In a conference with the media today, Davey Johnson said Kurt Suzuki will “probably” be the starting catcher headed into the spring, via CSN’s Mark Zuckerman. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Suzuki was originally acquired on August third from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor league catcher David Freitas, The need for a catcher became apparent after the Nationals saw Wilson Ramos, Jesus Flores, Sandy Leon, Jhonathan Solano and Carlos Maldonado all battle injuries at one point or another, and Suzuki was exactly the spark the Nats needed.

Despite hitting just .267, Suzuki seemed to hit 1.000 when it mattered most. His 5 home runs and 25 RBIs hardly do the season he had justice, and his defense and game-calling skills absolutely shined post-trade. Suzuki is signed through 2013, with an $8.5-million ($650k buyout) club option for 2014, so with a strong season, he could potentially see a contract extension thrown his way.

As for 2012 Opening Day catcher Wilson Ramos, Zuckerman says that once he proves he’s 100%, “[They'll] have two great number-one catchers” (via Davey Johnson).

Ramos suffered a season-ending ACL injury on May 12 that left the Nationals catching situation in flux until the August trade in which the Nationals acquired Suzuki. Originally acquired in the Matt Capps deadline trade in 2010, Ramos had showed much promise to that point in his career, including a 2011 campaign in which he hit .267 with 15 home runs and 52 RBIs – good enough for fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Regardless of who the starter ultimately turns out to be once Ramos is healthy, a trade would seem unlikely since the Nationals probably value catching depth after all the injury troubles they faced at catcher last year. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Oct 03, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (33) throws in the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

There has been a lot said about how good the Nationals have been at home. It makes sense. Most of your games are there as opposed to anywhere else. You’re in a routine, you know what to expect. That added comfort helps a lot when you are dealing with different things. Like playoff baseball for the first time. Or, a 1:00 start on a Wednesday. Things happen that you can’t control but you can bet that Nationals Park will be loud, it will be red and it will be a sight to see despite the controversy surrounding several decisions by Major League Baseball.

Nationals fans get a ribbing for allegedly being bandwagon fans and just discovering that they had a baseball team. But they are passionate, and let’s be honest. There aren’t many cities where people live and die with a losing team. Look for the crowd to bring all of the energy surrounding scheduling and television coverage to come out in loud, powerful screams. I’m sure Davey Johnson and the rest of the Nationals would like it no other way.

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To say that Edwin Jackson struggled in his last start against the Cardinals would be a gross understatement. In fact, he couldn’t have been much worse. But this is also why the Nationals signed the free agent this offseason. He helped the same Cardinals win a World Series last season and now is armed with the task to give the Nationals their second lead in the series. There has been more talk both within the team and outside of the team about Washington missing Stephen Strasburg. The only way to make sure people stop talking about that is by winning.

Having come here after the decision was made, I haven’t let my personal opinion be heard. Truth is, I think the way that the Nationals handled it was poor. I understand limiting his workload, but when they saw the team was on their way to the playoffs, why not stretch out his usage to allow him to perform in the playoffs. Sure there were struggles as his season came to an end. He now says he was tipping his pitches. Either way, this decision will be the talk of the offseason unless the Nationals win the World Series. People looked at the way that the Atlanta Braves handled Kris Medlen as the way to go, but even that didn’t help the Braves any (not that it was necessarily Medlen’s fault). The truth is, there would be the same second guessing happening if Strasburg were to get hurt or if he were to struggle. There was no right answer for Mike Rizzo and company unless they were to win everything. Then no one could say anything.

Nationals players know that. Sure there was one that told Ken Rosenthal that they would be up 2-0 with him. But there was also the one that said this all goes away with winning. It’s time for the Nationals to show up and what better place for that to happen then at home.

Tom Gorzelanny is making the start in place of Nationals ace Gio Gonzalez. (Photo: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE)

You can guarantee that Gonzalez would have started today if the Braves didn’t lose yesterday thus clinching the Nationals first National League East division crown since moving to Washington and their first division crown in a 162 game season in franchise history. Further complicating matters was the fact that there is no guarantee that the game would even take place today making it even harder for Gonzalez to start game 161 and Game 1 of the NLDS.

The move was warranted and allows the Nationals to have their best starter able to make two starts if necessary in the short best-of-five series. Considering they get the top seed in the NL, that would mean they would probably avoid Gonzalez going head to head with the other team’s ace giving them an advantage even though they start their series on the road.

The only thing this does is give Gonzalez one less chance to make his case for the Cy Young award. I still think he deserves the award despite R.A. Dickey‘s best efforts, but the extra start could have swayed voters one way or another. The Cy Young is definitely not the important thing in this scenario, however. This is a good decision by the Nationals not to take any chances after clinching and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of regulars sitting out the next two days. There is no need to have them play when many are playing with nagging injuries and haven’t had a rest in a few weeks.

Both sides appear to be going with a bullpen game tonight if weather permits. The Phillies are starting B.J. Rosenberg but he will just be one of many Phillies to take the mound today and since Gorzelanny is not stretched out, the same should be said for the Nationals. It’s a good thing the Nationals clinched yesterday, because the high of yesterday should offset the pain of watching minor leaguers in major league uniforms as usually befits the last few days of the regular season. However, instead of looking towards next year, the Nationals are merely looking to next weekend.