Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, the Washington Post’s James Wagner discusses some big changes that the Nationals are making to their medical health system. As Wagner notes, there was some frustration in the medical care that the team provided last season and the Nationals are now investing heavily in a complete overhaul of their medical system.
The team fired several members of the training staff, including head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz, after the 2015 season.
As Wagner writes in his article, injuries were a big part of the Nationals’ disappointing 2015 campaign. While underperformance played a big role in the team’s failure to make the playoffs, it doesn’t help that several of the Nationals’ most important hitters were on the disabled list for a significant portion of the season.
More from District on Deck
- Latest DraftKings Sportsbook Promo Code in Maryland: Bet $5, Win $200 Guaranteed
- Nationals Claim Jeter Downs Off Waivers
- Washington Nationals Minor League Spotlight: Robert Hassell III
- Washington Nationals Tuesday Q&A
- 3 Free Agents the Nationals Should Gamble On
The Nationals have several players, namely Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos (among others) who have been injury prone over the last few years. While there are only so many injuries that the team’s medical staff can help prevent, it’ll be interesting to see if the team’s investment in a “cutting-edge, expansive, innovative healthy system” can help keep the players healthier in years to come.
Also in today’s Daily, Fox Sports’s Ken Rosenthal discusses why he believes the Nationals should be involved in the Zack Greinke sweepstakes this winter.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Nationals to change medical health system for players
(James Wagner, Washington Post)
One of the biggest themes, and ultimately downfalls, of the Nationals’ disappointing season was the injuries. All eight projected everyday players were in the same lineup for only two of the Nationals’ 162 games. Denard Span landed on the disabled list three times. Stephen Strasburg, Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon and Aaron Barrett did twice. Others, such as Ryan Zimmerman and Doug Fister, missed significant time.
The Nationals missed 1,030 combined games to injury in 2015, according to ManGamesLost.com, the seventh most in baseball. But privately some Nationals expressed frustration with the team-provided medical care. The front office has dismissed some of the training staff, including long-time head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz and strength and conditioning coach John Philbin. The changes, however, also included medical director and head team doctor Wiemi Douoguih, according to people familiar with the situation. Read full article here.
Five clubs that should join Price-Greinke sweepstakes
We know the obvious suitors for free-agent aces David Price and Zack Greinke — the Dodgers, Giants and Cubs; Cardinals, Red Sox and Blue Jays (at least for Price).
I can think of five other teams that also should be in the mix — teams with expiring contracts, teams that should not wait until next offseason, when the free-agent pitching class (Stephen Strasburg, Andrew Cashner, etc.) will be much weaker.
The 2017-18 class could be somewhat stronger (Yu Darvish, Tyson Ross, etc). But who wants to wait two years and bank on the possibility that such pitchers will be healthy and available? Read full article here.