The Washington Nationals Thread: The Future is Near!

[zCommander]

2 minutes ago, spjunkies said:

 

They're lucky the Caps didn't win it. The poor trophy wouldn't have gotten out of the locker room in one piece. 

 

Ovi sleeping with it and the flag rods are bent out of place after waking up with it...lol

 

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by zskins

[BleedBNG]

 

DuRag > glove

[Commander -JB-]

Soto’s AB in the 8th where he check swung and was called no swing by the 3rd base ump... he shook his head at Chirinos and was laughing telling him he didn’t swing & then he proceeds to drive in Eaton from 2nd base with a line drive to RF.  LEGENDARY.

Edited November 1, 2019 by -JB-

[BleedBNG]

Game 6... 1 game ahead... 1 or 2 left at home... feeling... easy

 

 

 

[Bacon]

20 minutes ago, -JB- said:

Soto’s AB in the 8th where he check swung and was called no swing by the 3rd base ump... he shook his head at the catcher and was laughing telling him he didn’t swing & then he proceeds to drive in Eaton from 2nd bass with a line drive to RF.  LEGENDARY.

 

My favorite moment of the game. 

[spjunkies]

No championship for you dooo do do do do no champs

[Commander -JB-]

1 hour ago, Bacon said:

 

My favorite moment of the game. 

Even game 6 in the 5th when Verlander threw a pitch up high just out of the strike zone to make it 3-1 count and Soto was nodding his head, smiling and telling Chirinos it was a ball.  Then on the next pitch he proceeds to hit a moon shot and carries his bat to first base as well.  Just unbelievable.  Like my 12 year old son said “Juan Soto is MVP.”  How many MVP’s we have on this team?  Stras, Rendon, Soto, Howie, Eaton.  Take your pick.

Edited November 1, 2019 by -JB-

[CRobi21]

 

[Simmsy]

I've always told myself that since MLB teams play so many games in a season that not every game matters to that team. Therefore, sometimes when they go out to play, they don't care if they win or lose. Is this actually true? If not, I wouldn't mind watching more baseball during regular season.

[purbeast]

4 hours ago, CRobi21 said:

 

These raw uncut uninterrupted videos they have been putting out like this over the run are unreal.  The one of Howie's grand slam against the Dodgers is my favorite one I think.

[Spaceman Spiff]

1 hour ago, Simmsy said:

I've always told myself that since MLB teams play so many games in a season that not every game matters to that team. Therefore, sometimes when they go out to play, they don't care if they win or lose. Is this actually true? If not, I wouldn't mind watching more baseball during regular season.

 

They all matter.  A team that misses the playoffs by a game can look back over the season and point to a game or two where they blew a lead late, thus changing the outcome of their season.  It's hard to wade through all that and point to a game that they blew in April that matters so much in September since they play damn near every day, but all the games count. 

 

The thing I really like about the baseball season is that it's a marathon and over the course of all 162 games you get a feeling for who a team really is.  You see them on hot streaks, slumps...and it all evens out.  This Nats team is a perfect example, much has been made of their 19-31 start.  Looking at the collection of talent on that roster, there was no way they should have been that bad, but they were playing like it.  People were calling for the manager's head.  It was getting ugly.

 

Since June 1st?  Best team in baseball.  Best record.  And that's a pretty large sample size.  Since June 1st they showed who they really are, I believe.  If some advanced metrics outside of wins and losses don't show them as the best team, they're definitely in the conversation of best team...and far removed from where they were when they were 19-31.  

 

The other thing that's great about it is...they play almost every day.  There's something to look forward to for 162 days of the year.  Know that feeling you'd get when the Redskins were good and you'd set aside Sundays at 1pm?  It's like that every day.  And if you miss a game, no big deal...chances are they'll be playing tomorrow.  

[StillUnknown]

3 hours ago, Simmsy said:

I've always told myself that since MLB teams play so many games in a season that not every game matters to that team. Therefore, sometimes when they go out to play, they don't care if they win or lose. Is this actually true? If not, I wouldn't mind watching more baseball during regular season.

 

Saying they dont care is probably a bit strong, it just more of an acceptance that even a great team will still lose 62+ games in a season

 

10 hours ago, PleaseBlitz said:

Should i watch game 6 again, or game 7?

 

I'm watching 1, 2, & 6 tonight and game 7 on the train to the parade

 

10 hours ago, zskins said:

With Greinke's pitch #74 in the top of the 7th inning, Rendon hits a HR and the Nats were on their way to the WS title! 

 

P.S.: Greinke was taken out after only pitch #80. 

 

 

AJ Hinch got that all the way wrong. Greinke should have never been relieved and if he did, you go to Cole. Hinch is a good manager, but thats damn near fireable. So thankful for his stupidity that night

Edited November 1, 2019 by StillUnknown

[Mr. Sinister]

How does that happen tho? Was that an analytics decision? Sure as hell wasn't a baseball one. He was killing us.

 

If my gump ass was managing that game I'd tip my hat to Rendon and let em keep going. That was beautifully stupid.

[Commander -JB-]

1 hour ago, StillUnknown said:

AJ Hinch got that all the way wrong. Greinke should have never been relieved and if he did, you go to Cole. Hinch is a good manager, but thats damn near fireable. So thankful for his stupidity that night

Yeah, I can’t front.  I was happy he was taking Greinke out and happy he wasn’t bringing Cole in.  It just felt like it was best case scenario for Nats.  Such a tremendous AB by Soto just to get Hinch to make that move.  Even if the 2-1 pitch was actually a ball.  Oh well, it’s not like we didn’t get hosed previously with bad calls, especially game 5.  With that being said, we definitely benefited from some iffy strike calls (Correa).  But Turner was K’d with balls inside & off the plate as well.  Just stings when you lose!  All we do is win, win, win no matter what lol

 

And with a series that close it was Martínez vs Hinch and it’s obviously clear that Martínez out-managed his counterpart.

Edited November 1, 2019 by -JB-

[Dan T.]

9 hours ago, zskins said:

One of the commentator just now on MLB Network said, with 2 outs, if Soto doesn't catch that ball, that hit the end of his glove, with runners on 2nd and 3rd base this game could have gone another way. That was a huge save by Soto indeed. 

And that’s fitting, because Soto worked really hard this season to improve his defense. It really showed, too, as the season went on. You could tell he was more comfortable and confident in the outfield. 
 

it was really remarkable for him to go from a liability in the outfield to “decent fielder” in the course of a single season. 

[bcl05]

I've watched that video of Max and Anibal hugging and crying approximately 452,400,521 times now and I get teary every single time.  

[StillUnknown]

4 minutes ago, Dan T. said:

And that’s fitting, because Soto worked really hard this season to improve his defense. It really showed, too, as the season went on. You could tell he was more comfortable and confident in the outfield. 
 

it was really remarkable for him to go from a liability in the outfield to “decent fielder” in the course of a single season. 

 

He made it as a finalist for the gold glove. I dont know if he should have, but it definitely shows his growth out there. Gonna be scary to see what improvements he adds next

4 minutes ago, bcl05 said:

I've watched that video of Max and Anibal hugging and crying approximately 452,400,521 times now and I get teary every single time.  

 

Another baseball oddity, every starter on that detroit rotation now has a ring, but not with detroit

[Dan T.]

1 minute ago, StillUnknown said:

 

He made it as a finalist for the gold glove. I dont know if he should have, but it definitely shows his growth out there. Gonna be scary to see what improvements he adds next

Wow! Did not know that. 

[bearrock]

34 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

How does that happen tho? Was that an analytics decision? Sure as hell wasn't a baseball one. He was killing us.

 

If my gump ass was managing that game I'd tip my hat to Rendon and let em keep going. That was beautifully stupid.

 

I think it's a combination of stats (not even analytics really) and Hinch's opinion of Harris, who he has repeatedly touted as the pitcher he trusts the most on his staff.  Harris has been lights out in the regular season and then even better in the postseason.  I mean statwise, he was arguably their best pitcher, at the very least their number 2 after Cole. 

 

Hinch probably chalked up game 6 to the long delay (probably a factor) and felt like he could have Harris redeem himself and then go Cole or Osuna/Cole to close out.

 

And tbf, Harris made a great pitch, but the professional hitter Howie did what you're supposed to do with that low and away fastball and just sent it opposite field.  I mean how awesome is that?  Our 36 year old grizzled vet got a good to great pitch from their best reliever and just executed the fundamentals and rest is history.

 

But I agree with you.  The eye test said stay with Greinke.  I mean is there a Nats fan anywhere who wasn't happy as hell to see Greinke leave the game?

[thebluefood]

10 hours ago, zskins said:

Ovi sleeping with it and the flag rods are bent out of place after waking up with it...lol

The trophy's all outta shape and Ovi's all "I dunno what the **** we did last night but i wanna do it again!" 

[Warhead36]

I can understand Grienke being pulled. He hadn't really pitched deep in the playoffs and he had just given up a homer and a walk so he was probably on the decline.

 

But there is no reason why you don't put Cole in there. I mean okay you don't want to put him in with runners on, but once Kendrick hit the homer to make it 3-2 the bases were empty and you could put Cole in there to keep us at 3 runs. Of course it didn't matter since they didn't score anymore anyway, but still, at that point you fire your best guns, not keep them in the holster.

 

That was the difference between Hinch and Martinez. Martinez left nothing in the tank and is rewarded with a ring and a parade.

[thebluefood]

4 hours ago, Simmsy said:

I've always told myself that since MLB teams play so many games in a season that not every game matters to that team. Therefore, sometimes when they go out to play, they don't care if they win or lose. Is this actually true? If not, I wouldn't mind watching more baseball during regular season.

As others have said, all 162 games matter in the end but you sorta have to wait awhile to see just how much they matter. In NFL, the implications are almost instantaneously known since the season's over in 17 weeks but baseball does require patience in the short and long term and it requires you to look at the big picture. 

 

Along those lines, one of the things I love most about baseball is its allowance for failure. Baseball gives you space to fail on the personal and team levels, at least to some degree. One of the greatest teams of all time, the 1998 Yankees, won 114 games in the regular season. That means they still failed to lose 48 times and I'm sure members of that team still wince when you bring it up. On a more individual level, Ted Williams is considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all time and batted .344 throughout his career. A man who had batting down to a science still failed nearly 7 out of 10 times he went to the plate and I'm sure he remembered those failures well. 

 

Ever game absolutely matters and any ball player worth their salt, even if they aren't particularly talented, goes out there wanting to bat 1.000 and wants to do all they can to contribute to a 162-0 team that sweeps through the postseason. It will never happen, mind you, but that doesn't mean they aren't straining to do it every single day. 

[Riggo#44]

50 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

That was the difference between Hinch and Martinez. Martinez left nothing in the tank and is rewarded with a ring and a parade.

 

Martinez managed the entire playoffs almost perfectly. I was very critical of his decisions during the season--but wow--every button he pressed worked.

[Riggo#44]

Quote

“I remember these guys saying, ‘We can do this, and it will be the greatest accomplishment of our lives.’”

 

Kevin Long recounting the team meeting from May. Indeed it ****ing was.

[Warhead36]

Another great thing is now this generation of DC sports fans will have more heroes to worship, similar to how the old fogeys around here still workship Theismann, Monk, the Hogs etc. We had an entire generation from the 90s thru the 00s and more than half the 2010s that had nothing until the Caps won last year and now we get another batch with this year's Nats.

 

Zimm, Stras, Rendon, Soto, Scherz etc. can now join Ovi, Backy, Holtby, Kuzy etc. in the new generation of DC sports heroes. Another death knell to the Skins vice grip on this town.