Washington Nationals News: Grinding Ian Desmond embodies Nats as whole
By Pablo Roa
Good morning DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily! Before the Nats kickoff a new series against the Phillies tonight at Nationals Park, check out some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
I today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Richard Justice discusses Ian Desmond and how his struggles early in the season relate to the Nationals’ struggles as a whole. As Justice notes, Desmond has struggled mightily early in the season, playing atrocious defense and not connecting on the offensive side of the ball either.
Yesterday, however, Desmond may have finally turned the page on his slow start. In a 10-5 win that gave the entire organization a renewed sense of confidence, Desmond homered and played clean defense all day long.
After making costly defensive miscues just two days ago, it’s too early to say that Desmond has officially broken out of is funk. But it was definitely a good start, and hopefully it’ll change the mojo for Desmond and for the entire ball club as they start a series against the Phillies tonight.
Also in today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson discusses Rafael Martin and his impressive debut against the Red Sox yesterday. As Ladson notes, Martin was dominant yesterday, throwing two scoreless innings which he capped off with five consecutive strikeouts.
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Needless to say, seeing Martin dominate is a welcome sign for a Nationals ball club that has struggled mightily with its bullpen. We don’t know how long Martin will stay with the big league club or if he’ll continue to be successful against big league hitters. One thing’s for certain, yesterday’s performance was a great start.
Be sure to check out the articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals news.
Grinding Desmond embodies Nats as whole
BOSTON — Sometimes, the worst of times brings out the best in people. Just to be clear, Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond would rather not be this kind of example.
On the other hand, he’s showing everyone in professional sports — and perhaps beyond — how to handle a few bad days. Desmond is a reminder that grace and poise reveal themselves in a variety of ways.
“It’s just baseball,” he said. “It’s crazy. It’ll rack your brain. It’ll make food taste really bad. I think the biggest thing is I’m tremendously blessed to have awesome people in my life.”Read full article here.
Martin impresses Nats with dominant debut
BOSTON — The Nationals may have found their setup man in Rafael Martin. The right-hander made his Major League debut at Fenway Park in Wednesday’s 10-5 victory over the Red Sox and dominated, pitching two shutout innings and striking out five batters.
“Unbelievable. Everything I expected. I had a lot of adrenaline,” said Martin, who was once a construction worker and started his professional baseball career in the Mexican League.
Martin acknowledged that he was nervous when he entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. But Yunel Escobar helped calm down the 30-year-old rookie by telling him that the Red Sox hitters would have trouble picking up the ball because of the shadows around home plate. Martin threw nothing but fastballs. Read full article here.