Drew Storen

One of the best — and sometimes worst — things about baseball is its unpredictability. Every season, teams and players defy experts’ predictions. Take 2011, for example. Who foresaw a Arizona Diamondbacks division title? A back-from-certain-death St. Louis Cardinals World Series victory? The unforgettable September comebacks and collapses? For the Washington Nationals, few expected an 80-win season and third place finish in the National League East. No one thought Davey Johnson would become the manager. After his abysmal start, few fans thought Michael Morse would become of the NL’s top sluggers. While his 2010 rookie year foretold great promise, almost [...]

A hallmark of the Washington Nationals surprising 80-win season in 2011 was their fine bullpen. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the pen’s 31 wins topped all National League staffs (the Miami Marlins were second with 30). The Nationals bullpen pitched 520.2 innings (source: MLB.Com), second most in the NL behind Atlanta’s 522.1. Their 3.20 ERA marked the fourth best in the NL and the fifth lowest in major league baseball. Overall, the Nationals’ bullpen contributed more to the club’s third place finish than any other facet. All-Star Tyler Clippard cemented his place as one of the National League’s top set-up men with [...]

Over at his Nats Insider blog, Mark Zuckerman (who’s quickly become one of my favorite Nationals writers) took a fairly thorough look at the organization’s future payroll obligations in the coming years. It’s an important topic to consider, particularly with the ongoing speculation and discussions centered on whether the Nationals are a serious contender to sign Prince Fielder. Without any additional moves, the team is looking at a 2012 payroll in the vicinity of $70 Million – roughly the same place they were in 2011. By 2015, that figure could rise above $100 Million for the first time in franchise history [...]

The annual Winter Meetings are always a source of countless rumors, rumblings, trades, and signings. They kick off tomorrow in Dallas in what is expected to be a busy few days after what has been a largely uneventful offseason to date. GM Mike Rizzo will be in attendance, trying to fill some of the remaining holes on the Nationals’ roster. So, let’s see if we can preview what to expect over the coming days.

Throughout this offseason, Mike Rizzo has been clear about wanting to acquire a centerfielder who can hit leadoff, whether through trade or free agency. There are a multitude of options for the team to consider, starting with the trade market. A name often discussed as a trade option is the Rays’ B.J. Upton. The Nats have been rumored to have interest in Upton since this past trade deadline, and it makes some sense. Upton is becoming increasingly irrelevant in Tampa with the emergence of Desmond Jennings, and has repeatedly stated his desire to join childhood friend Ryan Zimmerman in Washington. [...]

When putting together a list of names to be considered for the all-time Washington Nationals team, one may have to swallow their pride a bit and realize that the quality of names being considered will not be on par with some of the teams that have had 50 years to a century of tradition.  You may have to take into account fan-favorites or one-hit wonders that would be overlooked on other clubs all-time teams due to their storied pasts.  With that being said, I’m going to do my best to put together a position-by-position Washington Nationals all-time roster.  Here goes [...]

My oh my oh my…. Jesus, what shall we do with you? We should give you a chance to start. I hear the Astros calling, and they’re saying “Send us Jesus Flores plus a prospect or two and we will send back Wandy Rodriguez!” And that’s exactly what the Nationals should do. If the Nationals hope to woo any free agents, they should show that they already have some chips in place, and that they are serious about winning. The majority of the Nationals rotation is young (with the exception of Chien-Ming Wang), so why not add a veteran presence [...]

Cole Kimball made his Major League Debut for the Nationals this past May 14th. He pitched a scoreless 9th inning (allowing one walk and striking out one) in a 1-0 Nationals loss against the Marlins. He would go on to make 11 more appearances between then and mid-June, posting a 1-0 record, 1.93 ERA, with 11 walks and 11 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work. Kimball was then shut down due to a torn rotator cuff that would eventually require July surgery. He’d spend the remainder of the season on the 60-day DL. The typical recovery time frame for rotator [...]

Nationals first year closer Drew Storen finished the 2011 season third in the standings for the Rolaids Relief Man Award, given annually to the top reliever in each league. The award has been given out each year since 1976 and while it receives far less fanfare than the Cy Young Award, it is still considered to be a remarkable achievement to win. Storen appeared in 73 games, pitching 75.1 innings (more than any other closer in baseball aside from Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel) while posting a 6-3 record, 43 saves, and a 2.75 ERA. The Rolaids Relief Man Award, which ultimately [...]

Nationals fans searched for hope about their ballclub since their team came to the District in 2005. 2005 was an overachieving year for the Nationals, but there was no promise with a team that featured a barren farm system, which is why the last few years resulted to them being bad enough to get the top draft picks. Now, the fanbase have something to be excited about with this year’s 80-81 campaign. It isn’t just Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper playing for the Nationals. It’s about a team establishing themselves as a good team.