Washington Nationals News: Nats’ offense still searching for spark
Good afternoon DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily! Get caught up on all the latest Nats news with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s daily, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson discusses the continued struggles of the Nationals’ offense. As Ladson notes, the cold bats were once again a problem last night and contributed to the Nationals’ 3-2 loss to the Marlins.
The offense has been a concern for much of the season for the Nationals. Early on when Denard Span and Jayson Werth were on the disabled list, the offense was nearly inexistant. Then once the team started to get healthy, it started scoring more runs. In recent games, however, the Nationals have returned to their low-scoring ways.
At the end of the day, the Nationals need to start hitting the ball or they’ll continue to dig themselves into a hole they can’t get out of down the stretch. Granted, it doesn’t help that Anthony Rendon is on the disabled list and things will definitely get easier once he returns. But the Nationals need to figure something out soon, because right now, the offense is what is killing this team.
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Also in today’s Daily, the Washington Post’s James Wagner gives us an update on Rendon’s status. As Wagner notes, Rendon played in his first rehab game last night and ‘everything is good’.
Needless to say, this is great news for the Nationals. With the offensive problems the team has had all season, Rendon returning sooner rather than later would be huge for the Nationals. We still don’t know exactly when he’ll be back, but he’s definitely on his way.
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Nationals’ offense still searching for spark
MIAMI — The Nationals continue to have problems scoring runs and it reared its ugly head during their 3-2 loss to the Marlins on Friday night.
For starters, the Nationals were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their best chance to go ahead late in the game came in the seventh and eighth innings.
With the score tied at 2, the Nationals had runners on first and second with one out and right-hander A.J. Ramos on the mound. Dan Uggla came to the plate for Washington and struck out. Reed Johnson entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Jordan Zimmermann and he grounded out to end the threat. Read full article here.
Anthony Rendon after first rehab game at Harrisburg: ‘Everything is good’
(James Wagner, Washington Post)
HARRISBURG, Pa. — When he dove for a groundball on March 9 during a spring training game and landed on his left knee, Anthony Rendon didn’t expect this: two MRI exams on his sprained left medial collateral ligament, three doctors’ evaluations, six weeks of rehab, missing the first three weeks of the season and, only now, beginning a minor league rehab assignment. He was “definitely” surprised it took this long to get back to normal.
“It’s been rough staying out of it,” Rendon said. “But, you know, everything happens for a reason so I’m just trying to work at it and get back under it.”
Rendon, arguably the Nationals’ best position player last season, took his biggest step yet towards a return when he played five innings at third base with Class AA Harrisburg on Friday, his first minor league rehab game. Read full article here.