I feel teased by Toboni on what the follow up move to Vivas is, maybe we get another mid-game move; McGarry is not who I thought would be optioned, and surely we don’t intend to have both Tena and Vivas on the bench.
The curiousity in me wonders if they’d really want Tena to do the homecoming red carpet walk later tonight if he might not even be on the team within the next day.
Cubs looking for bench infielders apparently, would be funny if that’s where he’s headed and just waiting to announce the move once the team is there to facilitate travel.
The Nats still need to clear a spot on the 40-man to add Cionel Perez to the roster. It seems like a foregone conclusion that Jose Tena will be the one on the chopping block.
I have to imagine that the hitting instruction that the team has started getting over the last 4-5 months is wildly different than anything they’d been getting with the Nats over the last 4-5 years. I’m holding out hope that these new offensive woes are a transition period, and that things will resolve naturally over the next few months as bad habits formed by bad instruction are unlearned. We already know this isn’t going to be a competitive season - so they can take the extra runway to rework these guys’ mechanics methodically.
It's spring training. it is totally meaningless. not only did the best team in 2025's spring training, the SF Gigantes, not win the WS, they didn't even win the NLW nor make the playoffs. it ain't baseball.
That has been talked about before. Their emphasis since day one was pitch recognition and zone awareness, whereas a lot of emphasis from the previous regime was on swing mechanics and timing. Even though they talked over and over again about not chasing and choosing the right pitch, if they weren't helping them recognize which pitch is the one to swing at, telling them to wait for it doesn't do a lot of good. What these guys have been working on this spring is a mental change, which can take a lot longer to adopt than a physical one.
The days of "be yourself" need to be put in the past if "yourself" means a sub-.300 OBP and getting yourself out by putting bad pitches in play. Some guys will not be able to make the change - and they will be gone.
Honestly, if you think the "previous regime", or any regime really, wasn't focused on "pitch recognition and zone awareness", you're sadly mistaken. All the things you listed -- pitch recognition, zone awareness, swing mechanics, timing -- are ALL vital to squarely hitting a round ball with a round bat. All are critical and all are areas of focus to any regime at the highest levels of the game, from college ball on up. This is not a case of picking something from Column A or Column B. They're all equally and vitally important.
The greater concern for me is they're tinkering with the natural swings of some of these guys. Even young guys have a natural swing path. For every Daniel Murphy who successfully altered his swing and finds immense success, there are 50 Josh Bells, who try and fail.
I'm not saying this "regime" is doing that. I'm just suggesting the early results suggest a collective effort to homogenize the swings of these kids. Maybe this staff is packed with great teachers who can convey lessons effectively. If so, and they are tweaking swing mechanics, the results will come. We shall see.
What we know today is something ain't working. And it may not be the coaching, as a leader of the previous regime infamously suggested. Time will tell.
Hopefully the guys flip a switch Thursday and all this will be a needless worry.
I read somewhere that Rockies and Nationals batters were worst in baseball in walk percentage not only at the MLB level but also throughout the various minor league levels last year.
Somehow, the "previous regime" managed to build an entire developmental system that produced lineups full of easy outs. Whatever it is that those guys were doing was simply not working.
Will this regime have more success? I have no idea. Like you said, let's hope the switch gets flipped on Thursday so we can talk about something else.
Right now, what the new guys are doing isn't working either. 🤷
Like I said... Maybe it's not the coaching. Coaches can talk til they're blue in the face but if the players don't apply the lessons... Or can't apply them... That's a problem.
There's an old maxim about the old boss leaving 2 envelopes for his successor. The first says "Open when the first crisis occurs" and inside it says "blame the guy you replaced". The second envelope says "Open when the second crisis occurs" and it instructs the reader to "get 2 envelopes" 😉
Right now it's ok to blame the last guys. Pretty soon the current guys are gonna own this. And they may need to get 2 envelopes.
Wow. That was a lot of words. 😁. It was said that the last regime was too focused on fixing swings rather than pitch recognition. That didn't originate from me. It was in an after season triage article about the Nats.
Lol. If we're doing word counts I'd be willing to bet you lead the league. 😉
As for the substance of your post, it's sounds like enthusiastic but amateur analysis unsupported by anything but your own speculation (as is mine). If it's not, by all means cite the expert sources upon which your views are based. That would absolutely help with the credibility of your assertions about the focus of this regime or that.
Its speculation. Even in the Article I read which was on either on MASN or the Athletic was just hearsay because they didn't actually quote any players or people that were still in the organization, but claimed they were based on murmurings from the clubhouse. The same article claimed that several players became frustrated with their coaches and started to tune them out, but wouldn't say which players. I've seen it repeated several times, but all those places could have just been basing on the same article I originally read.
I base what the new regime is doing based on what they themselves have said and their work with Driveline. Driveline's Pro program isn't about creating carbon copy swings.
Whether its working or not working, I, Me, Myself assert that its still too early to tell.
While none of them official, they've pretty much pared it down to whether they carry an extra infielder or outfielder on the bench. Its basically two of Wiemer, Franklin, and Tena. Odds are on it being 5 outfielders as all of them have options and Tena doesn'. If Perez has his contract selected, they will need to eject someone. Then there are 10 relievers vying for 8 spots. 4 of those are almost certain (Henry, Beeter, Lord, Perez), but after they released Smith, this could really go in any direction.
You can't read much into today's BP game in terms of who they roll out. A guy may pitch because he's made the OD roster and they want him to get a little work before the trip to Chicago. A guy may pitch because they are on the fence and want to see him one more time.
If Nunez is going to be a starter, seems suboptimal to have Nunez at 2B and Abrams at SS. I wonder what it is they see in CJ’s latent talent that they want him to stick there?
I'm just looking for more offense from these guys. Maybe it is a gradual build, and I can be very patient. I am looking for good quality ABs with little chasing and hard contact.
Reading between a few lines, something like this appears to be their player acquisition and development philosophy at each position:
hitters: they want batters that make good swing decisions and believe that they can train bat speed / power / impact. This leads me to believe that Taboni, too, would have picked Willits 1/1. Also explains why they are swapping Tena for Vivas.
fielding: they want quick actions and athleticism. They believe that they can improve range. (this is also why they are keeping CJ at SS)
pitching: They want velocity and stuff and believe they can harness location (biggest change from Rizzo). Thus, all their minor league phase Rule 5 picks and why they traded Bennett for Perales, etc. Of course everyone in MLB is chasing the same thing, so nothing earth shattering here
So when monitoring the waiver wire, or looking forward to Draft this summer, I'd say focus on hitters with elite BB/K and contact numbers, pitchers with gas/stuff and defenders with twitchy athleticism.
Meanwhile we have two later R5 P picks making their teams. Carter Baumler who lived in A ball with Baltimore, making the Rangers and Peyton Pallette (great name alert!) formerly PaleHose now Gwardianz.
"hitters: they want batters that make good swing decisions and believe that they can train bat speed / power / impact"
This is the way the Dodgers develop hitters. They believe it to be the hardest skill to learn and even if they dont develop HR potential they will at least become good gap to gap line drive hitters.
How in good conscience can a manager use 9 TBA's in an exhibition game? For Gawd sakes, man, have some self-respect. Booby M needs to change that rule before the game gets overtaken by fly fishing in popularity and the typical fan is in the seventh decade. SAD! and thank you for your attention to this matter.
Well, it all starts for real at 2:20 ET on Thursday. The real question is what will the Nats’ record be after 3 games in Chicago, 3 in Philly and a weekend at home vs. L.A.
The first month is always wonky. Maybe we see the Nats in FIRST PLACE! The Braves announced that Strider is hurt so with their rotation missing a handful of players, they may be in last place for a bit.
This is the Oreos and they have no respect at all toward the Nationals or the citizens of the DMV why Lerner agreed to this farce is the great mystery of all time just because Rubenstein owns them doesn’t change the hostility they have toward DC
My boy CB has never forgiven the Woerioes for trying to block DC ball. CB still has his Angelos voodoo doll that gets a few pricks every night before bedtime. And I say, keep on keepin' on, CB!
There are a few fanbases that I would say are real vile but the Oreo hostility is off the rails and this goes back to my first years at Maryland I meet some real Baltymorons and man did ever want to punch their smirking faces on more then a few occasions and the years have not changed them at all ,Hun
In general most Orioles fans, including many of my friends who are, either hate all Washington sports teams with white-hot passion or pretend to ignore them.
For example, if Baltimore wins a game against the Nationals, they want to tell me every detail, but those the Nats win, they pretend not to have seen or to blame the umps or manager.
Last season when the Nats won 5 of 6 over the Birds, they all said, “Really? I didn’t watch those games. I was busy with other things.” (uh, yeah, they did.).
One even purported not to know who won the 2109 World Series! On that note, of at least a dozen Baltimore fans I know, and know well enough to call friends or close friends, only one, to this day, has congratulated me on being a diehard fan of the 2019 Champions.
When the Caps, Nats and Mystics all won titles in short succession, the Baltimore Sun actually ran an editorial griping about and telling people from DC never to again mention “the three stupid championships.” So, the hatred runs deep and it’s been there for many, many decades.
The vitriol of the early years has lessened and there are more Nats fans in the area I live in, but, in general, CB’s experience is not all that unusual, sadly.
I was an Orioles fan prior to 2005. At one game, we got to talking to the guy in front of us and mentioned we were from DC. For the rest of the game, the guy would not shut up about how much better the Ravens were than the Redskins.
So I see the Removal of the Washington Post from the fabric of DC life is complete as the Ad on the scoreboard is GONE replaced with a Pharmaceutical company (to go with a retirement lobby group patch what’s next crematorium field ads )
So the Junkie Boys had their 10 mins of Nationals coverage for March this morning and among the discussion if you can call it that was a comment that Crews was pissed off with the demotion. is that TRUE ? That would be very troubling
Saw the exhibition game at RFK in the spring of 1987, the Mets vs the Phillies. The pitcher stepped off the rubber and looked straight up. We all looked up too and saw snowflakes falling. That was April 5.
I was at the 2-1, 18-inning playoff loss to the Giants in October 2014. It was so cold that a lady who sat behind us said a bunch of folks were taking refuge in the restroom.
I'm usually *very* good at figuring out how to dress and what to bring for these early games but I screwed up and got too cold. I wound up going inside at the 7th inning stretch to finish out the game. (I sit in 217, in the Champions Club.)
Yes, it's my regular seat! 217 K 10 -- in the corner, directly below and also adjacent to ADA seats. I have a B half plan. I'll be there Opening Day (of course!).
According to MLB.com’s 2024 Scouting report on Vivas : “Vivas has fringy speed and arm strength that limit his value on the bases and in the field. He has sure hands and average range at second base but isn't really suited to play elsewhere. The Dodgers tried playing him at third base, but the game speeds up too much on him there and he doesn't have the arm for the hot corner.”
A lot of dropouts this year and we are still looking for Yahoo fantasy baseball team managers. No money and no harassment. It's a great way to get to know the middle relievers of the Colorado Rox for all those one up ya moments with friends. Send me a dm and I'll give you a link to sign up.
I feel teased by Toboni on what the follow up move to Vivas is, maybe we get another mid-game move; McGarry is not who I thought would be optioned, and surely we don’t intend to have both Tena and Vivas on the bench.
The curiousity in me wonders if they’d really want Tena to do the homecoming red carpet walk later tonight if he might not even be on the team within the next day.
Cubs looking for bench infielders apparently, would be funny if that’s where he’s headed and just waiting to announce the move once the team is there to facilitate travel.
The Nats still need to clear a spot on the 40-man to add Cionel Perez to the roster. It seems like a foregone conclusion that Jose Tena will be the one on the chopping block.
I have to imagine that the hitting instruction that the team has started getting over the last 4-5 months is wildly different than anything they’d been getting with the Nats over the last 4-5 years. I’m holding out hope that these new offensive woes are a transition period, and that things will resolve naturally over the next few months as bad habits formed by bad instruction are unlearned. We already know this isn’t going to be a competitive season - so they can take the extra runway to rework these guys’ mechanics methodically.
It's spring training. it is totally meaningless. not only did the best team in 2025's spring training, the SF Gigantes, not win the WS, they didn't even win the NLW nor make the playoffs. it ain't baseball.
That has been talked about before. Their emphasis since day one was pitch recognition and zone awareness, whereas a lot of emphasis from the previous regime was on swing mechanics and timing. Even though they talked over and over again about not chasing and choosing the right pitch, if they weren't helping them recognize which pitch is the one to swing at, telling them to wait for it doesn't do a lot of good. What these guys have been working on this spring is a mental change, which can take a lot longer to adopt than a physical one.
Spot on!
This is an excellent point.
The days of "be yourself" need to be put in the past if "yourself" means a sub-.300 OBP and getting yourself out by putting bad pitches in play. Some guys will not be able to make the change - and they will be gone.
Honestly, if you think the "previous regime", or any regime really, wasn't focused on "pitch recognition and zone awareness", you're sadly mistaken. All the things you listed -- pitch recognition, zone awareness, swing mechanics, timing -- are ALL vital to squarely hitting a round ball with a round bat. All are critical and all are areas of focus to any regime at the highest levels of the game, from college ball on up. This is not a case of picking something from Column A or Column B. They're all equally and vitally important.
The greater concern for me is they're tinkering with the natural swings of some of these guys. Even young guys have a natural swing path. For every Daniel Murphy who successfully altered his swing and finds immense success, there are 50 Josh Bells, who try and fail.
I'm not saying this "regime" is doing that. I'm just suggesting the early results suggest a collective effort to homogenize the swings of these kids. Maybe this staff is packed with great teachers who can convey lessons effectively. If so, and they are tweaking swing mechanics, the results will come. We shall see.
What we know today is something ain't working. And it may not be the coaching, as a leader of the previous regime infamously suggested. Time will tell.
Hopefully the guys flip a switch Thursday and all this will be a needless worry.
I read somewhere that Rockies and Nationals batters were worst in baseball in walk percentage not only at the MLB level but also throughout the various minor league levels last year.
Somehow, the "previous regime" managed to build an entire developmental system that produced lineups full of easy outs. Whatever it is that those guys were doing was simply not working.
Will this regime have more success? I have no idea. Like you said, let's hope the switch gets flipped on Thursday so we can talk about something else.
Right now, what the new guys are doing isn't working either. 🤷
Like I said... Maybe it's not the coaching. Coaches can talk til they're blue in the face but if the players don't apply the lessons... Or can't apply them... That's a problem.
There's an old maxim about the old boss leaving 2 envelopes for his successor. The first says "Open when the first crisis occurs" and inside it says "blame the guy you replaced". The second envelope says "Open when the second crisis occurs" and it instructs the reader to "get 2 envelopes" 😉
Right now it's ok to blame the last guys. Pretty soon the current guys are gonna own this. And they may need to get 2 envelopes.
Wow. That was a lot of words. 😁. It was said that the last regime was too focused on fixing swings rather than pitch recognition. That didn't originate from me. It was in an after season triage article about the Nats.
Lol. If we're doing word counts I'd be willing to bet you lead the league. 😉
As for the substance of your post, it's sounds like enthusiastic but amateur analysis unsupported by anything but your own speculation (as is mine). If it's not, by all means cite the expert sources upon which your views are based. That would absolutely help with the credibility of your assertions about the focus of this regime or that.
Its speculation. Even in the Article I read which was on either on MASN or the Athletic was just hearsay because they didn't actually quote any players or people that were still in the organization, but claimed they were based on murmurings from the clubhouse. The same article claimed that several players became frustrated with their coaches and started to tune them out, but wouldn't say which players. I've seen it repeated several times, but all those places could have just been basing on the same article I originally read.
I base what the new regime is doing based on what they themselves have said and their work with Driveline. Driveline's Pro program isn't about creating carbon copy swings.
Whether its working or not working, I, Me, Myself assert that its still too early to tell.
Me, Myself, and I concur!
How many positions do the Nats need to cut between now and Opening Day? I’ve lost track.
While none of them official, they've pretty much pared it down to whether they carry an extra infielder or outfielder on the bench. Its basically two of Wiemer, Franklin, and Tena. Odds are on it being 5 outfielders as all of them have options and Tena doesn'. If Perez has his contract selected, they will need to eject someone. Then there are 10 relievers vying for 8 spots. 4 of those are almost certain (Henry, Beeter, Lord, Perez), but after they released Smith, this could really go in any direction.
You can't read much into today's BP game in terms of who they roll out. A guy may pitch because he's made the OD roster and they want him to get a little work before the trip to Chicago. A guy may pitch because they are on the fence and want to see him one more time.
If Nunez is going to be a starter, seems suboptimal to have Nunez at 2B and Abrams at SS. I wonder what it is they see in CJ’s latent talent that they want him to stick there?
His trade value is higher as a SS although everybody, including the Padres, know he should be playing 2B.
Tena and Vivas together in the line up. Interesting.
I'll be at the Park shortly. Open those gates!
If a fight breaks out between the two of them, I hope you'll have Jorbit's back.
I'm there.
I'm just looking for more offense from these guys. Maybe it is a gradual build, and I can be very patient. I am looking for good quality ABs with little chasing and hard contact.
GO NATS!!!!!
Reading between a few lines, something like this appears to be their player acquisition and development philosophy at each position:
hitters: they want batters that make good swing decisions and believe that they can train bat speed / power / impact. This leads me to believe that Taboni, too, would have picked Willits 1/1. Also explains why they are swapping Tena for Vivas.
fielding: they want quick actions and athleticism. They believe that they can improve range. (this is also why they are keeping CJ at SS)
pitching: They want velocity and stuff and believe they can harness location (biggest change from Rizzo). Thus, all their minor league phase Rule 5 picks and why they traded Bennett for Perales, etc. Of course everyone in MLB is chasing the same thing, so nothing earth shattering here
So when monitoring the waiver wire, or looking forward to Draft this summer, I'd say focus on hitters with elite BB/K and contact numbers, pitchers with gas/stuff and defenders with twitchy athleticism.
Meanwhile we have two later R5 P picks making their teams. Carter Baumler who lived in A ball with Baltimore, making the Rangers and Peyton Pallette (great name alert!) formerly PaleHose now Gwardianz.
"hitters: they want batters that make good swing decisions and believe that they can train bat speed / power / impact"
This is the way the Dodgers develop hitters. They believe it to be the hardest skill to learn and even if they dont develop HR potential they will at least become good gap to gap line drive hitters.
outstanding analysis, this helps put all the moves in perspective. I kinda had a loose idea but this puts it together nicely
How in good conscience can a manager use 9 TBA's in an exhibition game? For Gawd sakes, man, have some self-respect. Booby M needs to change that rule before the game gets overtaken by fly fishing in popularity and the typical fan is in the seventh decade. SAD! and thank you for your attention to this matter.
Well, it all starts for real at 2:20 ET on Thursday. The real question is what will the Nats’ record be after 3 games in Chicago, 3 in Philly and a weekend at home vs. L.A.
Hoping for 3-6 or even 4-5.
The first month is always wonky. Maybe we see the Nats in FIRST PLACE! The Braves announced that Strider is hurt so with their rotation missing a handful of players, they may be in last place for a bit.
This is the Oreos and they have no respect at all toward the Nationals or the citizens of the DMV why Lerner agreed to this farce is the great mystery of all time just because Rubenstein owns them doesn’t change the hostility they have toward DC
Wow, CBinDC, that might be overstating it a bit.
My boy CB has never forgiven the Woerioes for trying to block DC ball. CB still has his Angelos voodoo doll that gets a few pricks every night before bedtime. And I say, keep on keepin' on, CB!
It’s good to see the passion!
There are a few fanbases that I would say are real vile but the Oreo hostility is off the rails and this goes back to my first years at Maryland I meet some real Baltymorons and man did ever want to punch their smirking faces on more then a few occasions and the years have not changed them at all ,Hun
Too bad they weren’t born yet to see the Orioles’ last WS victory 43 years ago.
In general most Orioles fans, including many of my friends who are, either hate all Washington sports teams with white-hot passion or pretend to ignore them.
For example, if Baltimore wins a game against the Nationals, they want to tell me every detail, but those the Nats win, they pretend not to have seen or to blame the umps or manager.
Last season when the Nats won 5 of 6 over the Birds, they all said, “Really? I didn’t watch those games. I was busy with other things.” (uh, yeah, they did.).
One even purported not to know who won the 2109 World Series! On that note, of at least a dozen Baltimore fans I know, and know well enough to call friends or close friends, only one, to this day, has congratulated me on being a diehard fan of the 2019 Champions.
When the Caps, Nats and Mystics all won titles in short succession, the Baltimore Sun actually ran an editorial griping about and telling people from DC never to again mention “the three stupid championships.” So, the hatred runs deep and it’s been there for many, many decades.
The vitriol of the early years has lessened and there are more Nats fans in the area I live in, but, in general, CB’s experience is not all that unusual, sadly.
I was an Orioles fan prior to 2005. At one game, we got to talking to the guy in front of us and mentioned we were from DC. For the rest of the game, the guy would not shut up about how much better the Ravens were than the Redskins.
I don't think anyone knows who won the 2109 World Series 😜
The Nats got screwed out of a victory lap by Covid.
So I see the Removal of the Washington Post from the fabric of DC life is complete as the Ad on the scoreboard is GONE replaced with a Pharmaceutical company (to go with a retirement lobby group patch what’s next crematorium field ads )
Selling dates now to have your ashes scattered on the field!! Hurry - don't wait until they're gone.....
VANDA Pharma
The ads write themselves:
Here lay your Washington Nationals fans!
With every season ticket comes a lovely keepsake urn celebrating the 2019 World Series season. Get your before it's toooo late.
Welcome to the squad, Jorbit!
So the Junkie Boys had their 10 mins of Nationals coverage for March this morning and among the discussion if you can call it that was a comment that Crews was pissed off with the demotion. is that TRUE ? That would be very troubling
ignore (just...in general, ignore). They don't know ball.
Truly. They talk a good game, but . . . .
They say dumb stuff all the time.
EB is always wrong about pretty much everything
So much for the sun. Chilly down here. And breezy.
I've seen worse for a March game.
Hope the Nats can warm you up by giving you something to jump up and cheer about!
Thanks. That and one of those Limearitas. -:)
Or 2
Saw the exhibition game at RFK in the spring of 1987, the Mets vs the Phillies. The pitcher stepped off the rubber and looked straight up. We all looked up too and saw snowflakes falling. That was April 5.
Went to some O-days at Memorial in the 70's where you needed sterno under your seat.
Also did a Nats game in '05 or '06 that still holds record for coldest game in Nats history.
Crazy fans R Us.
I was at the 2-1, 18-inning playoff loss to the Giants in October 2014. It was so cold that a lady who sat behind us said a bunch of folks were taking refuge in the restroom.
Oh yeah, we were there. The temp drop between first pitch and the end was nuts.
Had to defrost at that beer place which is long gone.
I'm usually *very* good at figuring out how to dress and what to bring for these early games but I screwed up and got too cold. I wound up going inside at the 7th inning stretch to finish out the game. (I sit in 217, in the Champions Club.)
Susan,
Gotta layer up.
Is that your regular seat?
I do a partial part of the season in 219.
Yes, it's my regular seat! 217 K 10 -- in the corner, directly below and also adjacent to ADA seats. I have a B half plan. I'll be there Opening Day (of course!).
Nice seats. Maybe run into you sometime.
According to MLB.com’s 2024 Scouting report on Vivas : “Vivas has fringy speed and arm strength that limit his value on the bases and in the field. He has sure hands and average range at second base but isn't really suited to play elsewhere. The Dodgers tried playing him at third base, but the game speeds up too much on him there and he doesn't have the arm for the hot corner.”
It’ll be interesting to see how he does today.
He has played a lot of 3B in the minors, particularly after the LA trade. He even got in 75 innings with the Yankees last year.
A lot of dropouts this year and we are still looking for Yahoo fantasy baseball team managers. No money and no harassment. It's a great way to get to know the middle relievers of the Colorado Rox for all those one up ya moments with friends. Send me a dm and I'll give you a link to sign up.
Still got room? DM me the link
count me as one who's really happy to see the ABS system
Nailing it early
also count me as one who really dislikes these silly in-game interviews
It's the kind of thing that sounds like a really good idea to people who don't watch baseball.
`mlb has an audio option so i have our radio crew
Hopefully they were just for spring training and we won't see them in-season.