Nats Enquirer

Because Three Aces will be Two Aces soon...

...now seems as good a time as any to post up this amazing Three Aces piece of art: Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, and Stephen Strasburg.

Pretty soon, the Nats will be down to just a pair of Aces. Not too shabby. But it seems we're now entering the preposterous "who needs Strasburg, anyway?" stage of the Great Strasburg Shutdown debate, or at least Thomas Boswell seemed to be Tweeting in that direction last night.

Oh, apparently all Three Aces will be signing a number of these prints next week. For more information about the prints, email: info@AllstarsArt.com.

(Image via @Allstars_S2 h/t @recordsandradio)

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Video: Bryce Harper's advice to kids at his baseball camp: "Be as sexy as you can!"

New Bryce Harper catchphrase alert! "Be as sexy as you can!"

Up above: Video of WJLA-TV 7's segment on Bryce Harper's baseball camp in Fairfax yesterday (video here, also), in which by all accounts Harper was involved, accessible and fantastic with the kids.

At the 1:05 mark of the video Harper can be heard giving this advice: "Be as sexy as you can!" Andy Feffer would call that "Natitude". We think there's probably another patent coming for that phrase, and likely a t-shirt in making for Harper

Also, some kid hit a bomb off of Harper; that kid will no doubt tell his grandchildren about that someday.

Harper's real big takeaway for the kids: have fun:

"That's the biggest thing. Even now, I tell myself that. Have fun doing the things you know how to do - that's playing baseball."
(Bryce Harper, via WTOP.com, 8/16/2012)

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Video: Bryce Harper got taken deep by a kid at his baseball camp today

Video up above (via @Allstars_S2) of Bryce Harper pitching at his free baseball camp for area kids today at Fairfax High School. Wait! That kid hit a bomb!

Pretty cool thing for Harper to do for the community, along with a donation to the Greater Washington Urban League. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be an arrogant punk?

Related: A photo of what might be a younger, pudgier Bryce Harper circa 2004, age 11 or 12? Pretty sure that's him...

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Here's Bryce Harper circa 2004?

The photo above is apparently Bryce Harper in 2004, at age 12. Amazing.

On an unrelated note: Harper held his first ever DC-area baseball camp in Fairfax today...

(photo via @natsgirl3411 h/t @recordsandradio)

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139 1/3

...but who's counting?

Sounds like Davey Johnson is, for one. Here's Davey talking about Strasburg's sore back and trying to limit his innings as best he can with Shutdown Day looming during his postgame interview on Wednesday:

"He's had that little bit of a stiff back. It looks like he kept trying to get his back loose. And he got in a jam, then he quite worrying about the back, and he went after 'em and  pitched out of it. And then got, really, in a good rhythm, and then was really cruising. And there's again a case where I normally would go another inning, except we're gonna hold his innings down."
(Davey Johnson, via MASN, 8/15/2012)

And here's Strasburg, after a reporter mentioned that Davey said his back might be bothering him. Is the Strasback a problem?

"Uh, no. You know, it's tough because obviously you have some long innings sitting down there and it's a little chilly, so it took a little while to get going. But once I got loose it was good."
(Stephen Strasburg, via MASN, 8/15/2012)

Oh well...so much for those nincompoop dreams you've been having of a 15 day trip to the DL...

(Screen cap via MASN/TV)

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Nats photobomb Stephen Strasburg's postgame interview

And so, Stephen Strasburg shut down (get it!?) the Giants on Wednesday afternoon (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 7 K, 100 pitches, 60 strikes), and the Nats capped off a 10 game road trip with a 6-4 win. 8-2 trip: not too shabby. Homeward bound! Huge games for Lombardozzi, Werth, and Espinosa.

Later on, during Strasburg's postgame interview, a seemingly endless parade of Nats players photobombing the proceedings (video via MASNSports.com here). In no particular order:

Shark sighting!

Gio!

Zimmermann!

Desmond!

(Screen caps via MASN/TV)

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Anthony Rendon makes AA debut, has "more hardware in me than Home Depot."

Up above: that's Anthony Rendon in his first at bat with the Harrisburg Senators last night (Photo via @TheSportsBurger). Rendon went 1-4 in his AA debut.

Must-read this morning: Geoff Morrow of The Patriot News has bushels of great quotes from Rendon and Senators manager Matt Lecroy in a post at PennLive.com.

On the biggest challenge in coming back?

"The biggest challenge was running the bases and making left turns like in NASCAR."

...and on all the screws in his ankles?

"I have more hardware in me than Home Depot."

...and on when he thinks he'll get the call to Washington?

"When my time comes, my time comes. When Rizzo thinks I can help, that will be my time."

Will September 2012 be Rendon's time? Don't bet on it, despite Davey leaving the door open a crack during his pregame comments.

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F.P. Santangelo's Telestrator Adventures

In the fine tradition of Ray Knight in the post-Dibble MASN broadcasts of 2010, MASN's F.P. Santangelo seemed to lose his mind a little with his telestrator pen on Tuesday night.

Apparently F.P. was trying to use his telestrator to describe the way the wind blows at AT&T Park. We'll call this: "Flying Arrows". F.P. has nothing on Ray, though:

(Screen caps via MASN/TV)

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Drew Storen talks Strasburg Shutdown with Jim Rome: "We don't like it. But we understand it."

"I think everybody kind of has the same opinion. We don't like it. But we understand it."
(Drew Storen, via The Jim Rome Show, 8/14/2012)

And so, Drew Storen went on The Jim Rome Show earlier today to talk about -- what else? -- The Strasburg Shutdown. Audio below. So Drew? Is Mike Rizzo handling Strasburg the right way?

Storen: "No doubt. It's a tough situation. And there's really no right answer to it. But, you have to take care of a guy like that. He's a cornerstone of this organization, and we want him to pitch for the next 10 years. You see a lot of pitchers, it's a slippery slope. When a guy gets hurt, it's easy to add on, and a just keeps on getting more and more injuries. You can't do that with a talent like Stephen Strasburg..."

Audio here:

(Screencap via MLB Network)

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Here's Michael Morse and his jammed right thumb guarding the bubblegum buckets last night

"Morse is uh...the big guy's down. His got, the big thumb is barking. Probably the cooler weather doesn't help that. Guess it got jammed too many times."
(Davey Johnson, via MASN pregame, 8/14/2012)

Ho hum, just another day, another "I'm fine I'll be back in there tomorrow" injury for the Washington Nationals. Up above, Michael Morse as seen on TV late last night with his jammed right thumb in a splint manning his position by the bubblegum buckets. Morse apparently jammed his thumb during batting practice; Davey pulled from the beatdown early. No buckets of bubblegum were thrown last night, despite the beatdown. Coincidence?

Of course, Morse is missing from Tuesday night's lineup. Davey said in his pregame comments that it's hard to say if Morse will be back for the day game Wednesday...expects him back Friday.  In other words...

Here's Morse and his thumb before he left the game last night:

(Screencaps via MASN/MLB.com)

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