Ricky LaBlue's personal blog
When the Nationals were 19-31 in May, a playoff push seemed unlikely. At best, it would take until at least late August for them to truly be in the mix. One mid-season surge later, the Nationals are 52-45 and hold the top Wild Card position in the NL, sitting 5.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Whereas they were in line to have an inactive trade deadline, they can be buyers now.
Continue reading “Nats Notes: Washington Needs Another Reliever”
Dell Curry (15th in 1986) was the highest-drafted Virginia Tech basketball player in the lottery era. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a chance to top that and though he fell short, his selection was history-making nonetheless.
The Hokies’ star guard wound up being taken at No. 17 by the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s not as high as he could have been selected — although it was within the range that most mock drafts had him — but it is among the more intriguing destinations.
Continue reading “Alexander-Walker Provides Pelicans With Two-Way Versatility”
This hits home for me. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt a closer connection to a star college athlete than with Virginia Tech’s Justin Robinson. We were one class apart, but he went to middle school right up the road and I was one of those guys that went to games. Then we overlapped for three years of college, during which I claimed to already be all-knowing about him. There was also never a player I felt more comfortable talking to following a game than Robinson — I even wrote a feature of sorts on him during his breakout junior season.
Continue reading “Justin Robinson Gets Opportunity of a Lifetime With Washington Wizards”
The Washington Nationals are 19-31. Every move Davey Martinez makes is now under the microscope. Even if he isn’t the only person who has to be relieved, as manager, he has to be the first to go. It’s a matter of when, not if, he is removed from the managerial post. The question becomes who replaces him?
First of all, even though assistant hitting coach Joe Dillon served as the acting manager on Thursday after Martinez was ejected for defending Howie Kendrick, don’t expect him to be under consideration. Until he usurps Kevin Long as lead hitting coach, he doesn’t have a claim for the job.
At long last, I’m back to discuss the state of the Washington Nationals. There’s definitely no shortage of topics. The Nationals are 14–20 through the first chunk of the season, eerily similar to last year. The pitching staff hasn’t lived up to its billing (resulting in a coaching change), injuries are mounting, and many players have been placed in roles that never seemed possible entering the season.
But it’s not all bad. The war of attrition could actually pay major dividends as the summer months approach. Even so, the next 50 games could make or break the team and manager Dave Martinez.
Continue reading “Nats Notes: Lilliquist is Gone, Stars Are Hurt and the Rotation is in Limbo”
Josh Rosen and the Redskins are a match made in heaven.
Don’t buy into his 2018 struggles — Rosen has the makings of a successful NFL quarterback. If Arizona takes Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick in the draft, the best move for both parties is for Rosen to move to Washington. Continue reading “Josh Rosen Belongs on the Washington Redskins”
Outfield depth looked like a position of strength in the early stages of spring training. Adam Eaton was finally healthy, after spending most of 2018 either on the disabled list or hobbled following an ankle injury, and the Nationals had three young outfielders that they had extreme confidence in entering the season. But then tragedy struck.
Continue reading “Nationals Face an Outfield Dilemma After Injury to Michael A. Taylor”
While there are almost three weeks left in spring training, many of the questions surrounding the Washington Nationals seem to already be answered. Last month, I made some early predictions in regards to how the pitching staff and position player roster and pecking orders would come to form entering the season. Let’s see how I did, Colin Cowherd style.
Continue reading “Checking in on Spring Training for the Washington Nationals”
The Nationals pitching staff appears to have gotten a boost, but the new-look lineup is also intriguing. Bryce Harper likely won’t be around, but it might not actually make a huge difference.
Before getting into how the top nine should be configured, let’s take a look at the position players at large and how the roster should shape up.
Continue reading “State of the 2019 Washington Nationals: Position Players”
Last year didn’t go as planned for the Nationals, but 2019 is almost guaranteed to be better. They suffered through a few significant injuries to position players in 2018 (Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton, Matt Wieters, and Howie Kendrick), and top prospect Victor Robles hasn’t even made his full-season debut yet.
Notice a name that wasn’t mentioned?
Continue reading “State of the 2019 Washington Nationals: Pitching Staff”