Washington Nationals

The future of the Orioles was on display Thursday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto, and while it doesn't quite reach the level of what April 28, 2012 meant for the Washington Nationals -- the night Bryce Harper, then 19, joined Stephen Strasburg, 23, on the field for the first time -- it was plenty good enough for Baltimore to dream it may lead to division titles of its own. Read more Bryce Harper news

Your browser does not support iframes.With the Nationals returning from a lengthy west coast trip ready to take on the Phillies, there are plenty of storylines to discuss involving the team. Mark, Rob Carlin, and Jim Duquette covered all things Nats on last night's Baseball Show, including what the team should do at second base and whether the comments of Rafael Soriano are a concern long term. We also have a clip from Ryan Zimmerman's 'A Night At The Park' which was another huge success.Read more »

Face it: Inaccuracies, errors and typos are a product of this high-speed information world we currently inhabit. You may have even seen a few right here on Big League Stew from time to time. But this mistake-riddle graphic that popped up during the Kansas City Royals’ broadcast on Thursday night is really the Mark Reynolds-at-third base of television graphics. Just when you think it can’t get any worse … it somehow does. Before you dive into our list of all the errors we spotted, see how many you can find on your own. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Washington Nationals News

Kevin Gausman made his MLB debut on 5/23/13 just a year after pitching in the SEC. Photo unk via orioles-nation.com With no Nats game on Thursday 5/23/13, and with a vested interest in newly promoted Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (my vested interest being that I was considering nabbing him in my fantasy league), I watched his first start against Toronto. First thoughts; Wow.  I know Gausman’s line wasn’t that great last night, but I just pulled up his  Pitch F/X data on the night and am impressed.  He threw 63 fastballs on the night with an AVERAGE speed of 97.26.  By way of comparison, right now Stephen Strasburg leads the majors in average fastball velocity at 95.4.  This kid was holding that average velocity through 60+ fastballs and 90 pitches on the night.  That’s some serious heat.  His mechanics were clean, the arm action easy, and he easily kept his mechanics while pitching from the stretch.  Gausman has good size (6′3″ 190) and has raced through the minors to make this debut in 2013, only the 2nd guy out of last year’s draft to do so. He has a fantastic change-up with reverse action away from left-handed hitters (this was what his scouting report said too): 84mph average.  That’s a 13mph delta between his 4 seamer and his change up.  That’s just silly.  In a recent post I posted a table of average velocities for the pitches of some of the league’s top pitchers; the best fb-ch delta out of that group of hard-throwers was Samardzija’s 11.6 mph delta.  Strasburg’s is only 7.4mph difference and he’s considered to have a completely unhittable change up.  Gausman’s change is almost too slow; hitters sitting on 98mph may actually have enough time to re-adjust to his change.  Though that being said, he got a lot of strikes and some silly swings on the change on the night. He didn’t really use his curve that much; 11 times out of his 89 pitches (pitch f/x gives him both a slider and a curve, but the speeds look the same and the speed delta has to be a curve; his slider would be nearer 91mph).  At one point he threw 4 straight changeups, which directly led to a walk b/c the hitter knew what was coming and laid off.  I bet this kid has never thrown four straight changeups in his entire life.  Wasn’t a fan of that At-bat nor the pitch calling from Weiters.  He may need to develop a 4th pitch, or at least work on his curve, despite how plus his firs two offerings may be. The hits he gave up were a combination of legitimate and lucky.  Rasmus laced a 2-0 fastball that he could sit on.  Lind wristed an 0-2 pitch for a hit on a hanging curve.  He gave up at least two other 2-strike hits when he missed his spot.  Lawrie bunted and Chris Davis misplayed the play, calling off the pitcher only to let the ball try to go foul and it didn’t.  That led to a bases-loaded no outs situation in the 4th and he was lucky to get out of that with only one run.  Even the 5th inning homer he gave up seemed weak; Arencibia didn’t seem like he got it all; it was an inside pitch that he wristed out.  He hit the ball 369 feet as it turns out; Toronto is an easy place to hit down-the-line homers like this.  Hittracker classified the homer as being “plenty long” and it would have been out of 22/30 parks in the league, so maybe it wasn’t as lucky as I’m characterizing it. I was slightly surprised to see Gausman get yanked after 5innings.  He was through the meat of Toronto’s order and was facing 8-9-1 in the 6th on only 89 pitches. Looking at the score, yes you’d understand him getting pulled.  Looking at his stuff and what had transpired?  I’d have given him another inning with a short leash (one baserunner and you’re out).   Showalter had seen enough though, brought in a couple of relievers who promptly conspired to give up a grand slam to Encarnacion and blow the game.  Loss for Gausman in his MLB debut. Fin

It's easy enough to dismiss most of what has happened this year to bad luck or at least things out of the team's control. Werth's injury. Ramos' injury. La Roche starting slow. Gio starting slow. Some back-end bullpen blowouts from guys you trusted fully. Even Espinosa, the current punching bag of the fans, who out there wouldn't have had him start the season and play at least a month, if not more? How can you blame a management when it's putting a team everyone thought was great out there and it doesn't perform.But this ignores the fact that the team did take gambles during the off-season. They were minor gambles, seemingly pretty innocuous at the time, but they've all blown up in the Nats faces and contributed a fair amount to the struggles up to this point.The signing of Dan Haren was the first gamble. On another team this would have been a bigger deal, but on the Nats, with 3 rotation guys who were expected to be good to very good and Detwiler looking like a fine back of the rotation guy, Haren didn't have to be great. He merely needed to be ok and eat up innings. He did battle an injury last year, but he seemed to pull through it and get stronger as the year went on. If he was right, he could be fantastic moving from the AL to the NL. Edwin Jackson, who filled this role last year, wanted a big contract and proved to be unreliable, so why not take a chance on a guy that might end up giving you one of the best rotations of all-time?The problem though was depth. In that the Nats have none with starting pitching. Edwin Jackson was a machine went brought in for this role. He had no significant injury history in the past 4+ years and was only 28. Haren on the other hand had just battled injury and was going to be 32 and that's less reliable. If you didn't want to dip into your AAA pitching because it wasn't very good, then bringing in Haren was not the best move. Now it turns out he hasn't gotten injured, but he has given the Nats a performance very much like what they'd expect from a throw-away arm that would replace an injured Haren.Worse yet with a slow start from Gio and Stras not being dominant, the Haren issues meant more innings were needed from the front part of a pen which was a problem because of gamble #2.The second gamble the Nats made was to cut out some of the middle reliever cost and set up a slightly unusual bullpen contstruction. Rizzo knows enough that a pen doesn't really need a lefty. If you have good enough pitchers they will get anyone out. For this reason he let Mike Gonzalez & Sean Burnett walk to be replaced by Rafeal Soriano. With Soriano, Clippard, and Storen at the back end it presumably wouldn't matter who they faced because they'd get them out. This gamble worked out ok for the most part.But then he also decided to roll with Zach Duke instead of Tom Gorzelanny to save a few dollars. While Gorzelanny had proved over the course of a couple grooming years that he was up to the job of middle relief, Duke had only one year post his last failed starter attempt and the results were mixed. Yes while up with the Nats he looked good, but the longer time he spent that year was in AAA and the stats are decidedly unimpressive. The other gamble he took was keeping H-Rod on the staff. H-Rod had no defined role. He's just a live arm that is around because Rizzo is desperate to prove he didn't lose that Willingham deal. Maybe he'll develop, maybe not, but he's nothing to be relied on. Of course with a rotation and back-end of the pen like the Nats have, the two gambles would hardly matter, right?Back to where we ended gamble #1 - Haren failed though, and Gio wasn't sharp and Stras wasn't going deep. All of a sudden the Nats didn't need fewer bullpen innings they needed more. 20% more in April in comparison to 2012. Add in a couple of back-end blow-ups with Storen looking especially shaky, and you really do need all hands on deck. But Duke's shown he is that mediocre AAA arm that he looked like last year. And

Kyle Kendrick opposes the Nationals after the good guys return home from an extended west coast swing. Early Career to Present Succinctly, it has been unremarkable. Since he debuted in 2007 at age 22, the righty has paired a well below-average strikeout rate -- the MLB average hovers around 17-18.5%, and Kendrick has topped 12% once -- with a slightly above-average walk rate. But the Phillies have had some good teams over the years, and that has resulted in Kendrick getting win totals of 10, 11, 11, 8, and 11 when he's tossed over 110 innings in a year. Year fWAR ERA- 2007 +0.9 85 2008 -0.2 126 2010 +0.5 117 2011 +/-0.0 84 2012 +1.1 99 As you might expect from someone who doesn't get strikeouts and walks slightly fewer batters than the normal twirler, his WAR values haven't been great. And if you want to go by more traditional metrics, well, the chart at right makes things look reasonably better, so it's fair to adjust your perception upward if that's your thing (ERA- measures how far above or below major league average (100) a pitcher's ERA is; lower is better. 2009 was omitted, since he only pitched 26 innings that year). Kendrick has banked some pretty good results so far this year. Currently sporting a 2.82 ERA, Kendrick has already accumulated +0.8 fWAR and +1.9 bWAR, each of which are close to his best single-season marks. What's different now? Well, he's maintained a not terrible 16.3% K%, and has really cut down on walks (5.6%, versus league average of 8.1%). His BABIP is also .020 below his career average, and .027 below the ML average. Finally, he's stranding runnersreally well (83.1% of 'em have been left on base, 10% better than ML average). Here is how he's using his repertoire, and what results his pitches are yielding with respect to BB% and BABIP. Getting Down: Kendrick's Sinker and Split-Fingered Fastball Really, it's not a split-fingered fastball; its more like a split-fingered change. Fangraphs actually labels it a change, and it comes in at 83 MPH, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, Kendrick's main offerings are a 90.7 MPH sinker (57% usage) and the aforementioned split (24%). The Splitter Kendrick's improved control of the split in decisive counts may be to thank for his lower walk rate. Over his career, 5.8% of batters have walked when he used the pitch with a three-ball count. This year, he's only walked two batters in 71 at-bats when the split has ended a three-ball plate appearance, good for a 2.8% walk rate. In fact, Kendrick's split control appears to have improved across the board. For his career, the slow-rotating, tumbling pitch has gone for a ball almost 39% of the time; compare that to 2013, where he's cut that number by 7%, to 32%. In what is probably a corollary to the above, Kendrick is getting far more swings on the split this year that normal, too: 53.6% for his career, versus 63% in 2013. But his swing and miss percentage isn't all that different this year. What's up? His ground ball rate, is what (what, what...what). You can imagine that a pitch like the splitter -- a pitch that doesn't rotate a whole lot on the way to the plate, causing a diving action late in it's trajectory -- generates a fair number of worm-burners. This year is no exception. Batters are hitting 60% of splitters in play on the ground, a career high. Among line drives, fly balls, and grounders, the latter has the lowest run value. So I think his improved control, swing rate, and ground-ball rate on the split may be one part of Kendrick's career-best ERA. The problem is, hitters are having success on batted balls, evidenced by the .310 batting average and .380 slugging percentage. The Sinker So maybe the sinker is also pulling weight. Also: According to Baseball Reference, a sinker has less dramatic downward break than the split, if you were like me and wondering what the difference was. The offering is ge

Your browser does not support iframes. Up above, CSNWashington.com video of Ryan Zimmerman talking about the fourth annual "A Night at the Park", which took place Thursday night at Nationals Park to support the ziMS Foundation. Good stuff. You can also make a donation to the ziMS foundation here. Befriend Nats Enquirer on Facebook. Follow on Twitter.

Because of the quirks of this season’s scheduling, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals will finally meet on the field this weekend, near the end of the second month of the season. The Nationals enter Friday’s game 4.5 games … Continue reading →

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers Syracuse Won, 8-7 (11 inn.) @ Columbus, 7:05 p.m. Rosenbaum (4-2, 3.04) vs. Bauer (2-0, 3.23) Harrisburg Lost, 8-6 vs. Reading, 7:00 p.m. TBD vs. Wright (0-2, 11.88) Potomac Lost, 7-4 @ Lynchburg, 6:05 p.m. Hill (4-1, 2.31) vs. Moore (4-4, 5.94) Hagerstown Won, 7-0 vs. Lexington, 7:05 p.m. Encarnacion (3-3, 2.48) vs. Nina (1-2, 4.55) Syracuse 8 Columbus 7 (11 inn.) • Torra 4IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 4K • Roark 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K • Davis (BS, 2; W, 1-1) 2IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 2K, HR • Owings 2-6, 2R, 2HR, 5RBI • Rahl 2-5, 2R, HR, RBI (15-game hit streak) • Kobernus 2-4, R, 2BB, SB, CS Chris Marrero’s two-out, two-run single in the 11th was the difference as the Chiefs won for the fifth time in 11 extra-inning games, 8-7. Matt Torra made his first start of the season, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Micah Owings drove in five of the first six Syracuse runs with a solo shot in the 2nd and a grand slam in the 5th. Columbus tied the game at 6-6 with a leadoff HR off Erik Davis in the 9th, his second blown save. Xavier Cedeno “earned” his first save despite giving up a solo HR in the 11th. Roster move: RHP Matt Torra activated from 7-Day DL. Erie 8 Harrisburg 6 • Jordan 1+ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K • Holland (L, 0-2) ⅓ IP, 2H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 0K, • Herron 2⅔ IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 7K, 2-0 IR-S • Johnson 2-4, R, 3B, BB, 3RBI • Leon 1-3, 2R, 2B, BB • Rendon 0-3, 2BB, K as DH So much for getaway day. The ride home was shorter than the 5 hours and 49 minutes it took from first pitch to the last out as Erie took its second straight against Harrisburg, 8-6. Taylor Jordan went just an inning and walked a batter to start the second before a 149-minute rain delay ended his day. Harrisburg scored four in the third to take a 4-1 lead only to allow seven runs over the next five innings before scoring twice in the 9th. Neil Holland took the loss with four runs charged to him on two hits and two walks and a hit batsman in the space of just seven batters faced. Josh Johnson paced the Senators offense with a single, walk, and a triple and three RBI, as Harrisburg managed to score six times on just five hits thanks in no small part to ten walks issued by the Seawolves. Frederick 7 Potomac 4 • Cole (L, 1-2) 5+ IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 5K, HR • Bates 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K • Nieto 2-4, 2-2B, RBI • Taylor 2-4, 2B A four-run 6th for Frederick turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead, as the Keys split the rain-shortened series with a 7-4 win. Starter A.J. Cole failed to go six innings for the third straight start, putting the first three runners on in the sixth via a walk and back-to-back doubles. The 21-y.o. would be charged with five runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five in his second loss. Adrian Nieto paced the offense with a pair of doubles as the P-Nats piled up 11 hits to the Keys’ nine, but twice ran into outs on the basepaths to kill rallies. Hagerstown 7 Lexington 0 • Pineyro (W, 4-2) 7IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 6K • Benincasa 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K • Renda 3-5, R, 2B, RBI • B. Miller 2-4, R, 2B, RBI • Piwinica-Worms 2-4, R, RBI, SB Three Hagerstown pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as the Suns debunked the Legends, 7-0. Ivan Pineyro tossed a season-best seven innings, with no walks, six strikeout and just three hits allowed to win his fourth contest. Cody Davis and Robert Benincasa each allowed a baserunner while laying the last two goose eggs on the scoreboard. Tony Renda led the attack with a 3-for-5 night, followed closely by Brandon Miller and Will Piwinica-Worms, who each went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Roster move: LHP Kylin Turnbull reassigned to XST; RHP Jason Smith reassigned from XST.

Your browser does not support iframes.After a grueling, 10-day road trip to the West Coast that featured plenty more lows than highs and a red-eye flight home from San Francisco, the Nationals would have been excused had they simply wanted to take Thursday off and rejuvenate themselves.How, then, do you explain more than a dozen members of the roster and coaching staff showing up at Nationals Park for Ryan Zimmerman's annual "Night at the Park" charity event?"It means a lot," Zimmerman said. "We're obviously teammates, and on the field we're fighting for the same thing. But for them to take time out of their off-day — which we don't get many — and getting home at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning from the West Coast, for so many of them to come out and support me and buy thingsRead more »