By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
"I met a guy today who had been through 49 surgeries," said Chad Tracy. "I've been through four of five myself, just to imagine a guy going through almost 50 surgeries, to see he was still a driven, confident, leader of a man really touched me."
Since the Nationals moved Detwiler back into the starting rotation for good last June, and including the playoffs, he has posted a 2.97 ERA in 121 1/3 innings of work.
Harper homered in his first two at-bats to account for the only scoring and Strasburg pitched seven shutout innings as the defending NL East champs opened their 2013 campaign.
The Washington Nationals and Davey Johnson culminated a long negotiating process when they formally announced the manager's return to the dugout for the 2013 season. And while both sides had left little doubt about that outcome throughout, their announcement came without ambiguity for the future as well.
As manager Davey Johnson opened his office to reporters Sunday afternoon, his animated discussion with general manager Mike Rizzo over, he discussed his team's fourth consecutive defeat. On several occasions, he pointed to the fact that his team was playing short.
The Washington Nationals have done a lot of things right this season. But if they needed any clearer indication that the word is out on their inability to hold base runners, they got it with two outs in the fourth inning Tuesday night when Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee stole second base on Stephen Strasburg.
On the day Gio Gonzalez made his final start of the season's first half, he wandered about the clubhouse in a bright red T-shirt that proudly proclaimed "Strasburg Knows."
Six years ago, Ian Desmond stood on the field at Pfitzner Stadium and looked down at the dirt. A 21-year-old Single-A repeat, Desmond walked the line between self-confidence and self-doubt. The big leagues were 45 minutes away in D.C. They may as well have been on the other side of the world.
For so long, the Washington Nationals have looked at the middle part of their lineup and wondered what might be.
Late at night at Nationals Park, as they digest another game in what is still a season in its infancy, Danny Espinosa and Randy Knorr sit in the steam room and talk. The conversation doesn't always revolve around the game. Sometimes it's life, sometimes it's advice. But, in a way, it's like therapy.
It was all working out so easily for the Washington Nationals. The balloons marking the opening of Nationals Park for 2012 hung from the center-field gate. The stands were packed Thursday afternoon with fans clad in curly 'W' apparel and the Nationals' blockbuster offseason trade acquisition was dominant on the mound. The best start in team history was in sight.
Amongst the commotion in the Washington Nationals' locker room Tuesday afternoon — between the shock of the news that left-hander John Lannan had been demoted to Triple-A and the joy for a guy like Ryan Mattheus who was making his first Opening Day roster at age 28 — there was Ross Detwiler.
The Washington Nationals finalized their coaching staff for the 2012 season Thursday evening when they promoted Triple-A manager Randy Knorr to the major league coaching staff as the bench coach for manager Davey Johnson.
When the season ends Wednesday, the Washington Nationals will begin the process of searching for their 2012 manager. Their list, general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday, is not long. They know what they want and who they're looking at.
Stephen Strasburg struck out seven in five innings, giving up one earned run on two hits in a rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday night.
"That's maturity as a pitcher, not as a person," said Knorr, now Washington's bench coach.
Ross Detwiler's development evident as results keep rolling in →
