The Nats Thread

hutch wrote:

brennser wrote:

vansmack wrote:
Zim to Left Field starting tonight.  I wasn't going to see the Nats next week when they're here, but now I will.  I love watching professional athletes learn new positions!

seems like he's learning pretty nicely!

commentators were saying matt williams says zim goes back to third when bryce comes back…

bye bye espinosa?

i think its a real dilemma for williams and if it comes to pass is very tough on espinosa who I think has been playing very well - bryce isn't back for another month or so right? if they keep up this pace gonna be pretty tough to change up the team

ive been impressed by ryan in the outfield. his throwing motion still looks weird but hes playing balls well and seems to be enjoying it. he hasnt been tested as far as throwing runners out yet, but hitting cutoff men doesnt require the most precise throws, so it works for him

however, when harper comes back the question is basically whether you sit span or espinosa, and i think thats a pretty easy decision. espinosa at second certainly gives you a stronger defensive infield, but at a huge cost imo. hes not an everyday bat, span is finally doing the leadoff thing well, and having his glove and range in center is a huge plus, huge enough to negate potential zimmerman errors at third. i just dont think this teams best lineup has espinosa starting right now

longterm though, you gotta figure rizzo is at least considering a zim/harper/werth outfield.

Watching Espi on defense is awesome, but seeing him rack up all those strikes is just not worth it. Sliding Rendon over and letting Zim play third is better for the line-up. This team NEEDs offense. We've seen what happens when they get a few runs and strains the pitching staff. When they give the pitchers a lead, look at what they've been able to do. They went close to 50 ab's without issuing a walk? That's insane! Hopefully they can break out a broom for San Fran today.

Also, damn it, Ramos back on the 15 day DL!? UGH!

as good as ramos' bat is i think the time is coming for the nats to stop viewing him as a core piece of the lineup moving forward. sucks to give up on a guy thats been through as much as he has, but its a drag to constantly get him back just long enough to heat up, only to lose him again. i remember there was extension talk last year but rizzo said he wanted to see if wilson could stay healthy a full year. well…the answers obvious. hes one of the best hitting catchers in the game, and solid behind the plate as well, but not a guy i want to see locked up for years unfortunately. some have been freak injuries, sure, but the guys on the dl more than the field

its a good thing they got lobaton this offseason. hes not elite by any means but hes a better fill in option than calling up a AAA guy

Lobaton has turbo boosters when he can put a ball in play. Ramos is just so fucking great in that line-up. It's a real shame. I was willing to get behind "bad luck" for the dude, but jumping right back on the 15 day DL is frustrating. Hopefully they'll see that and try and find/groom another big bat catcher like him. But………………………….. we'll see if he can stay healthy after his current stint on the DL. Lol.

You guys have a great,  open Ballpark. Glad I finally got to see it.

It's definitely in my top 10

Heading down to the PNats game tonight to catch Wilson and Bryce in their rehab starts. Stoked!

Anyone catch the Nats game last night? I stayed up for the whole thing. Span's catch, Zim's catch, Zim's bomb were awesome. I guess they'll have a lot of the bench dudes starting today.

i will be heading to chicago this weekend to catch a game or two at wrigley.  will definitely be at the friday game, and saturday seems hard to pass up (samardjiza vs. gio)

Top of the 7th, with a lead, and he's already making headlines:

Harper Returns to Lineup with an Attitude

I think Boswell is harsh here, but I agree with the sentiment.  Hey 22 year old kid who missed almost 60 games and the team is still somehow only .5 game out - shut the hell up and play ball.

vansmack wrote:
Top of the 7th, with a lead, and he's already making headlines:

Harper Returns to Lineup with an Attitude

I think Boswell is harsh here, but I agree with the sentiment.  Hey 22 year old kid who missed almost 60 games and the team is still somehow only .5 game out - shut the hell up and play ball.

harper is a moron… i can't believe he would say that stuff…

glad to have harper back, but man was that a stupid quote. i generally think his attitude reputation is overhyped, but there's no defending him here. dumb dumb dumb.

vansmack wrote:
Top of the 7th, with a lead, and he's already making headlines:

Harper Returns to Lineup with an Attitude

I think Boswell is harsh here, but I agree with the sentiment.  Hey 22 year old kid who missed almost 60 games and the team is still somehow only .5 game out - shut the hell up and play ball.

"Instead of ?Nothing But Natitude,? Harper?s box could?ve read, ?Nothing But Attitude.?"

accidental meta

Didn't he start low when he first got called up too? Within a couple games he was right up at the top. I think it was to ease him in. I was there last night. Everyone stood up when he came to bat. It was a joke. Let the kid play some baseball. I love how he plays, but he IS overhyped so far. I'm excited to have the full line-up in there though and last night was one fun game to be at.

I will also be there tonight!

I know this might seem like a trollbait opinion, but do you think there's something about Washington sports fans "bandwagon-ness" that enables a lot of this? Like, I've always thought Ovechkin would be a lot better in most other franchises. He can skate half-assed (at best) on defense and absolutely no coach can say crap because the coach would get fired. RG3 checks himself in and out of games and again, basically can fire a coach. Harper can give lineup suggestions and fans are basically going to let him skate.

These things wouldn't happen in most other cities. If OV was on the Wings or Hawks, they'd sit his ass down and if he didn't respond, he'd be traded. He definitely wouldn't have a letter on his sweater. Harper could never do this on the Yankees or even St Louis. This just wouldn't be allowed, but in DC, if you're a star, the fans are always going to ultimately give them a pass, to an extent far greater than in the average sports town.

Julian, wrote:
I know this might seem like a trollbait opinion, but do you think there's something about Washington sports fans "bandwagon-ness" that enables a lot of this? Like, I've always thought Ovechkin would be a lot better in most other franchises. He can skate half-assed (at best) on defense and absolutely no coach can say crap because the coach would get fired. RG3 checks himself in and out of games and again, basically can fire a coach. Harper can give lineup suggestions and fans are basically going to let him skate.

These things wouldn't happen in most other cities. If OV was on the Wings or Hawks, they'd sit his ass down and if he didn't respond, he'd be traded. He definitely wouldn't have a letter on his sweater. Harper could never do this on the Yankees or even St Louis. This just wouldn't be allowed, but in DC, if you're a star, the fans are always going to ultimately give them a pass, to an extent far greater than in the average sports town.

fan base AND media.  outside of boswell, you have nothing but praise for mediocrity and free passes.  at least it's changing a little bit now as teams continue to underachieve in the region.

gaaaaaaaaah wrote:
i generally think his attitude reputation is overhyped, but there's no defending him here. dumb dumb dumb.

I don't think the Nats have anything to worry about.

vansmack wrote:

gaaaaaaaaah wrote:
i generally think his attitude reputation is overhyped, but there's no defending him here. dumb dumb dumb.

I don't think the Nats have anything to worry about.

hahahaha.

oh man.

there's also the possibility that denard is the real bum in the clubhouse, and harper is the only one immature enough to make it publicly known.  i doubt that's the case, but it's possible.

Julian, wrote:
I know this might seem like a trollbait opinion, but do you think there's something about Washington sports fans "bandwagon-ness" that enables a lot of this? Like, I've always thought Ovechkin would be a lot better in most other franchises. He can skate half-assed (at best) on defense and absolutely no coach can say crap because the coach would get fired. RG3 checks himself in and out of games and again, basically can fire a coach. Harper can give lineup suggestions and fans are basically going to let him skate.

These things wouldn't happen in most other cities. If OV was on the Wings or Hawks, they'd sit his ass down and if he didn't respond, he'd be traded. He definitely wouldn't have a letter on his sweater. Harper could never do this on the Yankees or even St Louis. This just wouldn't be allowed, but in DC, if you're a star, the fans are always going to ultimately give them a pass, to an extent far greater than in the average sports town.

Ovechkin is a 3 time league MVP and has led the league in scoring. He'd maybe have his minutes cut down, like Hunter did, and Hunter wasn't chased out or fired because of Ovechkin. If anything he just didn't like the team, or coaching it, and he chose to be with his family in Canada with his own hockey program. Even in that season Ovechkin became more defensive minded, diving in front of pucks, being more responsible on his defensive side.

RG3 may have more of a say, but Shannahan was nothing short of disappointing in his 4 seasons here and apparently a nazi in the locker room. BUT those are all rumors and we'll never know. I don't think any single player has more power in their organization over what the GM or owner decides. I don't think Harper, RG3, Ovechkin, John Wall/Bradley Beal can walk into the GMs office and say "Fire this shmo" and have it be done.

I do think the DC bangwagon is annoying, but what can we do. From all the locker room reports, no one in the clubhouse seems to care what Harper said and are just excited to have him and the full opening day line-up back on the field. The sports media, especially in this town, is such a fucking joke.

So much for the O's bullpen being exhausted.

Sucks to see the starting pitching keep us in the game and then the bullpen to shit the bed. Not to take anything away from the O's line-up at all. It was a frustrating loss considering how close most of the game was.