Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans,
It’s Opening Day 2020! Here is our special report with all the latest and greatest to get you ready for the Yankees v. Nationals tonight on ESPN at 7:08 pm EST.
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Washington Nationals Headlines
Details For Opening Day 2020
Well, Opening Day is just about 24 hours away, and after months and months of no baseball, it’s going to be time to say those fantastic words that we all love to hear: Let’s Play Ball.
Read the full article via The Nats Report
Why The Nationals Are Wearing Gold-Trimmed Jerseys On Opening Day
The Washington Nationals will wear gold-accented jerseys and caps to celebrate their World Series title when they open the MLB season on Thursday against the New York Yankees, a trend that began when the Boston Red Sox wore gold-accented jerseys on Opening Day in 2005. A Nationals spokeswoman said the team may continue to wear the jerseys for select home games throughout the season.
Read the full article via The Washington Post
Opening Day Amid Virus: Nats Host Yanks With Masked Men, No Fans In Stands, Piped-In Sound
A baseball season that was on the brink before it ever began because of the virus outbreak is set to start Thursday night with the first game at 7:08 p.m. in Nationals Park in D.C.
Read the full article via WJLA 7 (Washington DC)
Suero, Elías Throwing But Won’t Make Opening Night Bullpen
Though Wander Suero and Roenis Elías have rejoined the Nationals and have been cleared to work out with the club, neither reliever will be ready to open the season on the active roster.
Suero and Elías were among the group of 11 players who were not initially cleared to participate in summer training at Nationals Park, either because they tested positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to someone else who did. Both were placed on the 10-day injured list July 13.
Elías, though, was cleared to join camp Friday and has been throwing at the ballpark since. And Suero made his first appearance today, facing live hitters during the Nationals’ final workout before the regular season begins.
Read the full article via MASN Sports
Challenges The Nationals Will Likely Face In A Truncated, Title-Defending Season
By the time the Nationals host the New York Yankees in Thursday’s season opener, 267 days will have passed since they last played a meaningful baseball game. You may remember that one.
In the nearly nine months since, there’s been: A championship parade, Spring Training, a global pandemic, bickering between owners and players, a virtual ring ceremony, more bickering between owners and players, another Spring Training (Summer Camp, if you prefer), socially distanced workouts and exhibition games played in empty stadiums.
Read the full article via WTOP Radio
‘Trea Turner Is The Catalyst For Everything They Do’: CBS Sports MLB Writer Mike Axisa On Washington Nationals
The Major League Baseball season begins this week and the Washington Nationals enter the 2020 shortened season with an opportunity to defend their World Series championship.
The Nationals begin play Thursday against the New York Yankees, in a matchup that will feature aces Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole. While the Nats have many familiar faces back from the 2019 championship team, Anthony Rendon is now a member of the Los Angeles Angels and Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross decided to sit out this season.
Read the full article via CBS 13 WJZ (Baltimore)
Bold Predictions
Time to offer some bold predictions for the upcoming Nationals season. To get the process started we’ve surveyed a few of the long-time members of the TalkNats community to weigh in with their number 1 bold prediction for the upcoming season.
Read the full article via Talk Nats
Washington Nationals 2020 MLB Preview: Will A World Series Championship In 2020 Mean As Much?
Is a 60-game season championship the same as a 162-game title? A few Nationals have offered their thoughts on the WS championship and 2020 awards recently…
Read the full article via Federal Baseball
This Was Not The Opening Day The Nationals Had Planned, But At Least It’s Here
The Washington Nationals have gotten small tastes of what Opening Day might be like. They have played two home exhibitions inside an empty stadium. They’ve heard the artificial crowd noise. There certainly won’t be a ring ceremony, fans to cheer for a banner raising, or any of the usual celebrations afforded to World Series winners.
Read the full article via The Washington Post
Sean Doolittle Says Nationals, Yankees Discussing What To Do During National Anthem On Opening Day
Questions about what will happen Thursday night when Major League Baseball starts its season aren’t restricted to only play on the field.
The Nationals and New York Yankees are discussing what to do during the National Anthem, according to Nationals closer Sean Doolittle, who was asked Wednesday whether he has thought about taking a knee during the anthem.
Read the full article via NBC Sports Washington
5 Storylines For The 2020 Washington Nationals
It’s been a long offseason filled with excitement, heartache, and so much more. Here are five storylines that we are thinking about so far as the season starts this week.
Read the full article via The Nats Report
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo Has Noticed ‘Extreme’ Progress From Carter Kieboom
Before the 2020 season was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, top prospect Carter Kieboom was expected to be the Nationals’ starting third baseman even though he’s a natural shortstop. As the season is set to begin on Thursday, Kieboom at third will still be the team’s reality, though Asdrubal Cabrera is going to get the start at third on Opening Day. While his bat was never in question, Kieboom struggled defensively throughout spring training
Read the full article via NBC Sports Washington
MLB 2020 Preview: Washington Nationals On The DH In The NL In 2020…
The DH played a big role in the Nationals’ World Series win last October, but we’re still not fans of having one in the NL all season in 2020, or for good in the next CBA.
Read the full article via Federal Baseball
The Presidents Will Race On At Nationals Park, But With Some Changes
Abe, Tom, George, and Teddy will still race this year during the fourth inning of each of the 30 Washington Nationals regular-season home games, although they will run under a few pandemic-related changes and without an in-person audience for now.
That’s right, Nats fans: The beloved Presidents Race—the uniquely odd D.C. tradition in which four foam-eyed, big-headed ex-presidents run across the Nationals Park field—will continue to take place despite the coronavirus pandemic. But at least in the short term, the race will be pre-taped and happen outside the ballpark, the team confirmed to DCist Wednesday.
Read the full arrticle via DCList
New York Yankee Headlines
Yankees’ Aaron Judge On Kneeling During The National Anthem: ‘That’s The Beauty Of America’
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge wants to make one thing clear ahead of Thursday’s opening game against the Washington Nationals: Regardless if some players decide to kneel during the national anthem, the team will be a unified front.
Read the full article via Fox News
Yankees To Honor Hank Steinbrenner With Commemorative Patch On Jerseys
The New York Yankees will honor late co-owner Hank Steinbrenner with a commemorative patch during the 2020 season.
Read the full article via Blecher Report
Yankees 2020 Preview: Too Much Talent For Weird Season To Break Bombers
When the coronavirus shut down spring training on March 12 the Yankees were the favorites to win the AL East despite not having Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino for the scheduled March 26 start of the regular season.
Now with a 60-game schedule beginning Thursday in Washington against the defending World Series champion Nationals, the Yankees remain the favorites to cop a second consecutive AL East title despite the possibility of being without some very important pieces.
Read the full article via NY Post
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone: “We Plan On Going Out And Being New York Tough”
This Yankees video on the COVID-19 pandemic is a must-watch.
Watch the video via Pin Stripe Alley
Aroldis Chapman Still Testing Positive For Coronavirus, Will Miss Season Opener
Aroldis Chapman remains asymptomatic, but continues to test positive for COVID-19, according to GM Brian Cashman. Chapman remains in his New York home — working out on his own — but will be unavailable to the Yankees as they open the season Thursday against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
Read the full article via New York Daily News
Around The Horn: News From Around The League
Technological Updates For Season Revealed
After plenty of conversation surrounding what we won’t see on Opening Day — from fans in attendance to familiar postgame handshakes — Major League Baseball delivered a welcome changeup on Monday, with news that the national pastime in 2020 will feature more technology, inside and outside ballparks, than ever before.
MLB To Use ‘Black Lives Matter’ Stencil On Mound During Opening Week
MLB will debut a ‘Black Lives Matter’ stencil on mounds across the league in its opening week, the Washington Nationals announced on Wednesday.
The stencil will first appear on Thursday as the Nationals host the Yankees in the 2020 season opener.
Read the full article via Sports Illustrated
The Baseball Season Starts Thursday. How It Ends Is Anyone’s Guess.
If you had to define the essence of baseball in a sentence, you might say it is a sport of complexity and nuance that revolves around the pitcher-vs.-batter matchup, grounded in the timeless precision of its dimensions — 90 feet between the bases, 60 feet 6 inches from the pitcher’s rubber to the plate — and constructed around a near-daily schedule that values durability, resilience and mental sharpness.
Read the full article via The Washington Post
Nats, Yanks Hope To Set Example For American Team Sports
When they take the field Thursday night for the first time in 2020, the Nationals will do so as defending World Series champions, having just raised a flag and pennant minutes earlier. They’ll be sending their potential future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer to the mound. The opponents, the Yankees, are merely baseball’s most-storied franchise, one sending its new ace, Gerrit Cole, to the mound in its first step toward competing for its 28th World Series title.
Read the full article via MASN Sports
Opening Day Amid Virus: Masks, Empty Parks, Social Justice
A baseball season that was on the brink before it ever began because of the virus outbreak is set to start Thursday night when excitable Max Scherzer and the World Series champion Washington Nationals host prized ace Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees.
When it does get underway — the DC forecast calls for thunderstorms, the latest rocky inning in this what-can-go-wrong game — it’ll mark the most bizarre year in the history of Major League Baseball.
