The strength of the Nationals bullpen heading into the World Series boils down to Daniel Hudson and Sean Doolittle. Hudson has been a difference maker for the 'pen since his arrival July 31 in a trade with the Blue Jays. Hudson not only provided an arm that could close games but also brought the endurance to be a reliever that could extend past one inning if needed. Doolittle said Hudson's addition changed everything for him. Doolittle missed 12 games in late August due to right knee...

The Astros will play in their third World Series, and their second in three years, when the Fall Classic opens Tuesday night in Houston's Minute Maid Park. The Astros won 107 games and are champions of the American League West. They beat Tampa Bay in a five-game American League Division Series and then beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, just as they did in 2017. It's well documented that Washington is playing in the World Series for the first time since 1933 and trying to win its...

With the Nationals facing off against the Astros for the 2019 World Series crown, it is matchup that features the two best starting staffs in baseball. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin face off against Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. And don't forget about Aníbal Sánchez. The Nats have the staff to keep them in games, the major key to their run in these playoffs. "Obviously, a dream staff," said catcher Kurt Suzuki. "Three guys that strike out over...

The matchup is now set. After a thrilling Game 6 victory over the Yankees late Saturday night, the Astros captured their second American League pennant in three years and thus advanced to the 2019 World Series to face the very well rested Nationals, who today will work out and meet with a throng of media members at Minute Maid Park, with Game 1 of the Fall Classic set for 8:08 p.m. Tuesday. This World Series may not appeal as much to casual observers and television executives as, say,...

The Orioles public relations staff sent out a package of extensive season-ending notes on the club and its players recently. Let's take a look at a few of those notes today. Miguel Castro: His 73 1/3 innings as a reliever ranked as the 10th-most in the American League. He posted a 0.89 ERA when pitching on three or more days of rest. Castro is durable and often available - he threw 86 1/3 innings the year before - but you can't afford to have a reliever who would need that much rest each...

The five questions that I posed about the Orioles last week were just a launching point. We can't stop at Chris Davis, the Rule 5 draft, protected players, non-tender candidates and the shortstop position. Let's move behind the plate. Without the risk of taking a foul ball off the groin. Do the Orioles bring in another veteran catcher? They signed Jesús Sucre as a free agent on Feb. 5, finally got him into camp after some work visa issues in Venezuela and brought him north. He didn't make...

Mike Rizzo has worked in professional baseball for 36 seasons, and until this current campaign he had worked for a team that reached the World Series only once. That was in 2001 with the Diamondbacks, for whom Rizzo served as scouting director. It's Rizzo's favorite team, from a professional standpoint, and for good reason. It provided him his lone World Series ring, which he wears in public only one day a year: Draft day, to remind him what the whole point of this crazy endeavor is. That...

There is a long hallway between the coaches' and manager's offices and the training area next to the Nationals clubhouse on field level at Nats Park. Along this wall is a collection of baseballs positioned on a long single shelf that runs down the hallway. Each ball represents a win the Nats enjoyed so far in 2019. Written on each baseball are the names of one or more players who, in the estimation of manager Davey Martinez, were the most valuable in each of those victories. What the skipper...

While the Orioles were learning about pitcher Asher Wojciechowski over the summer, the right-hander was busy learning more about himself. Wojciechowski admitted that he began to feel fatigued later in the season as it extended beyond the usual point when he's done. He had to push through it, with manager Brandon Hyde providing some extra rest along the way. After completing his final start in Boston, where he tossed six scoreless innings, Wojciechowski said he'd devote the offseason to...

Can a player with a career batting average of .192 coming into the 2019 season hit over .300? Can he do that if he was waived four times between the 2018 and 2019 seasons? If that player is Hanser Alberto, he can. Alberto stunned a lot of people this year when he became the first Oriole to hit .300 or better since 2008. His making the team was a mild surprise since the Orioles designated him for assignment on Feb. 19 and re-signed him on March 1. By the way, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff both...