severino get promotions with Heisey, Raburn out

Stevenson, Severino get promotions with Heisey, Raburn out
PHOENIX - In a perfect world, the Nationals wouldn't have promoted Andrew Stevenson to the big leagues for the first time in this manner, with a late-night phone call and an early-morning flight from Columbus to Phoenix in advance of a 1:10 p.m. ballgame. But rarely does a baseball season play out perfectly, so when they lost Chris Heisey to a strained groin late in Saturday night's game against the Diamondbacks - after finding out earlier in the day Ryan Raburn needed to go on bereavement...

Nationals may need emergency additions today to fill outfield

Nationals may need emergency additions today to fill outfield
PHOENIX - Already dealing with a thin outfield following the long-term injuries to two starters and their primary backup, the Nationals now may find themselves in a full-fledged outfield crisis for today's series finale against the Diamondbacks. Ryan Raburn is going on the bereavement list today following his grandfather's death. And Chris Heisey may need to go on the disabled list after tweaking his groin during a key triple in Saturday night's 4-3 victory at Chase Field. Even if Heisey can...

Game 89 lineups: Nats at Reds (Ross heads to DL)

Game 89 lineups: Nats at Reds (Ross heads to DL)
CINCINNATI - The Nationals open the second half tonight with the first of four games against the Reds at Great American Ball Park in the second 2017 meeting between the teams. The Nationals have gone 38-42 against the Reds since moving from Montreal to D.C. before the 2005 campaign, and haven't won a season series against them since 2011, when they went 4-2. Since then, they're 16-17 against the Reds. Last season, Washington won two of three games on the shores of the Ohio River and dropped...

With Taylor on DL and Werth weeks away, outfield shuffled again

With Taylor on DL and Werth weeks away, outfield shuffled again
They lost Adam Eaton to a season-ending ACL tear on April 28. They lost Jayson Werth to a bone bruise on the inside of his left foot on June 3. And now that they've lost Michael A. Taylor to a strained right oblique muscle, the Nationals are finding their outfield depth tested like never before. With Taylor officially placed on the 10-day disabled list this afternoon, the Nationals will turn to their third-string center fielder for the immediate future: Brian Goodwin. And they'll turn to a...

Game 86 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Game 86 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
The sun is shining, the tarp is all rolled up, everybody is (sort of) refreshed after sleeping in this morning and the Nationals and Braves are preparing to play the second game of their four-game series tonight. The Nationals have issued a public apology for their handling of last night's (non-)rain delay and have begun to take some other steps toward appeasing those who were impacted by their decisions. They still have more to do to make things right. In the meantime, the Nats and Braves...

Updates on Werth, Glover, Kelley, Solís and Heisey

Updates on Werth, Glover, Kelley, Solís and Heisey
Your daily injury updates from the Nationals clubhouse, with several recovering players making progress and others still in a holding pattern as the season's first half nears its conclusion ... * Jayson Werth participated in some portions of pregame workouts today with his teammates, the first time the veteran outfielder has done that since going on the disabled list more than three weeks ago. Werth, out since June 4 with a bone bruise in his left foot, stretched with teammates prior to...

On Baker's 1,800th win, the sun in Oakland and Harper's return

On Baker's 1,800th win, the sun in Oakland and Harper's return
OAKLAND, Calif. - Dusty Baker didn't realize it until he was informed after the fact. But once the Nationals manager learned he had won his 1,800th career game Friday night, he - and others around him - couldn't help but appreciate the significance. "Now you think about it." Baker said. "My son was like: 'Dad, that's a lot of wins.' Chris Speier and the coaches were like: 'That's an awful lot of wins.' Now you start thinking about: Well, you might as well continue and get to 2,000....

Heisey pulled off rehab assignment, not ready to return from DL

Heisey pulled off rehab assignment, not ready to return from DL
OAKLAND, Calif. - Chris Heisey has rejoined the Nationals, but that doesn't mean he's about to rejoin the active roster. Heisey was pulled of his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg after only two games and four total at-bats, and flew to California to meet up with the Nats training and coaching staffs prior to tonight's series opener against the Athletics. Out since May 24 with a ruptured right biceps tendon, the veteran outfielder appears to need some more time to recover from the...

Drew activated off DL, Heisey begins rehab assignment

Drew activated off DL, Heisey begins rehab assignment
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals' bench got a major boost today at the start of a long West Coast trip when Stephen Drew was activated off the disabled list, his right hamstring strain finally healed enough to allow him to play on the big league roster. Drew had been out since April 12, suffering his hamstring injury only three days after teammate Trea Turner did the same. But while Turner was able to return only 12 days later, Drew needed nearly seven weeks to be cleared for game...

Heisey will try to rehab without surgery; Nats acquire Raburn

Heisey will try to rehab without surgery; Nats acquire Raburn
The prognosis for Chris Heisey may not be nearly as dire as initially feared. Though an MRI confirmed Heisey ruptured his right biceps tendon, doctors have told the Nationals outfielder he can attempt to rehab the injury without surgery and thus return to play in a relatively short time frame. Heisey said he had been playing through shoulder pain for much of the season and felt worse after a swing during Tuesday night's game. When he took batting practice Wednesday afternoon, he felt a sharp...

Chris Heisey to undergo MRI for biceps tendon injury

Chris Heisey to undergo MRI for biceps tendon injury
On a night when the Nationals extended their win streak to three games with a 5-1 win over the Mariners, utility outfielder Chris Heisey confirmed that he has ruptured his right biceps tendon and will undergo an MRI Thursday. Brian Goodwin was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse and Heisey was placed on the 10-day disabled list. Heisey tore the biceps tendon during batting practice Wednesday but said his arm and shoulder have not felt right since spring training. He said the soreness in his biceps...

Heisey goes on DL with ruptured bicep; Solís rehabbing in Florida

Heisey goes on DL with ruptured bicep; Solís rehabbing in Florida
The Nationals outfield took another significant hit this evening when Chris Heisey had to be placed on the disabled list with what the club says is a right bicep rupture. It's unclear how the injury occurred, but Heisey was on the field for batting practice this afternoon and did not appear to be dealing with any ailments prior to that point. Already playing with a short bench after electing to carry a 13th pitcher upon recalling Joe Ross on Tuesday, the Nationals hurriedly recalled Brian...

Baker concerned about fundamental mistakes late in games

Baker concerned about fundamental mistakes late in games
BALTIMORE - The Nationals' 12-inning loss Tuesday night was attributable, first and foremost, to their makeshift bullpen, which could not hold a two-run lead in the ninth and eventually was charged with the loss. But there were other problems, especially late, when the Nationals started making careless mistakes at the plate, in the field and on the bases, and in one case let their emotions get the best of them. It was enough to make their manager openly worry about their state of mind in...

Werth injured on checked swing, leaves game (Nats win 14-4)

Werth injured on checked swing, leaves game (Nats win 14-4)
ATLANTA - Jayson Werth had to depart tonight's game after injuring himself on a check-swing in the top of the third inning, the latest Nationals player to go down in the season's first month. Werth checked his swing on a 1-0 pitch from the Braves' Julio Teheran in his second at-bat of the night and appeared to grimace, his left leg perhaps tweaked. After stepping out of the batter's box, he signaled to the dugout for Nationals director of athletic training Paul Lessard, who came out to talk...

Another magic moment for Harper to bail out victorious Nationals

Another magic moment for Harper to bail out victorious Nationals
Jayson Werth looked at Bryce Harper at some point this afternoon, having already seen his teammate hit one home run and deliver another opposite-field single to beat the opposition's shift. Harper, the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year and the 2015 league MVP, entered the day batting .300 and slugging .500, basically having done just about everything he could by age 24 to establish himself as one of the best players in baseball. Werth, though, is not as easily impressed as others. And...

Heisey and Roark demonstrate effectiveness in loss

Heisey and Roark demonstrate effectiveness in loss
One of the better signings the Nationals have made the last few seasons is utility man Chris Heisey. The 32-year-old from Mount Joy, Penn., came over to the Nationals after playing for the Dodgers during the 2015 season. He played only 33 games for Los Angeles following five seasons with the Reds, three of which he hovered around 120 games played. Last season, he got into 83 games for the Nationals and had a penchant for producing runs in a limited role. Heisey hit nine homers with three...