Tracking down some former Nationals pitchers

Tracking down some former Nationals pitchers
Who knew a trip down memory lane would be so popular? The response to Thursday's article tracking down five former Nationals position players were overwhelmingly positive. Glad you all enjoyed it. I had already planned to publish today's article about former Nats pitchers, so hopefully you'll enjoy these as well. Maybe I'll have to make this into something of a regular feature, though, maybe a more in-depth look at one ex-National at a time, because there were plenty I didn't get to...

Baker doesn't expect fireworks this weekend (game postponed)

Baker doesn't expect fireworks this weekend (game postponed)
If you're expecting any fireworks this weekend between the Nationals and Giants, Dusty Baker is cautioning you not to get yourself worked up too much. Yes, the last meeting between these clubs included a brawl. But it's been 2 1/2 months since then, and it really didn't stem from any beef between the Nats and Giants as a whole, but rather from San Francisco reliever Hunter Strickland, who three years after serving up two playoff homers to Bryce Harper decided to intentionally drill him with...

A brief history of the Nats' ever-changing closer identity

A brief history of the Nats' ever-changing closer identity
We don't know yet who will serve as the Nationals closer come opening day, but we do know it will be someone new. Mark Melancon is no longer in D.C., having signed a four-year deal with the Giants earlier this winter. Drew Storen also is long gone, having spent 2016 in Toronto and Seattle, and now signed with the Reds for 2017. Jonathan Papelbon? He remains in parts unknown, but we do know he's not in Washington anymore. If you've been following the Nationals closely over the years, though,...

Winter Meetings Day 1 wrap: Local teams busy, but Giants and Dodgers land big names

Winter Meetings Day 1 wrap: Local teams busy, but Giants and Dodgers land big names
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The first day of baseball's Winter Meetings was a day of fact-finding for the local nines. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was on the telephone all day. His Orioles counterpart, Dan Duquette, prepared for the Rule 5 draft, met with agents and talked trades with others teams. But two National League West teams signed free agent pitchers, hoping to fix glaring needs: San Francisco signed closer Mark Melancon and Los Angeles retained lefty Rich Hill. Melancon, 31,...

Rizzo reacts to Melancon's departure, closer market and Glover's future

Rizzo reacts to Melancon's departure, closer market and Glover's future
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The news arrived Monday afternoon at the Winter Meetings that former Nationals closer Mark Melancon had agreed to terms with the San Francisco Giants. Instead of focusing on the possibility of a new leadoff center fielder and a starting pitcher, the Nationals now must also address the ninth-inning role again for 2017. Melancon agreed to a four-year deal worth $62 million, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. Specifics of the deal were tweeted out by Alex Pavolic of CSN Bay...

Nats need a new closer: Melancon signs with Giants

Nats need a new closer: Melancon signs with Giants
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals have employed four different experienced closers in the last four years, and it appears they'll have to employ a fifth one next season. Mark Melancon, whom the Nationals acquired in July to fortify a tenuous position at the back end of their bullpen, has agreed to a deal with the Giants, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. And if that deal is finalized after Melancon passes a physical, the Nats will be left searching elsewhere for a ninth-inning pitching...

With meetings officially underway, can Nats land a big prize?

With meetings officially underway, can Nats land a big prize?
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Winter Meetings officially open for business this morning - no, anything you saw or read about yesterday at the Gaylord National Resort didn't officially happen - and so the rumors will begin to fly fast and furious through the lobby here. Whether the Nationals make official news these next four days or just continue to find themselves the subject of potential news remains to be seen. But there's certainly a sense among everyone that they are primed to do...

Nats could be center of attention at local Winter Meetings

Nats could be center of attention at local Winter Meetings
For the next four days, Washington will be the center of the baseball universe. The question around here is whether the Nationals will be the center of attention at the Winter Meetings being held in their backyard. Few teams around the sport have the potential to be in the spotlight as much as the Nationals do this week at baseball's annual offseason event, held for the first time at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, a mere seven miles south of Nationals Park. The hometown...

Is an experienced closer necessary to win a World Series?

Is an experienced closer necessary to win a World Series?
It is perhaps the Nationals' biggest dilemma this winter - who's going to pitch the ninth inning? - and there is no easy solution to the problem. The Nationals could sign one of the three big-name closers on the open market this winter, luring Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen to D.C. or bringing Mark Melancon back. They could take a chance and entrust the job to one of several in-house candidates, either veteran Shawn Kelley or young relievers Blake Treinen, Sammy Solis or Koda Glover. Or...

Is Melancon a good long-term investment for Nationals?

Is Melancon a good long-term investment for Nationals?
As we transition into offseason mode here, we're reviewing each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Mark Melancon, who excelled after his acquisition at the trade deadline but now is a free agent. PLAYER REVIEW: MARK MELANCON Age on opening day 2017: 32 How acquired: Acquired from Pirates for Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn, July 2016 MLB service time: 6 years, 98 days 2016 salary: $9,650,000 Contract status: Free agent 2016 stats (PIT+WSH): 2-2, 1.64 ERA, 75 G,...

Top five offseason storylines for the Nationals

Top five offseason storylines for the Nationals
It happened much sooner than anyone around here wanted, but it's now officially the offseason in D.C., and there's nothing anybody can do to change that. This figures to be quite a compelling offseason for the Nationals, who will be motivated to do what they can to put themselves in a better position to advance deeper into October in 2017 than they did in 2016. At the same time, most of the necessary pieces are already in place. General manager Mike Rizzo doesn't have to do a whole lot this...

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS
LOS ANGELES - Shawn Kelley likes to walk around the clubhouse at Nationals Park wearing a T-shirt bearing a simple message: "Relievers are people, too." Too often the guys who occupy big league bullpens are anonymous to the masses, a revolving door of arms brought into games only when the higher-profile starter can't do his job. The game, though, is changing. Bullpens matter more than ever, and doubly so in the postseason, when it's not uncommon to see managers rely on relief corps to...

Baker makes deft use of bullpen to get 14 outs, even series

Baker makes deft use of bullpen to get 14 outs, even series
The Nationals finally had the lead, courtesy of Jose Lobaton's three-run homer in the fourth inning, and manager Dusty Baker didn't want to take any chances when starting pitcher Tanner Roark started scuffling in the fifth. With his pitch count mounting and the Dodgers locking in on the right-hander, Baker made the call to the bullpen. Well, the first of many calls. Baker asked his relief corps to get the final 14 outs of a game and prevent the Nationals from going into an 0-2 hole in the...

Sunday morning notes before rescheduled Game 2

Sunday morning notes before rescheduled Game 2
Some Sunday morning leftovers to get you warmed up before Game 2 of the National League Division Series finally is played at 1:08 p.m. ... * There were plenty of discouraging aspects of the Nationals' 4-3 loss in Game 1 on Friday night, but here was a particularly encouraging thing that happened: Ryan Zimmerman had two hits. After a season full of strikeouts and hard-hit balls right at defenders, Zimmerman looked like a completely different guy at the plate in this game. He went 2-for-4, with...

Scherzer's bat helps him to 20th win

Scherzer's bat helps him to 20th win
Max Scherzer earned his 20th win with his bat as much as his arm as the Nationals dropped the Marlins 10-7. Scherzer delivered two singles and four RBIs while pitching five innings. His four RBIs turned out to be crucial because he allowed five runs on nine hits. He last won 20 games in 2013, when he went 21-3 with the Tigers. The Marlins were able to connect in the first two innings off of Scherzer. Martin Prado and Christian Yelich contributed a pair of two-out singles. In the second inning,...

With four-out save, Melancon starts prepping for postseason

With four-out save, Melancon starts prepping for postseason
There are few roles as defined in baseball as the closer's role. Is your team leading by one, two or three runs entering the ninth inning? OK, you're in. And the overwhelming majority of the time the last two seasons, Mark Melancon has been used just like that. So when the right-hander came bounding out of the bullpen yesterday with two outs in the eighth, it certainly raised an eyebrow or two around Nationals Park. Including inside the dugout, where a certain ace right-hander caught Dusty...

Nationals thrilled to open postseason at home

Nationals thrilled to open postseason at home
The Nationals tried to insist all along that home field advantage for the National League Division Series really didn't matter all that much. They would have liked their chances against the Dodgers just the same had they been forced to open next weekend's series in Los Angeles. But once it actually was clinched today, once they finished off a 2-1 victory over the Marlins and the Giants beat Clayton Kershaw 3-0 at AT&T Park, the Nationals did admit that, yes, they preferred this scenario...

Nats beat Marlins 2-1, secure home field advantage for NLDS

Nats beat Marlins 2-1, secure home field advantage for NLDS
For the third time in as many trips to the postseason, the Nationals will have home field advantage in the National League Division Series. Now, they just need to prove they can take advantage of it this time around. Games 1 and 2 (and a potential Game 5) will be played in the District thanks to the Nationals' 2-1 victory over the Marlins this afternoon, though the Dodgers' 3-0 loss to the Giants would have done the trick as well. It'll be the Dodgers traveling east for Game 1 on Friday at a...

Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)

Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)
Jayson Werth insisted late Friday night he hadn't suffered any kind of significant injury when he departed the Nationals' game against the Marlins in the eighth inning with what the club termed "tightness in his back." Werth even went so far as to say: "If I'm not in there tomorrow, I'd be surprised." Well, he's not in there, but the Nationals are still insisting he's not significantly injured. "Jayson's OK," manager Dusty Baker said before today's game. "I think. He just came...

Ninth-inning gaffe leaves Nationals waiting another day

Ninth-inning gaffe leaves Nationals waiting another day
PITTSBURGH - The plastic curtains were taped up high above the lockers inside the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park, even after the Nationals suffered a gut punch of a 6-5 11-inning loss to the Pirates tonight, even after the Mets had earlier beaten the Phillies in convincing fashion to prevent any possibility of a celebration here. The clubhouse crew, however, went through the trouble to get the room ready. Might as well keep the plastic up in case it's needed Saturday night. Or maybe even...