It’s fair to say that one of Bryce Harper’s biggest dreams has come true aleady. At 19, he’s made it to the Major Leagues and has taken the baseball world by storm (whether they like it or not). Harper’s injected a new type of energy into games and highlight reels, and nothing’s slowing him down yet. Tonight the rookie outfielder will add another accomplishment to his already long resume–being in the All-Star Game as the youngest position player.

But while Harper undoubtedly still has some baseball dreams that are yet to be fulfilled, one of his off-the-field goals of being a firefighter could come true sooner than he thinks.

The Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department in Arlington, Virginia issued an open invitation to Harper to come and “check out the fire service in the offseason.”

» Continue reading “Bryce Harper’s Open Invitation…to be Firefighter”

The way Ian Desmond’s been playing, no one would have guessed he has a left oblique strain. The shortstop had home runs today and yesterday with other hits scattered in between, but still made the tough decision to withdraw from the All-Star Game.

Desmond’s been nursing the injury for a month now, and with his everyday playing (he’s played every single game but one this season), he saw the All-Star Game as an opportunity to rest for the second half of the season and prevent a more severe injury.

“It was definitely a tough decision, one that we spent quite a few days mulling over. In the end, I think it’s best for the team and best for myself to take a rest. I would hate to be two, three weeks down the road and something happened and I didn’t take the four days to rest my body and put the team first.”

Desmond is still officially considered an All-Star but won’t make the trip to Kansas City for the All-Star Game festivities. By going to Kansas City and not being able to play would just add insult to injury, he said. Instead of Desmond, Michael Bourn of the Atlanta Braves was selected to fill Desmond’s spot.

» Continue reading “Desmond withdraws from All-Star Game; Harper replaces Stanton”

That’s a clown question, bro.

For the rookie phenom in the MLB Final Vote, today is the last day for fans to make a push to get him to the All-Star Game in Kansas City.

Harper is currently hitting .280 and slugging .478 with 8 home runs and 23 RBIs in 59 MLB games.

Today, it was announced that votes will also count towards Harper if fans who tweet the hashtag #BryceIn12. Fans are also able to vote at MLB.com/vote or by texting N3 to 89269.

The Nationals have had players in the final vote in the past, however none of them have won the contests.

Voting ends at 4 ET today. Get out and rock the vote for Harper and tweet #BryceIn12. You know you want to.

(Oh, and if you need added incentive to vote for Harper, check out his cool, personalized car (not truck). I guess you could say even his car has some Natitude?

For the first time ever, the Nationals are sending three players to the Midsummer Classic as a part of the All-Star Game, with possibly a fourth with Harper a final vote candidate. Coincidentally their (sort of) interleague rivals, the Orioles are also sending three players to the All-Star Game and they have a final vote candidate of their own, pitcher Jason Hammel.

So therefore, this only naturally means the two teams would team up to push their candidates as a package. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, type deal, right? There’s numerous DMV residents who root for both teams, despite the fact that Baltimore’s owner Peter Angelos attempted to block baseball moving back to DC. (He eventually got even with the unbalanced MASN deal for the Nationals.)

This pairing is better than last year’s at least, in which the Nationals teamed up with the Texas Rangers who were the Washington Senators way back when. Connecting the history and nostalgia is understandable, but it was kind of an odd pairing considering the Rangers left DC and left many DC baseball fans embittered.

In the Final Vote Harper is up against Michael Bourn (ATL), David Freese (STL), Aaron Hill (ARI), and Chipper Jones (ATL). Given the chance to campaign for votes, Harper’s gone on record saying he would vote for Jones. “He should have already been in the all-star game no matter what,” he said. “He’s an all-star and has been an all-star for twenty years. I think Chip should be there.”

May the best man win.

» Continue reading “Beltway Ballot: Harper and Hammel”

Today Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Ian Desmond were selected to the 2012 All-Star team. This is the first time in Nationals history three players were named to the team. Pitchers Strasburg and Gonzalez were selected by the players’ squad, while Desmond was selected by Tony La Russa, the manager of this year’s NL team. The only other time the team’s had more than one representative was when baseball returned to DC in 2005 when Chad Cordero and Livan Hernandez were selected.

For Strasburg, this is the first time he’ll be an All-Star, but to have other teammates as representatives with him in Kansas City is just as important.

“Obviously when you get more than one guy, get Desi and Gio in there too, it’s huge. It means that we’re winning. Typicallythe team in last place only gets one guy.”

Gio Gonzalez will also be joining his fellow pitcher in Kansas City. His selection this year marks the 2nd time he’s an All-Star, but for the first time in the National League. Last year, he was an All-Star while with the Oakland Athletics.

Both Strasburg and Gonzalez have anchored the Nationals rotation as the #1 and #2 starters, respectively. Strasburg is 9-3 with 122 strikeouts and a 2.81 ERA. Batters are only hitting .217 against him. GM Mike Rizzo said Strasburg would be allowed to pitch if he was selected and Strasburg’s pitching schedule allows it.

A part from his personable character, Gio Gonzalez has also exerted dominance on the mound. Gonzalez, who was traded for this past off season is 10-3 with a 2.78 ERA. He’s struck out 108 batters with a .190 batting average against.

» Continue reading “Strasburg, Gonzalez & Desmond selected for All-Star Game”

I’ll be honest, I didn’t see this day coming.

I thought that the Nats were going to have some All-Star candidates with potential, but I honestly didn’t think that Ian Desmond would be one of them.  His mistakes and inconsistencies of the past seemed to not be going away.

But this year, that has all changed. Desmond has been a huge steadying force at the plate, and has impacted the Nats  positively all year.

Desmond leads the National League shortstops with 37 extra-base hits, with a .302 batting average in June.  In the last 11 games, Desmond has had 11 extra base hits.

The realities of the All-Star Game may play against him (which is weird for the Nationals). Mainly, every team has to be represented, and it is a solid bet that Stephen Strasburg and.or Gio Gonzalez will be going to the game.  They have both been superb this year.

» Continue reading “Ian Desmond’s All-Star Case”

With the All-Star Game coming up and voting in full force, the Nationals are a first place team. For the first time since 2005, they are a first place team during All-Star balloting. Still, who could they get in the Mid-Summer Classic?

While they are in first in the NL East, it is difficult to think about who is worthy of being an All-Star. No one on the squad has remained super consistent in 2012. Many started hot, then cooled off. Some are recently returning from injury, not putting in enough work to be considered a true All-Star.

Ryan Zimmerman, who was always considered one of the best shots for the Nats at making the game, has had a disappointing season. There is no outstanding player at the plate or in the field who is the best at his position in the National League.

This is why, for the last two years, the sole Nats representatives have been pitchers. It could very well be the same this season, with the performances the starting pitchers have put in in 2012.

» Continue reading “Nats’ Best All-Star Shots”

The Nats hadn’t had two representatives go to the All-Star Game since 2005.  Tyler Clippard and Michael Morse had both had beastly years, and with Clippard already named to the Nationals League team, it came down to the most scientific test of all: fan voting.

The Nats tried. They tried HARD. They did everything they could to get Morse voted into the game…

…like making their own name plates… » Continue reading “2011 Moments: The ‘Vote For Morse’ Campaign”

Last year, the Nationals had one lone All-Star. Much like this year, that representative was one from the bullpen, closer Matt Capps.  He was judged to be the most worthy of all the Nationals players to play in the game, and it really was a decision that could be argued with.  He was the best player on the team.  By the end of the month, he was gone.

In a move that upset much of the fan base, the Nats traded Capps to the Minnesota Twins for a little catching prospect named Wilson Ramos, in addition to a LHP prospect Joe Testa.  Testa in playing for the Potomac Nationals, but Ramos is playing for the big club. And doing it very, very well.

At the time, it seemed that Minnesota got the best of that deal.  Everyone know that Ramos was going to be good, but the Nats had Pudge starting and Flores coming through the ranks, so it didn’t seem we needed another catcher.  Everyone knew the team was looking for someone to take Pudge over, and the question became, is Ramos better than Flores? Otherwise, the trade would be a bust.

It appeared as though the Nats traded away their best player for a prospect in a position they didn’t need. Boy, how stupid does everyone look now?

» Continue reading “A Look Back at the Matt Capps Trade”

The Nats haven’t exactly been All-Star juggernauts the last few years. Tyler Clippard will be making the trip to Phoenix for the All-Star Game as we already know.  For the first time in a while, there were some choices to pick from in the Nats roster.

Michael Morse was in the final vote, though he lost to Shane Victorino.  Danny Espinosa has been statistically the best rookie in the majors this year, and is in the top 5 in nearly every category for MLB second baseman.  You could make a convincing argument for either of them making the trip, although neither will get their shot this year (Espinosa will for years to come).

Where the Nats really have presence though is in the Futures Game, where they have not one, but two players showing off their talents.  Both are in AA Harrisburg, and while one is no-brainer, the other is a rising star who is finally starting to get some much-deserved attention.

The first is of course Bryce Harper.  He was bored of Hagerstown and skipped Potomac to head straight to AA Hrrisburg last week.  He’s been tearing it up no matter where he goes, and I’d set July of next season as a probably start of his MLB career.

» Continue reading “Nats Pitching, Prospects Well Represented in Phoenix”