Gästebuch » The Washington Nationals begin their final homes

WASHINGTON — tand of the season Thursday night when they host the New York Mets.They’ll play seven games over seven days against the Mets and Marlins Bryan Holaday Jersey , but the stakes are much lower than in previous years. They won’t be clinching a playoff berth or setting a rotation or auditioning players for a post-season roster spot.Washington (77-75) sits seven games behind the Braves in the National League East and 6 1/2 behind the Cardinals for the second wild card. A best-case scenario would seem to be staving off mathematical elimination until they end the season with three road games in Colorado.Article continues below ...The homestand may be the last for All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper, a free-agent in the offseason.“I haven’t really thought about it,” Harper told the Washington Post. “I think it’ll really hit that last game I guess, running off the field or something like that. I’m just trying to enjoy it and see what happens.”After a rough first half, Harper enters the final 10 games hitting .247 with 34 homers and 97 RBIs. He has never driven in 100 runs.The Mets (70-82) long ago became a non-factor in 2018 and are already looking ahead to next season when they could boast arguably the best starting rotation in the East.On Wednesday, they announced they were shutting down right-hander Zack Wheeler (12-7, 3.31 ERA) for the remainder of the season, with Corey Oswalt taking his place in the rotation.Wheeler, who didn’t pitch in the majors in 2015 and 2016, had a shortened 2017. This season he’s gone 9-1 with a 1.68 ERA over his last 11 starts but has pitched almost 100 more innings than a year ago.“We’re really excited about the year he had, and we feel like we’d probably be taking the best care of him we can if we shut him down at this point,” manager Mickey Callaway told mlb.com.Left-hander Jason Vargas (6-9, 6.47 ERA) starts Thursday’s opener for the Mets.Vargas has also enjoyed a strong finish. His ERA was in double digits back in May and after an Aug. 7 loss it was 8.75 to go along with a 2-8 record. He’s given up two earned runs or fewer in five of his last six starts, including last time out when he beat the Marlins, allowing two runs over six innings.Vargas is 1-3 with a 0.83 ERA, in six games (three starts) against Washington.Right-hander Max Scherzer (17-7, 2.53 ERA) starts for Washington. Scherzer has 277 strikeouts coming in and needs eight to top his career high of 284, set in 2016. He has 16 double-digit strikeout games on the season.In his last start, Scherzer was roughed up by the Braves, giving up six runs on seven hits over four innings http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey , his shortest start of the season as he seeks a third straight NL Cy Young Award.“I just couldn’t get into a rhythm where I knew where those balls were actually going to end up. I couldn’t control my misses,” Scherzer told the Washington Post. “I was pitching out of the stretch so much. I never found a rhythm out of the windup to be able to take it to the stretch to be able to execute clean innings.”Scherer is 9-4 with a 2.34 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) against the Mets. PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — San Diego Padres prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kansas City Royals counterpart Adalberto Mondesi have never met, even though their life stories suggest a cup of coffee is long overdue.They would certainly have a lot to talk about.Each of their clubs is counting on their dynamic young shortstop to form the cornerstone of a rebuild that could push them back to the postseason. Both have roots in the Dominican Republic, have fathers that played in the big leagues, and both possess the kind of five-tool stardom at one of the game’s premier position that leaves scouts and front-office executives in a tizzy.“On the field, off the field, how they handle themselves in the locker room — I saw both of those guys when they were 18, 19 years old in a big league locker room, and they fit right in,” said Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer, who prior to San Diego had spent his entire career in Kansas City.“They have a different swagger, a whole different confidence,” Hosmer told The Associated Press. “It’s almost like they pictured this moment as a kid, being big league players.”They probably did.Tatis grew up bouncing around clubhouses in Texas, St. Louis, Montreal and Boston before his father, Fernando Tatis, wrapped up his 11-year career with the New York Mets. While never a star, the elder Tatis did bat .265 over his career Justin Bour Jersey , hit 34 homers in a season for the Cardinals and once connected for two grand slams in an inning.He broke into the big leagues at 22 years old, setting a bar that his powerful, precocious son could beat by two full years if he arrives later this summer.Or later this spring, for that matter. Junior has a valuable supporter to break camp with the Padres in third baseman Manny Machado, who signed a $300 million contract this offseason. The two could form a formidable left side of the infield, and Machado is so confident in the young upstart’s future that he’s embraced a return to third base even though he’d rather play shortstop himself.“That’s a hell of an infield we’d have,” Machado said. “He’s a baller. He can play a little bit. I don’t want him to blow up too much but he can play. He’s a special player and he wants to get better, and he wants to prove he’s the best player in the game.”Tatis still has a long way to go in that respect.The 20-year-old shortstop hit .286 with 16 homers and 43 RBIs at Double-A San Antonio last season, but he has just 102 games under his belt at that level. So even though he’s raking in the Cactus League this spring, the reality is some time at Triple-A El Paso makes sense.Regardless of Machado’s lobbying.“We’re a different team if he’s in the lineup,” the four-time All-Star said. “If he’s in there, we’re going to be a dangerous team, and we’re all rooting for him to break camp with us.”When it comes to Mondesi, there is no such question.The first player in more than 100 years to make his big league debut in the World Series, when he appeared in the 2015 Fall Classic as a 19-year-old, the son of Raul Mondesi has weathered a rocky start to his career. He was a staple among the Royals’ top prospects for years, but his first two chances in Kansas City went so poorly that he was shuttled back to the minors.He hit just .185 in 47 games in 2016. He hit .170 in 25 games the following season.But everything finally clicked last year, when Mondesi torched the Pacific Coast League at Triple-A Omaha to earn another shot with the Royals. And this time Mondesi made good on it, hitting .276 with 14 homers, 37 RBIs and 32 steals in just 275 plate appearances over the course of 75 games.“We haven’t met yet http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey ,” Tatis said of Mondesi, even though their teams occasionally play each other in Cactus League games, and they work out just down Bell Road from each other in Arizona.The Padres camp in the Peoria and the Royals in Surprise.“I’d be glad to be compared to him,” Tatis added. “He’s already a really good ballplayer.”Good enough to convince the Royals to let longtime shortstop Alcides Escobar sign elsewhere in free agency, and turn the full-time job over to a player they always considered their future.“He just made such great progress last year,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I was really proud of him at the end of the year. When he first came up to the big leagues I was nervous about overusing him, because he’s always been a bit injury-prone. I wanted to make sure I didn’t pile on the days.“With a month to go he said, ‘You don’t ask me how I feel. I’m going to play every single game. I’m ready,'” Yost continued. “That’s a big step, to get yourself ready to go out there, because there is a lot of wear and tear on his body being that type of athlete. There’s diving around. There’s a lot of sliding into second base. There’s a lot of quick-twitch movements that take a toll.”Mondesi’s father was an All-Star for the Dodgers early in his career, and proceeded to hit .273 over 13 seasons with seven different clubs. Those are solid numbers for anybody, but a benchmark that everyone in the Royals organization expects his son to surpass.There’s at least one person in the Padres organization who expects it, too.“You just don’t see the tools those guys have, especially at premium positions like shortstop,” Hosmer said, shaking his head. “It’s something that’s extremely valuable. There’s a reason both guys are so highly touted. They have tools that change the game from every spot. They check every box.”