Danny Espinosa recorded 15 RBIs against the Cincinnati Reds this week, landing him tied for third most in a four-game series. Espinosa’s feat has as much inspiration and charm as a picture of Joe Biden in aviators eating an ice cream cone. On its good weeks, baseball doesn’t just impart inspiration and charm on the field, but off it too.
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Ramos Continues All-Star Instagram Game
After Wilson Ramos was selected to his first All-Star Game on Wednesday night, he took to instagram to thank God, his family, friends, and fans. The post is not only on par with his great-to-excellent instagram game and an indicator that he’s ready to accept a Grammy, but it’s also a reminder that the ASG can mean more than home field advantage.
Ramos earned his spot after losing his grandfather, to whom he was close and whose death caused him to take a week long bereavement leave early in the season. Ramos’ career in the big leagues also includes being kidnapped from his home in Venezuela after the 2011 season. Over the years since, the catcher’s playing time has soared and dropped and soared again due to injuries, while his offensive production plummeted in 2015 after a number of seasons near average.
But this year has been different for Willy: Since his pre-season Lasik surgery, his .340/.396/.563 triple-slash line, 155 wRC+, and 2.7 fWAR lead all qualified catchers in the MLB. Accordingly, he’ll play on a stage with the best in baseball, where he belongs. Plus, it’s a chance to possibly hear Ramos drop inspirational quotes that might rival “Willy, you’ve got to do this.”
What Can The Nats Do With MAT?
Michael Taylor’s sometimes promising but largely inconsistent time in the majors was halted on Monday, when the Washington Nationals optioned the outfielder to Triple-A Syracuse. While the move was needed to clear space for reliever Jonathan Papelbon as he returned from the 15-day DL, it does raise some interesting questions about Taylor’s role with the team.
Predicting Which Nationals Will Be All-Stars
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball will announce the All-Star rosters for this year’s game. A handful of Washington Nationals figure to be locks for selection, while a few others are in the running as well. Here is a quick look at those who will likely represent the Nationals in San Diego on July 12.
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Off-The-Field Recap: Giolito Time
Through the “down” of the tail end of a seven game losing streak and through the “up” of a sweep of the New York Mets, the Washington Nationals off-field exploits, as always, remained a constant. Here they are:
Giolito’s Big Debut
The Nationals have a thing about calling up stud pitching prospects on Tuesdays in June. The OG of Nats pitching prospects, Stephen Strasburg, set the bar pretty high for MLB debuts. He went seven innings, had 14 sensational strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates and allowed only two runs, both coming on a two-run home run. Despite a one-hour rain delay to start of the game, Lucas Giolito, the next Nats hyped pitching prospect, lived up to Strasburg’s lofty precedent before his night was cut short by yet another rain delay.
Nationals Promote Giolito
The wait is over, as Lucas Giolito is officially a Washington National. The prized right-hander will be promoted to start on Tuesday against the New York Mets, taking the place of Stephen Strasburg, who has been placed on the 15-day DL with an upper back strain.
Voth v. Giolito: Who Should the Nationals Call Up?
The Washington Nationals announced Sunday that Stephen Strasburg would be placed on the 15-day disabled list after being scratched from his start in Milwaukee the day before. After the team’s 3-2 win, manager Dusty Baker announced that Joe Ross would start Monday, and a minor-league call-up would start Tuesday. But Dusty left out one key piece of information: Who is that going to be?
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Mythbusting Zimmerman’s Bases-Loaded Struggles
In Saturday’s loss against the Brewers, Ryan Zimmerman hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, which means he didn’t get a hit in yet another high leverage situation this season. Despite flashes here and there, Zimmerman has struggled offensively this season. Those struggles have been exposed in high leverage situations thanks to the new found strategy of intentionally walking whoever hits in front of Zimmerman. Joe Maddon may have some creative get-away outfit ideas, but as a Nats fan I’ll take a hard pass on his trend setting idea of walking Bryce Harper to get to Zimmerman. That means he has had his fair share of bases loaded chances and has failed to really deliver on those opportunities. How bad has it been? Let’s take a look.
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Off-The-Field Recap: Father’s Day Edition!
The Nationals’ relatively promising road trip has spiraled into a stretch barely short of a disaster. Losing in the situations the Nats have found themselves in can be less than fun, and so, in order to combat such gloom, all of the player’s amusing off-field exploits are recapped here: