The Baseball Show: What went wrong?

As of today the Nationals sit 9.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot and, despite a recent three-game winning streak, there may not be enough time left for them to make a playoff push. With that in mind, Mark and the crew discussed what went wrong with the Nats this season and what they need to do this offseason to get back on track in last night's episode of The Baseball Show.

Mark's answer to the latter question is complicated, as it will interesting what the Nats do this winter. Do they need to make sweeping changes or are they as good as we think they are on paper? We know certain positions will have to be addressed, such as Dan Haren's spot in the rotation and a backup catcher. Should the Nats shake things up more than that?

Nats ready to look at young players

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CHICAGO — The Nationals never thought this would be the case in a season with the highest of expectations, but they are preparing to start looking at more young players over the next six weeks at the expense of a few veteran regulars.

Manager Davey Johnson said he plans to give Tyler Moore more starts at first base down the stretch, perhaps going so far as to platoon the 26-year-old at first base with veteran Adam LaRoche.

"I'm not in the position I'd like to be in, but there is a necessity to look at some guys," Johnson said. "And we'll be doing that. I mentioned the other day that Tyler Moore has to get some at-bats, some regular at-bats. And I'll be doing that with some other guys. I'm not going to go into naming them, because that's gonna happen on a daily basis. It's not gonna be a set plan."

Johnson also said rookie right-hander Tanner Roark could get a chance to move into the rotation, perhaps swapping spots with Ross Ohlendorf, who makes his return from the disabled list tonight.
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No suspensions for Strasburg, Johnson

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Major League Baseball has determined neither Stephen Strasburg nor Davey Johnson will be suspended after each was ejected from the Nationals' game Saturday night in Atlanta, essentially ruling Strasburg did not intentionally throw at Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

No announcement has been made by MLB regarding the situation, but a league source said the commissioner's office reviewed the events of Saturday's game and concluded neither Strasburg nor Johnson merited a suspension, the punishment typically doled out when a pitcher is ejected for intentionally throwing at a batter.

The decision comes on the same day MLB suspended Red Sox right-hander Ryan Dempster five games for intentionally hitting the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez on Sunday night, even though Dempster wasn't ejected from that game.

Strasburg became embroiled in the Nationals-Braves feud, which began when teammate Bryce Harper was hit by three pitches in three games against Atlanta, the last of which knocked the 20-year-old outfielder from the next night's game with a bruised left triceps muscle.
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Another blowout loss

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CHICAGO — Jordan Zimmermann insists he feels fine. There's nothing wrong with his arm, and the 95 mph fastballs he threw Monday night would seem to confirm that. And the right-hander says his neck, a problem earlier this summer, isn't an issue right now.

So, what are we to make of Zimmermann's performance over the last six weeks? After serving as a punching bag for the Cubs' previously punch-less lineup during an 11-1 blowout loss, the one-time ace of the Nationals staff finds himself in a legitimate, long-term funk.

On July 1, Zimmermann was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. He sported an 11-3 record, a 2.28 ERA and an 0.94 WHIP, all of which ranked among the NL's best. In eight starts since, Zimmermann is now 3-4 with a 5.30 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.

If he's fine physically, how does he explain the last six weeks?

"Just pretty much location," Zimmermann said. "I'm not hitting my spots right now. The fastball's up. I've got to do a better job of locating."
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Marathon men

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ATLANTA — Their starting pitcher had departed some 4 1/2 hours earlier, ejected after plunking a batter in the first inning and then losing all semblance of his command in the second. Their manager had been ejected, too, not to mention their left fielder later in the evening.

Eight relievers (one of them actually a starter) had cobbled together 14 innings of work, though the last six of those innings wouldn't have been necessary had their closer recorded one more out in the bottom of the ninth.

Their star 20-year-old, scratched from the lineup earlier in the day with a bruised left triceps muscle after getting drilled by a pitch the previous night, had been forced into action late.

Then again, pretty much everyone in uniform was forced into action for this 5-hour, 29-minute marathon, with 44 of the 50 active players on the two rosters appearing in the game.

So when it finally ended, when Adam LaRoche had homered in the top of the 15th and Dan Haren had pitched the bottom of the inning — in the rain — to earn the first save of his 11-year career, the Nationals could only sit back and enjoy the feeling that comes only after you pull off an 8-7 victory over your fiercest rivals.

"Golly," LaRoche sighed. "What a battle."
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Strasburg, Johnson ejected

Associated Press

ATLANTA — Stephen Strasburg exacted some revenge for Bryce Harper's recent plunkings. Then the Nationals ace lost all semblance of command and wound up getting himself and his manager ejected.

One night after Harper was hit by a Braves pitcher for the third time in the last three games between the two clubs, Strasburg fired a 97 mph fastball into Justin Upton's left hip in the bottom of the first inning. Upton quietly took his base, and plate umpire Marvin Hudson issued warnings to both dugouts, which should have ended the whole affair.

Except one inning later, Strasburg suddenly couldn't find the strike zone. He walked Jordan Schafer on four pitches, then uncorked three consecutive wild pitches to Andrelton Simmons, the last two sailing well behind the Atlanta shortstop's back and allowing

Bruised Harper scratched from lineup

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ATLANTA — The Braves' repeated plunkings of Bryce Harper are now preventing the Nationals star from taking the field.

Harper was scratched from tonight's lineup with a bruised upper left arm, in the area where he was hit by Luis Avilan's fastball during the eighth inning of Friday night's loss at Turner Field, the third time he has been plunked in the Nationals' last three games against Atlanta.

"I'm not happy with it," manager Davey Johnson said today from his office next to the Nationals clubhouse. "I know everybody in that room is not happy with it."

The Nationals have refrained from retaliating to this point, both because of specific game situations and because warnings were issued to both dugouts after Harper was hit, mandating automatic ejections and suspensions for pitchers and managers if there is a subsequent plunking.

Johnson, though, doesn't expect any warnings to be issued at the start of tonight's game. And while he insisted he wouldn't call for any retaliation himself, the 70-year-old skipper suggested he wouldn't be surprised if something did happen.
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Werth: "I love playing" for Manuel

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ATLANTA — Jayson Werth openly admits he is the player he is today in large because of Charlie Manuel. So when asked today whether he'd like for the suddenly available Manuel to manage the Nationals next season, the veteran right fielder didn't hide his feelings.

"Oh, of course," Werth said this afternoon. "I don't know if he fits into the organization's plan or whatever. But I mean, I love playing for the guy."

Fired by the Phillies today after a 4-19 stretch since the All-Star break, Manuel now finds himself out of work after 12 years managing in Cleveland and Philadelphia, posting a 1,000-826 record, winning six division titles and a World Series. The 69-year-old said he would need some time to contemplate his future, but his name could surface as a candidate to replace Davey Johnson in 2014.

Werth said he spoke to Manuel earlier this season and asked his former skipper about his future plans.

"He guaranteed me he would be managing somewhere next year," Werth said. "This was probably ... I think I was on the DL in May when I talked to him. We'll see. Time changes things. But at the time when I talked to him then, he was adamant he wanted to manage."
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Soriano blows it in Nats' loss to Giants

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A night after being bailed out by his center fielder on a miraculous catch to end the game, Nationals closer Rafael Soriano once again made matters interesting in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants.  

But this time he wasn’t so lucky, as a pinch-hitting Hector Sanchez launched a towering three run homer to the upper deck in right field, putting the Giants up for good and ruining the Nats’ chances of a sixth consecutive win.

The final blow came in a 3-2 count with two outs, on a pitch Soriano didn’t think he would have to make. The previous pitch, at 2-2, Soriano fired a fastball that was up in the zone, just high enough to earn a ball from home plate umpire Jim Joyce. 

Soriano thought it was a strike and couldn’t recover after thinking the game was over.

“I don’t think it be a bad pitch at all. I think it be a strike. But I don’t make that decision,” he said. “I think the game [should have been] over. That pitch, to me, I think it be a strike. I think that was when the game changed.”

Sanchez even thought he was done.

“It was close you know, I thought he got me,” he said.

Soriano’s next delivery was slightly higher, but right where Sanchez was hoping it would be.

“I was looking high and I got that pitch,” he said.

The Nats had nursed a lead since the third inning, only to see it ripped away at the end in the 4-3 loss on Thursday. They struck early with three runs in the third and knocked Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong out of the game after just 3 2/3 innings. 

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Werth, Gio argument explained

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The dugout argument between Gio Gonzalez and Jayson Werth during the Nats’ win against the Giants on Tuesday night was about just what many had speculated.

Werth thought Gonzalez didn’t hustle to first base on a double play attempt in the first inning and Gio took exception to being called out for it.

Werth declined to comment after the game, and Gonzalez also saved the details.

“It stays between me and Werth,” Gonzalez said.

Luckily Davey Johnson was there to explain it. 

“Oh, just a little camaraderie going on. Jayson sometimes can get a little vocal. He thought that Gio was a little late covering first, and he was,” Johnson said.

With his team showing some life during their fourth consecutive win, however, Johnson saw no issue with the exchange.

“Spirits are high. I like it. It’s no big deal.”

State of the Nats - 8/12

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Team Record: 57-60 (23-24)

N.L. East Standings

Wild Card Standings

Offensive Game of the Week: Jayson Werth 8/10 vs. Phillies - 3 for 5, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

Pitching Line of the Week: Stephen Strasburg 8/11 vs. Phillies - 9 IP, 0 ER, 10 SO, 4 H, BB, 99 pitches, 66 strikes

Top Storylines

Momentum? - After taking a brutal sweep by the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park this week, the Nats turned things around by getting a sweep of their own over the Philadelphia Phillies. As Mark noted at the end of the Braves series, the Nats have only been able to beat bad teams since the All-Star break and are 1-11 against the likes of the Braves, Dodgers, Pirates and Tigers. The Phillies certainly fall in the 'bad teams' category and the upcoming Giants do as well. Even if the Nats continue to win this week against the struggling defending champs, it will be hard to read too much into it. In particular, if the recent offensive improvement is legitimate, it will have to carry over into this weekend's series in Atlanta. We'll see.

Werth, Davey leave Nats' win with injuries

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Jayson Werth continued his impressive season at the plate on Sunday with his second consecutive three-hit day, raising his average on the year to a whopping .328. But the Nationals’ right fielder later left the game in the sixth inning after banging his right knee sliding into home in the fifth. 

He is now considered day-to-day with a good chance he’ll play Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants.

“It’s okay. Just kinda got caught underneath me on that slide home. Kinda stiffened up a little bit,” he said. 

“Doctors looked at it. I didn’t think it was a big deal. But should be okay. Day off tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll know waking up in the morning, but I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Werth was treated by team medical director Dr. Wiemi Duougiuh in the game’s later innings and is not expected to receive an MRI. Werth iced it to reduce the swelling and had bandages on the top and bottom of his knee cap afterwards.

"Dr. Wiemi was back there," Davey Johnson said. "Didn't think it was anything other than a pretty good bruise."

Rendon makes the adjustment

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Throughout his amateur and minor-league career, Anthony Rendon knew he could rely on his natural talent and ability to hit a baseball and thrive at each level of the sport.

But as every rookie major leaguer finds out, talent is only one part of the equation at this level, where pitchers quickly develop a book on every hitter and find ways to exploit weaknesses.

Rendon has experienced this over the last several weeks, and he has embraced the challenge.

"It's been fun. You actually have to put in work," he said. "It's not really just a game any more. You have to figure out how to get better. When you're younger, it comes a little easier for you. But up here they study the game, and that's what's been fun about studying the film, just trying to figure out how to beat those guys."
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The Baseball Show: A wild week

Just because the Nats aren't winning a lot of games, doesn't mean it hasn't been interesting. The last week provided plenty to talk about on Friday's Baseball Show, as Mark, Jim and this week's host Michael Jenkins covered a variety of topics. In the first video above, they talk about Jayson Werth's comments this week and if the Nats should start looking towards next season.

'Do I have to starting yelling at people?'

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After the Nationals were swept by the Atlanta Braves, capped by a bullpen collapse in their 6-3 loss on Wednesday, several Washington players took on a bit of a different tone in describing the team’s current situation. Jayson Werth, in particular, spoke of a broader context, of how the losses are piling up and it may be time to starting thinking about the future. 

Manager Davey Johnson was asked on Friday if there is a sense of resignation in the clubhouse, if the NL Wild Card and division are so out of reach it’s now time to look towards next season. 

He disagreed.

“There’s no resignation in that room over there, certainly not with me,” he said. “It’s probably more frustrating for me because I keep searching and thinking what I can do to make it easier for guys to perform. If I could figure out why guys, some veteran players are having subpar years for me, I would be all over it.”

He did, however, acknowledge the direction of the franchise as a whole, the central point Werth was trying to make. 

“They’re still learning, there’s still room to grow,” Johnson said. “Everybody likes where the organization is at, likes the talent pool. There’s a small margin between winning and losing. We’ve had some problems in the bullpen, guys struggling off the bench, having some other guys not getting going, all those things add up.”

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Zimmermann's second half struggles

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Jordan Zimmermann has been dealing with a stiff neck for much of this year, it was the reason he cited for skipping the 2013 All-Star game. But though he took precaution in sitting out a few days in July, Zimmermann hasn’t been the same in the season’s second half.

Before the July 16 All-Star game, Zimmermann was 12-4 with a 2.58 ERA, but since he’s gone 1-2 with a 6.75 mark. Through the four total starts his neck issue hadn’t been spoken of, that is until now.

Manager Davey Johnson said after Wednesday’s loss it could be making a difference.

“I think he’s having some problems, his usual problem, a little tightness.”

Johnson said Zimmermann is not expected to receive testing on the neck and they’re hoping an extra off day – the Nats pick back up on Friday – will help. The manager was under the impression Zimmermann was past the injury, but that may not be the case.

“Hopefully it’s not as bad as it was before,” Johnson said.

Zimmermann denied feeling stiffness in his neck after the Nats’ 6-3 loss, as he has for much of this year. Johnson and his pitcher have had conflicting takes at times this season, from whether Zimmermann was wearing a neck brace before a given game to whether he is feeling pain at all. 

Harsh reality sets in

The Nationals took the field Monday night still clinging to the hope — ill-fated as it may have been — they could save their season with a dominant showing against the Braves.

They trudged off that same field Wednesday night all but acknowledging that hope has been dashed, and suddenly taking a long-term view about this franchise's potential. In some cases, even looking beyond 2013.

"It's getting to a point where we're just not winning games," right fielder Jayson Werth said following a 6-3 loss that completed a three-game sweep at the hands of Atlanta. "You hate to accept losing at any point. But the losses are definitely piling up."

The losses, and the deficit. The Nationals came out of the All-Star break trailing the Braves by six games, a legitimate hole but certainly one that could be overcome. Less than three weeks later, they now sit a staggering 15 1/2 games back in the NL East.
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Ohlendorf on track for weekend rehab start

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Ross Ohlendorf threw a bullpen session at Nationals Park on Wednesday as he works his way back from right shoulder inflammation, and as long as the next two days of rest go as expected, should be ready for a minor league rehab start on Saturday.

Manager Davey Johnson said the Nats have not decided where Ohlendorf will rehab and will determine how long he pitches later this week.

"Maybe he just goes three innings and he has to come back and go five. Maybe he feels good enough and goes further and he can come back earlier. We want to get him stretched out so he can go five."

Johnson believes Ohlendorf is still on track to return Aug. 16 after being placed on the 15-day disabled list on the first of the month. But before he confirms that date, the Nats want to see how his shoulder reacts through the rest of the week.

Davey talks Zim's throwing, future at 3B

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Ryan Zimmerman’s throwing issues over the last two seasons have been well documented, a quick look at the league leaders in errors will tell you that. Zimmerman was tied for third in baseball last season with 19 and already has 17 this year, also good for third. 

Whether it’s purely a mental issue or a physical one - Zimmerman had shoulder surgery this offseason – is not entirely clear. Manager Davey Johnson has been back and forth at times on the issue and still can’t figure it out.

“I don't know if it's physical or mental. Because I see him throw pretty good and in the game he'll want to get a lot of air under it,” he said.

If Johnson had to guess, he’d say it’s all in the third baseman’s head, as Zimmerman tends to be more accurate when he has less time to throw.

“I still think it’s more mental, not just trusting it and cutting loose,” Johnson said. “I see him getting his work in, and he throws it pretty good.”

Benches clear in Nats-Braves game

Whether it was the way he walked out of the box after hitting the homer or the time he took around the bases, something about Bryce Harper’s third inning solo shot evidently bothered Julio Teheran.

The Braves starter retaliated in the fifth inning by beaning Harper with a 94 mile per hour fastball in the right thigh, igniting a near brawl that saw both benches and bullpens clear and warnings issued to both teams.

After getting hit in the leg Harper tossed his bat and stepped towards Teheran, yelling and pointing at him, clearly displeased with what he felt was an intentional strike. Teheran walked off the mound and towards Harper before home plate umpire Joe West jumped in Harper’s way to diffuse what nearly became an ugly situation.

Teheran said he was surprised with Harper’s reaction, sticking to his story that he was just trying to throw a fastball in and it got away from him. Harper on the other hand, wasn’t surprised Teheran would target him after the homer.

“I hit that ball pretty far off him, so no, not really,” he said.