Results tagged ‘ Jayson Werth ’
Highlights: 4.9.13
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4.9.13 – Nationals 8, White Sox 7
Stat of the Game: After an 0-for-15 start to the season, Adam LaRoche homered in each of his final two at-bats Tuesday night, his second long ball providing the winning margin in the game.
Under-the-Radar Performance: With his go-ahead, two-run blast in the sixth, Jayson Werth notched the 500th and 501st RBI of his career.
It Was Over When: LaRoche’s second dinger seemed to put the game out of reach, but the contest wasn’t fully decided until Rafael Soriano induced Paul Konerko into a game-ending fly ball to center to wrap up his third save of the season.
What to Watch for: 4.9.13
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Chicago White Sox (4-2) vs. Washington Nationals (4-2)
RHP Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.50) vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00)
Following an off day on Monday, Washington opens up a six-game homestand with three matchups against the Chicago south siders, beginning tonight. The Nationals and White Sox share identical 4-2 records entering their first meeting since the 2010 season.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. LaRoche 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Ramos C
9. Gonzalez LHP
FAMILIAR START
At 4-2, the Nationals have matched their finest six-game start since arriving in D.C. in 2005. Last season, Davey Johnson’s Nationals also won four of their first six en route to a 7-2 start.
CATCH THIS!
Through six games, Nationals catchers Wilson Ramos (.444, 2 HR, 3 RBI) and Kurt Suzuki (.333, HR, 3 RBI) are a combined 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles, three home runs, six RBI, three walks and four runs scored. Ramos and Suzuki have combined on a 1.500 OPS, which ranks second in MLB among catching corps (Cleveland, 1.517).
500 CLUB LOOKING FOR NEWEST MEMBER
With 499 in the bag, Jayson Werth is just one RBI shy of reaching the 500-RBI plateau for his career. 93 of Werth’s 499 career RBI have come with the Nationals. 300 of his RBI came as a Phillie, 90 as a Dodger, and 16 as a Blue Jay. Werth is also just three home runs shy of 150.
The Cardiac Nats Are Back
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Nationals fans who followed the team closely last season were introduced to a term that would carry throughout the year. With the propensity of the team to play close, back-and-forth, stress-filled, ulcer-inducing nail-biters, the phrase “Cardiac Nats” began being thrown around. The 2012 edition of the Nats were 27-21 in one-run games, and 13-7 in extra innings, playing past the ninth a league-high 20 times.
It didn’t take long for the Cardiac Nats to resurface in 2013.
Wilson Ramos blasted a pair of home runs to lead the Nats to a thrilling victory.
Just five games into the season, Washington played one of the most gut-wrenching, roller coaster contests in recent memory, watching a 5-1, eighth-inning lead slip away, only to weather the storm and win, 7-6 in 11 frames.
One can only imagine what it would have been like to lose such a game, a thought neither Ian Desmond nor Jayson Werth were willing to entertain afterwards. If the afternoon itself hadn’t been filled with enough drama, the Nationals were coming off the heels of a 15-0 loss the night before, the most lopsided margin of defeat in franchise history since the team moved to Washington.
So what do you do the day after you get beat by 15 runs, then watch a four-run cushion disappear in the late innings? You get back up off the mat.
Desmond, whose pair of errors led to a couple of unearned Reds runs, made sure he took advantage of the opportunity afforded him for redemption leading off the 11th inning. He worked the count to 2-0, then fouled back two consecutive fastballs on big swings. With the count level at 2-2, he destroyed a hanging breaking ball from J.J. Hoover, sending it soaring into the upper deck in left field at Great American Ball Park, an estimated 439 feet from where it left the bat.
Two batters later, Wilson Ramos absolutely demolished his second home run of the game, a 3-2 fastball off the netting behind and above the home bullpen, just to the left of straightaway center field. There are some cheap home runs to be found here in Cincinnati, but Washington’s pair of 11th-inning blasts would have been long gone in any park in the game.
Ramos’ redemption may have been even greater than Desmond’s. After all, his last Major League home run came right here, in Cincinnati, on May 12 of last year, when he tied the game with a solo home run in the fifth inning. Just two frames later, while racing to the backstop to retrieve a passed ball, his foot would plant awkwardly, his knee would buckle, and his season would come to a premature end.
With the Reds scoring again in the bottom of the 11th, trimming the margin back to one and putting the tying run in scoring position, Ramos’ second blast became the difference in the game.
The dramatic Saturday affair also highlighted one of the reasons the Nationals are so good in these types of games. With all the momentum against them, Craig Stammen – arguably the fourth or fifth option in Davey Johnson’s bullpen – came on to deliver two huge innings of relief. He fanned four, including a flailing Jay Bruce to end the game, mixing a nasty, darting two-seamer with his trademark slider.
All of it, the clutch hitting, the big performance from deep in the bullpen, can mean only one thing. The Cardiac Nats are back.
What to Watch for: 4.6.13
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Washington Nationals (3-1) vs. Cincinnati Reds (3-1)
LHP Ross Detwiler (0-0) vs. RHP Mike Leake (0-0)
Washington absorbed its first loss of the season last night at the hands of the Reds, but will look to get back in the win column this afternoon in Cincinnati.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. Tracy 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Ramos C
9. Detwiler LHP
SPAN’S PLAN
In four games as the Nationals center fielder, Denard Span has registered four hits, a double, five walks and one RBI. Thus, Span owns a .563 OBP from Davey Johnson’s top spot. As recently as 2011, Washington ranked dead last in MLB with a .285 OBP from the leadoff slot. Last year, the Nationals improved to 18th in MLB with a .325 OBP from those batting first in Johnson’s order.
THE 500 CLUB
With 498 in the bag, Jayson Werth is just two RBI shy of reaching the 500-RBI plateau for his career. 92 of Werth’s 495 career RBI have come as a member of the Nationals. 300 of his RBI came as a Phillie, 90 as a Dodger and 16 as a Blue Jay.
PIVOT-AL PRODUCTION
Washington’s double-play combo of Ian Desmond and a freshly-shaven Danny Espinosa combined to go 3-for-8 with a double in Friday’s series-opening setback at Great American Ball Park. Desmond and Espinosa were a collective 1-for-21 during the Nationals season-opening three-game series sweep of the Marlins.
A Healthy Start
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So far, so good in 2013. Washington is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in five seasons and stands alone atop the NL East. And before you go belittling the fact that the only team they’ve beaten so far is the Marlins, think back for a moment to the beginning of last year.
The Nationals also got off to a good start in 2012, but they were unable to fully put away any of their early season opponents, setting themselves up to sweep a series 10 times before finally sealing the deal. Of course, considering the litany of injuries the team weathered, particularly through the season’s first half, it was impressive that the Nationals were ever in a position to be able to sweep anyone in the first place.
Wilson Ramos is one of many Nats now healthy after missing significant time last year.
Just look back at the roster in the beginning of the 2012 season. Mark DeRosa was the Opening Day left fielder. Brad Lidge was the closer. Bryce Harper was still in Syracuse. Michael Morse and Drew Storen did not come back to Washington until mid-season, while watching Ian Desmond, Wilson Ramos, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman all hit the disabled list before their return.
The story has been much different so far this year (knock on wood). The Opening Day lineup most fans envisioned when they saw the club for the first time this year at NatsFest was the actual Opening Day lineup on the field in D.C. on April 1. With the young and untested Marlins first up on the schedule, a sweep was almost expected, as unfair as that may be.
And yet, the Nats lived up to that expectation. At the end of four days of play, they are the lone remaining undefeated team in Major League Baseball.
Of course, the season is long, and will no doubt take its twists and turns, with players missing time here and there for the various bumps and bruises that come with the territory of a 162-game slate. The jokes about 162-0 will soon be forgotten, whenever the team drops its first contest of the year.
Washington encounters its first true test tonight, facing off with the defending National League Central Champion Reds in Cincinnati. With a lineup of mashers, especially from the left side, it seems unlikely that the Nationals will be able to count on allowing only a single earned run over three games in this series. It will be a tough first assignment for Dan Haren, but one that he no doubt welcomes as he – and the Nats – hit the road healthy here at the outset of the season.
13 Things We’re Excited About for 2013
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In the lead up to Opening Day at Nationals Park on April 1, we’re counting down 13 things we’re excited about on and off the field heading into the 2013 season. Be sure to check back each day as we add another item to the list and get one day closer to the return of baseball to Washington!
#13: The New Additions
When your team is coming off a 98-win campaign, as the Nationals are, you probably don’t want to see too many things change in the offseason. Many players are returning to reprise the roles they played in 2012, including the bulk of both the starting lineup and rotation. But Washington also made a few key upgrades, intended to help the team take that next step in the postseason.
The versatile Denard Span brings speed and a keen eye atop the batting order and, when sandwiched between Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth defensively, gives the Nationals one of the best outfield defenses in the game. Dan Haren lends a proven track record of success – along with 119 Major League wins – to solidify the rotation. And Rafael Soriano, twice a 40-save pitcher in the last three years, will anchor the back of an already talented bullpen.
For more on all three of the newest Nats, make sure to check out Issue 1 of Nationals Magazine, hitting Nationals Park on Friday, March 29 for the exhibition game with the New York Yankees!
First Taste of Atlanta
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The Nationals traveled to Lake Buena Vista Tuesday afternoon, where they were greeted with their second rain delay in the opening four days of the Spring Training slate, and their first look at what largely resembled a real Opening Day lineup.
The host Braves started five or six regulars (depending on your analysis of their third base situation), including both Upton brothers, Freddie Freeman, Jayson Heyward and Dan Uggla against Washington starter Ross Detwiler. The even-keeled lefty took the challenge in stride in what was also his first outing in the Grapefruit League this year.
Ross Detwiler showed an impressive breaking ball in his first spring start.
“You saw the lineup they put out there today,” he said, referencing Atlanta’s projected regulars, most middle-of-the-order types. “I could have gotten embarrassed pretty easily.”
Detwiler more than held his own however, looking very sharp through two frames before allowing a single run in the third. He didn’t allow a single extra-base hit, but perhaps the most impressive part of his outing was his breaking ball, which he located for strikes with great movement.
“It’s coming along a little bit,” he said, modestly, of his hook.
That’s an understatement, considering how much Detwiler relied on his two fastballs last year. He used three effective breaking balls to neutralize one of the National League’s better left-handed hitters in Heyward over a pair of at-bats on Tuesday, striking him out looking on a front door bender in the first inning.
“He’s got a lot of weapons,” said manager Davey Johnson of his developing southpaw’s expanding repertoire. “[That] makes the fastball that much better.”
When asked if the outing would help prepare him for the competitive outing Detwiler is slated to encounter in the World Baseball Classic, the 26-year-old’s response served to foreshadow the type of intensity the Washington-Atlanta rivalry may well have this year.
“I just played a competitive game,” he deadpanned.
Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche and newcomer Dan Haren get their first starts of the spring Wednesday.
Never one to ease into things, Detwiler’s most supportive teammate in the lineup was Bryce Harper, who continued his hot start to the spring. The young slugger legged out a chopper over Freeman at first for a double, swatted a Mike Minor offering to the opposite field gap for another two-bagger, and finished his afternoon with a rocket off Freeman’s mitt for a single. His 3-for-3 afternoon left him hitting (small sample size alert) .750 for the spring. Harper kept the gaudy numbers in their proper perspective, though.
“Facing Minor during the season and facing him right now is a little different,” he said of the Braves starter, who was also throwing in live action for the first time. “I don’t want to say I’m relaxed or comfortable, because I never want to be that way.”
Just because others are easing into the first days of the schedule doesn’t mean Harper is. He already lobbied his way into the lineup Wednesday afternoon, which will be his first chance to play with both Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche this year.
“I’d like to get in that lineup every day, pretty much,” he said, and Johnson was persuaded to agree.
The Nationals take on Miami in Viera at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday afternoon as Dan Haren makes his first start in a Washington uniform. See below for today’s lineup, along with spring results to date.
Nationals 2/27 Lineup:
1. Span CF
2. Harper LF
3. Werth RF
4. LaRoche 1B
5. Tracy 3B
6. Espinosa DH
7. Suzuki C
8. Lombo 2B
9. Walters SS
P. Haren
Record: 1-2-1
Results:
2/23 @ New York (NL) – L, 5-3
2/24 vs. Miami – T, 2-2
2/25 @ New York (NL) – W, 6-4
2/26 @ Atlanta – L, 9-5
Hair Today…
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Those fans that made it out to NatsFest were treated to the offseason facial hair stylings of a number of their favorite players. While Jayson Werth arrived with his now-familiar grizzle, it was another member of the team who stole much of the spotlight: Danny Espinosa.
Espinosa’s propensity for quick facial hair growth had been pointed out numerous times since his arrival in The District, but he had never let it go beyond a week or two. Then, suddenly, the infielder showed up in Washington in late January, having not shaved since the end of the 2012 season. His mountain man image quickly spread across the internet, as fans wondered aloud if he had overtaken the title of best facial hair on the team.
EVP of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo joked at NatsFest that the team had “some facial hair problems we need to attack.” And so, sure enough, off came the beard, one uncomfortably hilarious strip at a time. Enjoy the process as Espi returns from nearly unrecognizable to his usual self, with a couple of ridiculous stops along the way.
Beginning this season, we will provide links, text shortcodes and QR codes to digital features like this throughout Nationals Magazine and Inside Pitch.
The Next Four Years
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Here at Curly W Live, we rarely – if ever – discuss politics, despite residing at the epicenter of our nation’s government. We’re far more likely to engage with you in a debate on the latest exploits of George, Tom, Abe or Teddy than any sitting President. But as The District and the country as a whole catches its collective breath following Inauguration Weekend, there is no time better than the present to take inventory of the transformation of our national pastime here in the Nation’s Capital since the last inauguration.
Four years ago, a 23-year-old Gio Gonzalez had just been traded – from the Chicago White Sox to the Oakland Athletics. Stephen Strasburg was halfway through his junior year at San Diego State. And a 16-year-old Bryce Harper had enrolled at Southern Nevada College, but had yet to see a pitch from anyone other than a high schooler.
In 2012, the Postseason went from a distant fantasy to a tangible reality.
My, how far we’ve come.
The Nationals became the first team to add 10 or more wins in three consecutive seasons over a span that did not include any strike-shortened campaigns. Coming off their 59 victories in 2009, they improved to 69 in 2010, 80 in 2011 and a Major League-best 98 last year.
Given the previous franchise high-water mark of 81-81 during their inaugural campaign, any winning season at all in 2012 would have marked the best in the franchise’s annals. Needless to say, the Nationals exceeded everyone’s projections, except perhaps for skipper Davey Johnson, who guaranteed a playoff berth all the way back in Spring Training.
But the past was all about potential. The present and future are about raised expectations.
Rafael Soriano is the latest addition to an already formidable Nationals club.
Now, Washington has added defensive wizard and leadoff man Denard Span, the most tested, capable fifth starter in the league in Dan Haren, and one of the game’s premier closers in Rafael Soriano. One could make the argument that each of the Nationals units – the starting rotation, bullpen, catching corps, infield, outfield and bench – rank among the best in the game.
Johnson returns for his second term with a core group of rising stars, many of which are just entering their prime. In fact, 10 players – Danny Espinosa, Gonzalez, Harper, Steve Lombardozzi, Tyler Moore, Drew Storen, Strasburg, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Jordan Zimmermann – are under team control through at least 2016: four more years.
The last four years of Nationals baseball have brought plenty of change. The next four promise an equal amount of hope.
But whether you identify as red or blue, as long as you’re rocking the Curly W, you’re wearing our colors. And regardless of your interest or involvement in politics, everyone can agree on one self-evident truth: with pitchers and catchers reporting for the 2013 season in just 20 days, it’s good to be a Washington Nationals fan.
Top 12 of ‘12: #1 – Werth Walks Off
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Their backs against the wall, trailing the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals two-games-to-one in the best-of-five National League Division Series, the Washington Nationals needed a hero to keep their season alive. A nervous energy reverberated through Nationals Park around the 4:07 p.m. first pitch, one that only built as a 1-1 contest remained deadlocked late into the game. After six solid innings, Ross Detwiler turned the ball over to the bullpen, handing the reins to Game 2 starter Jordan Zimmermann, pitching in relief for the first time in his Major League career.
While that may have seemed like a bold move by manager Davey Johnson, there was something in the air on that night of October 11 in D.C. Zimmermann ignited the hometown crowd of more than 44,000 by punching out the side, pumping his fist as he came off the mound. Tyler Clippard did the same in the eighth, whiffing Carlos Beltran, Matt Holiday and Yadier Molina. Drew Storen struck out two more in the ninth, the fans reaching a fever pitch as the game went to the bottom of the ninth still level at 1-1 and the top of the Nationals lineup due to lead off.
Enter Jayson Werth. Hitless in three plate appearances so far, the grizzled veteran dug in against Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn and quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count. But he stayed alive, spoiling off anything Lynn could throw at him, not biting on breaking balls out of the zone as he worked deeper in the count. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, he skied a foul ball toward the Nationals dugout, with the catcher Molina and first baseman Allen Craig converging near the rail. But the ball came down just out of reach, then ricocheted off a bench in the Nationals dugout, hitting Craig in the face on the rebound. Second life given, the electricity built once more, through two more fouls on pitches nine and 10, and a close take on the 11th offering from Lynn. After one more high foul pop into the stands on pitch number 12, the stage had been set.
In the ninth inning, in the 10th month, on the 11th day, in the 12th year, Werth dug in for the 13th pitch of the at-bat. At that moment, Nationals radio man Charlie Slowes recalled on the air a time, a month or so earlier against the Marlins, when Werth battled through a similarly long at-bat to lead off the bottom of the ninth, only to homer off Heath Bell to tie the game. Lynn set and delivered a fastball that started over the outside corner, but ran back toward the middle of the plate. Werth was not about to foul this one off. His laser beam to left field kept rising and rising as it pierced through the October night, the wave of realization sweeping from home plate to the visitor’s bullpen – where the ball clanked off the back wall – that this playoff battle had been finished in the most dramatic moment of this young franchise’s history.
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