Washington Nationals

Featured Media Clips – 2015

Table of Contents

Article #1 – Wilson Ramos again eager to prove he can stay healthy – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 2/19/15

Article #2 – Janssen using spring to adjust to life in National League – Jamal Collier (Nationals.com) – 2/19/15

Article #3 – Max Scherzer starts to settle in – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 2/20/15

Article #4 – Ahead of new season, Stephen Strasburg keeps same approach – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 2/20/15

Article #5 – Drew Storen is ready to close again – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 2/20/15

Article #6 – Coming off career year, Span seeks more – Bill Ladson (Nationals.com) – 2/22/15

Article #7 – Matt Thornton finding new ways to keep in shape as career winds on – Tom Schad (Washington Times) – 2/24/15

Article #8 – Harper’s confidence a good sign for Nats – Mark Zuckerman (CSNWashington.com) – 2/26/15

Article #9 – Heavy expectations, light hearts – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 2/28/15

Article #10 – Nationals reliever Casey Janssen relies on guile, not velocity – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 3/6/15

Article #11 – Fearless Aaron Barrett takes the mound for Nationals – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 3/8/15

Article #12 – Pitcher Max Scherzer has changed cities but is an unchanged man – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 3/10/15

Article #13 – Werth's arrival pivotal to changing Nationals' direction – Bill Ladson (Nationals.com) – 3/14/15

Article #14 – Injuries, talent give Michael Taylor an opportunity to make impact with Nationals – Todd Dybas (Washington Times) – 3/16/15

Article #15 – Strasburg: ‘I love the city of D.C.’ – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 4/2/14

Article #16 – Clint Robinson’s strong spring could land him on Nationals roster – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 4/2/14

Article #17 – Yunel Escobar on playing third base: ‘I’m doing this for the team’ – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 4/3/14

Article #18 – Uggla seeing offseason work pay dividends – Bill Ladson (Nationals.com) – 4/7/15

Article #19 – How the Nationals found Clint Robinson – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 4/8/15

Article #20 – In high-leverage situations, Blake Treinen continues to impress – Tom Schad (Washington Times) – 4/8/15

Article #21 – Dan Uggla, career starter, adjusting to not starting – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 4/17/15

Article #22 – Yunel Escobar adjusting, contributing to the Nationals – James Wagner (Washington Post) 4/17/15

Article #23 – Denard Span’s return is a step toward normalcy for the Nationals – Tom Schad (Washington Times) – 4/19/15

Article #24 – Bryce Harper drawing walks and getting intentionally walked — a lot – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 4/20/15

Article #25 – After a winding path of injuries, Sammy Solis makes big-league debut – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 5/1/15

Article #26 – Even before three home run day, Bryce Harper was a better hitter – Barry Svrluga (Washington Post) – 5/7/15

Article #27 – Tanner Roark, set-up man? – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 5/7/15

Article #28 – Yunel Escobar’s long and winding road to the big leagues – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 5/7/15

Article #29 – Harper's big day a sign of more to come – Richard Justice (MLB.com) – 5/8/15

Article #30 – Aaron Barrett is earning a heavy workload – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 5/8/15

Article #31 – Harper's home run streak for Nats sign of how locked in he is – Ken Rosenthal (FOXSports.com) – 5/10/15

Article #32 – Jose Lobaton taking advantage of opportunities – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 5/10/15

Article #33 – Michael A Taylor adjusting well to his role – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 5/14/15

Article #34 – Making the sublime routine, Espinosa has become the Nats’ glue – Barry Svrluga (Washington Post) – 5/20/15

Article #35 - Wilmer Difo’s call-up is a success story for Nationals’ Latin American operation – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 5/21/15

Article #36 – Span welcomes chance to mentor Taylor – Bill Ladson (Nationals.com) – 5/21/15

Article #37 – As Nats soar, so does Storen – Mark Zuckerman (CSNWashington.com) 5/26/15

Article #38 – Bryce Harper fully engaged and showing off his many talents – Jerry Crasnick (ESPN.com) – 5/26/15

Article #39 – After two down seasons, Danny Espinosa playing valuable role for Nationals – Thom Loverro (Washington Times) – 6/23/15

Article #40 – Janssen, Carpenter provide experience to Nats bullpen – Chase Hughes (CSNWashington.com) – 6/24/15

Article #41 – Nationals starters set team record for consecutive scoreless innings – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 6/26/15

Article #42 – Michael A. Taylor continues to grow – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 6/28/15

Article #43 – Nats' bench embracing 'next man up' mantra – Bill Ladson (Nationals.com) – 6/29/15

Article #44 – Jose Lobaton, Gio Gonzalez proving to be perfect pairing for the Nationals – Tom Schad (Washington Times) – 7/7/15

Article #45 – For Max Scherzer, baseball doesn’t ever get shut off or even turned down – Rick Maese (Washington Post) – 7/11/15

Article #46 – Bryce Harper wants baseball to benefit from the attention he receives – Barry Svrluga (Washington Post) – 7/13/15

Article #47 – Max Scherzer doesn’t mind heavy first-half workload – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 7/13/15

Article #48 – Danny Espinosa’s first-half revival – Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – 7/16/15

Article #49 - What Ian Desmond has meant to Bryce Harper – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 7/28/15

Article #50 - Danny Espinosa, the odd man out of the Nationals infield – Chelsea Janes

(Washington Post) – 8/2/15

Article #51 - Doug Fister on bullpen move: ‘It’s not something you want to do, but I’m here to help the team win’ - James Wagner (Washington Post) – 8/7/15

Article #52 - Ian Desmond’s second-half power surge continues – James Wagner (Washington Post) – 8/11/15

Article #1 Wilson Ramos again eager to prove he can stay healthy By James Wagner – Washington Post (2/19/15) It feels like a rite of spring: Wilson Ramos, built like a tank and fresh off an offseason of training, reporting to camp healthy and declaring his desire to stay that way. But after recovering from a knee injury in 2012, the unlucky catcher suffered multiple hamstring strains in 2013 that made him miss significant time and then he broke his hamate bone and re-strained his hamstring last season. Ramos certainly can’t be faulted for a lack of resilience. As pitchers and catchers officially reported to Viera on Thursday, Ramos, 27, again proclaimed his grand goals. He wants to catch 120-130 games, a bar he has yet to reach in the majors (113 is his career high, in 2011). “I think this is the year to do that,” he said. He believes he has found the right workout regimen to keep his legs intact. “I’m working with my legs a lot,” he said. “The last three years I had problems with my leg. But this year, the offseason I worked a lot with my legs. I was really working on my agility. This year, I feel 100 percent. I feel like I’m running without problems. When I feel 100 percent when I’m running in the field, that’s when I don’t have any problems behind the plate. I ran 100 percent down in my country and it feels great.” While rehabbing his hamstring last season, Ramos learned from team doctors that perhaps he was lifting too much with his legs and his muscles were too tight, which led to injuries when he ran. So he stopped trying to get his lower body so strong and instead more flexible. He did more stretching and agility training late in the season and even more in the offseason. He ran a lot, with cones, in zig-zags, sideways, backward. Ramos said he still weighs the same — his upper body, however, looks stronger – but admitted his body and legs feel “a lot different right now.” Different for Ramos means better. He still plans on approaching baserunning the same way: running 100 percent when needed but, if not, running casually down the baseline. “I have to play smart,” he said. As he always does, he played winter ball in his native Venezuela, mostly as a designated hitter, and his legs responded well to running at full speed. A highlight of playing in Venezuela for Ramos was being on the same team as his younger brothers David, 23, a pitcher, and Natanael, 21, a catcher. With their entire family watching, they all played in a game for the Tigres de Aragua. David pitched, Natanael started behind the plate and Wilson played first, a position he hasn’t played since a handful of games in 2006 in the low minors. “That was a little bit scary, because I never played first base before, not since the [Gulf Coast League],” Ramos said. “That was a long time ago. It was good. I got two groundballs. That was fun. Easy position,” he added with a laugh. From Venezuela, Ramos also followed news of the Nationals’ busy offseason, including the addition of Max Scherzer. Ramos said he was surprised at first at Scherzer’s signing but is thrilled to have the 2013

American League Cy Young Award winner as a teammate. He hasn’t caught Scherzer yet so spring training is the time to learn about each other’s’ tendencies. “With this guy, it feels really good to have the best rotation in baseball,” Ramos said. Article #2 Janssen using spring to adjust to life in National League By Jamal Collier – Nationals.com (2/19/15) VIERA, Fla. -- New Nationals reliever Casey Janssen reported to a new Spring Training home for the first time in his career, after spending his first eight seasons with the Blue Jays. "I'm still learning names, stumbling over names, trying to figure out which field is which field," he said Thursday, the first day Washington's pitchers and catchers reported. Janssen signed with Washington near the end of January to serve as one of the club's late-innings relievers, likely as a setup man for closer Drew Storen. Janssen was enticed by the chance to join one of the favorites to win the World Series in 2015. "We've been offseason paper champs before in Toronto," Janssen said. "I want to win and experience the postseason." The Nationals will be a popular pick to win it all because of their stacked rotation and deep lineup, but their bullpen has some roles that are up for grabs. Rafael Soriano, last year's closer, decided to test free agency and Tyler Clippard, their setup man who became a fan favorite, was traded to the A's last month. Janssen has been pegged as a likely replacement for Clippard, who posted a 2.18 ERA and 0.995 WHIP in 70 1/3 innings for the Nationals in 2014. "Big shoes to fill if that were the case," Janssen said. As Toronto's closer last season, Janssen finished with 25 saves and a 3.94 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 45 2/3 innings, but spent time on the disabled list with an oblique strain and lost nine pounds in one night after experiencing food poisoning. "It's a clean slate over here," Janssen said. "It's a new league for me, so I've got to learn the hitters, but they're going to have to learn me a little bit as well."

Article #3 Max Scherzer starts to settle in By James Wagner – Washington Post (2/20/15) VIERA, Fla. — By Friday morning, most of the Washington Nationals’ rotation had been here for at least a few days. Doug Fister drove cross-country from California in an RV earlier this week. Gio Gonzalez was bouncing off the clubhouse walls Tuesday. To escape the Wisconsin cold, Jordan Zimmermann came down weeks ago. Stephen Strasburg played catch on the main field Thursday. But the face everyone was eager to see arrived Thursday and made his first formal appearance the following morning. At 9:34 a.m., the Nationals’ splashiest offseason addition sauntered into the home clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium. Max Scherzer, the $210 million hired gun the Nationals hope will help them win a World Series, had returned from his mandatory physical with team doctors. His oversize golf club bag and four suits were already waiting for him at his locker, which sits between Zimmermann’s and an empty one. The former Detroit Tiger changed out of jeans, a T-shirt and a white jacket and into a red Nationals shirt and shorts, his workout uniform for many years to come. “It’s different,” Scherzer said with a smile a few hours later, in front of a horde of reporters and television cameras. “But it’s exciting at the same time. There’s a couple faces I know around here, but at the same time you get to meet whole new teammates. It’s just a fun day.” Scherzer’s tenure as a Nationals player won’t feel real until he goes through his series of firsts on the field: first bullpen (Saturday morning at 10:45 a.m. in the area known as the “10 Pack”), first spring training start, first regular season game. But until then, Scherzer’s acclimation began in earnest Friday morning. Strasburg, who sits two lockers down, offered a hello and a handshake when Scherzer arrived. “Excited to learn as much as I can from him,” Strasburg said later of Scherzer, the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner. On his first day in camp, Scherzer, 30, was pulled in many directions. He met many of his teammates for the first time. He chatted with Matt Williams, his former manager at Class AA Mobile in 2007 in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ minor league system. Reporters and TV cameras wanted some of his time. With Scherzer in the fold, the already lofty expectations for the Nationals only increased. The starting rotation has been dubbed a historic one. “We’re as talented as anybody in the league right now, and on paper we look great,” Scherzer said. “But that doesn’t mean anything when you go out there during the season. Everybody’s going to be gunning for us and everybody’s going to want to take their best shot at us, so it’s a matter of what we do in response to that, how much harder we’re going to be at our best.” In terms of major league service time and accomplishments, Scherzer instantly becomes the rotation leader. Even though much has changed around him — his bank account, team, perhaps even pressure — Scherzer insists he will be the same person.

“Trying to prove people wrong just doesn’t do it for me,” he said. “Going out there and competing against the other team and going out there and having to compete over 33 starts and trying to win every single time, that’s my motivation. That’s what makes me tick. That’s what makes me work hard is finding that way to compete against everybody.” Scherzer is competitive off the field, too, and touted the fantasy sports pools he will bring to the clubhouse “that maybe they haven’t participated in before.” Asked what they were, Scherzer laughed: “I got a few tricks up my sleeve. We’ll leave it at that.” On his first day in the clubhouse, Scherzer was instantly part of the group. After he played catch in the morning and did the mandatory pitchers’ conditioning, Scherzer stood near Matt Thornton’s locker, chatting and laughing with him, Drew Storen and others. Thornton and Scherzer spent the past three offseasons training at the Fischer Institute, a workout facility in Phoenix. Thornton had a feeling Scherzer might sign with Washington when, after occasional broad questions about the Nationals, Scherzer’s tone change one morning in early January. As they stretched before workouts, Scherzer asked Thornton specific questions about the Nationals’ clubhouse, whether they had any fantasy sports leagues and played cards. Thornton didn’t bug Scherzer much about his highly watched free agency, but the questions were the biggest clue. “I looked at him and said, ‘Okay, I gotcha now,’ ” Thornton said. “So I knew it was coming close.” Thornton is a familiar face for Scherzer, but the biggest help in his transition has been clubhouse and equipment manager Mike Wallace. Scherzer has asked him everything from where to park to where the bathroom is. “As soon as I got Wally’s number, I started texting him about everything,” Scherzer said. “He’s your best friend right now.” In order to prepare for Scherzer’s arrival, Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty called the starter’s former pitching coach, Jeff Jones of the Tigers, who also happens to be a former Oakland Athletics teammate of McCatty’s. The two are close friends and fellow Michiganders. Jones filled McCatty in on Scherzer’s pitching style and his throwing schedule. A few days after Scherzer’s introductory news conference, McCatty got Scherzer’s cellphone number from a Nationals official and left him a message. Scherzer called back a few days later. McCatty welcomed Scherzer to the Nationals, then he quipped: “I talked to Jonesie and know some of the things you do. I’ll make it comfortable and easy as possible for you because there are 210 million reasons I don’t want to make you mad.”

Article #4 Ahead of new season, Stephen Strasburg keeps same approach By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (2/20/15) VIERA, Fla. — Stephen Strasburg said he took the same approach to this offseason as he has to previous ones. If you were in his Nike spikes, you probably wouldn’t change much either. Even the game’s most incessant tinkerers would likely repeat whatever winter processes yielded a 3.14 ERA over a career-high 215 innings pitched, 14 wins and a league-high 242 strikeouts. “I just stuck to the program,” Strasburg said. “Tried to get better.” As Strasburg worked out, threw, and spent time with his wife and daughter at his San Diego home, the Nationals’ rotation changed around him. Max Scherzer joined the starting five, bolstering its depth and expectations while blurring the line separating the team’s number one starter from the rest — but that line hardly matters aside from Opening Day semantics, at least until October. “Everybody wants to be that number one guy, everybody wants to be a leader,” Strasburg said. “I think that’s just the kind of guys we have in the clubhouse here. I’m not going to change how I go about my business, and I know everybody else is going to do the same, so I just have to do all I can to go out there and win as many games as I can.” So far, the most games Strasburg has won in a season is 15, which he did in 2012. He was 14-11 last season, and given his excellent ERA, 5.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and high strikeout totals, 11 losses may seem like an unexpectedly hefty accumulation. But 13 starters struck out more than 200 batters last season, Scherzer (252) among them. Of those, six lost 10 games or more, many of them matched up most often with an opponent’s ace. “I was happy to get the innings under my belt last year,” Strasburg said. “Hoping to just build off of that. From day one, I always wanted to come in here and be the same guy, good or bad, and be consistent out there on the field. So that’s just going to be the goal again this year.” At 26, Strasburg is under team control for two more seasons. When he was drafted with the first overall pick of the 2009 draft, he was the presumptive ace of the future. Since his first full season in 2012, he’s been the consensus ace of the present. Strasburg said nothing has inspired him to change the things that propelled him to this point. “I was never a good player growing up.” said Strasburg, explaining that whether the Nationals had one ace or not, whether he was that ace or not, does not matter to him. “I believed in myself. I wasn’t the number one prospect coming up at 12 years old like how they rank them these days. I always had to work really hard to get where I’m at, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”

Article #5 Drew Storen is ready to close again By James Wagner – Washington Post (2/20/15) VIERA, Fla. — Drew Storen walked into the clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium on Thursday morning, his Nationals duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He had just thrown his first bullpen session outside this year; winter months in Indianapolis are brutal. He plopped his bag into the empty locker to the right. A familiar face was missing to his left: Tyler Clippard, the team’s longtime setup man and one of Storen’s best friends. “It’s really weird,” said Storen, who saw Clippard last weekend in Tampa before he left for his first spring training with the Athletics. “You just kinda assume his locker would be here.” The absence of Clippard isn’t the only difference about this spring training for Storen. Last spring, he entered camp again as a setup man. But now that Rafael Soriano has departed the Nationals via free agency after two years as closer, Storen will return to his old role in the ninth inning. Storen took over as closer late last season and in the playoffs, but it is his job again from the start. “It doesn’t feel any different, to be honest,” Storen said. “I think that’s a good thing. I’m not all geared up about this big job or anything. I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do and not try to do too much. That’s the way I look at it. Not trying to put too much pressure on myself because trying harder isn’t always trying better. I’m excited. Just do my thing and I’ll be good.” Storen, though, has come full circle. He was the team’s closer in 2011 and saved 43 games. He got hurt in 2012 but returned as the closer late in the season. He stumbled in the playoffs and the Nationals signed Soriano. He struggled and went to the minors in 2013 but had his best season yet in 2014 by posting a 1.12 ERA. When Soriano struggled in the second half last year, Storen went 10 for 10 in save chances. All those experiences over the years have molded Storen as a person and pitcher. “When I started closing at the end of last year, I felt totally different closing games than even in ’11,” he said. “I was pitching more. I feel confident in what I’m doing. I feel more even keel. If you have a consistent approach and process, you’re going to have more consistent results. For me, that’s kinda the mindset I have. I don’t treat the ninth any different than the seventh.” Storen used that approach as a setup man the past two years and found success. But, just like the Nationals, there are playoff demons. The Nationals have posted the best record in the National League twice in the past three years and been bounced in the first round. Storen, too, has had regular season success but twice stumbled in the postseason, including NLDS Game 2 last season. As much as the Storen and the Nationals want to move past their past playoff reputation, he believes he and the team can’t force the issue. “You’re not going to be successful trying to prove people wrong,” Storen said. “That stuff takes care of itself if you do what you’re supposed to do. The same idea of dealing with expectations: just stay in your lane. If you worry about that stuff, you’re going to get off the path.”

Storen was thrilled to see the Nationals’ offseason additions, especially the signing of starter Max Scherzer. “You can never have too much pitching,” Storen said. With the losses of Soriano, Clippard and Ross Detwiler, the bullpen will take a slightly different form in 2015. Storen will cherish the time he and Clippard had together. Those two and Craig Stammen were bullpen teammates for the past five years in the majors, a rarity with such volatile positions. “That doesn’t happen very happen,” Storen said. “We always took pride in that knowing it would come to an end at some point. It was cool. Especially as a reliever and so much turnover. We were thankful for that. I’m excited for [Clippard], though. He’s got a good opportunity.”

Article #6 Coming off career year, catalyst Span seeks more By Bill Ladson – Nationals.com (2/22/15) VIERA, Fla. -- Nationals outfielder Denard Span arrived in camp Sunday and announced that he has fully recovered from December hernia surgery. However, Span indicated that he would take it slow early in the exhibition season. Span suffered the injury toward the end of last season, but it wasn't enough to miss any games, including the National League Division Series against the Giants. After the postseason ended, Span thought rest would help ease the pain. It didn't go away, however, after he started training for the 2015 season. "I'm not in a rehab mode. So I've been working out. I've been hitting, throwing, fielding. I've been doing everything," Span said. "From what has been communicated to me, we are going to take it slow, just be smart and realize that it's a long camp." Span is coming off one of his best seasons, leading the Nationals in batting average (.302) and setting career highs in hits (184) and stolen bases (31). He said he has more to accomplish. Span wants to become an All-Star for the first time and steal more bases. "I have to do better. I'm shooting for 32 stolen bases," Span said. "I don't like putting caps on my own ability. We'll see. I said 32. To me, I want to do better than last year. I want to improve on every facet of my game." Manager Matt Williams said that Span is valuable in every aspect of the game. Williams went so far as to call Span a leader with a strong work ethic. "He is the one that makes our team go. He is a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder, who throws well, who understands how to run the bases," Williams said. "He makes it comfortable for our pitching staff to go ahead and challenge a guy and know it will be caught when it's hit out there." Like three of his teammates -- Ian Desmond, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister -- Span could become a free agent after the 2015 season. Span said he thought about his contract situation during offseason, but

believes once the season starts, he will not have time to think about free agency. His focus will be on winning the World Series. "I worked my whole career to get to this point to become a free agent," Span said. "I'm excited about it, but at the same time, I'm concentrating on trying to do the best that I can to help this ballclub win. I feel if that happens, I do my job and we all do our jobs collectively, I'll get compensated. Everything will fall into place." As of now, the Nationals have not approached Span about a contract extension. His future in D.C. could depend on outfielder Michael Taylor. If the prospect can be productive at the plate and cut down on his strikeouts, he could be a starting outfielder by 2016. "The one thing we can control is that we have a Washington Nationals uniform on. I'm going to go out there and give it my all. That's all I can do," Span said. Article #7 Matt Thornton finding new ways to keep in shape as career winds on By Tom Schad – Washington Times (2/24/15) VIERA, Fla. — An hour before the sun rises, Matt Thornton is already on the table. On a Monday in January, at the Fischer Institute in southern Phoenix, Thornton lies on a training table to begin his meticulous morning regimen. For the next hour, Brett Fischer stretches or massages Thornton's arm, elbow, shoulder, hips, legs, back, or whatever else might be sore at the time. There's an order to the treatment, a tangible consistency. "I try to stay ahead of the curve," Thornton said. "And I work out. I don't miss workouts in the offseason." Thornton's winters require a little more work now than they used to. At 38, he is in line to be the oldest player on the Washington Nationals' roster and one of the oldest players ever to suit up for the franchise. Only five other players have taken the field for the Nationals after their 38th birthdays, and none of them had a critical role like Thornton, who is expected to work the seventh or eighth inning for a team considered the favorite to win the World Series. The Nationals signed Thornton in August after he had been waived by the New York Yankees, and he went on to allow 10 hits in 11 1/3 scoreless innings over the final two months of the season. The 6-foot-6 left-hander only allowed one earned run with Washington all year: In the seventh inning of Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. In the clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium late last week, Thornton joked that he never knows which year will be his last, when that significant injury will occur or his body will finally give out on him. He sure doesn't think it's this year. His arduous offseason workout training program has helped make sure of that. "I've continued to have that fire and passion to work out in the offseason," Thornton said. "I've seen guys that start coming toward the end and start lacking in the work ethic. And if that's ever the case for me, I'll

hang it up. I enjoy the workouts. They suck at the time, but they pay dividends over the course of the season." After taking a few weeks off at the end of the season, Thornton starts heading to the Fischer Institute to receive daily treatments. A few weeks later, he begins his regular workout regimen, spending about four hours at the facility per day, seven days per week. "It is extremely rare that he misses a day," said Thornton's trainer, Chip Gosewisch. "I don't even know if he took a vacation this year." A typical morning workout goes something like this: By 6:30 a.m., Thornton is on the training table. At 7:30, he plays catch for 12 to 15 minutes. Then a five-minute break. Then the formal workout begins. Thornton sticks to a pitching-specific workout plan designed by Gosewisch, who played baseball at Arizona State and spent two years in the Angels' farm system. On Mondays, for example, Thornton works on his legs, going through a series of squat, press and lunge exercises designed to maximize his explosiveness. On other days, he targets his arms, back and various other muscle groups. "It's building the important pieces for chucking the ball 60 feet, six inches. That's what the focus is," Thornton said. "It's not me being able to go out and run seven miles in 45 minutes or something like that. It's about me throwing the baseball." The weightlifting portion of the workout takes about an hour. A hurdle routine, to strengthen the hips, follows. Then stretching, hand-eye coordination exercises, and, perhaps most importantly, core exercises. Gosewisch describes pitching as a transfer of energy, beginning in the legs and traveling to the arm, which makes the core a critical transfer point. "It's the leaky hose analogy," Gosewisch said. "In Arizona, you leave a hose out there in the summer, in that sun and heat, and the hose will dry up and crack and start getting little leaks, so the water pressure that comes out the end isn't as efficient. Now, if you've got a brand-new hose and you hook it up, and you turn that on, you're getting a lot more efficient flow out of that hose." With that in mind, Thornton does four different core exercises every day during the offseason, strengthening the muscles from every possible angle. Then he goes through a series of agility drills and, finally, running. The entire process, from preventative treatment to the final stride, goes from before dawn to just before lunchtime. "I'm bringing a snack, bringing some drinks and stuff like that," Thornton said. "I enjoy it." Thornton has been working out at the Fischer Institute for six years. This past winter, he regularly worked out with another Nationals pitcher: Max Scherzer, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract in late January.

"He keeps up with the young bucks," Scherzer said with a smile. "He doesn't sit there and complain about being 40 years old. He's there, going out and still working as hard as everyone else. That shows you how much heart he has for wanting to compete out there." Thornton is entering his 12th major-league season and 18th year of professional baseball. He has played with five big-league teams and pitched against three current major-league managers: Detroit's Brad Ausmus, Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash and St. Louis' Mike Matheny. He even faced current bullpen coach Matt LeCroy once, striking him out in 2005. Thornton's workouts have changed noticeably in the years since. When he turned 32 or 33, he realized he could no longer do what his 22-year-old self could do. Today, he works through the same workouts as other pitchers but with slight modifications, like less weight or a longer break between exercises. Given his age, Thornton knows there are times when he has to take his foot off the gas pedal and let his body rest. He admits that's easier said than done. "I have a hard time not working out," he said. Manager Matt Williams understands that feeling all too well, having gone through the same process late in his own playing career. But he said Thornton's success stems from a self-control and body awareness that only comes with time. "For Matt, what I think he understands is himself," Williams said. "He knows what he can do and can't do on an everyday basis to go out there and compete and get guys out. It doesn't hurt that he throws the ball at 97 mph, from the left side. That does not hurt. But that being said, he understands himself first and foremost." Only 25 players over the age of 38 participated in a major-league game in 2014, and this year, Thornton will in all likelihood join that group. His determination has helped him get to this point, but his offseason training regimen will help him get through the upcoming season. "I'm not trying to build strength through the season; I'm just trying to maintain what my offseason was," Thornton said. "Everyone's got their own place, and everyone's got their own ideas and stuff. Everyone's different, so it's just about finding what works for you."

Article #8 Harper’s confidence a good sign for Nats By Mark Zuckerman – CSNWashington.com (2/26/15) VIERA, Fla. — The clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium this morning was alive for the first time this spring, with pitchers, catchers and position players all together at last, chatting and laughing in advance of the Nationals’ first full-team meeting and workout. One of the TVs happened to show footage of Bryce Harper’s epic media session from Wednesday afternoon. The sound was off, but a couple of players noticed it. Their reaction: Big smiles. If anyone out there is worried Harper’s words will lead to any problems inside the Nationals’ clubhouse, don’t be. And if anyone is worried Harper just set himself and his team up for disaster … well, obviously you never know what may happen over an entire baseball season, but let’s just say the vibe around here Wednesday evening and this morning was decidedly positive. In fact, you could argue this was a great sign of things to come for Harper. For those who may have missed it, here are the two most notable things the young outfielder said during his first interview with reporters since October… — On his reaction to finding out the Nats added Max Scherzer to their star-studded rotation: “To be able to have a guy like Scherzer come in? I just started laughing. I was like, ‘Where’s my ring?’ You know what I mean? It’s stupid. It’s absolutely stupid how good our staff is.” — On his relationship with GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals after a salary dispute this winter: “I absolutely love this organization. I love the city that I play for. And I’m not done here. Like I said before, five years ago when I first signed here: I’m going to bring back a title to D.C., no matter what. I’m getting chills thinking about it. I mean, I absolutely want to do that for this city, this town, and I don’t care how long it takes me. I’m going to stick and do what I need to do to help this organization win.” Those comments immediately went viral and were met with plenty of disdain and mocking from all corners of the Internet (especially Atlanta, which has had an unhealthy obsession with Harper for at least two years now). But that mostly came from those who simply read Harper’s words, without much context, and without seeing or hearing him. Now, watch the video of those same remarks and pay attention not only to what Harper says but how he says it and how he looks when he says it… Whatever you think about the guy, you have to admit he’s genuine. That wasn’t an act. That was him telling you exactly what he thinks, no filter getting in the way. We’ve seen that side of Harper in bits and pieces the last two years, but we haven’t really seen him exuding that kind of complete confidence in himself and his team since his rookie season. Now, think about

how Harper played that year, the energy he brought to the Nationals every single night, the chaos he caused on the bases, the chances he took in the field, the ferocity with which he swung his bat. He was a 19-year-old kid on top of the world, healthy and believing he was invincible. Now he’s 22, but the way he spoke Wednesday, you get the sense he again is 100 percent healthy (after battling a knee injury in 2013 and a thumb injury last season) and again believing he’s invincible. And that can only be considered a good thing for the Nationals. The club is trying to downplay it, but make no mistake: This is an important season for Harper. As good as he’s been at times since reaching the big leagues, he has yet to put it all together over a full year and take his game to a level everyone has anticipated since the day he was drafted. With Adam LaRoche gone, Harper is the lone left-handed power bat in the Nationals’ lineup. This team needs him to be a force in the heart of the lineup, somewhere in between Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman. And everyone believes he will be that guy this season, despite all the pressure and spotlight that follows him everywhere he goes. “That spotlight’s really bright,” manager Matt Williams said Wednesday. “We all know that. And the expectations are high, as they are for all of our team. But I see the guy who is the first one to the ballpark, works really hard and wants to be good, has desire to become a great player. And he’s willing to work at it, which is great. So all of those things combined will allow him to be as good as he can be. He doesn’t slack off in that regard. He works. And has great desire to be a great player in this game. And I think he will be.” Every great athlete shares a common trait: Confidence, the belief he or she is better than anybody else who steps onto the field. Some of them don’t put that on public display the way Harper did Wednesday. But make no mistake, they feel it. And if Harper really is feeling it the way he appears to be feeling it, that can only be interpreted as a good thing for the Nationals.

Article #9 Heavy expectations, light hearts By James Wagner – Washington Post (2/28/15) VIERA, Fla. — Everyone deals with pressure differently. And this year, the Washington Nationals, pegged as the World Series favorites, face plenty of it. Some players love the sky-high expectations. “Embrace it,” utility man Kevin Frandsen said. Added outfielder Bryce Harper: “I’m going to bring back a title to D.C. no matter what.” Others are more subdued. “You can’t control what people are going to say about you, good or bad,” starter Stephen Strasburg said. Added rotation-mate Gio Gonzalez: “The best way is to stop listening to it.”

For catcher Jose Lobaton, the best way was to buy a golden cat figurine. Last October in San Francisco, when the Nationals faced a do-or-die game against the Giants in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, Lobaton stumbled upon the left-handed cat whose left arm swung like a pendulum. This Japanese token, called a Maneki-neko, is supposed to bring good financial fortune. The Maneki-neko — nicknamed Gatito, which means “little cat” in Spanish — is back, and Lobaton hopes it will bring more than just good fortune. He wants laughs. Until the Nationals get past the first round of the playoffs, where they have lost two of the past three seasons despite owning the National League’s best record, questions about their ability to handle the big stage will linger. With the winter addition of Max Scherzer to an already talented team, the scrutiny will only grow. The season is long and the pressure high, so why not ease it with some levity? “If people in the clubhouse can relax, they’ll go out onto the field more relaxed,” said Lobaton, seated on a stool in front of his stall, the Maneki-neko waving quietly from the top shelf of the locker. “During the playoffs, there’s more pressure and guys get tight. You need guys to relax.” The Nationals can’t claim inexperience anymore. In 2012, most of the roster was new to the postseason. After a disappointing 2013, they returned to the top of the NL in 2014 but were again bounced in the NLDS. Their bats went silent. They made costly mistakes. The Giants, the second wild-card team, topped them en route to a World Series title. “We’ve dealt with [pressure] now for the past couple years,” right fielder Jayson Werth said. “Expectations have been there. [Former manager] Davey [Johnson] threw out the ‘World Series or bust’ thing a couple years ago and that didn’t go so well. We’ve had expectations. The more times you go through things, the more times you’re able to learn and be able to deal with it. But I don’t think it’s really a big deal. It’s no secret. Teams have been gunning for us. We know who we are, they know who we are, so that’s part of it.” To help deal with pressure, the Nationals can lean on their mix of serious and goofy players. Gonzalez is always smiling and yapping. Jordan Zimmermann has a dry sense of humor. Werth cracks jokes. Tanner Roark is happy-go-lucky. Craig Stammen and Drew Storen dump Ga­tor­ade on teammates on the field during television interviews after big games. Frandsen brought a smoke machine and disco ball into the clubhouse. “With the fog machine, it was about embracing that we bust our butts everyday all day,” said Frandsen, who checked with Werth before adding the party machines. “I was getting sick and tired wherever I was, it was, ‘Ho hum, you won a game.’ Should you expect to win a baseball game? No. I don’t think so. You should want to win a baseball game. When you have a team that all wants to, why not celebrate it? Celebrate like a Game 7? Absolutely not. But it’s, ‘Hey, at the end of the day, the whole goal is to win.’ If you achieve that goal, why not embrace that?” Gatito, the smoke machine and the disco ball aren’t about superstitions. Players know they don’t actually play better because they ate their favorite sandwich before a game, a figurine cat waved its left arm or they took the same route to the stadium. It’s about a frame of mind. “Whatever makes you feel like you can do something works,” Manager Matt Williams said. “This game is so negative. We talk about it all the time: Three out of 10 you’re pretty darn good, so you’re going to fail seven times. Whatever helps us get through those moments and enjoy the good ones is all the better.”

The Nationals are 1-1 since Gatito came aboard, winning Game 3 of the NLDS but losing Game 4. Gatito, however, shouldn’t shoulder the blame. “We just didn’t do our jobs,” Lobaton said. “You know how sometimes people say, ‘I just needed a bit more luck?’ You’re always looking for things. Some people pray. Others do other things. I actually heard there’s a difference between the cats waving their left arm and the right arm. They mean different things. I bought the first one I saw. So really, it’s just a motivation for my teammates to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got some good luck.’ Maybe it changes people’s attitude. That’s why I bought it. And coming here for spring training, I thought maybe it’d do the same. It’s something positive. I just want the guys to be happy.” Reminded of Gatito’s record, Lobaton was unconcerned. “That’s okay,” he said with a straight face. “As long as he’s working, I’ll keep bringing him. If he isn’t, maybe I won’t bring him anymore. If I don’t smash him to pieces, maybe someone else here will. If he behaves well, he’ll stay. I’ll give him a good chance. Just like anyone who needs a bit of a chance at first. He’ll get one, too.” On a recent morning, Lobaton was scheduled for a photo and video shoot for the Nationals’ publications and Jumbotron videos. Because Lobaton had to lug his catching gear, he asked a team employee to carry Gatito. So as Lobaton walked through the hallways of Space Coast Stadium, Gatito followed right behind. A few days later, Lobaton agreed to another photo shoot with Gatito because the cat “needed to go for a walk outside.” Lobaton hid Gatito in his cap when he walked through the clubhouse. “To protect him,” Lobaton said, laughing. “The cat is hilarious,” reliever Aaron Barrett said. “It just says Lobaton all over it. Hopefully it has a bit of good luck for us in there this year.” Article #10 Nationals reliever Casey Janssen relies on guile, not velocity By James Wagner – Washington Post (3/6/15) VIERA, Fla. — Over the past five years, Casey Janssen has been among the steadiest relievers in baseball. The former closer had a 2.99 ERA and 83 saves pitching in the bandboxes of the American League East. He accomplished this without an overpowering arsenal of pitches. His fastball has never averaged more than 92 mph for an entire season, most often sitting at 90-91. Yet in an era in which pitchers are throwing harder than ever, Janssen has found his niche. “They said I topped at 95 once,” Janssen said. “I joke that it was probably downhill and downwind.” Actually it was 97 mph once — in 2007, his second year in the majors. That year, his fastball averaged 91.7 mph. “He’s certainly not overpowering, but he has fastball command,” Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. “He can locate his fastball with the best of them.”

The Washington Nationals hope Janssen’s savvy and guile will help solidify the back of their bullpen as the likely successor to longtime setup man Tyler Clippard. Janssen, 33, is coming off his worst season since 2009. A bad second half (6.46 ERA) and food poisoning he contracted during the all-star break undermined his dominant first half (1.23 ERA). The right-hander signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with a mutual option for 2016 with the Nationals. Janssen may be at the age of decline — his fastball averaged a little more than 89 mph last season and his strikeout rate fell to 5.5 per nine innings — but his command and smarts have helped him evolve. “A lot of times when you’re the best, it’s at that point when you start to decline at your strength and conditioning,” Janssen said. “The mental side of the game takes way over. You learn it’s about being efficient. It’s about setting up hitters. You’re not as stubborn. The whole thing of ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’ is true. You learn the hard way. If you actually learn from those experiences, you can stick around in this game a long time.” Janssen has flourished most of all because of his command. In 50 appearances last season, he walked only seven batters. During his three years as Toronto’s closer (2012-14), he posted a walk rate of 1.7 per nine innings. “When you don’t throw hard, you pretty much have to be perfect with your command,” he said. “It’s not ‘here it is, hit it.’ There’s a reason behind it and a high level of execution that’s necessary.” At Fountain Valley High in Orange County, Calif., Janssen threw between 86 and 88 mph. At UCLA, Janssen’s fastball ticked up to 88-91 mph. He first reached the majors in 2006 as a starter with the Blue Jays. When he was converted full time to a reliever in 2010, he could throw harder because he didn’t have to save himself for so many innings per outing. His time as a starter taught Janssen how to pitch. He learned how to attack hitters and disrupt them with location and timing, and he fine-tuned his command. His stint as a part-time position player in college also taught him how to read swings. He looks for even the slightest of flinches from the batter to gauge what his next pitch will be. “I have a nice ability to read that stuff and to understand what hitters are trying to do,” he said. Janssen has several philosophies that have helped him, too. He loves the bottom of the strike zone. As a result, Janssen’s career groundball percentage is 47.1 percent, including last season’s career low of 34.4 percent. “I don’t want anything higher than the knee unless it’s intentional,” he said. Janssen also swears by the first-pitch strike. “Best advice I got was from B.J. Ryan: ‘You’re a boxer, and you want to be the guy throwing the haymakers,’ ” Janssen said. And part of that is pace. Janssen has averaged about 23 seconds between pitches in his career. “What I loved about him when I was a shortstop and he was pitching, he worked quickly,” said Yunel Escobar, who was teammates with Janssen in Toronto from 2010 to 2012. “He doesn’t let the batter think. Sometimes when you take your time getting into the batter’s box, you almost have to ask for time from the umpire because he doesn’t let you get settled.”

Janssen has many ways of attacking hitters: He throws a fastball, curveball, cutter, change-up and slider; the first three are his best pitches. “He confuses you at the same time with movement and with his pitches,” Escobar said. His cutters in and curveballs on the outer edge of the plate have helped him neutralize left-handed batters (.689 career OPS) as well as right-handed batters (.692). The bullpen will take a slightly different form in 2015 with Janssen in the fold. He may not carry Clippard’s workload — Clippard averaged 79 innings the past five years; Janssen averaged 57 innings in that span. But Janssen believes he is ready to pitch more this season and prove he is still effective. As he has most of his career, Janssen has found a way. “The game is always evolving, and you want to be a step ahead on the mound as well,” he said. “As long as you can do that, velocity is secondary to the mental side.”

Article #11 Fearless Aaron Barrett takes the mound for Nationals By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (3/8/15) TAMPA — That right-handed pitcher pummeling the corners of home plate with fastballs on a sunny March afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field is Aaron Barrett. He is the man in the No. 30 Washington Nationals jersey, slinging the slider with the nearly untouchable trajectory, the same man whose errant fastball cost the Nationals a run and Game 4 of the National League Division Series five months ago. You would not recognize him as that player now, throwing his fastball to tight spots without concern and working confidently, if imperfectly, through the eighth inning of the Nationals’ 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees. “It’s going to be a little bit of a monkey on his back for a little bit, but he’s already had one outing,” Nationals pitching coordinator Paul Menhart said. “If you were going to see any signs of it, you would normally see them quite early. Even though it’s still spring training, it’s still a big league situation.” He has never shied away from that moment, standing and answering for the fastball that fell short at the worst possible moment. He answered for the loss of command immediately after the game, then again at FanFest in December — and countless other times. Until that October night, the only thing Barrett had to account for in 2014 was an improbable rise to big league reliability. “It was a great year. A crazy year but a great year. Obviously the last outing of my year didn’t go the way I wanted,” Barrett said this past week. “I had many ups and downs in the year, but I think that’s part of life and part of baseball. It tells you the character of somebody after their failures. My failures are a testament to how I’m going to react and how I’m going to come back.”

Barrett was just another of the Nationals’ young and powerful arms in spring training last season, unlikely to make the team, hoping to make an impression. He became the spring surprise who made the opening day roster, then compiled a 2.66 ERA over 402/3 innings. He struck out more than a batter per inning and was called on to face right-handed behemoths like Andrew McCutcheon and Giancarlo Stanton in crucial situations. “He’s fearless,” Nationals Manager Matt Williams said. “He understands that he can get people out. I think he got that experience last year in the situations we put him in.” With Tyler Clippard, Rafael Soriano and Ross Detwiler gone from the Washington bullpen, Barrett is pitching this spring with an opportunity to seize a late-inning role. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph last season and sometimes spiked higher, and everyone in the Nationals’ clubhouse calls his slider “wipeout.” That makes him powerful with a punch-out pitch — the stuff late-inning relievers are made of. “He’s fearless,” said fellow young reliever Blake Treinen, who said no one thinks about that rough October inning now until an outsider asks about it. “He doesn’t let the situation dictate how he’s going to perform. He just pitches aggressively. . . . Against him, I don’t think there’s really a comfortable at-bat because he’ll bust it in on you and then snap a slider.” Barrett did not always have the slider he was throwing Sunday afternoon or the velocity to pound hitters inside. He could never master the traditional slider grip when he was young, the one with fingers close together on the seam. When he was 16, his junior varsity pitching coach told him to throw his two-seam fastball, one finger on each of the parallel seams, but to snap it at the end. As for his mid-to-high 90s fastball, that arrived in 2013. Barrett was in Class AA Harrisburg at the time, throwing in the low-to-mid 90s. “One outing, I was just sitting 95. Everyone was like, where’d that come from?” Barrett said. He did not have an answer since he had not made any mechanical changes. He speculates added work and more leg drive might have contributed. It was a welcome bump for the former starter, who became a reliever after a bout with those maddening and undefinable baseball “yips” when he was in the rookie league with Vermont in 2010. “It was exciting because he’s such a great kid,” said Menhart, who was his pitching coach at the time. “ . . . He’s a real salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. You always, not necessarily root harder for those guys, but you do get an extra kindling when they do kind of get it.” On Sunday afternoon, Barrett pitched the eighth inning of a tie game, his second outing of the spring. He missed inside a few times with his aggressive fastball. He hit a man with that running slider, still honing his feel. He has not reconsidered his approach, still backing hitters off the plate, still throwing that slider low with runners on. “I definitely feel more confident,” Barrett said. “Just from going through my big league camp, then obviously the ups and downs of my first big league season. I don’t want to say I’m comfortable, because I’m not comfortable. I’m still fighting for a spot. Nothing’s given. But I just kind of know what to expect.”

Nationals teammates and coaches watch Barrett — six months removed from the kind of outing that has derailed careers before — seal a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout. Having seen who Barrett was before that night and who he is after, they expect nothing less. Article #12 Pitcher Max Scherzer has changed cities but is an unchanged man By James Wagner – Washington Post (3/10/15) VIERA, Fla. — Before receiving the most lucrative contract in Nationals history, Max Scherzer flew to Washington for a physical exam, standard practice to make sure his body and his $210 million right arm were healthy. A few days later, after signing, Scherzer met with the media to explain his burning desire to win, and why he chose the Nationals. But when he returned home to Arizona, something was bothering him: He hadn’t worked out in five days. “He wasn’t happy,” said his wife, Erica May Scherzer. “He works hard and does things a certain way. If he misses two days of training, it’s a big deal.” Few would fault Max Scherzer for taking a few days off to celebrate the biggest contract ever awarded to a right-handed pitcher. But Scherzer, 30, is an unrelenting high achiever. Even though much will be expected of him this season, Scherzer insists it won’t change him. This is a man who brings a glove and ball on vacations to play catch to keep his arm fresh. He once set a goal of running a strenuous 1.4-mile trail up Camelback Mountain outside Phoenix in 45 minutes, and once he achieved it, set a new goal of 40 minutes, then 35 minutes, until he did it in 30 minutes this offseason. “Having success on the mound is my number one motivation and, for the most part, my only motivation,” Scherzer said over lunch — a sandwich, chips and water — last week. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep having that success and having more success.” Although the desire was there, Scherzer wasn’t always successful. The Chesterfield, Mo., native grew up adoring the St. Louis Cardinals and dreamed of being a shortstop like Ozzie Smith. But because he had such a good arm, he mostly pitched. As a top recruit at Missouri, about 90 minutes from home, Scherzer posted a 5.85 ERA as a freshman. “He had such an electric arm,” said Tony Vitello, then Missouri’s pitching coach who is now assistant coach at Arkansas. “Everything he did was explosive. We knew he was going to be special. He just needed some development.” Even though Scherzer was Big 12 pitcher of the year as a junior and taken 11th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2006 draft, his development took time. He made his first major league appearance in 2008, retiring 13 straight batters, a record for a relief debut. His next game was a start.

Scherzer’s next three years were a mix of good and bad: progress, a 2010 trade to the Detroit Tigers, a brief demotion to the minors, improvement, complacency and his worst professional season in 2011. Before the 2012 season, he vowed to improve his slider, which he felt was the key to success. Even though his ERA that season was 3.74, his strikeout rate jumped from 8.0 per nine innings to an American League-leading 11.1. A slider paired with a change-up and a mid-90s fastball, delivered from his distinctive three-quarters arm slot, were a deadly combination. “The biggest thing you notice when you watch him pitch is all the swings and misses he gets on his fastball,” Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones said. That summer, after the left-handed-heavy Cleveland Indians hit him hard again, Scherzer again sought a way to improve. His sliders, normally about 85 mph to the outside of the plate, kept breaking in to lefties’ swings. During a bullpen session, Jones persuaded Scherzer to throw the pitch more slowly. He did and hit the catcher’s mitt. Jones told him to do it again but even slower. He did, turned to Jones and smiled: He had a curveball. “Once I worked on this a couple more times, I took it to the game and saw the results instantly,” Scherzer said. In 2013, with an improved curveball, Scherzer had his finest season yet: a 21-3 record, 2.90 ERA, 240 strikeouts, 2141/3 innings, an All-Star Game start and the AL Cy Young award . Despite Scherzer’s career year, the Tigers lost in the American League Championship Series. In fact, from 2011 to 2014, the Tigers averaged nearly 92 wins a season, reached the playoffs four times, including the World Series in 2012, and didn’t win a ring. Scherzer and his teammates had a feeling the nucleus of the team couldn’t stick together with many players approaching free agency. Before his final season in Detroit, he turned down a six-year, $144 million offer. At the advice of his agent, Scott Boras, Scherzer took out an insurance policy to protect himself against injury. If he got hurt, preventing him from receiving a better offer than the one he turned down, Scherzer would receive a tax-free $40 million payout. It cost $750,000. “It was peace of mind,” said Scherzer, who was an all-star selection again in 2014. “From a financial standpoint, I was going to be comfortable no matter what happened. I didn’t have to sit here and think I had to pitch for a contract or pitch better for this. I had one singular goal when I walked into the clubhouse and that was to win.” This spring, he is working on yet another new pitch, a cutter, which he may or may not use during the season. Former Arizona teammate (and former National) Dan Haren once told Scherzer it took him three years to master his cutter. Scherzer doesn’t like talking about the pitch because he doesn’t know yet if it will be good enough to use, but Haren’s words resonated with Scherzer: “Keep experimenting and find a way to get better.” “My goal is to win,” he said. “To do that, I need to be healthy. I know what I need to do to keep doing it. I’m not going to go out there with the mentality ‘I have to prove everybody wrong’ or ‘Am I worth this contract?’

No. It takes you away from what you’re doing on the mound. That’s not baseball. That’s contract. My motivations are strictly baseball and winning. Nothing is going to deter that.” In the clubhouse, Scherzer has been the same as always. Teammates see him as intelligent. He studied finance at Missouri and runs the clubhouse fantasy sports pools. “He’s a nerd at heart because he’s all about numbers and stats,” Tigers catcher Bryan Holaday said.“He loves anything that involves that.” Scherzer is also intense. He was known to swear loudly at himself during bullpen sessions. “The smiley guy on interviews is not Max on game day,” Vittelo said. “He’s looking to gut you.” But more than anything, Scherzer is known as a goofy guy who likes to have fun. Within days of reporting to Nationals spring training, he had already pranked Manager Matt Williams with bulletin board material involving a photo from “Dumb and Dumber” and Williams in an embarassing pose. Scherzer designed it himself. No one is spared from his teasing: his family, his wife’s family, her friends. He’s even working on a rap about Jayson Werth and his reckless driving conviction. “He puts so much time into busting everybody’s [chops] and wanting to have fun with everybody. He’s a little [pest] but he’s such a fun one,” Erica said. Secretly, she said, she hopes one of her husband’s new teammates gets back at him. “He really brings in such a team feel when he does that. He can be so serious on the mound and so intense. And then he gets off the mound and he’s this easygoing, fun guy who you can kick back and drink a beer with and hang.” Beneath the goofiness is sincerity. On a recent afternoon, Scherzer was part of three different conversations within 30 minutes. One moment, he was chatting with a group of relievers at one end of the clubhouse. The next, he was regaling catchers Sandy Leon and Jose Lobaton with stories about former Tigers teammate Miguel Cabrera. And before he left for the day, he overheard a reporter interviewing reliever Jerry Blevins about his interests and plopped down on a nearby stool to listen because he wanted to learn about his teammates. That is what defines Scherzer. He is restless. A new team is fun, a new league of opponents is a test and a new city is exciting. He is ready for the challenge. “In sports you never stay the same,” he said. “You either get better or you get worse, and I’m focusing on ways to get better.”

Article #13 Werth's arrival pivotal to changing Nationals' direction By Bill Ladson – Nationals.com (3/15/15) VIERA, Fla. -- Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth is working hard to get ready for the 2015 season. The question is, though, will he be ready for Opening Day against the Mets on April 6 at Nationals Park? Werth is cautiously optimistic.

Werth had arthroscopic surgery on his right AC joint last January, and he has yet to play in an exhibition game because of the procedure. But as of Friday morning, Werth was in right field playing catch with first-base coach Tony Tarasco. Werth threw from 60 to 90 feet and threw the ball pretty well. "Surprising," Werth said Saturday morning. "Not that I didn't think it was possible. It's just that [the strength] has come pretty quick. It's like the third time I've thrown and it feels really good. During normal Spring Trainings, I don't throw a whole lot before I get here. … The shoulder is really strong and I'm in a good place." Werth is in his fifth season with the Nationals, and it's safe to say that it was worth giving him the seven-year, $126 million contract after the 2010 season. It seems like yesterday when the Nationals received a lot of criticism for giving Werth that amount of money. But in order to get a player like Werth, the Nationals gave him the years he wanted. The Nationals saw a guy who had been in the postseason five times before joining them as well as being an above-average player. Werth is a good baserunner and quality defender, and he's not bad with the bat either. Talk to principal owner Mark Lerner five years later and he doesn't have any regrets giving Werth the long-term deal. "It's hard to overstate the impact Jayson Werth has had on the Washington Nationals" Lerner said. "Our growth as an organization over the last 10 years originates in many places. But when you think of the day we signed Jayson, and all that has happened since, it's hard not to associate that day with so much of our progress. From his play on the field -- which has been all we expected and more -- to his leadership in the clubhouse, he has been exactly the player we'd hoped for when we committed to him. If we knew the day we signed him what we know now, we'd do the deal all over again -- in a heartbeat." During the first four years of the contract, Werth had a .282 batting average, .375 on-base percentage with 66 home runs and 253 RBIs, while the Nationals were in postseason contention in three of those four years. His best game as a member of the Nationals occurred in Game 4 of the 2012 National League Division Series against the Cardinals. The game was tied at 1 in the ninth, and Werth -- leading off in the bottom of the inning -- battled Cards reliever Lance Lynn, hitting the 13th pitch of the at-bat over the left-field wall for the 14th postseason home run of his career. But numbers don't tell the whole story when it comes to Werth and his time with the Nationals. Before he arrived, the players were not in unison. Werth changed things, and it started during his first Spring Training with the club. It showed in mid-March of 2011 Then-Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan found himself in a confrontation with Werth for not doing enough sprints on the warning track at Space Coast Stadium. Before Spring Training ended, Morgan was traded to the Brewers for infielder Cutter Dykstra. Werth was among several players who helped improved the quality of food in the clubhouse. Werth said teammate Ian Desmond has been a guy who would put a bug in his ear to speak up and stand up for what's right.

"It's not a problem for me. I want to win. If you want to win, things have to be right," Werth said. "It has to be right from the moment you step in the door, to the food you eat to the Presidents race to the final out of the game. You are here every day, we are a family." Werth is also quick to say he wasn't the only one to change the culture in the clubhouse. "It wasn't just me. [General manager] Mike Rizzo has done a great deal to get the right personnel in here, get the riff-raff out," Werth said. "Davey Johnson jumped on board as a manager for a couple of years. He was just a bigger part as anybody changing the culture. I just happen to be at the right place at the right time. … Here we are, going into the fifth year, I'm on top. I went from the top in Philly and made a prudent career move and here I am. I remain on top." With three years left on his contract, Werth wants to help Washington win its first World Series title since the Senators won the title in 1924. Werth believes with the team currently in place, this could be its last chance to win a title. After the season, players such as Desmond, center fielder Denard Span and right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister are free agents. "There is a possibility this team will be totally different next year," Werth said. "Now I'm starting to think this is this group's last chance to win. That's why I felt it was important. We have a lot of homegrown guys, four guys up for free agency and this is the group I came in with essentially. This was the group I was sold with that was capable of winning. They could sign everybody back, but I think that's an outside shot."

Article #14 Injuries, talent give Michael Taylor an opportunity to make impact with Nationals By Todd Dybas – Washington Times (3/16/15) VIERA, Fla. — Michael Taylor stood in the middle of the mania last September in Atlanta. The Washington Nationals had clinched the division title on the field of their nemesis and were about to soak the visitor's locker room, providing a drenching powerful fans were not a match for the next day. The 24-year-old Taylor had just 17 at-bats after being called up Aug. 10. Taylor spent most of the season in Double-A Harrisburg before a brief stop in Triple-A Syracuse. Taylor had just 44 at-bats with the Chiefs. It was a rapid trip from the southeast of Pennsylvania to the center of a celebration. Now in mid-March, Taylor has another opportunity. Injuries to center fielder Denard Span and Jayson Werth have put Taylor into center field with a strong chance to be an Opening Day starter. He spent the last two days as the Nationals' leadoff hitter. He has every chance to have a strong role early on. "It's always good to get a player's feet wet in a little less impactful situation that he was brought into last year in his first taste of the big leagues," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "We brought him up

and there wasn't a lot of pressure on him to play every day or perform every day. He was a guy that we could ease into the situation. "I think he'll learn from that, build from that, the places that he's been, it will be a more comfortable environment for him. Players talk about that second-deck syndrome, where in a big-league stadium you have the second deck. It didn't affect him last year and he'll feel that much more comfortable this year." Being in the majors at the end of last season allowed Taylor to start his offseason work with a well-preserved body. He began working out three days after arriving home in Fort Lauderdale. Two weeks later, he began to hit at a facility in Sunrise, Florida. That work continued through what passes for winter in Florida's Broward County. "I like to hit all the way through," Taylor said. One thing Taylor did not do was golf. When he was younger, Taylor would often head out to the golf course. But the torque from swinging puts his baseball body at risk, so he gave it up. Instead, he fishes. His time is filled with trying to hook bass. He is not good at it. "Uh, no," Taylor said. "No. I'm a patient fisherman." During the winter, before the injuries, Taylor tried to stay away from what his role may be in 2015. His time in Triple A was so limited that there would be a chance he ends up back there. Or, he could have a bench role in the majors. He wanted to stay away from the what-ifs. "I really wasn't trying to think too much about that because you can kind of get caught up in where guys are at, who's going where," Taylor said. "I just wanted to come in in the best shape I could and as ready as possible and play the game." When with the team last season, Taylor realized he could play at the level he had watched all his life. He didn't feel pressured by the "second-deck syndrome" that Rizzo referenced. The space in center field was larger, and the ball was driven well more often, but he felt those were minor differences from the minor leagues. "Other than that, I don't think it's too different," Taylor said. He was drafted in 2009 as a shortstop out of Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale. The Nationals moved him to the outfield by 2011. He has played in center field for 416 of his 495 career games in the minor leagues. Taylor said he is more comfortable in center field than the corners. He also laughs about being a shortstop at one point. "Those days are behind me," he said. The Nationals have used Taylor as a leadoff hitter before and that was his role the past two days. Without Span, who is expected to miss Opening Day because of surgery to repair and slight tear in his abdominal wall, the Nationals are searching for a leadoff hitter and center fielder. Those may not be the same person.

Manager Matt Williams said Monday that third baseman Anthony Rendon is a consideration to hit first. He even mentioned Werth as a possibility. The trouble with those options is both are hurt. Rendon is expected to be ready for Opening Day, though he continues to sit out because of a sprained MCL in his left knee. "Anthony's a really good on-base guy," Williams said. "Good knowledge of the strike zone. Good hitter, as well. So, he's an option. Michael has been hitting leadoff a lot because we want to get him at-bats because he's going to get the majority of playing time in spring in center. He hit there a little bit last year. That being said, we want to get him accustomed to that spot in case we need to do that." Taylor has hit .294 this spring. He also has seven strikeouts in 17 at-bats. "He's a young player," Williams said. "He's also got the ability to have an at-bat like he did against [New York Mets pitcher Jacob] deGrom where he took a slider and lined it to right-center field. Those types of at-bats can happen too. [We're] making sure he gets a sense of all the frontline starts we see during spring training. A lot of them are within our division, so we want to get him multiple at-bats against those guys and make sure, if he's on our club and playing, it's nothing new for him." The Nationals are built for and hope another fall alcohol dousing arrives. Taylor has a chance to help them start in the right direction. It will at least give him a chance to put off what would likely be an unproductive fishing career.

Article #15 Strasburg: ‘I love the city of D.C.’ By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/2/15) VIERA, Fla. — San Diego is heaven. Beaches, sun, good Mexican food, beautiful golf courses. Well, if that’s your thing. And for Stephen Strasburg, it is. So when the Washington Nationals drafted him first overall in 2009 out of San Diego State, it was a “very scary idea” to move across the country as a 20-year-old, away from the comforts of his home town and family. “It was something like, ‘Wow, I’m going to another world,’ ” he said. But Strasburg has found that Washington isn’t what he first thought. As the Nationals have changed, so has he. Now 26, Strasburg is a central figure in the team’s rise, its upcoming season and its future, and he has developed deep connections with the club he considers family and the city he calls home during the season. “I’ve grown up a lot through this organization,” he said. “I love the city of D.C.” That’s not easy for Strasburg to say. Washington is so different from San Diego: weather, history, culture, sports, cityscape. “Everything is smaller and jammed together,” he said. But Strasburg has come to enjoy the changing seasons, and while he shuns attention, he loves the passion that comes with playing in a bigger market.

“The fans, East Coast sports, they’re so much more die-hard,” he said. “Kind of being there from Day 1, with this new team’s resurgence, winning games and the way the fans have really attached and made us their team. It’s just a great feeling. As a baseball fan growing up, you never really saw that in San Diego. It was kind of like, ‘What do you want to do Friday night? Saturday, during the day, you want to go to the beach? Want to go to a Padres game?’ I feel like it wasn’t the number one thing to do. But that’s kind of what Nationals games have become, especially in the summer.” Strasburg is two seasons from free agency, making this a prime time for the Nationals to field trade offers or consider an extension. His agent, Scott Boras, believes in having his clients test the market, and the Nationals have a crop of talented pitching prospects that could be pushing toward the majors by then. “The thought [of my future] has crossed my mind,” he said. “But there’s still a lot of unfinished business here. Two years is a long time. I can’t really worry about that too much. I’ve got to worry about what I can provide to this team the next day. I can’t think too much about my future. A lot of things happen. Even looking back on my first year, I was expecting to at least finish the year, but I ended up blowing out and missed a year. I learned from that experience to take it one day at a time. All that stuff will take care of itself.” Strasburg still lives in San Diego during the offseason, but in Washington, he has found comfort. He likes Nationals Park and the home clubhouse. “First class,” he said. He has developed a strong bond with the teammates he came up with, players who married and started families at similar times. Strasburg has grown close with Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann, said he has learned a lot from Jayson Werth and is grateful for Ryan Zimmerman’s kindness off the field. “He’s always made a point to include myself and my family,” Strasburg said. “He loves it [here],” Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty said. “I don’t know if he enjoys me. But he loves his teammates. To the person on the outside, he probably doesn’t seem that way. But he is that way.” Strasburg knows the current roster won’t be together forever. He said he would “absolutely” like to stay in Washington beyond 2016. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” he said, but added that the subject hasn’t been broached by either party. “From a personal standpoint, I don’t think I’m at where I want to be as a pitcher,” he said. “I feel like that’s always going to be a work in progress. I think the biggest thing is to get that validation from this organization, and that’s winning a World Series. That’s not only our goal here but every other team’s goal going into the season. That’s why you play the game. I think it’ll always be unfinished business until we get one.” Washington fits Strasburg because he loves the history, museums and monuments. “I’ve pretty much done everything,” he said. He feels a connection to the military men and women he meets who were stationed in San Diego, a city with a large Navy presence, and because family on both sides served in the Air Force. He enjoys the perks that come with being a well-known athlete in the nation’s capital. He has been on a private tour of the White House. Last season, he went to the CIA. “That was awesome,” he said. “I’m not big into the whole touristy, a bunch of people, but if anybody is willing to let me see some behind-the-scenes stuff I’m all for it.”

Strasburg lives in Virginia with his wife, Rachel, and 1-year-old daughter during the season. They have a favorite Italian restaurant in Clarendon and a sushi spot in Alexandria. His father visits, as do his wife’s parents and sisters. Strasburg has even grown to like hockey and the Capitals. “I still don’t know the rules,” he said. “But I’ve gone to a couple games and love it. Granted, I’ve been pretty spoiled because I’ve been on the glass a couple times, but I enjoy that. I just try and follow the puck.” Playing in Washington has allowed Strasburg to reconnect with family on his mother’s side from Waynesboro, Va., about two hours away. Before Strasburg was drafted, he last saw that branch of his family when he was 8 years old. Now he sees them often. “It’s nice,” he said. “It makes you feel at home. Growing up in San Diego, there’s a lot of people that aren’t from San Diego, so I grew up around that. D.C., in a sense, is a lot like that. It’s very easy to fit right in.” And every so often during the season, Strasburg is reminded of what — the best part, in his mind — he likes about the city with which he has built a relationship. “When we have a day game and the sun is kind of setting and you’re staying out near the Potomac and it’s nice and cool, you take the dog for a walk, just relax and watch the boaters go by,” he said. “There’s nothing like that. I love being near water. I think that’s always great to be near. Just the beauty of nature and, at the same time, being so close to the city.” Article #16 Clint Robinson’s strong spring could land him on Nationals roster By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/2/15) VIERA, Fla. — When spring training started, Clint Robinson was just one of the many players in camp vying for a job on the Nationals bench, here on a minor league deal with a big league camp invite. He is 30, has only 13 major league at-bats to his name, has spent more than three seasons of his career at Class AAA and possessed little positional flexibility. Nearly six weeks later, and with four days left before the season begins, Robinson is still standing. “It’s a 50-50 shot,” he said. “You either make it or you don’t. Trying not to think about it. It’s part of the game. That’s how it goes. You can’t let it get in your head because if you do you’re going to press and then you don’t play to your full potential. I’m going to go out and do what I always do and just let whatever happens happens.” Robinson, an Alabama native drafted in the 25th round in 2007 by the Royals, has been one of the surprises of camp. Spring training results are taken grain of salt until they’re not. And in Robinson’s case, his .327/.389/.592 line with eight extra-base hits isn’t a mirage. As Manager Matt Williams likes to say, Robinson has a “short, repeatable” swing that’s attractive. Robinson has a .302 career minor league average over eight seasons but has gotten few big league shots. “Some guys are late bloomers,” one team official said.

In Robinson, the Nationals may have discovered a small gem, a needed left-handed hitter, to stash on the opening day roster — or at Class AAA Syracuse for depth should anything arise. The final spot on the big league bench appears to be down to Robinson and Mike Carp. Both offer the same skill set: lefties who are primarily first basemen but can play some left field. Carp has the major league track experience but Robinson is having the better spring at the plate. “Nothing special,” Robinson said about his spring. “Just go out and see the ball and hit the ball. Just trying to slow the game down as best I can and just go with it.” Robinson has never been in this position before. This is the latest into big league camp he has been in his career. His big league experience was as a brief in-season call-up for the Royals (2012) and Dodgers (2014). He is 3 for 13 with two RBI in his limited chances in the majors. He believes he can hit off the bench if needed for the Nationals. “That’s all I’ve ever done in the big leagues,” he said. “I think I’ve got 13, 14 at-bats, and I think 10 or 11 of them are pinch hitting. I’m perfectly fine doing that.” As players around him are sent to minor league camp or cut, Robinson is still standing. He sees it but tries not to let it affect his performance. “I’ve been around it quite a bit,” he said. “It’s part of the game. You can’t try and play GM because when you do that it never goes the way you think it’s going to. The best you can do is that as long as you have a locker and a uniform is just go out and play the game. You can’t stress yourself out too much because you’re not going to get the best out of yourself if you do that.” So far this spring, Robinson has been all over the field. The Nationals have played him 11 times in right field, nine times at first and three times in left. In the minors, Robinson had played only 10 of his career 657 games in the outfield, most in left. He worked with Nationals coaches in camp at learning right field. “This if the first time I’ve played this much outfield and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit,” he said. “…I came in, learned a new position, worked hard at that. I feel pretty comfortable out there. I don’t feel like I’m a liability so much out there anymore. I’m not Denard Span or Bryce Harper or anybody. I’m going to make the routine plays. It’s a great group of guys and coaching staff. They run a really good camp. I’ve tried to approach it like every spring training: just go out and try to win a job.”

Article #17 Yunel Escobar on playing third base: ‘I’m doing this for the team’ By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/3/15) VIERA, Fla. — Imagine this situation for yourself: you’ve been a shortstop your entire life, and shortstops are proud people. Then, you land with a new team in a trade, and they ask you to play second base. You balk at first — who wants to change positions? — but oblige after a meeting with the team’s brass assuages your concerns. You work in spring training to learn the new position. But this all changes when

the team’s third baseman hurts his knee and will be out for a while, and the team asks you to change positions yet again. This has been Yunel Escobar’s spring. The Nationals will open their highly-anticipated 2015 season on Monday in Washington, and Escobar will likely be at third base. Anthony Rendon’s sprained MCL needs plenty of rest and rehab. Not long ago, the Nationals put third base novice Danny Espinosa at hot corner, thinking he could be fill in. Not that he can’t but, as Rendon’s injured knee began to appear like a longer injury, the Nationals switched plans. They told Escobar earlier this week that they needed him at third base. It wasn’t easy news to take for Escobar, who had said he made it a goal to become an all-star second baseman. Escobar, 32, has logged only 22 games at third base in his career, but that was his rookie season in 2007. He has played 963 games at shortstop since — with advanced defensive metrics noting that Escobar’s production at shortstop had declined over the past two years. “They told me from the first day I got here I was going to play second base,” Escobar said. “But with time, things got more complicated. They think I’ll make a good transition to third base because I’ll be more comfortable at third base than second base.” When Manager Matt Williams explained the move the other day, he said Escobar “came to us and said, ‘Listen, if there’s a need for me to play third, I’d be happy to do it.’ That’s great. That’s a great attitude to have.” Escobar, however, said it wasn’t his idea. He said he was told this is what was needed from him. So far, he has played two games there, logging 11 innings, assisting on two plays and turning one double play. The Nationals believe he has the hands and feet to handle the position. “Almost like a shortstop,” Escobar said. “But I need to play. You have to adapt to it. You can’t do this in a day. It’s a transition. I’m not for being moved around from here to there. In my career, I’ve been a shortstop. I didn’t play any other position. But this, I’m doing this for the team.”

Article #18 Uggla seeing offseason work pay dividends By Bill Ladson – Nationals.com (4/8/15) Entering Spring Training, second baseman Dan Uggla was a long shot to make the Nationals' Opening Day roster. Yunel Escobar was expected to be the everyday second baseman, but an injury to Anthony Rendon has Escobar playing third base. Believed to be well past his best days, Uggla went 12-for-46 (.261) with two homers and six RBIs in Grapefruit League play. It helps that he can see the ball much better after addressing his oculomotor dysfunction, an eye-tracking issue that was inhibiting his ability to focus on one object.

Today, Uggla is Washington's starting second baseman. MLB.com caught up with Uggla recently to talk about his comeback, the Nationals and the Braves. MLB.com: Entering Spring Training, you were considered a long shot to make the big league club. What did you do to prove everybody wrong? Dan Uggla: I worked hard this offseason. I had an opportunity to play a lot this spring, and I put together a decent spring. I felt like I was continuing to make improvements, getting the timing back. It's just a matter of taking advantage of an opportunity. MLB.com: When did you realize you were back to being the hitter that you were in the past? Uggla: It's still early, because there is still a lot of work to be done. We have a long season ahead of us, but as far as feeling the way I was feeling … I started hitting a few balls the other way. I hit a couple of homers. I was like, "All right, you are hitting balls solidly and spraying the ball around the field a little bit." That let me know that I was getting back to where I was. MLB.com: We all know about the vision problems you had. Did your vision this spring make you realize that you were back? Uggla: Yeah. Being able to track the ball all the way into the hitting zone has made a world of difference. I haven't been able to do that in two years. It's a good feeling. But like I said, it's still early. It's an ongoing process of doing the work, being productive and going into the right direction every day. MLB.com: How great was it to have manager Matt Williams and general manager Mike Rizzo in your corner? Uggla: It helped a lot. I heard so many great things about Matty. I knew him a little bit just by being in the Diamondbacks organization. I've known Mike Rizzo a little better. Those guys made it real easy on me to come in and just worry about playing, worrying about getting my work in. There wasn't any pressure. It was a nothing-to-lose-type thing. There was a small crease to be on this team. I found it, and those guys were a huge help. MLB.com: Talk about your teammates. How much did they help you out? Uggla: They are awesome, man. I got to meet a lot of new people. I've been playing against [Jayson] Werth, [Ryan Zimmerman], [Ian Desmond] and all these guys for a long time. To hear their excitement when I signed over here just as a Minor League invite, that was cool. MLB.com: How shocking was it to see the Braves make so many moves before the start of the season? Uggla: They obviously have a plan over there. … I'm happy to see them go in the right direction. They have good people there now. I'm excited for them. I'm happy to see Freddie [Freeman] has a big power guy [in Nick Markakis] to hit behind him. I know [Freeman] lost a lot of friends to trades this offseason. He'll be fine. I grew up a Braves fan. I hope nothing but the best for them, except when they play us, of course. I met a lot of great people in that organization. I'm happy to see they are getting back on track. MLB.com: What is the goal for Dan Uggla for this season?

Uggla: Get better every day and do something every day to help this ballclub win. That's the goal for me. I want to keep these guys happy. I'm going to be the same guy every day in here. I'm going to play my butt off out there and do something every day to help this team win. Article #19 How the Nationals found Clint Robinson By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/8/15) Before he became the feel-good story of the spring, a darkhorse candidate that was the last man standing, Clint Robinson was a minor league free agent. The 30-year-old spent the previous season with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Class AAA team in Albuquerque. In 119 games, he hit .312, par for the course of his career. In 921 career minor league games, Robinson is a .302 hitter with 141 home runs. He once won a triple crown At Class AA Northwest Arkansas in 2010. As far as minor league hitters go, Robinson was among the most accomplished available. Robinson, with only 13 major league at-bats to his name, just needed an another opportunity. So one December day, he opened his inbox and found an e-mail out of the blue from Nationals director of player development Mark Scialabba. The Nationals, in search of left-handed hitters, told Robinson they thought he could be a fit and wanted to talk to his agent. After a chat with the Nationals, Robinson’s agent called to tell him to call Doug Harris, the Nationals’ farm director. The two talked — “a good conversation,” Robinson said — and, soon after, Harris finalized Robinson’s minor league deal with his agent. Teams sign many minor league free agents every winter and few make the big league team. After the 2014 season ended, Harris, Scialabba and Nationals officials put together a list of minor league free agents to target based on scouting and advanced statistics reports. They wanted a left-handed bat to complement as the Nationals’ major league team is heavy on right-handers. “His track record stood out against the rest,” Harris said. “He was very highly-ranked on our list.” Harris had seen Robinson play before but in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Other Nationals minor league coaches knew a lot about Robinson, who was a 25th round pick out of Troy University by the Royals in 2007 and spent six years in that system. The Royals scouting director who drafted Robinson? Former Nationals’ special assistant Deric Ladnier, who was hired by the Diamondbacks this winter after Robinson signed with Washington. Minor league coaches Mark Harris, Jeff Garber and Patrick Anderson had coached in the Royals’ system and spoke highly of Robinson’s left-handed swing and character. Doug Harris, too, was a former Royals farmhand in the 1990s. Robinson said he received mild interest from the Dodgers after the season ended but their front office changed this winter. The Twins, White Sox and Reds called, too, but the Nationals showed the strong interest and first, too. A former Albuquerque teammate, Brock Peterson, a former Washington farmhand,

spoke highly of the Nationals. Robinson thought he had a good chance of making the Nationals because of the departure of left-handed first baseman Adam LaRoche. “And then all the other moves happened and I was like, ‘Oh well,'” he said. Robinson wasn’t disheartened. After all, he hit .333/.404/.608 with nine extra-base hits in 51 spring at-bats. Primarily a first baseman, he worked diligently in the outfield as the Nationals asked. And after Saturday’s exhibition game, Manager Matt Williams called Robinson into his office to tell him had made the team. Before Monday’s season opener, Robinson was beaming as he walked through the clubhouse and chatted. “The simplicity in his approach allows him to hit each and every pitch,” Harris said. “He’s always hit but now he’s so simple, and that helps put him in a position to hit a lot off different types of pitches. It’s gratifying to see him make the most of his opportunity.” An opportunity that started with an email. Article #20 In high-leverage situation, Blake Treinen continues to impress By Tom Schad – Washington Times (4/8/15) In the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday night, left-hander Xavier Cedeno started warming up in the Washington Nationals bullpen. Right-hander Blake Treinen began throwing on the adjacent mound. Then Cedeno sat down. Treinen kept throwing. The eighth inning would be his. Manager Matt Williams had planned to use Treinen in this situation before the game. And even though the New York Mets were due to bring their two best left-handed hitters to the plate, he stuck to it. Treinen gave up a one-out single to David Wright but snagged a comebacker from Lucas Duda in the next at-bat, rifling the ball to first to end the inning. Drew Storen picked up his first save of the season with a clean ninth, and the Nationals won, 2-1. Though Ryan Zimmerman's two-run home run and Jordan Zimmermann's six strong innings were the game's major storylines, Treinen's appearance was noteworthy. The 26-year-old had never faced a situation in the majors like the one he encountered Wednesday when he entered a one-run game in the eighth inning. And with Casey Janssen recovering from rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder, Treinen could see plenty of those situations in the near future. "The situation is what it is," Treinen said after the game. "It's something new for me. I haven't really had too many opportunities to pitch out of the 'pen in a close game. I loved it. It was a blast. I was glad I was able to do my job to get to the ninth for Drew." When Tyler Clippard was traded to the Oakland Athletics this winter, he left a significant void in the Nationals' bullpen. In the eighth inning of a tight game, Williams can no longer hand the ball to an unshakeable right-hander who is just as effective against lefties.

In spring training, he floated the possibility of letting matchups dictate whether Janssen, left-hander Matt Thornton or another reliever precedes Storen. Playing that matchup game will only work for so long, however. Finding a suitable fill-in while Janssen recovers would be preferable, and Treinen might be the best option to step into that role. "He's running the ball in there at 98 miles an hour with some good sink," Williams said. "I'm happy with the way he went about it tonight. [There will] certainly be more opportunities for him." Treinen continues to leave positive impressions on his teammates as well. Storen described the 26-year-old's repertoire as "big-time stuff." Zimmerman said he has "all the talent in the world." "He's throwing 98-mph bowling balls up there," Zimmerman said. "Unfortunately, we've got a couple guys injured that have pitched back there, but those guys obviously have the talent and the experience to do it and I think we'll be just fine." Treinen made 15 big-league appearances last season, including seven starts, and posted a 2.49 ERA. Though he was primarily a starting pitcher in Washington's minor-league system, he has the combination of velocity and sinking movement that befits a late-inning reliever. He is highly-regarded within the organization and could become a long-term staple in the bullpen. Whether that proves to be the case, or whether Treinen continues to work the eighth inning specifically, won't alter his approach. "I'm not going to speculate on whose roles are what," Treinen said. "Everybody in the 'pen down there can be an eighth-inning guy, seventh, eighth inning guy to get to Drew. There are so many talented pitchers on this staff. I'm just going to pitch whenever they call my name and tell me to go in. If this is what it is, I'll be more than happy. If it's not, then whenever my opportunity is called out there I'll give it my best, just like anybody else on this staff." Article #21 Dan Uggla, career starter, adjusting to not starting By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (4/17/15) Second baseman Dan Uggla has played 1,285 major league games, entering Friday. He has started 1,249 of them. From 2006 to 2013, he played in nearly every game his team did, sitting out 10 games or more only twice. Uggla has been a starter his whole career, so his uncertain role with the Nationals so far this season requires an adjustment. I don’t have that long leash that I used to have,” Uggla said. “[In past years] it didn’t matter what I did in April. Eventually, the numbers were gonna be there. But after the last couple years I’ve had, that’s not the case. When I get a chance, I need to get hits and produce and that sort of thing.”

Uggla started the first four games of the season at second base, then gave way to Danny Espinosa after getting two hits in his first 14 at-bats. He started two of the past five games, and is not in the starting lineup Friday. Despite the spotty playing time, Uggla’s best offensive showing came Wednesday in Boston, when he contributed a double and a few hard outs in the Nationals 10-run outburst. “I feel good. I feel really good. It’s just been, through spring training to the season, I’ve always started off slow for whatever reason,” Uggla said. “It sucks. I wish I was one of those hot starters. But it’s gradually gotten a lot better from the first game to now. Like [Wednesday], that’s probably the best I’ve felt, driving the ball to right field, right center, it felt good. That was a good sign for me, to hit a few balls hard, fight off a few tough pitches, build off of that.” But now Uggla has to wait again. Nationals Manager Matt Williams said he does not see Uggla and Espinosa as a platoon situation, but rather a matchup-based one. When Uggla has better numbers against a given starter — as he did against Wade Miley on Wednesday — he will play. When Espinosa provides the best matchup, he will start. When spring training started, both Nationals second basemen were right-handed hitters. Espinosa was supposed to give up switch hitting, focus entirely on hitting right-handed. In his first at bat of the season, he hit from the left side. In seven left-handed at bats this season, Espinosa has three hits, including a double and a home run. If Espinosa is hitting from the left side, he provides the best match for most right-handed starters, particularly given the fact that he is one of the team’s best infield defenders. Unless he has prolific numbers against a given starter, Uggla may find himself facing only lefties — but maybe not all of them. “When you get off to a slow start as a team, you need to try to get a spark somewhere. I was extremely happy to see some of the guys like Danny [Espinosa] getting a double and a homer, swinging left-handed when he didn’t hit left-handed all spring,” Uggla said. “… That’s been awesome to see, so I think the situation is gonna play itself out, and you just have to roll with it until that happens.” Uggla said he’s just “rolling with it,” and that he hasn’t changed his preparation significantly. He said he was feeling more comfortable Wednesday — more at-bats lead to more comfort in the box. But Ugga has not hit since. Maintaining that comfort without daily at-bats will be a challenge, and one he has not faced before.

Article #22 Yunel Escobar adjusting, contributing to the Nationals By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/17/15) Yunel Escobar noticed something Thursday night. The Nationals took a 1-0 lead, then it slipped away. They fell behind 2-1 but later tied the game, and then charged ahead. In that, Escobar saw what he had been waiting to see in the first week and a half of the season, the team he had watched from afar morph from a cellar dweller to a talented division champion and title contender.

“[Thursday], I felt like I played with the Nationals that I thought all along I’d play with,” he said in Spanish after the game. “I felt good. I was happy with the team. We were ahead, they tied the game and we didn’t lower our heads and kept going. That was essential. That showed that we keep fighting and we’ve still got confidence, especially against a pitcher like Cole Hamels.” And in the 5-2 victory over the Phillies, Escobar again played a key part. The 32-year-old, acquired in an offseason trade, went 1 for 4 with a solo home run, and made all the plays at third base. He is tied for the team-lead in hits (11), average (.282) and leads the regulars in on-base percentage (.364). He moved from second base to third when needed. He is hitting leadoff because the team needs it now. He plays with flair, signals balls and strikes with his hands mid-at-bat and flips the ball behind his back after a catch in foul territory. Of all that has happened to the Nationals over the first 10 games of the season, Escobar has been the most consistent force. “Stability, right?” Manager Matt Williams said. “Stable. Puts the ball in play. He’s hitting one or two for us and taking a little bit off of [Michael A. Taylor] in the leadoff role. He’s stepped in there and done great. Just knows how to play the game.” From the first pitch of the game, Escobar made an instant splash. He has hit second the most in his career, followed closely by leadoff. But he hasn’t hit leadoff regularly since 2012. Against Hamels on Thursday, he had an idea of what he wanted to before he even stepped to the plate — and it worked. It produced his fifth career leadoff homer and, according to Elias Sports, the first-ever off Hamels’ first pitch of the game. “That guy is really tough,” he said. “My plan was that if he threw me a first pitch [and it] was a strike, I was looking for it. He did it. I didn’t realize the ball got out. I thought I’d made good contact but didn’t realize it had left the park. It surprised me that it left the park. When I hit it, I lowered my head and ran.” Little by little, Escobar is adjusting to his new surroundings. The eight-year veteran is new to the Nationals, the city and hasn’t played in the National League since 2010. He has drawn five walks and struck out only once in 39 at-bats so far, most against pitchers he hasn’t faced. “I’m still a little confused,” he said of his hitting. “I’m not quite where I want to be. I feel like I’ve got more to go. Right now, I’m losing my timing a little bit. I’m a little ahead or late. That takes time. Normally, I’ve felt better by 150, 200 at-bats.” Escobar is also slowly opening up to his teammates. He loves being goofy and happy, but admitted he doesn’t “feel loose yet.” He’s getting more comfortable around his new teammates with each passing day. He speaks enough English to say certain things but not well. If he can’t say something, he uses hand gestures. “I think there’s more Escobar to come,” he said. “A little more of me every day and try to help the teammates. Sometimes they’re down. I like to play happy. Experience has taught me that even when you strike out three times, the talent will eventually show. I’ve had tough moments in my career, too. I’m here to help in the clubhouse where some players maybe don’t have that experience and maybe they’re in a slump or we’re losing. They’ll always have my support. I’ll tell them, ‘Come on,’ and ‘Hey, tomorrow is another day.’ We’ve got veterans like [Jayson] Werth and [Ryan] Zimmerman, players that we can form a good group with and qualify for the playoffs as quickly as we can.”

Article #23 Denard Span’s return is a step toward normalcy for the Nationals By Tom Schad – Washington Times (4/19/15) A familiar face walked into the Washington Nationals' clubhouse Saturday morning, smiling as he strolled toward the far end of the room. "Well, look who it is," Jayson Werth said, a smile emerging from his beard. Denard Span set his backpack at his locker before Werth wrapped him in a bearhug. The 31-year-old center fielder was back at Nationals Park after a brief minor-league rehabilitation assignment and expected to be in the lineup on Sunday. When he rejoined the Nationals for their series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, their everyday lineup was nearly intact, and a sense of regularity was beginning to return. "It felt like it was like old times," Span said. Nearly six weeks to the day after undergoing abdominal surgery, Span went 1-for-5 at the plate in Washington's 4-1 win over Philadelphia. He looped a single to right field in the fifth inning and scored from first on a double by Ian Desmond, accelerating around third base and feeling out of breath by the time he touched the plate. "It felt good to get on my horses like that," he said with a smile. "It's been awhile since I've been able to do that." On a blustery Sunday afternoon, Span gave the Nationals a steady presence at the top of their lineup and a sure-handed defender in center field. The ripples of his return, however, went well beyond the game itself. There was genuine happiness that followed Span into the clubhouse, a sense of both excitement and calm that comes with a once-broken lineup nearly whole again. "It was normal. More normal today," manager Matt Williams said. "With Denard at the top of it in center field, it feels like normalcy, so it's a good feeling. Michael [Taylor] played really well when he was here, but today was a step back to where we had planned it all along." As Span prepared to make his first start of the season, Taylor packed a gray backpack and walked to the home dugout, where he shared a conversation with third base coach Bobby Henley. The 24-year-old hit .271 through the first 12 games of the season and ranked second on the team with 13 hits, 24 total bases, two home runs and eight RBI. He proved himself worthy of a roster spot, but the team felt it was best for him to return to Triple-A Syracuse, where he can start every day and receive regular at-bats. "Any time you can get to the level you want to play at and see some pitching, get some at-bats, I think that definitely helps," Taylor said of his performance with the Nationals. "There were some days when it kind of got away from me, but I think that's normal. Something I'll continue to work on, being more consistent barrelling up balls and things like that."

Taylor was unanimously praised by his teammates, with Span going so far as to say, "I think he's going to be an all-star. Point blank. Period." General manager Mike Rizzo said he "handled himself brilliantly" in his second trip to the major leagues. All parties were excited for Span's return, however. There was a roar from the crowd when he was introduced at the beginning of the game, and an even louder ovation when he stepped to the plate for the first time. After a lengthy rehabilitation process that featured two surgeries over four month, a process that Span said "was trying on my faith," he cherished those cheers. "Just priceless, man," he said. "These fans have treated me so gracious through the ups [and] downs since I've been here for the last three years. Just a warm feeling. When I came out and hearing the fans' excitement and even my teammates' — you could just tell the glow in their face, and it was genuine, and happy to see me back. It just means a lot." Span and Werth each began the season on the 15-day disabled list, and each returned to the lineup this week. Werth met the team in Philadelphia last Sunday and started in Boston the following day. Span's return gave the Nationals their full complement of outfielders for the first time this season. "The guys that were here to fill in, they did a great job. They left it all out there on the field, so you can't ask for more," right-hander Stephen Strasburg said. "But in the same sense, when you see the same guys around you and you get that familiarity, guys don't feel like they have to press as much." The Nationals have a day off on Monday and will be back at Nationals Park on Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. When they return, Span will be there, penciled in at the top of the lineup and patrolling center field, with everything seemingly back to normal.

Article #24 Bryce Harper is drawing walks and getting intentionally walked — a lot By James Wagner – Washington Post (4/20/15) By now, you’ve heard Bryce Harper explain how he wants to be calmer at the plate, under the advice of Manager Matt Williams. “I’m trying to be quick, not as strong,” Harper aptly put it on Friday, after he smashed another home run. He doesn’t need to muscle up and “hit a ball 900 feet,” but he still hit one half that distance on Saturday. He knows he only needs to be on time and swing the bat quickly; the pitcher will supply the power. Part of the calmer Harper also includes plate discipline. Harper has always displayed an older-than-his-years knowledge of the strike zone and reached base at a good clip. But by better controlling the lower half of his body, and avoiding movements that are too violent, Harper allows his head to remain steadier and recognize pitches better, and put his body in a better position to react to pitches. So far this season, Harper has shown an even stronger ability to hold off on tough pitches and draw walks. His 11 walks are most on the Nationals and tied with Toronto’s Jose Bautista for second most in the

majors. Harper has still struck out 18 times, fourth most in the majors, but he has managed a solid .966 OPS thanks to his walks and four home runs. “We talk a lot about driving runs in and things like that, and that’s kind of the hardest thing to learn in the big leagues is when they’re going to pitch to you, when they’re not,” Ryan Zimmerman said of Harper. “So far this year, he’s done an unbelievable job of that, and I think that’s kind of the next step as a hitter of maturing and learning what they’re going to do to you. So it’s good to see him do that.” As a result of Harper’s dangerous power, opposing teams have also elected not to face him. Harper has hit mostly third, sometimes cleanup, in the Nationals lineups this season, a perfect spot for his left-handed bat to be surrounded by the right-handed bats of Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman. In the fifth inning of Sunday’s win over the Phillies, Manager Ryne Sandberg elected to have right-handed starter David Buchanan put Harper on first base with an intentional walk and take his chances against Zimmerman, a logical choice when in a bind against the heart of the Nationals lineup. The Phillies lost that battle: Zimmerman doubled on a soft flyball to right field to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead. “It’s smarter to pitch to me than it is to him,” Zimmerman said. “He’s been swinging better as of right now, and he’s done a great job of taking his walks so far this year.” Harper has been intentionally walked a career-high five times already this season, most in baseball by two walks, in 13 games. Each of the past two seasons, Harper has been intentionally walked four times. The Phillies have accounted for that number with Harper already this season, including three intentional walks during the recent four-game series. Sunday was the first time Zimmerman delivered right after an intentional walk of Harper just ahead of him. “It’s a product of where we’re at in the game, that particular game,” Williams said of Harper’s intentional walks. “I think it goes from game to game. [Sunday], they’ve got a decision to make with Harp and a man on second base. They chose to pitch to Zim. I don’t know anybody in their right mind who wouldn’t, the way he’s swinging and the way Harp’s swinging, they’re not gonna let that guy beat ya. But beyond that, Zim’s got the ability to drive runs in, too. That’s why he hits in the middle of our lineup, and that’s why he’s been so good.” If Harper remains as powerful, patient and selective as he has appeared much of the season so far, he may be getting more free passes to first base and Zimmerman may play an even bigger tole in driving in runs.

Article #25 After a winding path of injuries, Sammy Solis makes big-league debut By James Wagner – Washington Post (5/1/15) NEW YORK — With a three-run lead heading into the seventh inning of Thursday’s game between the Nationals and Mets, the visitor’s bullpen phone rang and Sammy Solis was told to get up and start getting ready. Solis was not anticipating the order, as it was a big spot in a still-close game and Matt Grace was already loosening in the bullpen. “I was sitting there just biding my time,” Solis said. So he tossed some warmup pitches and, when the bottom of the seventh came around, he was sent into the game to make his major league debut. It has been a long road to this point for the big 26-year-old left-hander, whose development has been stunted several times by injuries and was called up to the majors a day before directly from Class AA Harrisburg. But as he ran toward the mound, Solis’s mind was elsewhere, the emotion overtaking him. “I think I blacked out,” he said. “It was exciting running out there. I don’t remember much until the first pitch.” Solis’ first pitch was a 93-mph sinking fastball outside the strike zone for a ball against Kevin Plawecki. But two pitches later he notched his first out, a groundout to shortstop Ian Desmond. He ended the seventh inning with a strikeout of Curtis Granderson, getting a called third strike on a 96-mph fastball just outside the strike zone. “After the first pitch, you get the jitters out,” Solis said. “You dream of that moment your whole life. Once that’s done, it’s just baseball and pitching. I know how to do that.” The taxed Nationals bullpen needed help and Solis’s quick seventh inning on 10 pitches meant he could provide another crucial inning. The former starter got three more outs in the eighth inning, getting the Mets to hit the ball in the air and pitching around a single to Lucas Duda. For his first time, Solis did a good job locating all of his pitches — sinker, curveball and change-up. “I haven’t seen him throw in a long time; probably last time I saw him real consistently was in college,” said Stephen Strasburg, who played baseball at San Diego State University while Solis went to the University of San Diego around the same time. “His stuff looked good. Electric. An easy mid-90s fastball and a good offspeed pitch.” “He threw strikes from the first pitch,” Manager Matt Williams added. “Made them put the ball in play. A really nice debut for him. He was all smiles. He really enjoyed it.” With Solis’s first outing, the Nationals finished April with five rookies making their debuts, the most ever in team history in a non-September month. (In September 2011, Tommy Milone, Corey Brown, Brad Peacock, Steve Lombardozzi and Atahualpa Severino made their debuts.) The Nationals, mostly the bullpen, have been forced to pull from the minors to fill injuries and overcome inconsistency. Solis, with only three games

at Harrisburg this season and without spending a day at Class AAA Syracuse, came up this week because the Nationals needed a fresh arm. Since he was drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft, Solis was pegged as a fast riser through the minors. The Nationals paid him a $1 million signing bonus, above the recommended slot value. But as Solis advanced through the minors, his body failed him. He underwent elbow ligament-replacement surgery in early 2012. He didn’t return until 2013 and then had to deal with shoulder fatigue. Then he battled back issues and an elbow discomfort that shut him down for an extended period last season. He finished the 2014 season with the team’s Gulf Coast League affiliate. He tossed only 18 innings across four minor league teams last season. “There are always doubts [of reaching the majors], especially with me,” Solis said. “It’s been five years of ups and downs. But I’ve stayed on top of it and, with the help of out training staff, they’ve been phenomenal. They’ve stuck behind me the whole way.” “We knew if he just stayed healthy he’d be a dominant guy in the big leagues,” added right fielder Bryce Harper, who was also part of the Nationals’ 2010 draft class, knew of Solis growing up and was on the same Arizona Fall League team in 2011. “He’s got the stuff. He’s very electric up there. I’m glad he’s on my team because when I faced him in the minor leagues on the other side [during practice] it’s not fun.” Relieving may help Solis stay on the field — at least the Nationals hope. Solis is new to this role but the Nationals felt that perhaps pitching more regularly in shorter stints, as opposed to long, tiring outings every five days, could help the left-hander. There’s no guarantee this will indeed be better for Solis but the Nationals are willing to try and see how he adapts to the new role. The door isn’t closed on starting because the Nationals have long loved Solis’s stuff, but his best chance to help the major league team this year was as a reliever. “It’s a different mind-set,” Solis said. “Instead of worrying about six, seven innings, you’re worrying about one or two. So making that adjustment has been different. I wouldn’t say it’s been hard. It’s just been different. I’m asking questions all the time. I’m trying to learn as much as I can. I’m getting the hang of it. It’s going to progress, I think, but for now I think it’s going well.” Solis said he doesn’t miss starting because all that matters to him is pitching — in any form. “That’s all I care about, especially with the career I’ve had so far,” he said. “As long as I’m on the mound, it doesn’t matter. I feel like I’m in the right place now and I feel good thankfully. Hopefully I can just move forward.”

Article #26 Even before three home run day, Bryce Harper was a better hitter By Barry Svrluga – Washington Post (5/7/15) When the day ends and there are 1,276 feet worth of home runs as evidence, the development of a hitter can seem pretty obvious. That was Bryce Harper Wednesday afternoon, when the equation distilled to this: Had the Washington Nationals not had Harper in their lineup, they would have lost. Because they did, they won. But even before that three-home run, five-RBI performance in the Nationals’ 7-5 victory over the Miami Marlins, there was mounting evidence that Harper’s impending stardom already had its foundation, home runs or not. When Harper woke up Wednesday morning, he led the majors in both walks and walk rate – the percentage of his plate appearances in which he drew a base on balls. He was so aware of these facts that, in a joking exchange Tuesday afternoon, he yelled after lefty Gio Gonzalez, “I’m not your man if you need a knock, but I can get you a walk.” Now, three monstrous knocks later, both are true. What we’re seeing in Harper is a remarkable maturation at a time when he’s still just 22, still never to face a pitcher younger than him. In his first 29 games this year, Harper has 26 walks. Cast that against the 38 he had in 100 games a year ago – and against the rest of his career. He is a different (read: better) hitter. “Going out there and just trying to have good ABs and not chase pitches,” Harper said Wednesday, “that’s tough.” Except it’s getting easier. Harper’s walk rate, coming into this season, was 10.4 percent – above the league average, but still pedestrian for an elite hitter. Even after failing to draw a walk against the Marlins Tuesday or Wednesday, his percentage this year is precisely double – 20.8, trailing only Cleveland’s Carlos Santana in that category as of Thursday morning. In a 19-game stretch that ended Monday, Harper walked 23 times. “I’d love to lead the league in walks,” Harper said, and after you just hit three bombs, such words are easier to utter. But there’s a dichotomy there, too. Harper didn’t grow up dreaming of having a .416 on-base percentage, his number now. Where’s the glory in that? So there is constant communication with him. Stay calm. Get your pitch. If it’s not there, stroll 90 feet to first. Deep breaths. “He wants to hit the ball in the seats,” hitting coach Rick Schu said Wednesday, before the pyrotechnics. “He wants to drive in runs. Especially with the team struggling a little bit [offensively], he wants to be the guy to knock in that run. Sometimes he’ll over-swing at times at some fastballs that he can usually hit if he’s staying calm.” But largely, Harper has been staying calm. Headed into this season, he had swung at roughly half the pitches he had seen – 50.2 percent as a rookie in 2012, 49.3 percent in 2013, 51.2 percent during an injury-plagued 2014, all above the league averages according to data provided by FanGraphs. So far this year: 43.9 percent, which is below the major league average, a subtle yet significant drop-off.

And his discipline is better on balls out of the strike zone – essentially pitcher’s pitches, the offerings at which elite hitters spit. Harper used to swing at roughly a third of those, including a career high 35.7 percent last year. Thus far this year, he’s down to swinging at 28.8 percent of pitches out of the zone, below the league average. “You also want to swing at a good pitch,” Manager Matt Williams said. “You also want to swing at your pitch. To be patient enough to do that is important. It’s really important. So if they’re not going to going to throw you a pitch to hit, the nature of the game is to take your walk.” But it doesn’t mean it’s the nature of the person. Harper’s hair is simultaneously carefully coiffed and on fire. Every pitch he sees could be an opportunity for something spectacular, and he knows it. So laying off a pitch – any pitch – is a major step forward. “We always say, ‘Don’t rage out there,’” Schu said. “He just gets to trying so hard. Hitting is aggressive, but it’s got to be that controlled aggressiveness. He’s really starting to get that downshift.” Thus, the numbers match what we’re seeing with our eyes. And Harper’s doing it at a time when Jayson Werth is still recovering from shoulder surgery, when Ryan Zimmerman is hitting .212 with just two homers, when Anthony Rendon has yet to play a game. He’s doing it when he’s had to, when he is far and away the most dangerous element in the Nationals’ lineup. “He’s that guy in the lineup that gets pitched so tough. ‘Don’t let this guy beat you,’” Schu said. “So in fastball counts, he’s getting off-speed. In 3-0 counts, he’s getting off-speed, 3-2 counts he’s getting off-speed. And he’s just being a lot more selective. I think that comes with maturity.” The “maturity” part of that assessment comes when Harper is 22 years, 203 days old. Cubs uber-prospect Kris Bryant, still in his first month in the majors, is 23. Mike Trout, the standard by which Harper will be measured, is 14 months older. “But it’s maturity in the big leagues,” Schu said. “He has that.” Which is, in a word, scary. We don’t yet know what the rest of his season – or his career, for that matter – will bring. But what we’re seeing now, in word and deed, is preternatural development – whether he hits three home runs in a game or not. “I think when you’re walking,” Harper said, “you’re a better hitter.”

Article #27 Tanner Roark, set-up man? By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (5/7/15) There is an ever-growing list of sentences one could write about this Nationals season that no one could have reasonably foreseen. They include such run-ons as “Dan Uggla hit a walkoff home run after an eight-run comeback in A.J. Cole’s major league debut to lift the Nationals over the Braves in Atlanta and bring the Nationals to within fives games of .500,” and “Doug Fister is tied for third on the team in pinch hits,” among others. In the context of that list, the sentence “Tanner Roark is the Nationals’ eighth-inning guy,” does not rank among the most absurd — though it certainly qualifies as unexpected. A few months ago, he was a 15-game winner, one of the best fifth starters in baseball. By February, he was a long reliever. By mid-April, he was pitching in one-inning situations, and fared so well that he quickly became a reliable and relied upon late-inning option. His last three outings — Sunday against the Mets, Monday and Wednesday against the Marlins — have been in crucial late-inning situations. Monday, he filled in for Drew Storen as closer for a day. In Wednesday’s 7-5 win against the Marlins, Roark came in after Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run home run in the eighth. He got one out, then two men reached. Then he struck out one of the era’s toughest strikeouts, Ichiro. Adeiny Hechavarria hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Storen got the save in the ninth. Asked after the game if he liked those high-pressure situations, Roark smiled. “I don’t mind it,” he said. “I can do, there’s no set roles still, but I feel comfortable in long relief if I need to, two-thirds of an inning, you know, a save. Whatever, I feel comfortable.” In late inning situations, Roark displays powerful intensity. His fastball, which normally sits around 92 miles per hour, tears homeward at 95. He seems to harness some retractable hostility, which replaces his usual jolly malleability for an inning or so, then slips out of sight until the next time. Along with Aaron Barrett, who has allowed two earned runs in 15 late-inning appearances, Roark could be solidifying himself in a set-up role. That role was supposed to be Casey Janssen’s, but he is not yet back from rotator cuff tendinitis. When he does return, Nationals Manager Matt Williams will have found late inning options he might not have with a healthy bullpen. Roark is one of them. “We’ve gotten Tanner in some different spots where he can work, those leverage — eighth, seventh, tough seventh and eighth innings, he can pitch,” Williams said. “That helps, because you don’t have to go to the same guys every day, depending on how much they have been used.” Roark said his arm feels good, and that he is not struggling to adjust to the every day — not every fifth day — workload. “I think it’s a lot easier on my arm because I’ve started, and even in spring training, I was stretched out pretty far,” Roark said. “… It’s easier to bounce back, but you still gotta get your work in and get your

workouts in and still do all your arm care, no matter how many pitches you throw or how many innings you go.” For now, Roark seems likely to continue going one inning at a time. He throws strikes and works decisively, calming influences in late-game situations where walks and deliberation can often heighten tension. “It’s amplified, there’s a lot more adrenaline going through, you know? Especially in crucial parts of the game and if it’s a close game,” Roark said. “The biggest thing, I think that’s helped me out a lot, making sure I’m not just throwing pitches up there, but executing them.” His last three outings came in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, all in pivotal situations. He did not allow a run in any of them. Article #28 Yunel Escobar’s long and winding road to the big leagues By James Wagner – Washington Post (5/7/15) Yunel Escobar has told his story before, about how at age 21 he left his family in his native Cuba without warning, gathered a group of close friends and escaped to the United States by boat to follow his dream of playing major league baseball. But Escobar has never talked about the American girl who helped put him in touch with the smugglers. He has never talked about his eight months living and training with the smugglers in Miami until he could pay for his escape. He has never talked, in this much detail, about the dangerous, winding path he took from Havana to Miami to the majors. Long before Cuban players became the hottest commodity in baseball and Escobar became a steady and much-needed presence with the Washington Nationals, he was just a young baseball player dreaming of a big league future and willing to risk everything to get it. “I got to the U.S. and went to work so that I could help my family,” Escobar said in a lengthy interview in Spanish. “My mind was focused on helping my family. Becoming a baseball player in this country was big for me. Not everyone makes it.” Longing for the big leagues Baseball is in the blood of all Cubans. Escobar’s grandfather signed him up to start playing at 8. By his teenage years, he was good enough to travel with the junior national team. Escobar’s love of baseball was fueled by television broadcasts and video games, both forbidden in Cuba. He paid to watch MLB games and favorite players such as Alex Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar, Omar Vizquel and fellow Cuban Livan Hernandez on a TV with a hush-hush antenna at a friend’s house. He also grew to love Ken Griffey Jr. because of a video game he played often in secret. A friend had smuggled in a console and charged the equivalent of 50 cents per hour to play.

“Even if the game was in the fourth inning and your hour was up, you were off,” he said. Escobar longed to be like those MLB players. One day, he decided to look like them. In 2004, Escobar, then 21, was playing for the Industriales, a professional team in Havana. The standard uniform included old-style pants with a stripe down the side and high socks, but Escobar decided to wear long pants down to his cleats. Escobar was benched in the fourth inning. His manager scolded him, and Escobar pushed back. He said officials from the baseball commission accused him of subversion and suspended him 21 games. Officials told him he would be sent to a lower-level team and even mentioned early retirement. He also wanted to play shortstop every day but was blocked by veterans. And life was hard already — he was making the equivalent of 10 dollars a month and living with his parents in Marianao, a poor neighborhood in Havana. “I need to get out of here,” he said. “I can’t be in Cuba any longer. I don’t know anything but playing baseball.” But how? Escobar got to know a woman, five years older than him, who was friends with his neighbors. An American of Peruvian descent, she was visiting Havana from Miami, according to Escobar, as part of a church trip. The two started dating. She told him she could him get out of Cuba, and he trusted her. When she returned to the United States, she contacted smugglers and agents, including Joe Kehoskie, then an agent who represented several Cuban players, and introduced herself as Escobar’s girlfriend. “I was trying to make some plans to make that happen without committing federal felonies in the process,” Kehoskie said. “But those guys got impatient and ended up with a couple of smugglers and were brought directly to the U.S.” Escobar said his American friend called one day and put him on the phone with the smugglers. They wanted to get into the growing Cuban baseball player smuggling business and told Escobar to gather a group of five. Escobar told only his non-baseball-playing cousin, Jan Carlos Escobar, and his closest baseball player friends, all similar ages, including his half-brother Yamel Guevara, a good pitching prospect. He didn’t tell his parents. Sharks and smugglers The smugglers told Escobar to be ready to be picked up on his street corner at 4 p.m. on Sept. 24. They hired a truck to pick up Escobar and friends, who had all faked injuries to miss practice that day. The fee was $10,000 per player. “We didn’t bring anything,” Escobar said. “In our minds, we were going straight to the ocean and leaving the country. We thought we were headed straight there.” Instead, Escobar said, they met up with the rest of the group, 36 in all. They tried to leave the country Sept. 27, but the weather was bad. The guides took the group to a different part of Cuba. According to Escobar,

they hiked through a jungle and crossed a 400-foot-wide river and slept that night in the trees, where mosquitoes attacked every inch of flesh. “Never again,” said Escobar’s cousin, Jan. Added Escobar: “If we had known what it would be like, I would have stayed in Cuba.” The next morning, they reached a beach. The guide signaled their 32-foot boat with a lantern. The rough passage to Florida took three days. According to Escobar and his cousin, everyone slept on the deck and got sunburned. They ate crackers and drank water. When they ran out of gas, the motor fumes made everyone vomit. Sharks circled the boat. “We were scared,” Escobar’s cousin said. “You don’t mess with the ocean.” Escobar said the boat dropped everyone off at a remote island near Key West on Oct. 4. The Coast Guard picked them up. Escobar said he spent two days at Krome, an immigration detention center in Miami, and kissed the ground when he was released. He called his mother, who feared he was dead. The smugglers picked up the players and took them to their Miami home. For eight months, Escobar and company lived with the smugglers. The original plan was to take the players to another country, such as the Dominican Republic, with fake passports where they could train, establish residency and perhaps command higher signing bonuses by escaping the June 2005 amateur draft. The smugglers wanted to tap into the market that had seen defectors such as Jose Contreras, Kendrys Morales and Danys Baez command multimillion-dollar deals. But Escobar said the smugglers didn’t know what they were doing. He refused to leave the United States because he was scared of getting caught and being sent back to Cuba. And his baseball friends, save for he and Guevara, weren’t prospects. The smugglers — now in prison for other crimes, according to Escobar and Kehoskie — gave the players food, clothes and baseball equipment and treated them well. They took them to daily workouts and tryouts with scouts. Escobar’s girlfriend wanted him to live with her, but he couldn’t leave the house until the smugglers were paid. That meant Escobar needed to enter the 2005 draft. “I was anxious to get out of that house, move on with life, get signed by a team,” he said. “I wanted to get out of there.” The smugglers tried to auction off the players to agents. Kehoskie was invited down from Upstate New York to meet them. He said no to the smugglers’ request of $200,000 up front — “they described it as a referral fee, but it clearly it was a smuggler’s fee or even a ransom payment.” “They were mismanaged for months,” Kehoskie added. “They tried to get free agency for them and failed. They basically dumped all of these guys in the 2005 draft as a way to get rid of them because of the expenses that were piling up and the pressure was on.” Reaching the majors

Many scouts and agents hadn’t heard of Escobar because he had played in only a few international tournaments and wasn’t a big name in Cuba. But one day while working out, Escobar met former Florida International University assistant baseball coach and Detroit Tigers scout Rolando Casanova, who felt sorry for Escobar and trained him in his free time. Casanova, who died in August, arranged tryouts with other teams’ scouts. “He was the man who did everything for me to get where I am today,” Escobar said. Bart Hernandez, who represented Escobar from just before the 2005 draft until last year, first saw Escobar at a showcase game at Broward Community College. Escobar’s arm, big hands, bat and confidence stood out. “You could see the tools the kid had,” he said. “You could feel the kid was a major league guy.” The Braves drafted Escobar in the second round, signing him for $475,000. Four other players were drafted no higher than the 14th round, falling quickly out of the minor leagues. Guevara, the hard-throwing prospect, hurt his arm because of the many pre-draft tryouts and wound up in independent league baseball. Escobar said he paid the smugglers $50,000, enough to cover the group. He estimated he spent $70,000 more to get seven family members out of Cuba over the years, including his mother, father, grandmother and sister. He longs to return home to visit and see family he left behind. He also said he is no longer in touch with the girlfriend who helped him escape. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. “I’ll always be grateful to her,” Escobar said. “When I signed, I asked if she needed anything, but she did it for love.” Since then, Escobar has endured his growing pains and built a career as he matured. He made his major league debut in 2007 with Atlanta and was traded to Toronto in mid-2010, both places where his behavior got him in trouble. He was traded to Tampa Bay before the 2013 season and finally Washington this offseason. While Cuban players are signing for record-breaking deals in the $70 million range, Escobar worked to build his career. He has two children, a big home in Miami and luxury cars, and he can provide for his family — a stark contrast to his beginnings. He is reminded of it all the most when he steps onto the field to play. “I always stop to think about everything, ‘Look at what I’ve got, look at what baseball has gotten me and my family and look at what I’ve accomplished,’” he said. “When I enter that stadium to play baseball, I think about my family. I think about my future even though I know I’m not 22 anymore. I’m 32. I give it my best.”

Article #29 Harper's big day a sign of more to come By Richard Justice – MLB.com (5/8/15) There was the time in the 2011 Arizona Fall League when Bryce Harper's team trailed by two runs going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Here's Mike Trout's recollection of what Harper said. "Hey, if the first two people get on, I'm going to hit a walk-off home run here." At least that's how Trout remembers it. Others who were in that Scottsdale Scorpions dugout have a more colorful version, but that's beside the point. Anyway, the first two guys got on base, and then Harper stepped to the plate and did just what he said he would do. Harper launched a towering home run to win the game -- not just a home run, but one of those jaw-dropping moonshot things that seemed to vaporize. He then trotted off the field and into the clubhouse to celebrate. To this day, Trout shakes his head when he remembers it. "Pretty amazing," he said. To some of Harper's teammates, managers and coaches, that story speaks volumes about the kid. He'd just turned 19. It's not that he did what he said he was going to do. It was the way he did it, how he stepped to home plate seemingly knowing he was going to do it. That's a story plenty of teammates, coaches and buddies will recall when Harper has a day like he did on Wednesday, when he homered three times in his first three at-bats in a game against the Marlins. Not one of them will say they're surprised. They see him as being capable of almost anything. Maybe you're thinking that Harper has somehow failed to live up to all the hype that accompanied him long before the Nationals made him the first overall pick of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Remember the stories? Fastest this. Strongest that. Harper wasn't going to be great. He was going to be scary great. Stuff like that had been said about him since around the time he turned 14 or 15. To have those kinds of predictions thrust upon a kid at such a young age creates all kinds of challenges. Harper made his big league debut a few months after that home run in Arizona. He'd played just 126 Minor League games. Four seasons later, Harper is still one of the youngest players in baseball. And through it all, he has never once seemed overwhelmed. In 386 games, Harper has a very respectable .271 career batting average. He has made two All-Star teams and won the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year Award. Those three home runs on Wednesday brought his career total to 63.

If those numbers sound pedestrian, they're still just a beginning. Harper remains bound for greatness, because in terms of physical gifts and work ethic and desire, he's everything the Nationals hoped he would be. If there's a downside, it's that Harper has been hurt too often. He played 218 of a possible 324 games in 2013-14, and some of those injuries were from his aggressiveness catching up with him. The Nationals have cautioned Harper that every base doesn't have to be stolen, every wall doesn't have to be banged into. In the end, the Nats are better when he's in the lineup, even if it means slowing him down a bit. On the other hand, how can they tell Harper to play less than 100 percent? How does he do that? The very thing that they love about him, the thing that brings fans to the park, is the one thing that may not be controllable. In a competitive spot, his fires may always rage. When Harper made his big league debut three years ago, it was interesting to watch players on both teams stop and marvel at his rounds of batting practice. He swung the bat harder and hit the ball farther than almost any player, ever. When he hit the ball, it just made a different sound. Was there a purpose in all those mega-swings? Were they a smart use of his energy? Again, that's part of the whole package. The Nationals have always seen Harper as a guy who would impact games in all sorts of ways -- with his bat, with his arm, his legs, you name it. They also thought Harper would impact the franchise in a larger way. He had that certain something that goes beyond numbers. Swagger? Maybe that's the best word for it. Would Harper rub some people the wrong way? Yes, he absolutely would. Plenty of the greats do. Would Harper test his teammates and manager a few times? Yes, he has done that, too. Harper is also a truly amazing player, one of the most compelling people in a sport awash in dazzling young talent. Those three home runs were simply his way of reminding us what he's capable of. There'll be more days like it. Article #30 Aaron Barrett is earning a heavy workload By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (5/8/15) Among Nationals relievers who have appeared in at least 10 games this season, Aaron Barrett owns the lowest ERA at 1.46. He has pitched in more games (15) than any other National. He leads the Washington bullpen in strikeouts (19) — tied for the sixth highest total in the majors.

Barrett is not surprising hitters: he pitched 50 games in the majors last season, struck out 49 batters, and pitched to a 1.303 WHIP. By now, hitters have plenty of film on the untouchable slider around which Barrett’s success pivots — but they are hitting fewer of them than they did last year. According to Brooks Baseball, the whiff percentage — the percentage of swings taken at that pitch that miss it — for Barrett’s slider is 25 percent, up from last season. Hitters are hitting .095 against the slider, .146 overall. “Scouting reports are out there, scouting reports are out on me, but you just continue to make pitches,” Barrett said. “I think the key for me this year is being able to locate my fastball. I’ve been really able to pound my fastball in to right-handers, and at the same time I know a guy is sitting on my slider, if I execute the pitch, I’m still gonna have a good chance to get that guy out. They might know it’s coming, but I know if I execute what pitch I want to throw, I’m gonna have a good chance to get the guy out.” So far, Barrett’s ability to locate his fastball has played out not only in elevated strikeout numbers, but also diminished walk rates. Over the course of those 50 appearances last season, Barrett averaged 4.43 walks per nine innings. Early on this season, his walk rate is 1.46. His strikeout to walk ratio last year was 2.45. This year, 9.90. Because he has the mid-90s fastball and a put-out pitch to go with it, Nationals Manager Matt Williams often calls upon Barrett to face strong right-handed hitters, or sequences of them. Like most right-handers, Barrett is tougher on right-handers than lefties, but the latter does not hit him well, either. Right-handed breaking balls that travel in to left-handed hitters can entice swings and earn outs if they are located well. They can be hit long distances if not. Barrett has allowed one home run in his career so far, and it was to a right-hander. Right-handers hit Barrett to a .194 average in his career, lefties .235. This season, he has faced lefties 15 times and allowed two hits (.133) — a double and a triple. He has faced right-handers 29 times, and allowed six hits (.207). “I definitely have a little more confidence to get those guys out,” Barrett said. “They hit a little better off me last year, but it’s about being able to going in and make pitches. The key for me is getting ahead. Once I can get ahead, I can start expanding and using my slider.” That Barrett is pitching so well means he will be pitching a lot, because the Nationals need to replace the every day reliability of Tyler Clippard (traded) and Craig Stammen (surgery). Clauses that follow “On pace to ” don’t often come to fruition, but in the case of usage, Barrett’s early season rate indicates that he will appear in 70 to 80 games this season. As major league relievers go, that workload qualifies as “heavy.” But Barrett said the part of his workload he is learning to manage better is not the games he pitches in, but the games he doesn’t. “It’s a lot different from the minor leagues because of all the warming up and not going in,” Barrett said. “Last year, they’d call down and say ‘get hot.’ I would literally just full on warm up, then not go in. Talking to Thornton and Drew and Clip and Stammen and watching how they’d warm up, their throwing program before games — there’s a big learning curve from the minor leagues in terms of knowing how many throws you need to get warm, how many throws you need to get hot. If you can try to manage that, it helps a lot.”

Barrett’s 15 appearances so far are the second-most in baseball. Article #31 Harper's home run streak for Nats sign of how locked in he is By Ken Rosenthal – FoxSports.com (5/10/15) Here's how you know that Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has it going on, and I'm not simply talking about his six home runs in the last three games, including his walk-off on Saturday. When I asked Harper about his hot streak on Friday, he started talking about a single at-bat. Not one that ended in a hit, a walk or a homer, mind you. No, one that ended in an out — a called strikeout, in fact. Harper said his plan — to look for one pitch in one zone — really has not changed. The difference now is that he no longer is straying from that plan. If the result is bad and the process good, so be it. Take Tuesday night, Marlins at Nationals, Mat Latos pitching for Miami. Harper fell behind 0-2 in his first at-bat, then flew out to center on a 93-mph fastball. He struck out on three pitches in his second at-bat, going down swinging on a 79-mph curveball. His next plate appearance came in the sixth, in a game the Nationals would lose 2-1. Latos started Harper with another curveball — Harper said the right-hander's curve on this night was hellacious, as good as it gets. This time, Harper laid off the pitch. He then jumped ahead 3-0. But Latos fought back to 3-2, and Harper decided to sit on another curve. Oops. Latos fired a 90-mph two-seamer, down in the zone, and Harper took it for strike three. Not the outcome Harper wanted. But the kind of process that would make Joey Votto proud. One pitch, one zone. "If I get, I try to devastate it," Harper said. "If I don't, I tip my cap and get 'em the next day." So far, it's working out pretty well: Harper leads the National League with 11 homers and the majors with 27 walks (his walk rate is the game's second highest). His 1.084 OPS ranks fourth in the majors, and at the moment he is so hot, opponents seem almost helpless. Before Saturday's game, I mentioned to Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez that Harper was feasting on balls on the outer half and that heat maps suggested teams might be better off pitching him inside. Gonzalez all but laughed, explaining that Harper is in one of those zones where it doesn't matter where he is pitched. In the past, Gonzalez said, Harper would thrust his head forward when he was in trouble, lunge at the ball. Not right now. Harper's head, Gonzalez said, is perfectly still.

Even before his homer Saturday, Harper had good at-bats, drawing a four-pitch walk off Julio Teheran leading off the third, then hitting a single to the opposite field on a 91-mph two-seamer in the fifth. The Nats, though, would blow a 6-1 lead, setting up the dramatics in the ninth, with Harper hitting third. Right-hander Cody Martin's 1-0 slider to Harper, with one out and a runner on first, wasn't a bad pitch. It was down, and Harper had to reach for it. But when he got it, the ball rocketed off his bat, sailing over the center-field wall to give the Nationals an 8-6 victory. Moments later, in my postgame interview with Harper on FOX Sports 1, I asked him if he has ever been this hot. His answer was telling. "I don't know if it's hot," Harper said. "I mean, that's just the way I need to play. That's the way I need to come in every single day and play this game. It's nothing to do with being hot. I mean, that's the type of player I need to be, and that's the type of player I want to be. That's what I need to do." He takes the same approach in the field and is adjusting well to right after mostly playing left the past two seasons. Amid the excitement over his homer, I neglected to ask Harper about his sliding catch on Jace Peterson for the second out of the seventh and his inning-ending, running over-the-shoulder grab to rob Nick Markakis of a likely RBI double. John Dewan's plus-minus ratings on BillJamesOnline currently rank Harper fourth among right fielders. To think, Harper is still just 22, nearly six months younger than the Dodgers' Joc Pederson, the early favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, and nine days younger than the Red Sox's Mookie Betts, one of the most gifted young stars in the AL. To think, in 1,618 career plate appearances, Harper has yet to face a pitcher who is younger than he is. Come to think of it, Harper also is more than a year younger than Mike Trout, who won his first MVP last season while Harper endured another injury-marred campaign, missing more than two months due to left-thumb surgery. No, they are not yet the Magic and Bird of baseball, and if Harper cannot stay healthy, they never will be. Still, there is plenty of time for Harper to re-ignite this debate, and rest assured that is his fervent wish, given his burning desire to be the best. As new teammate Max Scherzer — who poured chocolate syrup on Harper in Saturday's postgame celebration — put it, "I'm seeing him get better right in front of my eyes." Honestly, though, Harper shouldn't even think about Trout, not when so much is in front of him, not when stardom is assured if he merely follows his plan. Head still. Mind focused. Can't lose.

Article #32 Jose Lobaton taking advantage of opportunities By Chelsea Janes – Washihngton Post (5/10/15) Jose Lobaton is the goofy one, the guy who tapes a ball to the barrel of his bat so it learns where to go, who will reward himself with ice cream as incentive to play well, who will rip the bottoms out of paper cups and place them over his ears for … well, obvious reasons. He is also the Nationals’ backup catcher, so opportunities for on-field, baseball-related antics can come sparingly. That inglorious position requires endless studying and limited playing time — backup catchers can’t even pinch hit under normal circumstances, as teams carry two catchers, and an injury would force an unlucky position player to don the tools of ignorance. Lobaton, known for his defense and for working well with the Nationals’ pitching staff, has been hitting when he gets the chance, too. He has played seven games this year, or about one out of every 4 or 5 games. Despite limited at-bats that preclude the daily rhythm that can spark some hitters, Lobaton is hitting .304 with a .565 slugging percentage and six runs batted in. He has six hits in his past three starts. “He understands the role,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said after Saturday’s win. “He understands that there may be a week where he only plays once. And then there may be a situation like today where we’ve got a good matchup that he plays in a game where Wilson would ordinarily play in. He provides good defense for us, good game-calling. Knowing our guys, which is good. Unfortunately, last year Wilson was out quite a bit and [Lobaton] got a chance to know these guys. It’s not like he’s stepping into a situation he hasn’t been in. Lobaton has two home runs this season, and both of them have come against Braves right-hander Julio Teheran — who may want to consider throwing some paper cups over his ears or something, because nothing else is working against Lobaton. The switch-hitting catcher is now 7 for 13 in his career against Teheran with three extra-base hits and five runs batted in. But it’s not just Teheran, who Lobaton victimized also in the Nats’ comeback win in Atlanta — a game in which he had three hits, the same number he had Saturday. Lobaton has provided much-needed knocks to extend rallies all season, and never stopped providing levity — though he probably couldn’t stop doing that if he tried. “Loby has this unique personality about him where he can kind of bring everybody together,” Nationals starter Doug Fister said. “He’s a fun guy to be around. Being able to communicate with him has been easy for me. He’s a great teammate.”

Article #33 Michael A. Taylor adjusting well to his role By James Wagner – Washihngton Post (5/14/15) SAN DIEGO — Michael A. Taylor isn’t used to sitting on the bench. He is an everyday player, a toolsy prospect the Nationals hope to insert into center field in the future. But because Jayson Werth and Denard Span are returning from offseason surgeries, the Nationals decided they needed a more capable backup. So they recalled Taylor from Class AAA Syracuse on April 25 after Reed Johnson’s injury. So technically, Taylor is a backup outfielder but has played a tad more than a backup would. Werth is 35 and coming off significant shoulder surgery, which means occasional days off. Span is 31 and had two core muscle surgeries. “Not too bad, honestly,” Taylor said of adjusting to his current role. “I talk to the guys and they’ve really given me some good advice and some guidance on how to do things the right way. It’s been an adjustment but nothing too bad.” Taylor has still managed to play a decent amount. The 24-year-old took over in right field Wednesday when Bryce Harper was ejected in the seventh inning and launched the game-winning grand slam in the ninth. Since being recalled, Taylor has played in 11 of a possible 13 games, starting five, and is 6 for 23. Taylor has gleaned tips on how to come off the bench when needed. “Just being comfortable in my routine, kind of getting used to the timing of things, when I need to get going and get loose, when I might have an at-bat or something like that,” Taylor said. “Other than that, I just try to come in every day like I’m playing.” Taylor figures to stick around until the Nationals deem Werth and Span completely recovered. But because of their ages and past injuries, it makes more sense to have a potent backup than simply a one-day-a-week fill-in. That role was initially intended to be Nate McLouth’s, but he has endured setbacks with his shoulder surgery from last fall. Johnson got injured, too. Matt den Dekker is also an option as a fourth outfielder, but Taylor is a more potent offensive threat and also a strong defender. “He’s an unbelievable athlete,” Harper said. “He can hit for power, run, throw very well. He’s going to be a ballplayer. If he gets his opportunity in the next couple years, he’s going to be a lot of fun and succeed.” Werth said he first saw Taylor in 2013 while he rehabbing at Class A Potomac and Taylor was playing everyday. Werth saw the athleticism and potential but felt Taylor needed more development. Taylor enjoyed a breakout 2014 season, in which his bat caught up to his physical ability and defense, and quickly pushed him to the majors. “He’s got a chance to be a good player, especially with the power he’s shown in spring training and so far this season,” Werth said. “There’s a lot to like there.” It takes a good bench to win, Werth said, and contributions from Taylor and Tyler Moore helped the Nationals win Wednesday. Taylor, who has three home runs this season, has made the biggest impact off

the bench. Moore was 5 for 46 with one home run as a pinch hitter since 2012 until his two-run home run tied the game in the sixth inning. He is hitting .207 (6 for 29) this season but is 4 for 15 as a pinch hitter, best on the team. Nationals pinch hitters are seventh in the National League with a .214 average and .631 OPS. “Coming off the bench is never a comfortable spot,” Moore said. “You want to get in there and give yourself the best chance to succeed. Those guys are out there fighting and you just want to do good for the team. I’m glad I was able to help out.” Article #34 Making the sublime routine, Espinosa has become the Nats’ glue By Barry Svrluga – Washington Post (5/20/15) Given everything that happened Tuesday night at Nationals Park, there’s no way the first two plays that began 10 innings over 200 minutes would be remembered, much less recognized. But there was Danny Espinosa — an afterthought in the offseason, an essential presence now — ranging to his right on one grounder, then to his left for another, back-to-back. Neither play would end up on “SportsCenter,” not on a night Bryce Harper hit his 10th homer in 12 games, not on a night Ryan Zimmerman smoked the 10th game-ending homer of his career, not on a night the Washington Nationals pulled into a tie for first place. “I’m hoping the fact that they don’t get on ESPN,” Espinosa said Wednesday, “is because of the fact that I make them look easier than what they are.” To be clear: This has not been easy for Espinosa. In 2013, he was hurt, a fractured wrist that messed with his swing and his mind and kept him in the minors for 75 miserable games. In 2014, he lost his confidence, then his game. He struck out more than a third of the times he came to the plate, entered the offseason with what amounted to a front office demand to drop switch-hitting and came to spring training as an extra part. His defense, always sublime, could help a team with World Series aspirations. But what of his bat? And what of his head? Those questions, he chooses to answer thusly: “Just play. Don’t think about it and play. Screw it, and let’s go. Screw the [cow dung], and let’s play. That’s what it came down to.” There is no doubt Harper deserves credit for his Nintendo-style two-week stretch, that free agent right-hander Max Scherzer has been what the Nationals expected, that closer Drew Storen’s ERA seems to get smaller every day. But with starting infielder Anthony Rendon yet to play a game — the victim of a sprained knee, then a strained oblique, and who knows when we’ll see him? — there may be no more important National over the first two months of the season than the one who seemed expendable, Daniel Richard Espinosa. “He’s got to be the best second baseman in the game,” said shortstop Ian Desmond, who formed a double-play combination with Espinosa on Washington’s first division winner in 2012. “I’m not trying to make an

overstatement or exaggerate. I mean that. No disrespect to [Dustin] Pedroia or [Robinson] Cano or [Jose] Altuve. I mean, he’s awesome.” Start with the defense, then, because that’s where it has always started with Espinosa. When Storen first became Espinosa’s teammate at Class A Potomac, he remembers a ball hit to shortstop, where Espinosa played at the time. “In my head, I was kind of saying, ‘Throw it,’ not realizing what a gun he had,” Storen said. “Then he threw it, and it was like, ‘Uh, okay. Take your time.’ His arm’s a game-changer.” That is still the reality these days, whether Espinosa plays second — as he has most of the year — or third, where he has filled in for the first time in his career because of injuries to Rendon and Yunel Escobar. But the appreciation for his game, at this point, comes not because of the gun but with the inning-after-inning, he-did-it-again moments. In the eighth inning Tuesday night, Stephen Drew of the Yankees lifted a major league popup down the right field line. Harper, the right fielder, was playing deep — “no doubles.” Espinosa ran and ran and ran. “I get a chance to see everybody’s first step,” center fielder Denard Span said. “And his is very, very quick. He doesn’t take any false steps. His reaction time is second to none.” Espinosa caught the ball in foul ground in what amounted to mid-right field. “He made it look like it wasn’t hard,” Span said. “But that was very, very difficult.” Which amounts to Espinosa’s defensive philosophy. “I don’t want to make a play harder than it needs to be,” he said. “My whole goal is to make every play routine. I’m not going to barehand a ball I don’t need to barehand just so I can make a ‘great’ play. I hope, when people watch me play, they say, ‘Well, that looked easy.’ ” Yet over the previous two seasons, for every tricky play Espinosa has made appear routine, he has taken a routine at-bat and made it an excruciating, difficult-to-watch experience. He led the National League with 189 strikeouts in 2012 and the following two years combined for a .200 batting average, .255 on-base percentage and .326 slugging percentage. A switch-hitter his whole career, he appeared lost hitting left-handed, a .183 average and a strikeout rate of 39 percent. So the Nationals’ proposed solution: have him hit only right-handed. Espinosa reluctantly agreed to try it in spring training. The result: “I wasn’t comfortable.” “Some part of my game needed to feel comfortable,” Espinosa said. “That had to be hitting. Trying third base was new. I needed to do something that made me feel right so I could just play.” So imagine Espinosa’s surprise when, Tuesday night, the Yankees responded to two of his left-handed at-bats by over-shifting to the right side of the infield. “I couldn’t believe it,” Espinosa said. His average, headed into Wednesday night, was a modest .235 from the left side, but he has all five of his homers and all 13 of his RBI batting left-handed, good for an .848 on-base-plus slugging percentage. His strikeout rate for a full major league season had never been lower than 25 percent. This year, it’s 22 percent. His walk rate in 2013 was 2.4 percent, in 2014 4.7 percent. This year, it’s 12.2 percent.

“I’m not having stupid at-bats,” Espinosa said. So when Rendon comes back, whenever that might be, there will be the obvious questions about who will sit and how Manager Matt Williams will work in Espinosa and Escobar, who entered Wednesday hitting .333. But for now, understand what Espinosa is doing, even if it doesn’t look like much, and what it took to get here. “I know Bryce is having a great year,” Desmond said. “A lot of really good things are happening with this team. Scherzer’s pitching his butt off. But Espi, he’s the glue right now.” On Wednesday night, in another Nationals’ victory, Espinosa had a single in three times up — all left-handed. He made every play in front of him with ease. And outside the clubhouse, hardly a soul noticed. Article #35 Wilmer Difo’s call-up is a success story for Nationals’ Latin American operation By James Wagner – Washington Post (5/21/15) When prospect Wilmer Difo walked into the Nationals‘ clubhouse on Tuesday, unloaded his belongings into a locker with a No. 1 jersey and his last name on it, the moment meant more to the organization than simply a first-time call-up. And when Difo smacked his first major league hit that day, the young players at the Nationals’ academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic erupted as they watched on TV. Difo symbolizes a lot to the Nationals. He is the first Nationals’ homegrown player from the Dominican Republic since the Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez scandal in 2009. After Gonzalez was discovered to be lying about his identity, so much changed for the Nationals. Jim Bowden resigned as general manager and the Nationals blew up their entire Dominican operation. Mike Rizzo moved up from assistant general manager to interim general manager, and his first task was to rebuild the ruins of the team’s Dominican academy from scratch. He hired Johnny DiPuglia to be the Nationals’ international scouting director and oversee the Latin American operations. They moved into a temporary academy, bounced around to old facilities that didn’t have air conditioning or meetings rooms, until settling into their current, newer home. Convincing players to sign with them back then was challenging because they had lost credibility in the country rich with young baseball talent. The Lerner family became leery of investing in Latin America. Getting to this point — with Difo in the majors for now while Jayson Werth is injured — was a slow and long road. “It’s very rewarding,” said DiPuglia, on a scouting trip in Panama, after Difo’s call-up. “We started from the bottom and had to revamp a lot of things and the thinking process of ownership. We know the only way they’re going to support us is with big leaguers. He’s the first guy of a wave of many coming.”

Of the Nationals’ top 10 prospects according to Baseball America, two are from the Dominican. Difo is ranked seventh and Reynaldo Lopez, a hard-throwing right-handed starter at Class A Potomac, is third. Catcher Pedro Severino, at Class AA Harrisburg, didn’t crack the list but isn’t far behind; he has shown signs of maturation at the plate this season that could catch up to his standout defense. There are other, more raw players in the system the Nationals are hoping, too, could be part of the future: catcher Raudy Reed, starter Jefry Rodriguez, outfielders Victor Robles and Rafael Bautista. While some teams such as the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs and Rangers have sunk tens of millions into Latin America, the Nationals slowly built their Dominican talent pool with a limited budget. They had to gain the trust of the Lerners and deal with MLB international spending limits based on major league winning percentage. Since the Gonzalez scandal, the most the Nationals have spent on a prospect is $900,000 in 2013 for third baseman Anderson Franco, a 6-foot-3 hitter with power potential. For the 2014-15 international period, the Nationals have the 12th smallest bonus pool at $2.08 million. A comparison: the Yankees’ No. 5 prospect, catcher Gary Sanchez, signed out of the Dominican for $3 million six years ago. “The money doesn’t dictate that he’s a big leaguer,” DiPuglia said this winter at the Nationals’ Dominican academy. “You’ve got to be able to profile a player for a position. The way we evaluate is that we look for players who can play the middle of the field, where if they don’t profile we can move them off or put them on the mound. We like speed and tools. And they’ve got to profile to a big league position. If we can sign any of these guys and they become the 25th guy on the big league roster because of their speed, their left-handed bat, defensive skill set or Mike Rizzo can trade one of these guys for a piece to help us get to the playoffs, we’re doing our job.” The Nationals have six scouts spread over the Dominican Republic who attend games, tryouts and showcases nearly daily. Difo was spotted by scout Modesto Ulloa, who saw potential in the small, skinny 18-year-old, older than normal signees, and kept bringing Difo back for tryouts until he signed. After that, a large cast — including DiPuglia, Ulloa, academy director Fausto Severino, Nationals’ Dominican Summer League team Manager Sandy Martinez and Difo’s coaches in the minor leagues in the U.S. — had a hand in helping him overcome his early struggles and blossom. “It’s not like the draft where you’re getting a guy from the University of Stanford who’s got education, or University of Georgia,” DiPuglia said. “We’re trying to teach them to speak English when some of these kids don’t even fully speak Spanish. They don’t have running water in their house or electricity. Or who knows what their situation is at home with mom and dad because a lot of their fathers are not at home. It’s a consistent education. You’ve got to be consistent with your plan. You’ve got to tell them every day. Until one day, the light switch goes on and then one day you’ve got a big leaguer. But to get a big leaguer out of this environment, as a scout, is the hardest thing to do in baseball. It’s hardest than being a big leaguer and hitting a slider because you’re looking at a 15-year-old and you’re trying to tell me you’re projecting him to be a big leaguer at 15.” But with strong scouting and player development, the Nationals’ philosophy could yield gems. They signed Difo for $20,000, Severino for $55,000 and Lopez for $17,000 over the past four years. If any of them reaches the majors or is used as a trade chip for a major league player, it’s a success story. Compare those players’ signing bonuses to those of the top players drafted out of college. “If this guy plays in the big leagues for six years, he pays for the academy for a while,” DiPuglia said. “The way the bonus are now $20,000 is a cup of coffee.”

Obviously, Difo hasn’t gotten that far; his everyday future with the Nationals may not come until next year. The two others behind him, especially Lopez, could move quickly through the minors but have a ways to go. DiPuglia, who was instrumental in signing top players such as Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez when with the Red Sox, says the group of Latin American players assembled by the Nationals now is the most talented group he’s been around. Before Difo left Harrisburg for Washington earlier this week, he gave Severino an ambitious goal: “I told him, ‘I’ll be up there waiting for you.'” Severino’s future is still to come but Difo is happy to be the first of the new wave of the Nationals’ Dominican players. “It means a lot,” Difo said. “I know now that I’m here it’ll open the doors for the other guys.” Article #36 Span welcomes chance to mentor Taylor By Bill Ladson – Nationals.com (5/21/15) WASHINGTON -- Nationals center fielder Denard Span is comfortable in his own skin. He's not merely comfortable at the plate, where he has 16 hits in his last 49 at-bats (.410) over a nine-game stretch. Span is in line to enter free agency after the season, and he is willing to help fellow Nats outfielder Michael Taylor at all costs. Taylor, it turns out, is expected to take Span's job next year, but that doesn't matter to the 31-year-old, who remembers when Torii Hunter took him under his wing and showed him the ropes when Span was a rookie coming up with the Twins. "It started with me being a young guy in Minnesota," Span said. "I looked up to Torii Hunter. He was my hero. There were a lot of things he did for me, the little things that meant big things to me as a kid. One of the things he told me was, 'Help the next young man coming up -- go the extra mile.' That always stuck with me." Span tries to go the extra mile for Taylor, a humble and quiet kid. Span says Taylor's work ethic is second to none. The biggest advice Span gave Taylor was how to go about his business before a game, like working out in the weight room and taking batting practice seriously. To Taylor, that's just as important as his performance on the field. "He has been helping me by leading by example," Taylor said of Span. "He has given me advice here and there." Taylor doesn't want to think about replacing Span, but it seems Span is prepared for that possibility. "He isn't taking my job; I'm going to be a free agent," Span said. "Like I told him, 'I want you to do well.' He has earned it. He has put in the time in the Minor Leagues. He has come up here and shown he can play. I said, 'Look, there isn't any animosity. I want to see you succeed as well as I want to see myself succeed.' I

want him to be the center fielder for the Washington Nationals next year. I don't want him to fall on his face. I want us both to do well. We both can move on and do good things." Article #37 As Nats soar, so does Storen By Mark Zuckerman – CSNWashington.com (5/26/15) Major-league closers, like NFL kickers and the sanitation department, only draw your attention when something goes wrong. We just expect them to work flawlessly, and if everything goes according to plan, we don’t even notice them. Drew Storen, though, deserves our attention right now, because he has been just as responsible for the Nationals’ prolonged, dominant stretch of baseball — Monday’s 2-1 win over the Cubs was their 20th in their last 25 games — as anybody. Fourteen of these 20 victories have come by 3 or fewer runs, and Storen has been the last pitcher on the mound for the Nats in 12 of those games. And in those 12 games, plus two more appearances he’s made since the hot streak began April 28 in Atlanta, Storen hasn’t allowed any opposing player to cross the plate. Not one. That’s 14 scoreless appearances totaling 13 1/3 innings. Storen has faced 48 batters during that time. Only eight have reached base (five hits, one walk, two hit batters). Seventeen, on the other hand, have struck out. And it’s not like Storen was struggling prior to that point, even though the Nationals as a whole were. For the season, he now sports an 0.93 ERA, having allowed only 13 hits and three walks over 19 1/3 innings while striking out 25. He has recorded an NL-best 14 saves in 15 tries. Want even more evidence of Storen’s dominance? He has given up one extra-base hit all season: a 1-out double to Grady Sizemore during Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Phillies. So, what exactly has made Storen so effective over the last seven weeks? Manager Matt Williams believes it’s the fact he’s using his full repertoire to perfection. “I just think his secondary pitches have been crisp,” Williams said Saturday while citing the previous evening’s save against Philadelphia. “Last night’s an example. He got [Ryan] Howard on breaking balls and change-ups, then he was able to elevate the fastball to [Odubel] Herrera to get him for the last out. That’s a byproduct of him being able to throw the change-up for a strike and the slider for a strike and elevate the fastball when he needs to, especially against a left-handed hitter. I just think he’s throwing it where he wants to.” Indeed, Storen’s command has been excellent to date; he’s throwing 66 percent of his pitches for strikes. But it’s more than that. He’s also throwing strikes that aren’t hittable. A full 25.5 percent of his strikes have been swing-and-miss, the highest rate of his career and a full 10 percent better than the MLB average.

And Storen also has been very efficient. He hasn’t thrown more than 20 pitches in any appearance this season, and he’s averaging a mere 3.6 batters faced per inning (he’s retired the side 12 times in 21 games). Put that all together, and you’ve got one of the most dominant closers in baseball so far this season. Which, really, is just a continuation of 2014, when Storen led all NL relievers with a 1.12 ERA. Which, really, is just a continuation of the final two months of 2013, when Storen returned from a brief demotion to Class AAA Syracuse and regained his form. In fact, take every MLB reliever who has thrown at least 30 innings since Aug. 16, 2013 (the day Storen was called back up to Washington) and nobody can match his 1.13 ERA. Does he still need to prove he can get the job done in October after two notable blown saves? Of course. But that’s a story for another day, well down the road. Right now, Storen is near-perfect in the ninth inning. And because of that, the Nationals have been near-perfect for the last four weeks. Article #38 Bryce Harper fully engaged and showing off his many talents By Jerry Crasnick – ESPN.com (5/26/15) The month of May is big for graduations and life passages, so this is as suitable a time as any to look beyond the eye black and Natitude and take stock of where Washington right fielder Bryce Harper stands in his educational timeline. With each authoritative swing -- or decision to lay off a breaking pitch a hair off the corner -- Harper warrants another mention alongside some iconic figure with a plaque in Cooperstown. One day, he's on a pace to challenge Ted Williams' single-season record of 147 walks by a player in his age-22 season. The next day, he's on track to hit 40 home runs at age 22 -- an achievement that would put him in a fraternity with Joe DiMaggio, Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Johnny Bench, Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez. On a parallel track, Harper is once again matriculating among the top-shelf talents in his peer group. Late last week, FanGraphs ran a story suggesting the old Harper versus Mike Trout comparisons might not be so loony after all. The same day, on satellite radio, Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin engaged in a spirited debate on the topic, "Who would you rather have now and in the future: Harper or Giancarlo Stanton?" Ferrin chose Harper, while Duquette opted for Stanton. Some perspective is in order here: Harper is nine months younger than Kris Bryant and six months younger than Joc Pederson, the early frontrunners for National League Rookie of the Year. He will still be 22 years old when the Nationals play their regular-season finale against the Mets in early October. Of the 29 MLB Rookies of the Year since 2000 (not including Harper, who captured the honor in 2012), 20 were older than Harper will be at the end of this season, after four years of service time.

The story has taken a dramatic turn since April 2014, when Harper was benched by Nationals manager Matt Williams for failing to run out a routine comebacker against St. Louis. The downward spiral continued when Harper tore a ligament in his thumb on a head-first slide, missed two months and showed negligible power upon his return. Harper appeared to hit rock bottom in August, when he raised the white flag and conceded Trout was, indeed, the better player. Maybe it's the inherent fan boy in him, but Harper is sticking to his convictions on that one. "Baseball is always, 'What have you done for me lately?'" Harper said. "That's just how the game works. I still believe Trout is the best player in the game, hands down. It's not about taking a backseat to anybody. I love seeing Stanton hit homers or Kris Bryant do the things he does. I love watching Matt Harvey or Gerrit Cole or Noah Syndergaard come up and throw 100 mph. I cheer for guys. I've always been that way." If Harper's career hiccups have drummed a lesson, it's that perceptions are fickle and he can't please everyone, so why try? Trout is beloved in part because he plays the game with 1950s-caliber simplicity. For all his greatness between the lines, he's pure vanilla off the field. Harper, in contrast, is Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors drenched in postgame chocolate syrup. Trout might be the surer long-term bet and the superior player, but Harper, by virtue of his split personality, is infinitely more compelling. Private Bryce, by all accounts, is respectful of baseball history, family-oriented and dedicated to his Mormon faith. He's a fan of 2 Amy's pizza in D.C., hanging out with his chocolate lab, Swag, and messing with a guitar. He has never done anything to embarrass his organization off the field (knock on wood), and he routinely cites his father's advice that it's more important to be a good person away from the diamond than a great player on it. Remember who you are and where you came from, Ron and Sheri Harper constantly reminded their three children. Baseball Bryce hits long home runs and comes with a heaping side of bombast. He grates on umpires, flings equipment, plays with an edge befitting a young Pete Rose and elicits strong reactions on both sides of the aisle. He is captive to his emotions, and if you're in his corner, you'll cut him some slack and chalk them up as "youthful indiscretions." If not, he's a self-entitled brat. He opens his mouth, and stuff comes out. "Maybe it's because I'm from Vegas," Harper said. "I'm not scared of what people think. I'll be straightforward, and if I have something to say, I won't sugarcoat it. If you like it, you like it. And if you don't, you don't. If the other team hates me and wants to kill me, so be it. But if I was on your team, you'd love me because I'm gonna play hard every night. That's the way I am and the way I've always been." Monster start The early numbers are staggering. Barely past the season's quarter mark, Harper leads the major leagues in runs (39), extra base hits (26), walks (40), OPS (1.198), isolated power (.393) and Wins Above Replacement (4.1). He's even wielding some serious leather. According to Baseball Info Solutions, Harper leads big league right fielders with 10 Defensive Runs Saved. St. Louis' Jason Heyward, the confirmed gold standard at the position, has four DRS.

"My attitude is if I don't get a hit, nobody is getting a hit," Harper said. Throw all the numbers in a pot, and it's a recipe for positive reviews. With the possible exception of David Letterman, no entertainment figure in America has received more glowing testimonials this month. In a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia on Friday, Harper hit a screamer down the left-field line for a solo homer off Sean O'Sullivan. The ball was a rarity: An opposite-field tracer struck with such force it didn't have time to curve toward the foul line. "This is what this kid is capable of doing," Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond said. "Or I should probably say what this man is capable of doing because he's not a kid anymore. He's an unbelievable baseball player. He has all the instincts and a great swing, and he has a tremendous passion for the game. Obviously, he's not going to keep up the torrid pace we're seeing right now, but this is something we can expect to see for a long time. He's special. There's no doubt about that." The veteran Nationals see subtle touches in Harper's approach that plant seeds for sustained excellence. Nationals second baseman Dan Uggla can tell by Harper's "takes" how locked in he is during each at-bat. Pitcher Max Scherzer is blown away by what he has seen, and he is fresh off five seasons in Detroit, where he watched Miguel Cabrera conduct hitting clinics on a daily basis. "Bryce is a better hitter now than he was even at the beginning of the season," Scherzer said. "When you start to see him use the opposite field with power, that's the kind of elite stuff I saw in Detroit [with Cabrera]. The scary part is he still has room for improvement. It's like he's starting to understand the game at a higher level." Much of Harper's success is attributable to a more patient approach at the plate. He is averaging 4.38 pitches per plate appearance, second in the majors to Cleveland's Carlos Santana, and he has been more discerning about swinging at balls both inside and outside the strike zone. As a result, he has been able to put himself in advantageous counts, wait for his pitch and let the bat head fly. In light of how the 2014 season finished, Harper's fast start isn't a total surprise. He showed signs that things were turning in a more positive direction when he hit 10 homers in August and September and went deep three times in 17 at-bats against San Francisco in the National League Division Series. It's easy to forget Harper logged an .817 OPS with 22 home runs at age 19 and an .854 OPS with 20 homers at age 20. The perception that he was somehow "overrated" was both lazy and oblivious to reality. He underwent knee surgery and thumb surgery in a span of five months, and that combination was death to his power output a year ago. "You need your legs and your hands to hit," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "Those are the two most important levers that connect you to the bat. He finally had an offseason when he wasn't recovering from an injury and he could just prepare for baseball. That has as much to do with this as anything." A breakout with baggage

Smack in the middle of Harper's monster month, a chaotic week dredged up all the negative sentiments that make him such a polarizing figure in the game. Late in a May 13 game against Arizona, he was ejected by umpire Rob Drake for arguing a checked swing. Seven days later, in the first inning of a Nationals-Yankees game, he got tossed by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson for his involvement in a fray that nearly blew up the Internet. In hindsight, Harper still sounds like a bystander who was watching an accident unfold and was powerless to stop it. He remained calm when Hudson called a first-pitch strike on a ball low and out of the zone, and he showed restraint in stepping out of the box while Hudson and Williams started yapping at each other. But he ultimately couldn't resist the temptation to stab the batter's box with his toe and prompt Hudson to give him the heave. "The whole time in the box, I kept saying to myself, 'Don't get thrown out. There's no reason to get thrown out. Don't talk to anybody. They need you in this game,'" Harper said. "But I don't have an in-between when I get mad. It's zero to 100, and I'm coming after you. Off the field, I'm the calmest person ever, but when I'm between those lines, I'm so locked in on helping this team win. I don't even know how to explain it." Big picture: Even Harper's staunchest advocates in the organization concede he does the team absolutely no good piling up ejections at this rate. Maybe it worked for Bobby Cox. But as his teammate Jayson Werth observes, "MVPs don't get thrown out of games." Harper appears to have an umpire problem, and he's not going to conquer it with eye rolls and almost refusing to engage. Even if it's true that some umpires might try to bait him, it's his responsibility to steer clear of that trap. "He can't get kicked out of games," Rizzo said. "He's at a performance level where we need him on the field. He was kicked out twice in a week, and I get that. He has to answer those questions. But the other day, if [it] isn't Bryce Harper, he would have still been in the game. "I can't speak to what the 'perception' is of Bryce. I've known the kid since he was 15, and he's one of the nicest, most polite, respectful young men I've ever been around. He's nothing but a perfect gentleman. Now, he also has fire and energy and a temper. He plays with an aggressive style, and people have questions. They ask us if we should try to quell that. My answer is, 'I want him to play 100 miles an hour with his hair on fire, but in a controlled manner.' I think that's the maturity level you're seeing now." Until Harper gains complete control of his on-off switch, the Nationals will have to navigate a delicate truce with his combustibility quotient. When Williams was asked about the Marvin Hudson incident at a pregame press session two days after the fact, he had difficulty concealing his impatience with the question. He encouraged the media to "let it go," while acknowledging that's probably wishful thinking. "I want Bryce to be the kind of player that he is currently," Williams said. "I don't know anybody in their right mind that wouldn't. His intensity and passion and the way he plays the game are good for this club. It's good for the city, and it's good for Bryce because that's the way he knows how to play. Over time, as you get deeper into a career, things change. But right now I want Bryce to be Bryce." A "better teammate"

Knee-jerk narratives rarely stand the test of time. When Williams benched Harper a year ago for failing to run out that groundball, a lot of scouts thought he ran the risk of "losing" his young star. But manager and player appear to have moved beyond the incident to a more constructive place. When the Nationals visited Arizona, Harper peppered Williams with questions about how Chase Field plays with the roof open versus the roof closed. It was the same thing when the Nationals faced Cole Hamels on Saturday. On all things baseball, Harper now seems to regard his manager as some sort of oracle. Harper is also making positive inroads with his teammates. Some Nationals players wonder why Anthony Rendon, another first-round pick who fit in from day one and was the team's best player in 2014, doesn't receive an iota of the attention Harper generates. But even as they roll their eyes over Harper's blowups or feel a tinge of resentment over his endorsement portfolio, the other Nats relish his improvement because it's all for the common good. Amid the helmet-flinging and ejections, Harper has come across as a more engaged presence this season. He Is more receptive to constructive criticism and less immersed in his own private cocoon, teammates say. "Not that Bryce was ever a bad teammate, but he's been a better teammate this year," Werth said. "He's been more one of the guys than an individual. Let's be honest: He didn't really play in the minor leagues. He was at this level for a half a year, then that level for half a year, then boom -- he was in the major leagues. And then he had all these expectations, and he got injured. He's never had that calming sense of being a big leaguer. It's a real thing, and it takes time. "I've given the example of Chipper Jones. Later in his career, he was revered for his clubhouse presence, and he was more of an ambassador for the game. But from the stories I've heard, I don't think he was like that early in his career. In time, Bryce will get it. He'll be fine. It's coming." If a man can be judged by his Twitter timeline, Harper is keeping a healthy distance from the static. In early April, he congratulated Duke on its NCAA hoops titles. Since then, it's been a Fenway Park selfie here and a Memorial Day shoutout to American veterans there. He might take the bait from umpires, but he has resisted the temptation to lash out at keyboard antagonists who have decreed him a punk or a villain. "I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but I've always had the spotlight, so it's never bothered me," Harper said. "I've always been under the microscope, so it's never been a problem for me. I've always just taken it in and said, 'OK, this is how it's going to be.'" In the final analysis, even critics who wish Harper would cease with the antics are only too happy to welcome him to their fantasy rosters. Harper has yet to ascend the podium and graduate from baseball wunderkind to finished product. But in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, he's doing more than his share.

Article #39 After two down seasons, Danny Espinosa playing valuable role for Nationals By Thom Loverro – Washington Times (6/23/15) Mike Rizzo was sitting in the stands with his assistant general manager, Bob Miller, watching the Washington Nationals on their last road trip when Danny Espinosa fouled off a ball that swelled his knee to a painful size. "He's going to have to come out," Miller said to Rizzo. "Are you kidding me?" the Nats' general manager replied. "Do you see a bone sticking out of his leg? He's not coming out." And he didn't, because Espinosa is, as his manager Matt Williams said, "a tough cuss." It's that toughness that endeared him to Rizzo and former Nationals manager Davey Johnson, and won over Williams when he succeeded Johnson — of course, along with his outstanding defensive skills. "He's the best infielder in the organization," one National League scout said. But you needed to be tough to watch Espinosa — who hit 38 home runs, drove in 122 runs and stole 37 bases in his first two full seasons in 2011 and 2012 — struggle at the plate over the last several years, with a helpless .219 average and 122 strikeouts in 333 at-bats last season. It was even tougher in 2013, when Espinosa, the starting second baseman on the NL East championship squad a year before, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse in June after playing with a fractured right wrist and torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He had batted just .158 at the time of his demotion and was symbolizing the team's struggles that season. Just as it appeared time was running out on Espinosa's Washington career, it turns out the patience bought by his toughness and his glove may have finally paid off. After the great Bryce Harper and the incomparable Max Scherzer, the most valuable player for the Nationals this season may be Espinosa, who, in 61 games, is hitting .262 with eight home runs, 20 RBI, 34 runs, a .348 on-base percentage and a .457 slugging percentage. He's also played games at nearly every position on the field. "He does a lot of things on the diamond that help us win," Williams said. "He has a desire to play, an immense desire to win and he is ready to go every single day. You can't ask anything more than that." Espinosa, 28, has been the team's safety net in a year defined by injuries. He filled in for Anthony Rendon at second base and third base, Ryan Zimmerman at first base, Jayson Werth in left field and Ian Desmond at shortstop. Williams puts him out there at positions he has never played before — like first base or left field — because of the confidence they have in his glove.

He had the signature play on Saturday in the eighth inning of Max Scherzer's no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing deep with the shift on, getting to the left-handed hitting Pedro Alvarez's ground ball and making a tough throw to get Alvarez in time. "That goes to Espi working hard," Scherzer said. "You have to realize what he is being asked to do — play left, first, short, and second, and for him to make that play shows how much hard work he is putting into his game." If he hits like he has — and has left the days of the .219 average behind him — Espinosa won't be a safety net anymore. He'll be in the starting lineup, perhaps for years to come, because club officials have been waiting for this moment. "He's really worked hard," Williams said. "He looks for the opportunity to play, he appreciates it every time he is in the lineup, and he has played very well, regardless of where we have put him — first base, left field, all three of the other infield positions. He is versatile. He laid down a perfect bunt the other day for a base hit. He steals bases. "He has power, speed, the defense is great," Williams said. "He'll foul off a ball off his knee, it will blow up to the size of a watermelon, and you won't hear any complaint. He'll be ready to go. He's a special player." This spring was supposed to be Espinosa's last gasp with the organization. The front office had given him marching orders to try to give up switch-hitting and just bat from the right side of the plate. In five major league seasons, Espinosa batted just .213 from the left side of the plate, while hitting .271 from the right side. But once Nationals management saw how hard Espinosa worked this spring to bat from the right side of the plate, they said it was OK for him to hit however comfortable he felt once the season started. As the year has gone on, Espinosa has improved enough from the left side of the plate to keep putting him back in the lineup — and if he continues, he will be part of the Nationals' infield next season, either at second base or shortstop, the position he was drafted to play in the third round in 2008. Why has it finally seemed to click for Espinosa? "I feel like my top hand is getting to the ball better this year," he said. "I don't know. Maybe time, maybe age, maybe just not looking too far ahead or looking too far back, being prepared for every at bat, I don't know." It took some time for him to get over being sent down to Syracuse in 2013. He is tough — but that toughness also makes him stubborn. "It wasn't easy to take," he said. "I wasn't producing. Going through the injury while not producing, it really hurt. You feel like you've failed, and you never want to experience that.

"But I told myself that I wasn't the only one this ever happened to," Espinosa said. "There have been some great ballplayers who were sent up and down, and maybe sometimes it's part of the learning experience, something that you need to go through. It puts you back where you need to be." He leaned on his family and friends to get through those times, and appreciates Nationals fans "sticking by my side. When I came back to the big leagues, I got a great ovation from the fans, and that felt great." Espinosa is now a fan favorite, as they see the toughness — and the talent — the Nationals were willing to wait for. Article #40 Janssen, Carpenter provide experience to Nats bullpen By Chase Hughes – CSNWashington.com (6/24/15) The Nationals' bullpen has been through its fair share of changes this season, largely due to injuries up and down their pitching staff. Those circumstances have forced the Nats to at times call on rookies to come up and fill in. They have also relied heavily on second-year pros such as Aaron Barrett - who is also now injured - and Blake Treinen. Lately, though, there has been an infusion of veteran experience with the addition of right-handers Casey Janssen and David Carpenter. Janssen came off the disabled list in late May after recovering from right shoulder tendinitis, while Carpenter joined the Nationals on June 12 after coming over in a trade with the New York Yankees. Both veterans have been around the block and have combined to pitch 13 scoreless outings (11.1 IP) for the Nationals in the month of June. They have helped solidify a bullpen that is still showing the effects of Craig Stammen's season-ending injury. "I think when experience helps in the bullpen is when we start to struggle and to stop it at maybe one bad game, not allow it to go to three or maybe four bad games," Janssen said. "Younger guys can let it carry over more often. Obviously it's our job down there to not let that happen. I just think with experience everyone's failed, unfortunately. It's a part of the game. Probably going to fail again, unfortunately. It's gonna happen, it's how we react to it." "[Their experience] helps a lot. They know what they're doing out there," Danny Espinosa said. "They know how they want to pitch and how they want to approach hitters. They're going to pitch to their strengths. When you have guys like that in the bullpen that know what they can do and know how to get guys out, not necessarily pitching to their weakness but to their strengths, that's what you want." Janssen played with Carpenter briefly in 2012 when both were with the Toronto Blue Jays. He felt Carpenter would be a good addition once he saw the right-hander get designated for assignment by the Yankees.

"When I saw that he got designated, just in my head I thought what a good fit he could be here before they got him. I just knew the person and the player," Janssen said. "Valuable arm, power arm that can pitch late innings in games. One that I think everyone feels pretty comfortable when he comes in." Carpenter has also impressed others on the Nats. "Great teammate," Denard Span said. "Two weeks he’s been here he’s blended in really well. He’s a bulldog on the mound. He was tough to go against when he was Atlanta, and I'm just happy that he’s on our team. Happy that the Yankees didn’t want him and we’ll take him." With Janssen and Carpenter in store, and with Tanner Roark back in the bullpen with the returns of Stephen Strasburg and Doug Fister, the Nats' pitching staff is starting to look much more formidable than it did a few weeks ago. Now manager Matt Williams can start locking down more defined roles in his bullpen. "Other than the household names, Tanner has been as valuable as anyone on this team. What he did in the rotation was great. What he's been able to do in the bullpen and pitch in the many different roles whether it's long or short relief, he's been a very valuable piece for us," Janssen explained. "I think with him coming back, with Carpenter in there, guys are settling in. The starters are settling in. That's where as a bullpen we're going to find our way and really start to click. Now Matt's able to mix and match with arms with everyone is as fresh as they can be. Lots of times that's when good bullpens start to roll." Article #41 Nationals starters set team record for consecutive scoreless innings By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (6/25/15) Perhaps you heard — quite frankly, you must have — the Washington Nationals rotation carried substantial expectations into this season. With the résumés involved, which include Cy Youngs and no-hitters and first overall picks, the Nationals’ five starters could hardly do otherwise. But the problem with expectations is they are not always met. When they are set high and not fulfilled, there is disappointment and reconsideration. How could anyone responsibly predict that a rotation would be “historically great” before a season even began, before a pitch was even thrown? What do stats and names and track records tell you? When expectations are not met, the retrospective answer is nothing. Whatever one thinks about those expectations, the reality is this: by one measure at least, this Nationals rotation is now historically great. Jordan Zimmermann threw eight scoreless innings Wednesday night. Nationals starters have now thrown 34 1/3 scoreless innings dating back to Joe Ross’s outing Friday against Pittsburgh. Five starters, no runs allowed, five wins, and a new team record for consecutive scoreless innings by starting pitchers. The franchise record is one start away, 39 innings, set by the 1981 Montreal Expos. No major league team has had a streak as long as this one since the Cardinals in 2013.

Zimmermann did not have his best stuff for the first couple of innings. No problem. Of his 100 pitches, 76 went for strikes. He said his curveball was the best it’s been all season. He scattered six hits and did not walk a batter, matching Braves’ starter Shelby Miller scoreless inning for scoreless inning. His best outing followed Stephen Strasburg’s best outing of the season, which followed Gio Gonzalez’s best outing of the season, which followed Max Scherzer’s no-hitter. “You see the guy before you go out there and put out zeroes, and you don’t wanna be the guy that has the big bomb,” Zimmermann said. “I was just trying to do my job tonight and go out there and put up zeroes.” In the midst of this streak, the Nationals have outpitched one of the two best rotations in the majors by ERA — the Pirates — and outdueled two of the majors’ top six starters by ERA — Miller and Pirates right-hander A.J. Burnett. “I like what I’m seeing right now with my starting rotation,” catcher Wilson Ramos said. “Those guys are doing a really good job. We support them, and it’s important that they’re starting really well.” Nationals starters now have the 10th best ERA in baseball at 3.81, but entered Wednesday night tied with the Pirates for the best FIP (fielding independent pitching) in baseball, 3.17. They also entered Wednesday with the highest WAR of any rotation in baseball, 9.0. By all accounts, they are just getting started. Strasburg seems healthy, and said he felt like himself again Tuesday. Gio Gonzalez was able to work through command issues, tinkering inning-by-inning, to his best outing of the season. Scherzer has compiled one of the best two-game stretches in baseball history. One turn through the order is just that, and there are several more to come — and more after those. But this particular turn provided momentary validation for the lofty hopes many lamented as injuries and inconsistencies prevailed early this season. Doug Fister pitches against the Braves tomorrow. With five scoreless innings, the Nationals rotation could make a little more history — just like everyone thought it could. Article #42 Nationals’ Michael A. Taylor continues to grow By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (6/28/15) PHILADELPHIA — Because baseball happens every day, evidence of maturation rarely glares, sometimes escaping notice. Often, progress is steady and slow. Nationals rookie outfielder Michael A. Taylor came into this season needing to improve his plate discipline, as he had the unfortunate tendency to chase too many breaking balls. Slowly but assuredly, he is improving it, whether or not his progress is obvious from one day to the next. Taylor struck out in 39.6 percent of his 53 April plate appearances. He struck out in 35 percent of 60 plate appearances in May. Taylor has had 87 plate appearances in June. He has struck out in 20.7 percent of them, a lower June strikeout percentage than Mike Trout (29.7 percent), Giancarlo Stanton (27.3 percent), and Ryan Braun (24.7 percent).

“It’s hard playing in the big leagues, especially as a young guy getting used to it,” Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu said. “I think right now, he’s just in a better position, slowing the game down.” Schu said he’s seen Taylor make mechanical adjustments that have allowed him to see the ball better, spreading out his stance and getting his hands in a better position. “He’s got less going on, so his timing is better,” Schu said. “I think he’s in a much better position to see the baseball, and he’s swinging at much better pitches.” Taylor is hitting .284 in June, an average that does not reflect the frequency with which he has hit the ball hard this June. While he has dropped down several bunt hits, he has also lined out repeatedly to center field, a sign his timing is synced and his swing plane true. Nearly 22 percent of the balls he has put in play this month have been line drives. He hit line drives on nine percent of balls he hit in May. “I definitely feel a little better,” Taylor said. “Sometimes, I’ve been a little too aggressive at the plate, but I have a pretty good feel of what I’m trying to do right now, so it’s just a question of being disciplined in that.” Injuries to Jayson Werth and Denard Span have provided regular at-bats for Taylor, who seems to be benefiting from them. Given that Werth will likely be out until August, and that Span and Bryce Harper are both nicked up, he will likely continue to see fairly regular playing time for the foreseeable future. He is tied with Span for the team lead in stolen bases (eight) and has a WAR of 0.5 this month — tied for the 13th highest among major league outfielders. “He’s got a bright future, it’s pretty exciting,” Schu said. “The thing for me about Michael is he’s really stayed even keel. This game is so hard up here and this is such a pressure cooker that there are peaks and valleys. Even when he was struggling, he stayed right there. Now that he’s going good, he’s staying there. That’s the kind of mentality you need to have success up here.”

Article #43 Nats' bench embracing 'next man up' mantra By Bill Ladson – Nationals.com (6/29/15) NEW YORK -- Injuries to Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon have forced the Nationals to rely heavily on their bench this season. For the first time since 2012, the players on the bench have been productive fill-ins. Players such as Danny Espinosa, Clint Robinson, Michael Taylor, Dan Uggla, Tyler Moore and Jose Lobaton have contributed to a team that is on top of the National League East. Of the players on the bench, Taylor is expected to see everyday action by next year, when he could replace Denard Span in center field. Moore is the only bench player left from 2012 (Espinosa was the regular second baseman that year), and he said it helps that the reserves are getting a chance to show their skills on a regular basis.

"It does have that feel of 2012. It feels good. It has a positive vibe in the clubhouse between us," Moore said. "When our starters are out, [the bench comes in] and it has been good so far." Robinson, Uggla and Espinosa are the three bench guys who stand out this year. Robinson has arguably been the MVP off the bench. He is in his first full season in the big leagues, and manager Matt Williams has played him at first base and the corner-outfield spots. It seems Robinson is doing something positive with the bat every time he is in the starting lineup. "It's game to game, at-bat to at-bat," Robinson said. "I don't think anyone thinks of himself as a bench player. … We go out there and expect to succeed. The organization expects us to succeed. That's why we are here. It's just being out there and playing." Uggla is the leader of the bench. The veteran is a reserve for the first time in his career, and he seems comfortable in his new role. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Phillies on Sunday, Uggla went 3-for-4 with a run scored to raise his batting average to .235. But that doesn't tell the whole story, according to teammate Ian Desmond. "Dan is awesome," Desmond said. "He is a big part of this ballclub -- a lot more than what people know. In the clubhouse, he is rallying guys, he is always picking guys up. He is always positive. He has a knowledge that he is sharing with guys, especially the bench guys. He is a smart baseball player. He is handling his business exactly the way the organization thought he would. He is just as important as anybody else on this team." Uggla downplayed his role on the bench and is happy to be a member of the Nats. "I love this group of guys. This organization has been pretty awesome to me since I signed with them," Uggla said. "I'm enjoying myself." One could argue that Espinosa has helped save the Nationals' season. He was slated to be a backup infielder, but the injury to Rendon has forced Espinosa to play often. He has played every infield position and also saw time in left field. Espinosa has even showed improvement at the plate by striking out less frequently. "Last year, his head was getting out in front of his body," Williams said recently. "This year, he is sitting down at the plate a little bit more and he is letting the ball come to him. Any time you can do that, you have a better chance of having a little bit of success. He loves to play. I love to put him in there."

Article #44 Jose Lobaton, Gio Gonzalez proving to be perfect pairing for the Nationals By Tom Schad – Washington Times (7/7/15) Gio Gonzalez dressed and stood to face the cameras in front of his locker Friday night. He had gone 11 days between starts because of a postponed game in Philadelphia, then held the San Francisco Giants to one run over seven strong innings without issuing a walk for the first time all season. The first question posed to Gonzalez was a familiar one, about his outing and his performance, and his answer was similar to what it's been for the past few months. "I think that the real guy that was behind all of it was [Jose] Lobaton," Gonzalez said. Lobaton is the Washington Nationals' backup catcher, a role that offers few opportunities and little chance for recognition. But in that role, the 30-year-old Venezuelan has been rock solid so far this season, especially with Gonzalez on the mound. Lobaton has caught seven of Gonzalez's past eight starts, including the rain-shortened game in Philadelphia. During that stretch, the left-hander has a 3.14 ERA, well below his 4.16 mark for the season. Gonzalez made it clear that he enjoys pitching when Wilson Ramos is behind the plate, too. He's just been matched up with Lobaton in recent weeks, a trend that could very well continue Wednesday. It's been working, so why change? "I think it's understanding his pitcher," Gonzalez said. "He's not only doing his homework against the other hitters, but he's also doing his homework toward the pitcher and how he feels and how he looks. In other words, it's a little kick in the [butt] just to get you going, you know what I'm saying? And I give him a lot of credit for that." Gonzalez raved about Lobaton's work ethic first and foremost, saying that the backup catcher is one of the first players to arrive in the clubhouse each day. "He's a guy that kind of overworks," Gonzalez explained. Lobaton also isn't afraid to push the left-hander before and during his starts. On Friday, for example, Gonzalez said Lobaton was getting on him for a pitch he threw to Buster Posey that resulted in a solo home run. Gonzalez had not pitched more than one inning in 11 days. "That's not an excuse," Lobaton told him. "You've got to get better." Lobaton has nagged Gonzalez about throwing more strikes, and the dividends have been noticeable. He has walked only two batters in his past 14 innings, and allowed only one earned run during that stretch. The numbers are not coincidental, Lobaton said. "The difference for him is try to throw strikes, try to get the guy to hit and see what happens," he said. "If you give up six runs because it's a lot of hits, you can still say it wasn't a bad game because you were throwing strikes. I'm a catcher, and I want those guys to throw strikes. If they give up five homers, I don't care. If he's throwing strikes, I'm happy."

Lobaton also plays a role in that process by framing pitches, an area in which advanced metrics say he is among the league's best. According to Baseball Prospectus, he has gained 13.4 additional strikes for Nationals pitchers this season, which ranks 18th in the majors. He began working on pitch-framing during his days in Tampa Bay and cited Jose Molina as an important teacher. "I don't want to say I never practice that, but it's not like something that I go every day like practice, practice," Lobaton said. "Something that I feel like now I just have it." Denard Span watches Lobaton steal strikes for Washington's pitchers on a nightly basis, but he credits the backup catcher's personality more than anything. "He keeps everybody in stitches, and I think that's like a requirement for a backup catcher," Span said. "They have to have a good sense of humor, because they have to keep the bench light. When I was in Minnesota, it was Mike Redmond. He was the guy that kind of kept the team just always laughing, kept the team loose. Loby does the same thing." Lobaton has not received many at-bats this season, and he knows there won't be many on the way, barring an injury to Ramos. Midway his second year in Washington, he is content filling his role and helping the pitching staff when called upon, with Gonzalez chief among them. "You know, everybody wants to be good at something," Lobaton said. "My role here is a backup catcher. They believe more in my defense than my offense, so I concentrate on being a more defensive guy and a guy that pitchers want me to be there." Article #45 For Max Scherzer, baseball doesn’t ever get shut off or even turned down By Rick Maese – Washington Post (7/11/15) Here are a few things about pitcher Max Scherzer: He has two dogs and two cats, and one of those dogs — Bo — has one brown eye and one blue eye, just like Scherzer. He married a former softball pitcher, and shortly after signing that record $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals six months ago, he bought a Tesla. Here are a few more: He’s 30 years old, a Missouri native who loves golf and fantasy sports and is beloved by both former and current teammates. But perhaps the most important thing to know entering Tuesday’s All-Star Game: All of that — the golf, the car, the contract, the pets, the multicolored eyes — is just window dressing, all in the back seat while baseball rides shotgun. Scherzer is obsessed with the game and all of its intricacies. The time of day or the time of year doesn’t matter; baseball doesn’t ever get shut off or even turned down.

“Never. Not even the offseason,” said his wife, Erica May-Scherzer, the aforementioned former softball pitcher. And because of this, any attempt to understand Scherzer probably has to take place at the ballpark, where so much of what makes Scherzer tick — and just about everything that makes him great — is on display every day: competitive fire, unmatched work ethic, attention to details and a unrelenting mission to get better. A right-hander who chased perfect games in back-to-back starts last month, Scherzer shies away from calling himself a perfectionist. “A perfectionist expects to be perfect,” he explains. “If you’re not perfect, you’re frustrated, and it leads you into a negative cycle.” This is what separates Scherzer, why he was named this past week to his third straight all-star game and why he just might be pitching even better than his 2013 Cy Young campaign: He accepts his flaws, mostly because it gives him something to work on. “You’ll never be perfect,” he said, “but you can always try to find a way to get better. Every single day you can find some way to improve.” Intense, competitive Teammates describe a lovable, goofy, playful prankster who conceived the chocolate syrup showers as a postgame celebration and takes pride in running the clubhouse fantasy leagues and betting pools. Scherzer also is eager for any sort of challenge. Reliever Matt Thornton spent the past two offseasons working out with him in Arizona and learned that everything — every stretch, run and drill — has to have a winner. “There’s nothing that he does that’s not a competition,” Thornton said. Every fifth day from April to October, it escalates to a whole other level. Scherzer is unmistakable. He stomps around the mound like a bull with a short fuse and an even shorter to-do list. If it weren’t for the baseball uniform, he would look prepared for a street fight. “He truly is the guy on game day who’s in a different gear,” Nationals closer Drew Storen said. “From the second he shows up, he’s on a mission. It’s pretty impressive. It wears me out watching him.” Scherzer tries not to flip the switch too early in the day, instead bringing his intensity to a slow boil in the two to three hours leading up to the first pitch. “If I’m locked in at 11 a.m., there’s a problem,” he said, “because I’m going to be mentally gassed by the time 7 o’clock rolls around.” That same inner fire makes Scherzer fiercely protective. Two days after each start, he throws a bullpen session, usually about 40 pitches. He will try to re-create pitches from his last outing and simulate at-bats he anticipates in his next start. These sessions take place in secret, the audience usually limited to the bullpen catcher and Steve McCatty, the pitching coach. And if someone else wanders in? “He’ll kick people out,” Thornton said. “Tell them, ‘Go on, get out of here.’ It’s just the way he wants to work. He’s got a routine. One thing about baseball especially: You don’t mess with a guy’s routine.”

Scherzer’s secretive during games, too, renowned for having one of the game’s most complicated sign systems, elaborately designed to prevent base runners from tipping pitches to batters. Former Tigers catcher Brayan Pena once explained to USA Today that “you have to have a Harvard degree to . . . understand them.” Jose Lobaton caught Scherzer’s first spring training game with the Nats, and Scherzer tried explaining his system beforehand. “I talked to [Wilson Ramos] and said, ‘Willie, I got this guy today. He told me about the signs, and I don’t know what I’m gonna do in the game,’ ” Lobaton recalled. “He said, ‘Really? It’s that bad?’ ” The catcher must utilize different parts of the body and elaborate patterns that change depending on the count, number of outs or who’s on base. “It’s not the same every time,” Lobaton said. Back at their Northern Virginia home, Erica knows this side of Scherzer all too well. She also pitched at the University of Missouri and also loathes losing. They have an unspoken rule at home: no board games. “It never ends well,” she said. “We have certain games — Monopoly and Risk — that we stay away from because it’s going to turn into a fight. The competitiveness is everywhere.” Scherzer competed with that same intensity well before the Arizona Diamondbacks made him a first-round pick in 2006. The main difference: When he was younger, he didn’t always know when to dial it back. Scouts would pass through the Missouri campus and openly wonder whether Scherzer would break down. Many thought he was destined for a career in the bullpen, surely unable to sustain that energy level over several innings, much less an entire season. Early in his college career — and at different times in the minors and early in his major league career — he seemed hellbent on overwhelming the opposition. Tim Jamieson, the Missouri baseball coach, said he was throwing, not pitching. “He either felt like he had to miss bats or he felt like he had to be better because he’s facing better hitters,” Jamieson said. “But Max figured it out pretty quickly.” Intrigued by strategy Even today, Scherzer isn’t happy thinking about his playing time in that first year of college ball — “Kind of a typical freshman,” his coach said, “had to figure stuff out” — and still wishes he was allowed to bat more back then, when his team instead relied on a designated hitter. He doesn’t forget these perceived slights. Last month, Scherzer strung together a pair of extraordinary outings: a one-hitter that featured 16 strikeouts, followed six days later by a 10-strikeout no-hitter. The latter would have been a perfect game had Scherzer not hit a batter — with two outs and two strikes — in the ninth inning. Jamieson sent Scherzer a congratulatory text message. Scherzer’s response made no

reference to his incredible pitching performances and instead noted for his old coach that he had just extended his hitting streak to five games. That wouldn’t surprise Rick Schu, the Nationals’ hitting coach. Scherzer doesn’t want to be considered an easy out and is constantly picking Schu’s brain. He wants to talk swing path and bat speed and how to put backspin on the ball — anything that will give him an edge. Schu calls him the “hardest-working pitcher that I’ve ever had.” “I’ve seen it,” Scherzer said. “When the pitcher gets a knock, there’s a lot of ways to create runs from that. Now you’re on base and you’ve got the top of the order rolling around — your best hitters.” Turns out, no coach on staff is safe from Scherzer. First base coach Tony Tarasco calls him a “constant pain in the butt.” “But in a good way,” he said with a laugh. A base coach is generally trying to protect his pitcher and keep him out of harm’s way. But Scherzer pushes Tarasco to let him tag up, to get the perfect lead, to be aggressive when the ball is in play. “I don’t think he wants to be just another pitcher on the bases,” Tarasco said. “He almost takes offense to it.” During batting practice a couple of times a week, Scherzer will stand near second base and study the way the ball comes off the bat. Then he’ll do the same roaming the outfield. He’ll talk to position players to better understand their reads and positioning in different situations. “You just have a completely different view of the game,” he said of life on the bases. “I see the game from the mound and everything seems so big and far away. When you’re on base, it feels so compact.” The extra work has paid off. He hadn’t regularly hit since 2009, and after starting the year 1 for 13 at the plate, he has eight hits in his past 26 at-bats and has scored four times. At Philadelphia last month, he led off the fifth inning with a single to right. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, hustled to third on Michael A. Taylor’s bunt single and scored on a sacrifice fly. “I just think he is intrigued with the strategy of the game,” Tarasco said. “There’s something in his DNA that makes him want to be the best at everything.” It’s easy for fans and players alike to get lost in the game, and Erica said Scherzer can be consumed by baseball — and sports in general — year-round. Three years ago, his younger brother, Alex, committed suicide at the age of 24. Scherzer was crushed. He went home briefly but was back on the mound for Detroit two days later, making his scheduled start with his parents watching from the stands. He doesn’t talk about this publicly, but a few days later Scherzer told Tigers beat reporters, “It was the most difficult start I’ve ever had to make in my life. “But it was worth it,” he said, “because everybody that was close to me, my family, they gave me a chance to get out there and have a smile, get out there and enjoy life. And that’s the most important thing.”

Very superstitious Here’s what can be slightly difficult to reconcile: Scherzer goes to great lengths to control every aspect of his game, but he’s still susceptible to superstition, perhaps more than any player in the Nationals’ clubhouse. He eats a massive roast beef sandwich before each start. He has been known to wear his shorts backward when the temperature dips. He doesn’t grab the ball from his glove, preferring to flip it into his bare hand. Once, after starting the 2013 season 13-0, he didn’t change a flat tire on his car for four starts, scared it would ruin his run of good fortune. (“That one wasn’t really a superstition,” he insisted.) But the rest? Only he knows. “He’s got them pretty locked tight to his chest,” said Nationals starter Doug Fister, a teammate for 21/2 seasons in Detroit. “He has this superstition on top of everything else that you don’t talk about your superstitions,” his wife said. “There’s a few I know, a few others that I only think I know.” Erica said Max, like a lot of ballplayers, adheres more to routine than superstition. A pitcher is just one man on the field, which means he’s mostly powerless when the ball is in play. Clinging to habits or patterns is just another attempt at controlling the game. “We’re creatures of habit,” Scherzer explained. “We’re always trying to figure out how to do the same thing the exact same way. You’re trying to make sure everything’s on the same exact pattern. It makes you crazy.” Superstitions aside, Scherzer tries to stick to the same routine on the days leading up to each start. The day before his turn in the rotation, he will watch the game from the dugout and envision himself on the mound, and by the next afternoon, he will have a game plan for each hitter. Then the day after a game, he reviews everything, paying particular attention to his final 15 pitches. Those are the ones, he said, that really determine whether an outing was successful. Either he was still throwing strong and hitting his marks late in the game — or he was about to get yanked and replaced by a reliever. More often than not this season, those last 15 pitches would make most pitchers envious. He has three complete games and was tied for the National League lead in innings pitched (1231/3) entering Saturday. Scherzer is still striking out as many batters as ever (10.4 per nine innings), but his walk rate has been cut in half from last season (just one per nine innings). He has twice earned the league’s pitcher of the month honors, and his WHIP (0.80) is not only the best in the game, it’s lower than anyone since 1900 with the exception of Pedro Martinez (0.74 in 2000) and Walter Johnson (0.78 in 1913). And Scherzer is still hoping for an even better second half to the season. He broke into the majors with just two reliable pitches but worked on his slider, tinkered with his change-up and won the American League Cy Young Award in 2013 after adding a curveball. This year, he added a fifth pitch to his repertoire — a cutter — but used it only sparingly in the first half of the season. As NL teams see him a second or third time, he has that cutter in his back pocket to keep batters on their toes.

“I’m ready to make adjustments at any time,” he said, “and it can happen within the at-bat. I’m waiting for the opposing teams to make the adjustments first. Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The sport is littered with stars who saw a decrease in production after signing big contracts, but the mere suggestion that Scherzer might have relaxed this season makes him laugh. “Anyone that thinks that obviously doesn’t know me,” he said. He likes to tell people — teammates, family members, reporters — “You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. You never stay the same.” “He truly lives and dies by that,” said his wife, Erica. “It’s one of those things where he wants to get better every year, every start, every pitch.” Article #46 Bryce Harper wants baseball to benefit from the attention he receives By Barry Svrluga – Washington Post (7/13/15) The first stage of saying, in effect, “Hey! You over there. You’re wrong about baseball!” consisted of three workouts and six meals a day until it consisted of none, that final week when Bryce Harper consumed only juice. Seven different raw juices. Over the final two weeks, before he exposed each of his muscles to ESPN’s photographers, he put salt in his drinking water so he could hydrate himself without gaining weight. On the final day, before he stripped naked and recorded the results for the world, he rose for one final workout, but when he went to refresh himself, he spit the water out. When he arrived at the field at the University of Nevada Las Vegas for the shoot, his system was completely depleted. He shoved raw, white potatoes down his throat because he knew the glucose and glycine they contained would run straight to his muscles — which yearned for something, any kind of nourishment they could find. “It makes you pop,” Harper said. “It makes you stand out.” This is how Bryce Harper stands out on his own, and how he wants to help baseball stand out as a pursuit. He has said he takes 30 minutes on his pregame hair. He has Instagrammed his tailored suits. He has used a custom-painted bat in a game. And he has undergone an offbeat regimen — and by offbeat, we mean insane — to completely overhaul his physique so that he stood out, he popped, in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue. Think you know what a baseball player looks like? Alter that notion, because here comes Bryce Harper. As he arrives in Cincinnati for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, his third in four seasons as a big leaguer, he could appear to be one walking, talking ego trip. That part’s debatable, but it’s surely the easy perception from outside the Washington Nationals’ clubhouse, that the kid should take a mirror to the plate so he can watch himself.

What’s not debatable is this: Harper will be positioned at the center of baseball’s showcase. He will be there, lights on, hitting third for the National League, because his .464 on-base percentage is the best in baseball, his .704 slugging percentage is the best in baseball, his 1.168 on-base-plus-slugging number is the best by more than 100 points. He has 26 homers when his old career high was 22. He has 61 RBI when his old career high was 59. The numbers, at some point, had to come. Now, they are here. But put them aside, because when your body’s drained of nutrients and you’re drinking only raw juice — green four times a day, a watermelon-strawberry combo in the morning, a red cayenne-and-coconut concoction midday, and an almond-milk protein mixture before bed — you’re not thinking of numbers. You’re thinking of the klieg lights glaring. “I love it,” Harper said. “I really do.” He loves it because at 22, he is a star. To truly play that role, it must be understood. To truly play that role, it must be embraced. That is Bryce Harper, July 2015. “He understands where his place — potentially, someday — could be,” said his manager, Matt Williams. “He gets that he was here at 19, and that if he plays to 40, what that could mean. He also understands people’s view, and that sometimes they view that in the wrong way. . . . “I think he’s starting to understand the process of becoming the player that he wants to be, and facing adversity and injury and understanding that, ‘Hey, listen, I got to make sure I take care of myself. I got to make sure that I’m productive for the team. And here’s how I’ll hopefully, someday, be a Hall of Famer.’” From the moment Harper stepped on a major league field at 19, he had that look-at-me chip in him. The laser he sent to the bottom of the center field wall at Dodger Stadium in the third at-bat of his career didn’t just end up as a double. It went as a toss-the-helmet-from-your-head, let-your-mane-flow-in-the-breeze baseball moment. The pre-shoot diet, then, would seem to be born of narcissism. Harper has another explanation. “I did it for baseball,” he said. “Baseball players have such a bad rap of, like, we don’t work out or we’re not strong or this or that. Guys work so hard in baseball, it’s incredible. But people don’t know that. I wanted to show them, ‘Hey, this is our sport. This is who we are.’” Who Harper is, though, is changing. That’s true in the public eye, for sure. Named in a preseason poll as his sport’s most overrated player, he is having an MVP season, and he pulled in more fan votes for the All-Star Game than anyone else in the National League. But for any of that other stuff to matter, he had to stay on the field, and he had to perform. A star isn’t a star on the shelf. “If I’m healthy, that’s who I am,” he said. “That’s what I do.” ‘He wants to be the best’ The star in Harper once wanted to be part of every aspect of the show, and that began with batting practice. His power is immense, and since he was a kid his sessions drew crowds and turned heads, balls clanking to previously unexplored parts of ballparks from coast to coast.

But this season, after Harper is done taking flyballs in right field, he heads to the cool of the clubhouse. There, he has his routine, every day, in the batting cages just off the Nationals’ dugout. It is him, a bucket of balls, a bat, a tee and Ali Modami, one of the team’s batting practice pitchers. When the Nationals played at Yankee Stadium earlier this season, Harper took the tour, reading the plaques in Monument Park, taking his picture in front of Mickey Mantle’s spot. Why not hop into the cage during BP and send balls skyward? It’s the Big Apple, the Mick, the Babe, Broadway. Why not be part of the show? “That was the hardest thing this year — not taking BP at Yankee Stadium,” Harper said. “That’s tough. I mean, I’ve never played there before.” Instead, Harper went through his normal routine, out of sight. He swung a bat with his left hand only, then his right hand only. He swung a smaller bat with both hands, a drill that helps him keep the barrel through the ball. He put the tee low and on the outside half of the plate and hit five balls the other way. He walked through his swing, without seeing a pitch, to get his body flowing through the ball. He had Modami soft toss him balls from the side, then from the front, five or eight or whatever he needed. And then Modami, a lefty, stepped behind the screen to throw Harper his batting practice session, a steady stream of four-seam fastballs, before which Modami would present situations: men on second and third, one out, seventh inning, down a run, facing, say, Phillies lefty Jake Diekman. Harper’s mind begins to go. “You start thinking, ‘What would he throw me first pitch?’ ” Harper said. This is the part of stardom that involves not a trace of glamour, the work in solitude and secret. The fans who arrive early know only that Harper is not on the field. His teammates, though, know where he is. “What you learn about him is he wants to be the best,” said veteran infielder Dan Uggla, who competed against Harper for three years and now is his teammate. “He wants to take this team to a world championship. He likes that kind of pressure. He wants to be the guy in the batter’s box with a runner on second base down by one. He wants to be that guy. That’s who you want on your team, man.” This hasn’t come without hiccups, even now, in the year he’s poised to match his accomplishments with his reputation, the year he’s poised to set up the rest of his career. He has overthrown the cutoff man in ill-advised attempts to nail a runner at third, only to allow the hitter to advance to second. On June 30 against the Braves, he lofted a flyball to left field — and didn’t run. The Braves announcers excoriated him. Williams approached him the next day. “Dude, what are you doing?” Williams said he asked. “Yeah, Skip, sorry man,” Harper replied. “I hit the ball to left and I was so mad. And then he caught the ball, and I went, ‘I didn’t run.’ ” “We got to make sure . . .” Williams started. “I got it,” Harper said. “I’m on it. I’m on it.”

The code of baseball is that every player runs out every hit in every at-bat. “It’s how I was taught,” Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman said. So when Harper doesn’t, the violation of the code mixes potently with his own stardom, and the criticism flows. On ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” that night, analyst John Kruk said such lessons are learned in Little League. Harper understands. Being the star means not just enduring the scrutiny, but relishing it. “The sports world is: What have you done for me lately?” he said over lunch last week. “I love that. I mean, I really do. What have you done to get this? What have you done to do that? Every single night you have to do something, then do another thing, do another thing. It never stops. And I want it to keep going. I want to move forward. I want to keep going, keep going, because that makes me better. That makes me better every single day.” What also makes Harper better is the situation, a reality he can’t deny. When there’s a small crowd, and the stadium echoes rather than buzzes, “I’m just like . . . ” and he tossed his fork onto his plate, letting his shoulders slump. But the ancillary elements matter. Earlier this month, he didn’t just face San Francisco lefty Madison Bumgarner, the hero of last year’s World Series. “It was the Fourth of July,” Harper said. So he brought to the plate a special bat, one painted with the D.C. skyline, with stars and stripes. In his first at-bat, he crushed a homer. “What I’ve learned,” he said, “is that I have to try to make every at-bat feel like that.” But to do that, he can’t alter the routine. He knew how he would have approached a batting practice session at Yankee Stadium, with all of the Bronx locked in on his swing, on each ball. “I would’ve tried to hit the ball a mile,” he said. “Probably would’ve tried to hit it out of the stadium.” He thought for a moment. “But what’s the good of that?” he asked. “There isn’t any.” In the fourth inning of his first game at Yankee Stadium, he faced New York ace Masahiro Tanaka. The preparation was done, and the moment mattered. He cracked another home run. ‘What can I complain about?’ Last week, Harper sat in an Italian restaurant on Capitol Hill, busy at midday. He had driven in from his Crystal City apartment, parked his Volvo SUV in front of Eastern Market, and settled into a table right in the middle of the lunchtime buzz, hiding from nothing and no one. “I love D.C.,” he said in between his mozzarella, tomato and basil salad and his tagliatelle with beef ragu. “I truly do. That’s not just me saying that. I want to be part of it. I want to enjoy it with the people. I want to enjoy it with everybody here.” He is at the point, in Washington, that when he has lunch, the maître d’ brings over a filet sampler, whether he ordered it or not. (He did not.) He is at the point in Washington that he has his spots, Filomena in

Georgetown foremost among them, Two Amys up Wisconsin Avenue NW for pizza. His Instagrams from around the city, often of the monuments, are sometimes hashtagged #home. But getting Washington excited about baseball is the small version of Harper’s goal, the short reach of his stardom. The Body Issue was another way for him to — excuse the millennial buzz phrase — build his brand. He has, though, been building it since he was a teenager, first with a Sports Illustrated cover at 16, later with endorsement deals with Gatorade and Under Armour and Geico. Such exposure, particularly when Harper was limited to 218total games in 2013-14 because of injury, could have seemed out of place. Baseball, more than perhaps any sport, sniffs out misplaced bravado. But the Nationals’ clubhouse has now come to terms with the team’s star. “They truly don’t care as long as I perform,” Harper said. “It’s like, ‘Whatever. Harper’s on TV again. Harper’s on another commercial.’ That’s part of it.” In Harper’s view, this is not just a natural part of being one of the best at what he does, not in baseball at least. In some ways, baseball players have to force their way into the public discourse, because none of 162 games is more important than the next, because the best hitters have their moment only four or five times a night, and even then they fail 70 percent of the time. Harper wants to overcome all that and make the game’s stars as recognizable as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. “Before I got into the game, I always thought to myself I want to change that aspect of baseball,” he said. “I want to change the nobody being with Gatorade or nobody being with high-profile companies like Under Armour or Nike or something like that, or being with a big brand in fashion or something like that. You look at all the other sports — football, basketball, soccer — they all have it. Baseball didn’t have that.” Baseball’s contracts are guaranteed, and for stars, they’re incredibly lucrative. The 27 richest contracts in team sports history — the NBA, NFL and soccer included — have all gone to baseball players. But those riches haven’t spilled over into the endorsement world. According to data compiled by Forbes, 44 athletes from all manner of sports — tennis and golf and cricket and auto racing and football and basketball and boxing and track and soccer — earn more than $4 million annually in endorsements. Boston designated hitter David Ortiz is the only baseball player at $4 million off the field. The sport, with Harper at the helm, is trying to change that. “Bryce is absolutely right,” said Jacqueline Parkes, MLB’s chief marketing officer. “We’re doing as much as we can. We have our most comprehensive campaign ever, but it’s a very cluttered marketplace. There are so many stars in both sports and entertainment.” The league, though, is embracing Harper’s approach. It has started a social media campaign designed, in real time, to distribute the best moments from each of its stars. (Use #THIS to search Twitter.) It is using GIFs and Vines and Instagrams to mark those moments. “No longer can we rely on 30-second spots to do the job completely,” Parkes said. “. . . But we’re not going to see results in one year. This is a long-term approach, and we feel really fortunate to have players like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen to build it around.”

Harper is the one who’s actively laying the bricks. As lunch wrapped up last week, the maître d’ brought by one last item, a white plate for Harper to sign with colorful markers, one that could join the others from celebrities that hung on the wall. Come back, they told him. Anytime, whatever you want. “My life is great,” he said. “I mean, people want my autograph. People want to take pictures with me. And I get to play baseball. What can I complain about? Really? Truly?” He put on his shades and stepped into the hazy sun of a Washington afternoon. “I understand with performance comes everything else,” he said. “If you perform, you get a lot of other things. And I understand: If you win you get a lot of other things. That’s your main goal is to be a great baseball player, to win a championship, and everything else — fashion things or merchandise angles — is secondary. But I really would like to build that for baseball.” He hopped in his car and drove to the ballpark, part ballplayer and part brand, every bit a star with his prime still ahead. Article #47 Max Scherzer doesn’t mind heavy first-half workload By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (7/13/15) Max Scherzer left Sunday’s win against the Orioles with two outs in the ninth, a batter away from his fourth complete game of the season, and did so reluctantly. Nationals Manager Matt Williams planned to let him finish, but also planned to pull him at the first sign of trouble. His pitch count was climbing above the 110-pitch mark he usually targets when Adam Jones homered, and with a one-run lead in Oriole Park at Camden Yards, one more tired pitch could have meant a tie score. Scherzer said later he felt good, despite having officially gone deeper in that game than he did in his last complete game, which ended after 8 1/3 innings when the Braves walked off with a win in Atlanta. Had he finished Sunday’s game he would likely have approached his season-high pitch count (119, done in the 16-strikeout game against the Brewers). He would also have pitched his fourth complete game of the season, and in so doing tied the record for most complete games in a single season by a Nationals pitcher — but tied it in the first half. Among the most telling statistics from Scherzer’s prolific first half is that he enters the all-star break with a 10-7 record, tied for the most decisions of any starting pitcher in baseball. That means he is pitching deep enough into games to be on the mound when they are decided — meaning most of his pitches matter, and require the kind of start-to-finish lockdown focus he showed in his no-hitter against the Pirates and near-miss against the Brewers. That record also indicates he is accumulating innings, too. He has thrown 132 innings through 18 starts so far this season, third-most in the majors behind Houston’s Dallas Keuchel and Cleveland’s Cory Kluber. Most starters make around 32 starts a season. His current pace projects him to around 235 innings over 32 starts. His career high is 220 innings, set last season.

“I’m fine with the workload,” Scherzer said. “I’ve always said I’m built for 110 pitches, and I can go up to 120 pitches, even low 120 pitches if need be. It just takes a lot of work between the starts, and that’s what I’m prepared to do and that’s what I’ve been doing and I’m comfortable with it. I want the ball in that situation. That’s what I work hard to be able to do and that’s what you relish. As for workload, this is comfortable.” Scherzer has been more efficient this season than he has in the past, still piling up strikeouts, but doing so because he pummels the strike zone relentlessly — not because he is nibbling to induce swings and misses. He has not walked a batter since June 14. That helps efficiency. Scherzer said a week ago that the key to late-inning efficiency — the kind that allows him to throw 97 in the eighth inning and work into the ninth — is something that has improved over his career “a little bit” with increased consistency of his off-speed pitches and how that allows him to “attack the strike zone.” “In some of those situations, I would go out and walk the leadoff batter. It was always really, really frustrating to me. I could be dealing for seven innings then go out there and walk the first batter and it’s an extremely tough inning,” Scherzer said before his complete game in Atlanta. “Whereas I had to get better at still attacking the zone in the eighth inning. That’s consistency with all my pitches but more importantly being able to throw the curveball and the slider for strikes a lot more consistently now, and I feel like that’s another reason why I’m a lot more efficient, even in those late innings.” Scherzer would be on five days’ rest for the Nationals’ first game after the all-star break, Friday against the Dodgers. The Nationals have not announced their post-break rotation yet and likely will not do so until later this week. Scherzer, who started opening day then closed the first half yesterday, seems likely to kick off the second. Article #48 Danny Espinosa’s first-half revival By Chelsea Janes – Washington Post (7/16/15) This season, Danny Espinosa has been a good, gritty all-around baseball player, and most players would probably tell you there is no higher compliment. He’s been the kind of guy who can hit a home run, bunt for a hit, make a standout play and steal a base, then take a hit to the knee and stay in the game. He did many of those things last weekend against the Orioles, lifting the Nationals’ depleted lineup with a bunt, a bomb, and plenty of defense. Such has been the story for Espinosa this season as he has emerged as an everyday player, then an everyday contributor to a team that needed one in the first half. “He’s kept us afloat a little bit,” Nationals Manager Matt Williams said. Hard to imagine, considering where Espinosa was as recently as March. Last season, Espinosa could hardly hit from the left side — .103 with a .241 on-base percentage. So the Nationals asked him to try hitting only right-handed in spring training. By now you know what happened next: the 28-year-old committed himself to the strong suggestion, but never felt comfortable. He simplified his left-handed swing and decided to use it this season. He has eight home runs and a .758 OPS from the

left side this year, his offense revived, combining with his speed and uncommon defensive abilities to make him one of the best second baseman in the National League over the first half of the season. “It’s been fun. It’s been a lot of fun,” Espinosa said. “Being able to contribute, being in there every single day, it’s been a lot of fun.” Though he played every infield position and some left field this season, Espinosa played the bulk of his innings at second base, and so can be measured against his peers there. He leads all National League second baseman with 10 home runs, the third most of any big league second baseman, first time he has hit double-digit homers since 2012. His .766 OPS is fourth among National Leaguers at second base. “I’m not out there trying to hit home runs, but it’s nice to have that back,” Espinosa said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good, just trying to stay within myself, stay within my approach, and not try to do too much.” Fangraphs measures Espinosa to have saved nine defensive runs this year, most of any player at second base despite the fact he has played fewer than two-thirds as many innings as others rated as highly. He leads in nearly every advanced defensive metric. “I think everybody knew what a tough player he is,” Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper said. “He’s a Gold Glove second baseman, he’s hitting from both sides of the plate this year, and we’re very excited to have him. He’s very, very good up the middle, and having him and (Desmond) is huge, doing what they do up the middle. He’s coming on with the bat this year, and he’s one of the best second basemans in the league right now.” The complicating factor lies in what happens next, when Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman get healthy, closing the infield gaps that gave Espinosa room to emerge. He has played the third-most games of any National this season, though his playing time would likely dwindle when Rendon and Zimmerman return. But Zimmerman’s plantar fasciitis will not go away quietly, likely to bother him on occasion. Espinosa can play first when it does. Rendon has battled injuries all season, and the Nationals will likely want to be careful. Espinosa can play second when they do. Ian Desmond struggled over the first half of the season, and Williams gave him a few days off to rest and regroup. Espinosa can fill in at shortstop if he needs more of those. Yunel Escobar has been an offensive presence at third, but he’s gotten couple-day nicks here and there. Espinosa has filled in at third on those occasions. “I come in every day wanting to play and look for my name in the lineup, and any way I can help, I continue to stay with my routine every single day, go out there and take my batting practice the way I want to, take my ground balls, and do what I do to feel that I’m ready for every ball game.” Espinosa’s first half stoked doubt where there was never any, about who should play where when everyone is healthy, about whether or not the Nationals must find a way to get him in the lineup regularly somehow. Those questions will be answered eventually, but the story of Espinosa’s first-half rejuvenation is told in the fact that they are being asked at all.

Article #49 What Ian Desmond has meant to Bryce Harper By James Wagner - Washington Post (7/28/15) When Bryce Harper was selected to his third all-star game earlier this month, one of the people he thanked without prompting was Ian Desmond. “He’s one of the guys who keeps me even keel every single day and really helps me out on a daily basis,” Harper said then. Desmond is known as the heart and soul of the Nationals, a caring leader who does a lot behind the scenes for teammates. And this season has been a trying one for Desmond, who, in his free agent season, is hitting .222/.270/.368 with 11 home runs, 31 RBI, 110 strikeouts and 21 errors. Even though the trials have weighed on him, Desmond has tried his best to stay as normal as possible, boosted by the support of teammates, past teammates, coaches, friends and family. Though the two are enjoying starkly different seasons, Harper has noticed how Desmond behaves. Asked how Desmond has influenced him this season, Harper gave an extended answer. “Just staying locked in every single day,” he said. “Not taking every day for granted, just play hard and things will happen. It doesn’t matter if you’re 4 for 4 for 0 for 4, every day is a new day and you come in and it doesn’t matter if you’re hitting .200 or .300, you can help the team win that night any way you can. Whether that’s in the outfield. Or you can strike out in the first inning, and third and fifth, but hit a double in the ninth to put your team ahead. Just try to go in with that mentality every single day and not worry about the at-bat whether it was a homer or a strikeout just go about your business the right way and enjoy it.” Harper, 22, and Desmond, 29, talk and joke around daily. They sat near each other on the couches before games, laughing and watching television. Desmond calls Harper by the nickname “Big Kid.” “He’s like my older brother,” Harper said. “He’s there for me whenever I need him. On or off the field. He’s awesome. His family is great. That’s what baseball is about, making relationships and enjoying things not just on the field but off the field. We’re not just baseball players. We’re people too. We have fun and enjoy what we do but there are bigger things in life than just baseball.” Over the past week, Desmond has looked much improved at the plate. Since the start of the Mets series, Desmond is hitting .478 (11 for 23) with four home runs, seven RBI, seven strikeouts and four walks. He has hit the ball down the left field line, up the middle and to the opposite field. His head is more still in his swing and his body under more control. Recent words of encouragement from Cal Ripken Jr. also helped. Desmond may be smiling more now because he is thrilled to contribute offensively after scuffling for much of three and a half months. But to his teammates, he has been the same person. “That’s why he is one of the best in baseball,” Harper said. “He’s one of the best guys in this clubhouse. If things go well for him in the second half, it’s exciting. The things Cal Ripken said to him the other day about hitting .190 and then hitting .260 in the second half, that’s really helped Desi. The thing about Desi is that he’s got the same mentality every single day. “If he’s 0 for 5 or 5 for 5, he’s got that same mentality. He’s having fun every single day and enjoying being in the big leagues. That’s the kind of guy you want next to your locker and playing next to you in the field.

That’s a guy you want at the front of your clubhouse. We’re very blessed and thankful to have him in the way he acts and leads this team. He battles every single day. I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he does his business.” Later that afternoon before Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh, the two leaned on the dugout railing before the team stretched, just the two hanging out together, watching the Pirates take batting practice.

Article #50 Danny Espinosa, the odd man out of the Nationals infield By Chelsea Janes - Washington Post (8/2/15) If there is a downside to the recent restoration of most of the lineup the Nationals imagined, it is that one of the team’s most consistent power hitters and strongest defenders has no natural place to play every day. In spring training, the Nationals did not conceive of an everyday lineup that included Danny Espinosa. By July, they had nine lineups all season without him. Espinosa saved the Nationals when Anthony Rendon went down with injury, and provided versatility when Yunel Escobar and Ryan Zimmerman were nicked up and out of action. He revived his left-handed swing, showed power from both sides of the plate, provided grit and speed and defense. If counted as a second baseman, he has the fifth-most homers of any player at his position. But when Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman returned from injury, they pushed Espinosa out. He has not started a game since July 26 in Pittsburgh. “It’s difficult, but it is what it is,” Manager Matt Williams said. “We’ve got to try to win games, and get to a point where everybody’s rolling. I want to give these guys a chance to get going offensively, too. We’re going to have to give them days [off]. We’re gonna have to get Espi and Clint [Robinson] and T-Mo in there, they were playing pretty regularly. So it’s a challenge, but it’s what we have to do.” Espinosa is hitting .250 this season with a .733 OPS, but has not had an at-bat since last weekend when he got two hits against Gerrit Cole. He was not in the starting lineup Sunday night. “There’s nothing you can do to keep your timing, really. Everything is timing really, in hitting. You can take as much BP as you want, but it’s not 97 miles per hour,” Espinosa said. “You try to keep the good feeling of the last ball I hit well. I had a couple hits off Cole, so just try to keep that feeling and confidence of getting a couple good hits off a really good pitcher.” Barring further injury — and the way this season has gone for the Nationals, that is not a safe bet — Espinosa will likely fill this role the rest of the way, a super-utility player able to play almost anywhere defensively, which means that he is asked to do so more than others. When Escobar, Rendon or Ian Desmond need days off, Espinosa will step in. Most trusted defensive metrics rate him as one of the top defensive second basemen in baseball, a luxury most teams do not have on their bench.

“Everyone on the bench is stir crazy,” Espinosa said. “We understand that everyone’s back and healthy, but the competitor in you wants to be out there. But certain circumstances don’t allow things to happen, so you have to do whatever’s asked to be done.” The Nationals do not have a day off for two weeks. Rendon and Zimmerman and perhaps even Escobar will likely need one or two in that stretch. In Espinosa, Williams has a proven regular ready to slide in.

Article #51 Doug Fister on bullpen move: ‘It’s not something you want to do, but I’m here to help the team win’ By James Wagner - Washington Post (8/7/15) At some point on Thursday, Doug Fister met with Nationals Manager Matt Williams and pitching coach Steve McCatty. They told Fister, a seven-year major league veteran with 167 career starts but struggling with a 4.60 ERA this season, that he would move to the bullpen. Rookie Joe Ross, impressive with a 2.80 ERA through his seven major league starts, would remain in the rotation when Stephen Strasburg returns from the disabled list on Saturday. “It’s not something you want to do, but I’m here to help the team win,” Fister said before Friday’s game. “It’s what it comes down to, bottom line. I need to do what I need to do to go out there and pitch and go out there and execute and be better on the mound.” Fister, who was the Nationals’ second-best starter last season, is known in the clubhouse as a caring, hard-working teammate. Although not happy to be pushed out of the rotation, Fister took the news in stride. “Doug is a true professional,” McCatty said. The conversation “went the way I expected to have gone with him. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him, Matt or myself, but it went well.” If the Nationals were in a different position in the standings, perhaps Fister would have a longer leash to continue ironing out his mechanics. He has certainly earned the right given his track record. But the Nationals sit in second place in the NL East and need to win. The Nationals are 5-10 in games started by Fister and 3-4 in games started by Ross, who has pitched better than that mark indicates. “Keeping Joe in the rotation speaks for itself,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said. “He’s throwing extremely well and he gives us a great chance to win every day. That’s the main reason we’re keeping him in the rotation. Doug, I think, can work on some mechanical issues out of the bullpen and help us for multiple innings out of the bullpen. I think he’ll be an asset for us.” The Nationals plan to ease Fister into his bullpen duties. If the Nationals are up by a lot, for example, Fister may get up in the bullpen to throw but not appear in a game to work on his mechanics and get used to warming up with long toss, which is part of a starter’s pre-start routine. That way the Nationals can gauge how Fister recovers and proceed from there. “We’re in a position where we need to win every one of them,” Williams said. “We’ll try to get him as much work as we can in a timely fashion with enough rest as well. We can’t say, ‘You’re going to get four innings today,’ because we don’t know. It’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to do the best we can with him.”

That will be the toughest part for Fister. He has made only four major league relief appearances, including the playoffs. Fister has a lot moving parts in his delivery because of his his large frame. And if he is working on his mechanics, the irregular schedule of relief work may make it harder to find regular chances to improve. “There’s no schedule when it comes to the bullpen and that does make it a little more interesting when it comes to that,” Fister said. “I’ve just got to stay on top of it and be able to talk to Cat and make sure we get some bullpens intermittently in there.” Fister, who will be a free agent in the winter, insists he is healthy since returning from a right forearm injury on June 18. His velocity has slowly improved from pre-injury but his command hasn’t been as sharp. In addition, his sinker has been moving sideways as opposed to down. McCatty suggested Fister’s arm slot has been different and the Nationals have worked to correct it. “Last year, there were a lot of pitches that were in but stayed in, instead of trying to be in and being over the plate,” McCatty said. “I don’t think every groundball that he got last year was a ball that was sinking down in the zone. But it’s about running a ball in somebody’s hands and the change-up, missing with that.” Fister believes he was slowly improving of late. He gave up five runs, including three home runs, in his last start but said the mistakes were “a handful of pitches versus half the game.” Once in the game, Fister said he won’t care about the role. “Once the ball is in the hand, it’s time for business,” he said. Fister could still be an option in the future. The Nationals haven’t outlined publicly how many more innings Ross can throw this season under his innings limit. Ross is only 22 and hasn’t thrown more than 122 innings in any professional season. He is at 121 innings between the minors and majors already this season. “He’ll be under the progression that we have for every pitcher in the organization,” Rizzo said. “It’s a different progression that what we have for a previously injured or surgically repaired pitcher. So it’s within our protocol we have for every pitcher and it’s the same scenario for Joe.” But Fister wouldn’t simply be an option if Ross gets shutdown. Fister could be be reinserted into the rotation should any issues arise with other starters such as injury. “He’d be the first candidate,” Rizzo said. An additional ripple effect with the move: With Fister serving as the long man in the bullpen now, Tanner Roark can be freed up for more one-inning stints or as a bridge from the starter to the back of the bullpen, Williams said. The Nationals also need to clear a roster spot on Saturday for Strasburg’s return and Williams said the team is still mulling options, including sticking with 12 pitchers or a four-man bench.

Article #52 Ian Desmond’s second-half power surge continues By James Wagner - Washington Post (8/11/15) LOS ANGELES — This season has been a struggle for Ian Desmond. He finished a miserable first half with a .211 batting average and seven home runs in 348 plate appearances. The offensive woes wore on the three-time Silver Slugger, playing in his final year season before free agency. There have still been a few hiccups, but slowly, Desmond has made the adjustments in the second half to change the course of his season. Since the all-star break, Desmond is hitting .277 with seven home runs in 92 plate appearances. He has faced some of the National League’s best pitchers and still been productive. His second-half on-base-plus-slugging-percentage of .919 is more than 300 points higher than his first-half mark of .589. His surge was capped by Monday’s two-homer performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers, only the second multi-homer game of his career. “It feels good,” Desmond said. “I feel good. It’s just nice to get some wins.” During his improved stretch, Desmond has deflected questions about his hitting and adjustments, instead preferring to talk more about the team. Asked about his season totals becoming more respectable with this second-half improvement, Desmond again deflected. “That’s a bit of a stretch,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. We won the game [Monday night] and it’s going to be a big road trip for us.” Nationals Manager Matt Williams has noticed a change in Desmond. Watching from a side angle in the dugout, Williams has seen Desmond crouched a bit lower in his stance at the plate and controlling the foot stride in his swing better. “He’s not drifting toward the pitcher,” Williams said. “He’s seeing it fine. His hands are lightning quick, we know that. And if he can sit down a little bit, he sees it longer and allows him to get in the strike zone. He’s walked some lately. Just a good sign. He’s swinging it well.” A significant part of Desmond’s improvement has been because of improved pitch recognition. From 2012 to 2014, Desmond hit .259 against offspeed pitches. His best season against those type of pitches was 2013 when he hit .287 against them. But entering Monday’s game, Desmond was hitting .188 against offspeed pitches. With a calmer approach and better pitch recognition, Desmond smashed a hanging curveball from Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson in the second inning Monday for a two-run home run. He got his front foot down quickly and swung hard at the ball. “If he’s not moving toward the pitcher, it helps,” Williams said. “Anytime you move toward the pitcher, the fastball gets better and the breaking ball gets better. If he’s able to be a little more calm in the batter’s box and sit down a little bit, that’s what he can do.”

Thanks to his second-half surge, Desmond has 14 home runs. He has also has nine stolen bases. Desmond is one of a handful of shortstops in major league history to post three 20 homer-20 stolen base seasons. With about seven weeks left in the season, Desmond could still reach 20 home runs. Reaching 20 stolen bases will be a lot more work. But at least Desmond has put himself in a position to finish the season closer to his recent career norms. “I’ve played with Ian for a long time,” first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “He’s going to continue to grind it out and play hard. That’s why he’s earned the respect he has around here. I don’t think anyone is pulling more for him than the guys in this clubhouse.”