Nats Chat

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Nationals hired the youngest Manager in over 50 years. Mark & Al discuss the news that Washington will soon name 33-year-old Blake Butera as the team's next skipper.  The surprising hire comes from the Rays organization and his only previous managerial experience was in Low-A. Butera was drafted in the 35th Round out of Boston College but became a minor league manager at age 25.

(14:10) A look at...

The Nationals began a new era on Wednesday morning as Paul Toboni was officially introduced as the new President of Baseball Operations.  Mark & Al react to Toboni's first time meeting with the D.C. media in the press room at the ballpark.  Toboni was joined on the podium by three members of ownership in Mark Lerner, Ed Cohen, and Robert Tanenbaum.

(07:00) Spending by ownership was brought up multiple times during the press conferen...

The Nats closed their last place season on a sour note as they were shutout 8-0 on Sunday afternoon by the visiting White Sox. Mark & Al put the 66 win campaign under a wide-angle lens on the heels of their 14th shutout defeat. It should be a more active October than the past few years as they remake the front office and likely will make a change at manager.

(13:20) Hear what Dylan Crews said afterwards as he seems to be gearing up ...

The Nats overcame an early four-run deficit to edge the White Sox 6-5 on Saturday afternoon. Mark & Al begin with an ode to Bob Carpenter, who is calling his final Nats games this weekend for MASN. Carpenter was honored prior to the game after 20 years of being the TV voice of the team.

(10:00) James Wood hit his 31st homer to take the lead for good in the bottom of the 7th. Wood has four homers this week to end his season on a high...

The Nats rallied all the way back from a seven run deficit, but Jose A. Ferrer could not close the door in the 10-9 loss to the White Sox. Mark & Al gather after maybe the craziest game of the season that saw the Nationals hit six homers, but also commit four errors.

(06:00) Luis Garcia Jr. hit a trio of homers for the first time in his career.  Garcia's third homer of the night briefly put them up 9-8 in the bottom of the 8th.  The...

The Nats won 4-3 in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, but the major news came from ESPN's Jeff Passan.  Mark & Al spend plenty of time reacting to the report that Paul Toboni, Red Sox Asst. GM, will take over as Washington's new head of Baseball Operations. Toboni is 35 years old and has spent the last decade working in the Red Sox Front Office.

(21:10) James Wood homered twice to reach the 30 home run milestone.  Wood homered as many...

The Nats fell short 3-2 on Tuesday night as the Braves have now won ten games in a row.  Al & Tim begin with James Wood's 28th homer of the season, just his 4th since the All-Star Break.  Wood did not strikeout and remains eight Ks shy of Mark Reynolds' single season record.

(08:00) Luis Garcia Jr. played 1B on Tuesday as it seems like his days at 2B are coming to an end. Daylen Lile was also in the lineup just a few days after exit...

The Nats were no match for the Braves in Monday's 11-5 loss. Al & Tim convene after the Nationals pitching staff needed six pitchers just to make it through six innings and combined for nine issued walks.

(06:00) MacKenzie Gore was pulled in the top of the 3rd after having already thrown 71 pitches.  The Braves lineup fouled off 24 of them and now Gore's ERA is up to 4.17.

(09:00) The bullpen really struggled until Shinnosuke Ogasawa...

The Nats took the weekend series in Queens as they held off the Mets 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.  Before we get to Mark & Al's analysis, Executive Producer Tim Shovers comes on to deliver an annual end of season message.  If you would like to donate to the podcast, visit natschatpodcast.com and click on Merch to get directed to our Donation page.

(04:30) Daylen Lile exited the game early after crashing into the side wall on a sliding c...

The Nats handed the Mets a crucial defeat on Saturday afternoon in Queens.  Mark (From NYC) & Al meet after the Nationals blew an early 3-0 lead, but Daylen Lile's exciting 2-run Inside-the-Park-Home run put them ahead for good 5-3.

(05:00) It looked initially that Lile's big hit would be a triple as he is one away from setting a franchise record. Lile's OPS is now ahead of James Wood (.814 vs. .807).

(08:45) CJ Abrams made a brutal ...

The Nats dropped their 5th straight on Friday night as they were beaten by the Mets 12-6.  Mark (From NYC) & Al gather after Washington guaranteed itself of having more losses this season than the previous two years.

(04:30) The pattern of sloppy defense continued on Friday as the outfield combined for three errors; two of which were on Dylan Crews.

(07:15) James Wood struck out two more times and committed a fielding error himself. ...

The Nats lost 9-4 on Wednesday and dropped all four games this week against the Braves. Mark & Al evaluate the team's tired legs as they have shown recent signs of fatigue.  It has been a busy stretch for the team as they have played 14 games in the past 13 days.

(07:30) James Wood had a RBI double and a single on his 23rd birthday. Wood did strikeout for the 210th time this season, extending his own franchise record.

(13:10) Brad Lo...

Tuesday was a long one on South Capitol Street and neither game went the home team's way. Al & Tim convene following a day/night doubleheader where the Braves won 6-3 in the afternoon and then took the evening session 5-0 in extras.

(05:45) James Wood struck out four times in the Game 1 loss. Wood sat out Game 2 and is now up to 209 strikeouts this season, 23 more than Riley Greene who leads the American League.

(10:30) Daylen Lile t...

The Nats were pounded 11-3 by the Braves on Monday night in Navy Yard. Mark & Al begin with Daylen Lile yet again impressing as he homered and lifted his OPS to .816, just six points behind James Wood.  Lile has the highest OPS of any NL Rookie with 300+ at-bats.

(05:45) Dylan Crews went 0 for 3 and his batting average is now down to .202.

(08:00) Mitchell Parker was pushed into the the top of the 6th and ended with a grisly line of ...

The Nats took the series rubber match in Sunday afternoon's 4-3 win over the Pirates. Mark & Al note that the Nationals are 9-4 to start September and need only one more victory to avoid a 100 loss season.

(04:35) Daylen Lile was the offensive hero as his 8th inning RBI double put Washington ahead for good.  Lile reached base four times and his OPS is now up to .796 on the season.

(09:00) CJ Abrams made his 20th error of the season, ...

The Nats lost 5-1 on Saturday afternoon to the visiting Pirates.  Al & Mark convene after the offense was only able to muster one run in the defeat.

(06:00) Dylan Crews had multiple instances of aggressive and heads up base running in the bottom of the 6th. His play that inning is emblematic of the kind of player Crews wants to be.

(13:10) Andrew Alvarez was superb on Saturday as he tossed six shutout innings in his third Big League ...

The Nats opened the homestand with a 6-5 victory over Pittsburgh despite an early three run deficit.  Mark & Al begin with the defensive exploits by James Wood in the top of the 9th as his perfect throw nailed the tying run at the plate.  It was an up and down evening for Wood as he doubled twice, but also struck out twice, thus setting a single season franchise record with 200Ks.

(10:15) Brady House & Dylan Crews each went deep in ...