Patrick Reddington: Denard Span's big month for the Nationals

Patrick Reddington: Denard Span's big month for the Nationals
Determined as he was to produce over a full season what he did in the final two months of his first year in the nation's capital, Nationals center fielder Denard Span struggled to a .233/.295/.314 line in the first 96 plate appearances of 2014. Three weeks later, after a 5-for-5 game against the Cincinnati Reds on May 20, the Nats' 30-year-old leadoff man was up to a .263/.308/.363 line. A 17-game stretch in which he put up a .297/.325/.418 line in 77 plate appearances helped him start to...

Patrick Reddington: Opposing batters paying price of Drew Storen's role change

Patrick Reddington: Opposing batters paying price of Drew Storen's role change
Drew Storen faltered some in Thursday afternoon's win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He walked a batter. It was his first walk in seven appearances and 28 at-bats. Washington's 27-year-old set-up man stranded the runner he put on, but snapped a streak of consecutive batters set down at 19. What's wrong with Drew? Nothing. Nothing at all. Though he gave up the walk, Storen did go on to complete another scoreless inning of work, extending his streak of scoreless appearances to 14 for 13 1/3...

Patrick Reddington: Minor move pays big dividends for Nationals

Patrick Reddington: Minor move pays big dividends for Nationals
Jayson Werth hit the big game-tying ninth-inning double last Wednesday night, on a 3-0 pitch from Angels closer Ernest Frieri. Adam LaRoche took Fernando Salas to left in the next at bat for a walk-off winner that capped off an improbable comeback in a game the Nationals appeared out of until catcher Jose Lobaton homered to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Both Werth and LaRoche pointed to Lobaton's blast to right field as the spark that got the offense started after they were held to one...

Patrick Reddington: Bryce Harper's patience paying off

Patrick Reddington: Bryce Harper's patience paying off
Tom Koehler threw his arms up in anger. Or maybe disbelief. Or both, probably. With runners on first and third and two out in the fifth inning of Wednesday night's game in Miami, the Marlins' starter got ahead 1-2 on Washington's 22-year-old slugger, Bryce Harper, but the 93 mph fastball he threw up high inside ended up sailing out to right field in Marlins Park for Harper's seventh hit and sixth home run in 21 at-bats against Koehler in their respective careers. Harper's second hit, after...

Patrick Reddington: Strasburg hopes for better results against Brewers

Patrick Reddington: Strasburg hopes for better results against Brewers
The Nationals were looking for a strong outing from Stephen Strasburg during the finale of the last series they played with the Milwaukee Brewers during Washington's trip to Miller Park in late June. The previous night's 16-inning marathon left the Nats bullpen depleted, but they'd outlasted the Brewers and set themselves up with an opportunity for a three-game sweep of the National League Central's first-place team. Strasburg was in the midst of a rough stretch of starts, however, in which...

Patrick Reddington: The Nats' MVP, if not the National League's

Patrick Reddington: The Nats' MVP, if not the National League's
After going 3-for-4 with a three-run home run in last night's 9-0 win over the Miami Marlins, right fielder Jayson Werth has a .329/.406/.540 line with 13 doubles and 21 home runs in 101 games and 411 plate appearances in the third year of his seven-year deal with the Nationals. Since returning from a disabled list stint June 4, the 34-year-old outfielder has a .355/.441/.595 line with 11 doubles and 17 home runs in 74 games and 304 plate appearances. The 11-year veteran, to the surprise of...

Patrick Reddington: Clint Robinson making the most of his opportunities

Patrick Reddington: Clint Robinson making the most of his opportunities
After eight minor league seasons and a total of 3,836 minor league and 73 major league plate appearances, 30-year-old Nationals first baseman/outfielder Clint Robinson finally connected for his first major league home run in the Nats' June 11 game in Milwaukee's Miller Park. Robinson, 30, hit 141 homers in the minor leagues for Royals, Jays and Dodgers minor league affiliates, putting up a combined .302/.381/.510 line in 921 minor league games. But before this season, the 2007 25th-round pick...

Patrick Reddington: "Cardinal Way" is making things tough on Nationals

Patrick Reddington: "Cardinal Way" is making things tough on Nationals
With wins in two of the three games in the nation's capital this week, the St. Louis Cardinals improved to 16-7 against the Nationals since 2012. Different rosters, different managers (for the Nats at least), but the same outcome. Over the last several years, the Cards have held an edge in the head-to-head series. The 2012 National League East Champion Nationals actually took four of seven from the Cardinals that season, and the National League Division Series with St. Louis went five games,...

Patrick Reddington: Walking a fine line with Bryce Harper

Patrick Reddington: Walking a fine line with Bryce Harper
Twins closer Kevin Jepsen challenged Bryce Harper and lost. Harper hit a ninth-inning home run to straightaway center field in Nationals Park to tie Sunday's game up and send it to extra innings. In an MLB Network Radio interview on Monday, Nationals manager Dusty Baker was asked about the Twins' decision to pitch to the Nats' 23-year-old slugger with a one-run lead. "The thing about it is you couldn't put the tying run on base when you've got the top of the order coming up behind him...

Patrick Reddington: Zimmermann right at home in nation's capital

Patrick Reddington: Zimmermann right at home in nation's capital
Nothing against Jordan Zimmermann's stats away from Nationals Park, but the starter from Auburndale, Wis., has been even more impressive in his adopted home in the nation's capital so far in 2013. The Nationals right-hander, who turned 27 yesterday, is 3-2 with a 1.91 ERA, four walks (0.96 BB/9) and 29 Ks (6.93 K/9) in five starts and 37 2/3 innings pitched away from the nation's capital early this season. Opponents have a .193/.225/.281 line against Zimmermann in his road starts. In D.C.,...

Patrick Reddington: Riding the roller coaster with Ian Desmond

Patrick Reddington: Riding the roller coaster with Ian Desmond
Nationals manager Matt Williams talked at the start of spring training about wanting to help shortstop Ian Desmond stay focused on the day-to-day this season instead of thinking big picture as Desmond began what could be his final season with the organization that drafted and developed him. Though there were rumors of a potential trade this winter as Desmond entered his walk year, Williams said he wanted to help Desmond get past all that. "I want to free his mind," Williams told reporters....

Patrick Reddington: It's just not Strasburg's year

Patrick Reddington: It's just not Strasburg's year
It's just not Stephen Strasburg's year. It was supposed to be, but it's not. Strasburg was efficient Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. He was pounding the zone. He was striking batters out, with eight Ks. He was inducing ground balls, with eight groundouts. He had seven scoreless innings on 86 pitches. He gave up a leadoff home run by Brian Bogusevic on the first pitch of the eighth. That ended Strasburg's bid for a shutout, but he got the next three outs on 10 pitches to finish the...

Patrick Reddington: Forgiving Stephen Strasburg

Patrick Reddington: Forgiving Stephen Strasburg
It's not Stephen Strasburg's fault that he was hyped beyond belief throughout his final collegiate season and all the way up to the majors. Having followed him that entire time from San Diego State University to the Nationals system and up through his electric major league debut, I'm willing to bet he would have been perfectly fine without the over-the-top attention. He made a point of saying he hadn't done anything yet to earn the spotlight when he was anointed the "next big thing" by...

Patrick Reddington: Murphy the right choice for Nats in offseason

Patrick Reddington: Murphy the right choice for Nats in offseason
Daniel Murphy started 44 games and appeared in 46 of the Washington Nationals' first 47 games before Dusty Baker gave the veteran infielder a night off in the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals last night. In those 46 games, the 31-year-old former New York Met, who signed a 3-year/$37.5M deal with the Nats this winter, put up a .394/.427/.617 line, 14 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. Murphy's 69 hits lead the majors, as does his .394 average, and his 24 multi-hit games,...

Patrick Reddington: Storen appears bound for All-Star Game

Patrick Reddington: Storen appears bound for All-Star Game
In the process of earning his 18th save last week against the Cubs in the nation's capital, Drew Storen gave up a run for the first time in 18 appearances dating to April 21. It was just the third run Washington's 27-year-old closer has allowed in 24 1/3 innings this season. His ERA jumped from 0.81 to 1.16. It dropped back to 1.11 when he completed a scoreless, 10-pitch inning in the Nationals' 5-4 win over the Yankees on Wednesday in which he earned his 19th save. Storen is now tied for...

Patrick Reddington: Tough rotation decision ahead

Patrick Reddington: Tough rotation decision ahead
Back in January, when there was still some question about which pitcher would fill out the fifth spot in the Nationals rotation behind Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister, 27-year-old right-hander Tanner Roark was asked about competing for a starting spot or possibly pitching out of the Nats bullpen. "I'd love to be the fifth starter," Roark told reporters, "but if I can make the team out of spring training, that would be great to help the team out any way I...

Patrick Reddington: Roark has morphed into Nats' utility arm

Patrick Reddington: Roark has morphed into Nats' utility arm
All is right with the Nationals for the moment. With the help of Joe Ross, now down at Triple-A Syracuse, the much-ballyhooed best rotation in baseball has put together a streak of 41 1/3 scoreless innings. Stephen Strasburg and Doug Fister returned from their respective DL stints with strong outings. With solid pitching and a resurgent offense that was able to manufacture runs, the Nats finished their eight-game homestand with six straight wins, three each over the Pittsburgh Pirates and...

Patrick Reddington: Davey Johnson, Stephen Strasburg and Beijing In 2008

Patrick Reddington: Davey Johnson, Stephen Strasburg and Beijing In 2008
Davey Johnson was especially blunt in his assessment of 25-year-old right-hander Stephen Strasburg's last outing. Washington's 2009 No. 1 overall pick gave up six hits and three runs in six innings of work in which he struck out six and threw 109 pitches to the Miami Marlins. "He was actually awful," Johnson told reporters after the start. "He was. I mean, every pitch he threw was up. He's got such great stuff, but everything was belt-high. I grew to love him when he pitched for me in...

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...

Patrick Reddington: Looking at Wilson Ramos' full season at the plate and behind it

Patrick Reddington: Looking at Wilson Ramos' full season at the plate and behind it
The question for the last few years has been, "What would Wilson Ramos do with a full season's worth of at-bats?" In his 113-game, 435-plate appearance campaign in D.C. in 2011, the then-23-year-old catcher put up a .267/.334/.445 line with 22 doubles and 15 home runs in a 2.6 fWAR run, but knee surgery, a string of hamstring injuries and hamate bone surgery limited Ramos to a total of 191 games and 760 PAs between 2012 and 2014. He did, however, manage to put up a .269/.309/.428 line over...