Filling in at Third Base
Lookout Landing — Option One: 1B Mike Carp 2B Jose Lopez/Chris Woodward SS Yuniesky Betancourt/Ronny Cedeno 3B Russell Branyan Option Two: 1B Russell Branyan 2B Chris Woodward/Ronny Cedeno SS Yuniesky Betancourt 3B Jose Lopez/Mike Morse Option one is the more unconventional answer and certainly punts defense a bit, but let us have a look at the numbers. DEFENSE Option One: ?/-5/-10/-10. Total: -25 Option Two: -5/0/-10/-5. Total: -20 Based on UZR, with some ...

The Incredible Significance of Ryan Langerhans: A Brief Reflection
Driveline Mechanics — ... this past offseason, why the Nationals felt they needed Mike Morse, or felt like they needed to get rid of Langerhans only to replace him with an ...

Pittsburgh Pirates Live Up to Name, Rob Washington Nationals
Beyond the Box Score — ... - a guy they just valued equal to that of Mike Morse - and they have about a dozen outfielders hanging around already. Burnett is nothing special. His 3.06 ERA is shiny out of a relief role, but his FIP is 4.5, his BABIP against is .218, and his strand rate is nearing 80%. Guess which way that ERA is going to go with the worst defense in the league behind him. ...

Report Card: Position Players, June
Lookout Landing — ... , who sucks, is going to have a decent enough month of July while the Mariners fiddle about, and become the new Mike Morse, championed by those that ignore the tenets of statistical analysis. I guess there are worse things that could happen, like him sucking and the team tanking. Can we just find a real third baseman please? ...

Report Card: Position Players, July
Lookout Landing — ... , who sucks, is going to have a decent enough month of July while the Mariners fiddle about, and become the new Mike Morse, championed by those that ignore the tenets of statistical analysis. I guess there are worse things that could happen, like him sucking and the team tanking. Can we just find a real third baseman please? ...

Rox finish last out-of-division road trip in DC
Purple Row — ... joins Harris as a reserve OF.  IF Mike Morse was just added to the roster yesterday.  He had 27 ABs for Seattle the last two seasons combined and has yet to appear in a game for Washington. ...

Milwaukee Brewers Beat Up Washington Nationals In Front Of Stephen Strasburg. 7-3 Final.
Federal Baseball — ... Tyler Clippard gives up a leadoff walk to Ryan Braun. Prince Fielder K’s swinging with Braun running and it’s a strike’em out throw’em out double play. Tyler Clippard blows Casey McGehee away with a two-strike heater...Mike Morse rips a line drive to first, but Fielder dives and catches it. Nyjer Morgan sends a screamer to third that McGehee handles, throw to first, two down. Cristian Guzman flies out to left to end the eighth. ...

Washington Nationals Snap 5-Game Losing Streak, Beat The Milwaukee Brewers 8-3.
Federal Baseball — ... on the mound this afternoon, throwing 93 pitches over 6.1 IP and allowing just 5 hits and 3 earned runs to a Milwaukee Brewers team that pounded Nationals pitchers in the first two games of this four-game long-weekend-series in Nationals Park. Today it was the Nationals who got out to an early lead putting up 5 runs in the first two innings on RBI singles by Ryan Zimmerman and Ronnie Belliard in the first, and a suicide squeeze (Nyjer Morgan bunting with Mike Morse charging from third), and a solo shot by Cristian Guzman ...

Game 125: Worst. Inning. Ever.
Federal Baseball — via www.fangraphs.com Collin Balester, Jason Bergmann, and Ron Villone combined for a very bad 6th innining, indeed, (-0.620 before getting the first out).  The Nats started the inning with a 65.7% chance of winning, and ended it with a 3.3% chance...  Little in terms of net heroics today: Willie Harris (+0.091) had some, and Ronnie Belliard (+0.019), Ryan Zimmerman (+0.011) and Mike Morse (+0.010) each managed a smidge. ...

Chicago Cubs Pound Washington Nationals' Bullpen, Ruin Livan Hernandez's Return. 9-4 Final.
Federal Baseball — ... takes over for Rich Harden to start the seventh. Alberto Gonzalez K’s chasing a full-count fastball upstairs. Wil Nieves grounds out to short. Pinch hitter Mike Morse takes strike three to end the top of the frame...Koyie Hill drills a single through second off Jason Bergmann. ...

St. Louis Cardinals Get Two Three-Run HR's, Beat Washington Nationals 9-4.
Federal Baseball — ... LaRue pops out to Pete Orr at second. Pinch hitter Joe Thurston pops out. Skip Schumaker doubles to the left field corner. Brendan Ryan gets a single through second to score Schumaker, 8-3 Cardinals. Albert Pujols doubles in a run off the center field wall, 9-3 Cardinals. Holliday grounds out to second to mercifully end the sixth.  Mike Morse grounds out to start the seventh. Kyle McClellan on to ...

Washington Nationals Swept By Cardinals In St. Louis. Trade Ronnie Belliard. Recall Justin Maxwell.
Federal Baseball — ... Kyle McLellan gets the first out of the seventh with one pitch to Josh Bard, who grounds out to second. Mike Morse gets a pinch hit appearance. Ground ball to second, Schumaker throws to first, two down. Willie Harris gets called out on strikes to end the Nationals’ seventh... ...

Washington Nationals' Possible Candidates for September Roster Expansion
Federal Baseball — ... The Nats have already indicated that they will wait until Syracuse's season is over before calling anyone up, though.  So any help will still be at least a week away from arriving in D.C. Because of the rash of injuries, trades and bullpen struggles, general manager Mike Rizzo has already made the bulk of his September call-ups before the roster expansion happened.  Jorge Padilla, Pete Orr, Justin Maxwell, Mike Morse...even pitchers like J.D. Martin, Tyler Clippard ...

Washington Nationals Drop 10th Of 13 To The Florida Marlins In '09, 9-6 Final.
Federal Baseball — ... on to face Dan Uggla. Bergmann throws a high fastball by Uggla for a swinging K to end the top of the sixth...Alberto Gonzalez grounds out to short. Mike Morse flies out to Maybin in center. Justin Maxwell grounds back to the mound to end the sixth. ...

Washington Nationals Drop Eight Straight, 9-5 To The Florida Marlins.
Federal Baseball — ... doubles and scores on Mike Morse's single, but 9-5 is as close as Washington can get. Josh Johnson wins his 14th, Livan loses his 10th and the Nationals drop #90...Oh, and the Marlins improve to 11-3 against DC in '09... ...

Ryan Zimmerman's Walk-Off HR Ends Eight-Game Losing Streak, Washington Nationals 5-4 Over The Florida Marlins.
Federal Baseball — ... flies out to right. Justin Maxwell lines to left and Chris Coghlan flat misses it, J-Max safe at second. Mike Morse lines to right to score Maxwell from second. 9-5. Ryan Zimmerman flies out to Ross in right to end the game. ...

Game 137: Like old times--in a GOOD way!
Federal Baseball — ... 's (+0.201) strong outing.  Mike Morse (+0.266) came through in a tight spot to tie it, only to fall to a baserunning error (-0.090). The Amazing ...

Game 141: Only a little "interesting"...
Federal Baseball — via www.fangraphs.com Yaaaaay! Mike Morse (+0.275) hits a two-out, pinch-hit RBI double to break the game open (+0.275) Yaaaaaay! (x2) Mike MacDougal gets into and out of jams with GDPs to end both the 8th (+0.133) and 9th (+0.205) Caught the last three AB in the car coming back from a friend's wedding rehearsal dinner.  Big Mac kept it interesting while keeping the score a bit wider than last night.  Looks like this one was a real nail-biter right to the ...

Sorry, Florida Marlins, Sorry! Washington Nationals Win 5-3.
Federal Baseball — ... and sends a ground ball out toward second where Cristian Guzman waits for it, fields, steps on second and throws to first, double play to end the Nationals' 49th win of 2009, and the first of the year on the road against Florida. Washington wins for just the 5th time in 16 games played against the Marlins this season, "The Big Opposite Field" Adam Dunn hits his 37th HR of '09 to left for a two-run blast in the first, Ryan Zimmerman hits #29 in the seventh, Mike Morse knocks in the first two runs of his Major League career and J.D. ...

Washington Nationals Take Two Of Three From The Florida Marlins With 7-2 Win Sunday.
Federal Baseball — ... takes an 0-2 fastball outside and high for a called strike three. Pinch Hittin’ Pete Orr flies out to Maybin. Wil Nieves chops out to third to end the top of the seventh...Cameron Maybin rips a ground ball through short to start the bottom of the frame. Ross Gload sends a flare out to short for Guzman to grab. Chris Coghlan flies out to Willie Harris in left. Nick Johnson flies out to right to end the seventh. Mike Morse is up in the top o’ the eighth. Burke Badenhop ...

Cliff Lee Throws Complete Game Shutout, Philadelphia Phillies 5, Washington Nationals 0.
Federal Baseball — ... Mike Morse K’s swinging over a two-strike curve. Justin Maxwell hits a one-out single to center for just the 5th hit off Cliff Lee. Cristian Guzman flies out to center. Ryan Zimmerman flies out again... ...

Now Joe Blanton's Unhittable...Philadelphia Phillies 6, Washington Nationals 1.
Federal Baseball — ... Justin Maxwell singles under Rollins’ glove to start the ninth. Wil Nieves pops out to short right. Mike Morse rips a line drive into Raul Ibanez’s glove. Maxwell takes second without a throw. ...

Game 146: Cole Hamels is no Joe Blanton...
Federal Baseball — ... Another steady march to failure, punctuated only by a pair of base-loaded outs in the 7th to Mike Morse (-0.084) and ...

Philadelphia Phillies Sweep Washington Nationals, 4-2 in Philly. Win Season Series 15-3.
Federal Baseball — ... to make it 1-0 Philly...Mike Morse breaks up Cole Hamels' no-no in the top of the sixth with a single to left... ...

Washington Nationals Hand Mets Sixth-Straight Loss, 6-5 In Citi Field.
Federal Baseball — ... Elijah Dukes surprises the new catcher with a swinging bunt on a fastball inside, and Dukes is safe when Josh Thole throws it by first. Dukes takes second. Ian Desmond does his job, grounding Dukes over to third. Josh Bard flies out to center, Dukes tags and scores. 5-2 DC. Mike Morse grounds a few feet in front of home for the last out of the inning... ...

GameThread: Washington Nationals At New York Mets - Game 148 Of 162.
Federal Baseball — ... The Nationals vs Redding... Josh Bard - 1 for 2, .500 AVG, 1 2B.  Elijah Dukes - 0 for 3, .000 AVG.  Adam Dunn - 3 for 14, .214 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI.  Cristian Guzman - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 1 2B.  Mike Morse - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.  Josh Willingham - 5 for 13, .385 AVG, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's. Ryan ...

Rock Bottom: Washington Nationals Drop 99th, 14-2 To Los Angeles Dodgers.
Federal Baseball — ... K’s swinging through a 2-2 heater. Mike Morse swings through another fastball. 14-2 LA after eight. ...

Not TONIGHT!! Washington Nationals Avoid 100th Loss, Beat L.A. Dodgers 5-4.
Federal Baseball — ... ’s walk-filled no-hitter is broken up with two down in the bottom of the sixth when Zimmerman steps in after a two-out walk to Adam Dunn with Mike Morse already on having walked to start the frame. Billingsley starts Zim with a curve high in the zone and Zimm---THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! Ryan Zimmerman hits a line drive to left and GONE!!! 3-run HR, 3-3 game after six... ...

Game 154: Errors + Rain + Bullpen implosion = 2009 in microcosm
Federal Baseball — ... (+0.108) and some pop from the bat of Mike Morse (+0.108), things looked within reach... until the rest of the bullpen (-0.076) came out.  Better news? ...

Atlanta Braves' Playoff Hopes Still Alive, Courtesy of Washington's Nationals. Braves win, 11-5.
Federal Baseball — ... of the final frame when DC closer Mike MacDougal, late-inning lefty Ron Villone and Logan Kensing combined to allow 5 runs on 6 hits to turn a two-run game into an 11-4 Braves' blowout. The Nationals rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth which would have made it a one-run game, but instead they lose for the 102nd time this season when Braves' Manager Bobby Cox calls on his closer, Rafael Soriano, to get the final out and Soriano strikes out Mike Morse to end the second of three for ATL in DC.  ...

Atlanta Braves Sweep Washington Nationals, DC Bullpen Gives It Away In Extras, 6-3.
Federal Baseball — ... • Mike Morse hits the third HR of the game off Lowe to give DC a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Morse hits his second HR in two days, for the 4th and 5th HR’s of his 132-game MLB career. Before yesterday's HR, Morse hadn't gone deep in a major league game since August 15th 2005 when he hit a two-run HR as a Seattle Mariner for the 3rd HR of his rookie campaign. ...

Game 156: Revenge of the softball girls
Federal Baseball — ... to a single run.  The only big play we needed was when Mike Morse (+0.203) stepped up to deliver the go-ahead dinger (+0.162). ...

Winter roster moves and the 2010 season: Your thoughts?
Federal Baseball — ... and Mike Morse may be able to provide decent support as backups/utility players. So that leaves the starting rotation as the area most in need of attention. ...

Ross Detwiler Claims First MLB Win, 2-1 Over The Lowly New York Mets.
Federal Baseball — ... • Mike Morse gives DC back their lead!! Solo shot to right to start the Nationals’ sixth, 2-1 DC. 3 HR’s in 3-straight games for Morse who’s now matched his career total coming into the season...Justin Maxwell singles to start the Nationals’ seventh, and moves to second on a sac bunt by Desmond, but then Zimmerman grounds to short, and J-Max runs anyway and gets thrown out at third...Dunn flies out, DC will have to settle for a one-run lead.  ...

Open Thread: Mets vs Nationals
Amazin' Avenue — ... Adam Dunn - 1B Daniel Murphy - 1B Mike Morse - LF Jeff ...

Elijah Dukes Will Run Through Walls. Washington Nationals 4, New York Mets 3.
Federal Baseball — ... over short to start the second. Mike Pelfrey bunts to Adam Dunn, who can only throw to first. Angel Pagan singles to score Valdez and it’s 2-0 New York with one out in the second. Luis Castillo pops out to left. David Wright doubles off the base of the wall in left, Pagan scores from first, 3-0 Mets. Carlos Beltran grounds out to first, Adam Dunn fields it and hustles to first...Dunn leads off DC’s second with a swinging K on a bender off the plate. Mike Morse grounds out to Wilson Valdez at short. Pete Orr grounds to Castillo ...

GameThread: New York Mets At Washington Nationals - Game 158 Of 162. SAY GOODBYE TO 2009, Watch Teddy Win!!!!
Federal Baseball — ... 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 2 2B. Ian Desmond - 0 for 3, .000 AVG.  Elijah Dukes - 0 for 3, .000 AVG.  Adam Dunn - 4 for 17, .235 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.  Alberto Gonzalez - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG, 1 RBI.  Cristian Guzman - 3 for 6, .500 AVG, 1 2B.  Willie Harris - 1 for 3, .333 AVG.  Mike Morse - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG, 1 2B.  ...

Justin Maxwell Hits A Walk-Off Grand Slam!!! Washington Nationals Win 7-4, Sweep New York Mets.
Federal Baseball — ... grounds out to first. Ryan Zimmerman throws out Angel Pagan to end the Mets’ half of the ninth...Francisco Rodriguez is on to end it. Alberto Gonzalez reaches safely on a grounder deep in the hole at short. Mike Morse makes a pinch hit appearance, and he singles to center!!! ...

Atlanta Braves Eliminated By Colorado Rockies, Beaten By Washington Nationals, 2-1.
Federal Baseball — ... gives up a leadoff double to Ryan Zimmerman, who waits on a slider and drives it to left for his 35th double of 2009. Mike Morse K's unproductively in the next AB, but ...

GameThread: Washington Nationals At Atlanta Braves - Game 160 Of 162.
Federal Baseball — ... - 1 for 3, .333 AVG.  Ian Desmond - 0 for 2, .000 AVG.  Elijah Dukes - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI. Adam Dunn - 3 for 22, .136 AVG, 1 RBI, 6 K's.  Alberto Gonzalez - 1 for 6, .167 AVG.  Cristian Guzman - 12 for 31, .387 AVG, 1 2B, 5 RBI's.  Livan Hernandez - 0 for 7, .000 AVG.  Mike Morse - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.  ...

Washington Nationals Win Sixth-Straight, 6-4 Over Atlanta Braves.
Federal Baseball — ... upon Zack Segovia to get the save. Leadoff single by Adam LaRoche and a pinch hit double by Kelly Johnson, NO NO NO!!! LaRoche scores on Johnson's hit. 4-3 DC. Nate McLouth flies out, Martin Prado pops out, Chipper Jones gets the intentionals to bring up pinch hitter Greg Norton, (ed. note - "Heck, worked for the Nationals last inning, right?")...Norton rips a line drive single to center, Kelly Johnson crosses, 4-4 after ten. • Mike Morse grounds out, Pete Orr singles, Justin Maxwell steps to the plate, ...

Washington Nationals Win Season Finale In 15 Innings, Sweep Atlanta Braves To Finish 2009 59-103.
Federal Baseball — ... strike three. Pete Orr smokes a single through second for a two-out hit in front of Elijah Dukes. Dukes rolls the third out to first to end the opening frame...Jorge Padilla bounces off the wall as he closes the glove on a fly ball out from Nate McLouth. Pete Orr dives toward the third base line but can’t get to Omar Infante’s line drive double. Martin Prado pops out to second. Garrett Anderson grounds out to first, inning over.  Mike Morse grounds weakly to third to start the second. Josh Bard ...

Washington Nationals: 2009 Post-Season Player Achievement Awards.
Federal Baseball — ... (Others: Bradley Meyers (16 points), Chris Marrero (7 points), Mike Morse (4 points), Daniel Espinosa (2 points), Ross Detwiler (1), ...

Turnover
Lookout Landing — ... Suzuki -- Jose Vidro -- Released Wladimir Balentien -- Traded Miguel Cairo -- Contract expired Jeff Clement -- Traded Willie Bloomquist -- Contract expired Bryan LaHair -- Demoted Jamie Burke -- Traded Brad Wilkerson -- Released Tug Hulett -- Designated for assignment Luis Valbuena -- Traded Matt Tuiasosopo -- Rob Johnson -- Greg Norton -- Traded Mike Morse -- Traded Charlton Jimerson -- Released ...

Get Ready to Shred. Blueline's Offseason Suggestions
Federal Baseball — ... a bit antagonistic around the trade deadline in here, so.........).  At any rate, my detailed ideas on what the Nats should do this offseason.  I guess I'll begin by naming most of the current core: C - Flores, ????? 1b - Dunn 2b - Desmond/Guzman SS - Desmond/Guzman 3b - Zimmerman LF - Willingham CF - Morgan RF - Dukes Bench: Justin Maxwell, Willie Harris, Alberto Gonzalez, Pete Orr, Mike Morse SP - Lannan, Detwiler, Olsen, and then the glut of ...