New year brings new expectations for Nats
New year brings new expectations for Nats
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerman rang in the new year with hopes for the Nationals in 2022. Things the team would like to see come to fruition this season. Best-case scenarios for the players, coaches and front office staff. The fact of the matter is 2022 is going to be a year unlike we've seen on South Capitol Street in over a decade. Exactly 10 years ago, expectations were sky high for the Nationals. They ended the 2012 season with the club's first National League East division title, starting...
A look at what we could see during the 2022 season
A look at what we could see during the 2022 season
Steve Melewski
Orioles
The new year arrives. We break out the new calendars. And it's also a good time to take a look ahead at what might be coming. As it relates to baseball, getting a new collective bargaining agreement worked out before the scheduled start of spring training would be a great start. So fingers crossed that we see that early during 2022. But once the season does begin, what could 2022 hold for the Orioles? Will the team begin to turn the corner?: This would be big for a suffering fan base that has...
The more you know about Orioles pitchers
The more you know about Orioles pitchers
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The proverb that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" warns that even a small amount of it might lure people into believing they're an expert on a particular subject, which can lead to mistakes. So true. But we won't let that deter us this morning. The more you know about Orioles pitchers in 2021: * All nine of Keegan Akin's appearances at home came against a different opponent - the Yankees, Rays, Indians, Astros, White Sox, Tigers, Braves, Angels and Blue Jays. I mean, what are the...
Raising the bar on resolutions
Raising the bar on resolutions
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Some new year's resolutions are made to be taken more seriously than others. Stop using your treadmill to dry laundry. Stop using vodka to hydrate in warm weather. Stop using Zoom calls as an excuse to skip showers. None of these can be spun as asking too much. Here are a few goals for 2022 that may be harder to execute: Get John Means to the plate A new collective bargaining agreement could bring a universal designated hitter to the sport, but Means needs a bat in his hands. Let the ace...
A new year's resolution idea for the Orioles
A new year's resolution idea for the Orioles
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The first week of a new year hasn't brought us closer to a new collective bargaining agreement. At least from what's known in front of the scenes. The view is more obstructed behind them. National media would be all over renewed talks and any progress made, and it's been very quiet on Twitter beyond hilarious videos of Betty White and the touching tributes to a comedy legend. Man, 2021 showed no mercy, and 2022 started with the passing of former NFL running back and head coach Dan Reeves,...
Debating dates of Orioles debuts in 2022
Debating dates of Orioles debuts in 2022
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Based on draft status, expectations and various prospect lists, Orioles fans are likely to get most excited about the anticipated 2022 debuts of catcher Adley Rutschman and pitchers Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall. MLBPipeline.com, Baseball America, Prospects 1500 and I'm assuming everyone else with a list ranks them in that order as the top three prospects in the system. Rutschman is going to arrive in Baltimore first. Rodriguez and Hall haven't pitched above Double-A, but are primed to join...
What the Nationals are hoping for in 2022
What the Nationals are hoping for in 2022
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
A year that saw so many negative developments has now ended, and not a moment too soon for anyone around here. When we look back on 2021 in the annals of Nationals history, there's not going to be much we want to remember, aside perhaps from the recognition that it served as the first step in the rebuilding of a former championship organization back into a regular postseason contender again. Now as 2022 arrives, we wait anxiously to see what the Nats will look like once pitchers and catchers...
Because You Asked - No Way Home
Because You Asked - No Way Home
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
One day into a new year and I already failed at my first resolution to work the player to be named later from the Chad Bradford trade into every single conversation. No one said it would be easy. Clearing out my mailbag is a simpler task with more frequent readings. I needed another hobby during the lockout. Questions and answers are edited for ... nothing. Though I worry a little about the brevity police kicking down my door. Also, my mailbag sneaks into your house and shoves your Christmas...
Most significant stories of 2021: Trade deadline teardown
Most significant stories of 2021: Trade deadline teardown
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
As we reach the end of the year, we've been taking a look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2021. Some of them were uplifting. Some of them were depressing. All of them were significant in telling the story of the 2021 season. We conclude today with the most significant story of them all: the dismantling of the roster at the trade deadline. ... The Nationals' season lasted six months, and over the course of those six months, there were countless stories and developments of...
Amid the losses, there were indeed high notes
Amid the losses, there were indeed high notes
Steve Melewski
Orioles
During a season that ended with 110 losses, there were still some things that were positives and/or just plain fun about the 2021 season. And it's not that starting next year that we won't still look back. We will. But today, on the final day of the 2021 calendar, we take another look back at the Orioles season. Here are some of the best things we saw, wrote about and talked about this year. No. 1 - Trey Mancini played in 147 games: After dealing with cancer and chemotherapy treatments, Trey...