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NLDS game 1
Nats lost 3 to 2. Nats’ hitters couldn’t hit Jake Peavy, They got some hits off the Giants’ bullpen, but not with runners in scoring position. Stephen Strasburg didn’t have his plus command. The...
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NLDS game 2: 18 innings to deep disappointment
The Nats lost 2 to 1 in the 18th inning. The Nats’ batters didn’t hit Tim Hudson. Jordan Zimmermann pitched great, but couldn’t get the final out. Drew Storen blew the save. The relievers relieved. The...
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NLDS game 3: Fister keeps Nats’ hopes alive
The Nats won 4 to 1 in game 3 in San Francisco. Doug Fister pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up only 4 hits. The defense played well, especially Bryce Harper, who made a run-saving catch at the wall...
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NLDS game 4: Nats’ rookie manager blows the inning, game, and series
7th inning – Bryce Harper‘s home run has just tied the game. Matt Williams brings in Matt Thornton, the team’s last left hander. I think he should have held on to Thornton for Sandoval and Belt, but...
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Ross Detwiler, a regular role, and regular work
Yesterday Ross Detwiler was traded to the Texas Rangers. The Nats received two marginal prospects, Chris Bostick and Abel de Los Santos, in return. From the Nats perspective, however, the trade was...
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Links to remember, 2014 season
“Links to remember” are links to articles and other webpages on the Nationals that I think have a longer shelf life—for example, articles that I enjoy re-reading months after they were written. In the...
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A comment on Harper’s ejection by Marvin Hudson
I know I’m late to this discussion. I’m in the camp that Bryce Harper, Matt Williams, and umpire Marvin Hudson all shared in the blame. Since I don’t know what Harper said to Hudson, I don’t know...
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Matt Williams costs Scherzer a no-hitter
Today Matt Scherzer pitched a complete game one-hitter. The only hit he gave up was a 7th-inning bloop single by Carlos Gomez into shallow right field, just out of the reach of second baseman Anthony...
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A memo for Matt Williams
August 5, 2015 Memorandum for: Matt Williams Subject: Letting the pitcher bat in close games No, I’m not going to blame you for tonight’s loss. The pitchers have to pitch and the hitters have to hit....
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Memo for Matt Williams – Overuse of setup man
August 7, 2015 Memorandum for: Matt Williams Subject: Overuse of setup man Tonight the Nats gave up a 4 to 1 lead in the 8th inning when Drew Storen allowed a one-out walk, then a pair of two-out...
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Memo for Matt Williams: Following up on overuse of setup man
August 9, 2015 Memorandum for: Matt Williams Subject: Following up on overuse of setup man My last memo pointed out that your use of Drew Storen four times in a five-day interval may have contributed...
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Nats’ 2015 season is slip slidin’ away
Over the last four weeks, Nats fans have watched the team’s season unravel. After losing the second game of a 4-game set against the Giants, our odds of reaching the playoffs, which recently had stood...
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Nats’ August in review: We’ve obviously dug ourselves a hole
As the month commenced, the Nats continued to be NL East favorites, leading the Mets by two games and New York facing them for the last two games of a three-game series, having lost game one. By the...
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Where was Rafael Martin last night?
Last night, for the second consecutive night, the Nats lost to the Cardinals with the bullpen squandering a late-inning lead. After a catastrophic 26-pitch outing on Monday when he gave up 4 runs, Matt...
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Six walks
Tonight’s disastrous game in which the Nats gave up a 7 to 1 lead in the seventh inning to lose 8 to 7 was their worst collective meltdown in a must-win game since Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS, when they...
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Trade Storen now!
After game 3 of the Mets series, my opinions are the same as those of Harper at Nationals Baseball: “Fire Matt Williams,“ and “Today, for me, the season is over.” But I’ll also add a third...
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Evaluating Matt Williams: Should he be fired?
Over the last month as the Nats have collapsed, there have been repeated calls for Matt Williams to be fired. The staff of the Washington Post has come to his defense, with Tom Boswell arguing (albeit...
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On the Papelbon-Harper incident
A lot’s been written about the recent fracas between Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper, which ended with Papelbon grabbing Harper’s neck and getting suspended for the rest of the season. I don’t have...
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Svrluga illuminates the Nats’ collapse
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post has written a brilliant 3-part account of the Nationals’ 2015 season. Parts 1 and 2 are well worth reading, but part 3, covering the period from the trade deadline...
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Nats’ September/October in review: We’re all disappointed in the outcome
At the beginning of September, the Nats were trailing the Mets by 6-1/2 games, though with two 3-game series remaining against the leaders, Nats fans still held out hope. During September and the final...
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