Washington Nationals

Through his first nine career starts, Stephen Strasburg has been nothing short of excellent, posting a 12.4 K/9, 1.067 WHIP, and a 178 ERA+.

In 2002, another rookie pitcher came up and caused quite the sensation. Over his first nine starts (52 IP), he struck out 65, and had a 1.23 WHIP / 3.98 ERA. That pitcher's name was Mark Prior.

Why would Mark Prior's name be significant?

Because he is the first name to pop up for many fans whenever a young starting pitcher has difficulty with injuries.

Ryan Zimmerman has played on a Washington Nationals team that has been, in a word, lowly since they've shed their Canadian-ness.

Before Stephen Strasburg came along, Zimmerman was quite possibly the only thing the Nationals had to celebrate—an established big league star who hits for average and power, and plays marvelous defense at third base.

But because he plays for the Nationals, Zimmerman has been a very underrated player in baseball but he is far less recognized for his clutch play.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks returned to town to begin a four game series against the Washington Nationals, I was pretty excited. Not only had it been a week since the last Diamondbacks game I had attended, but it was the beginning of a full week of games at Chase Field.

In all my excitement I went down to the ballpark early to catch batting practice and to try and put some names with all of the new faces that were now on the roster as a result of the deals made at the trade deadline.

Washington Nationals' slugger, Adam Dunn, was placed on waivers today, and there is much buzz about teams potentially picking him up.

While the fact that Dunn is being put through the waivers process doesn't necessarily mean that the Nats are willing to part with him, many teams have expressed interest in the first baseman.

Here are the top 10 teams that could add Dunn to their rosters.

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Buster Olney tweets that Adam Dunn has been placed on revocable waivers. He also says that Dunn won't clear waivers because numerous NL teams plan to put claims on him, and if any team does claim him, the Nationals can pull him back.

The boorish fans were in attendance to witness an uplifting tale in a sports town, where lifeless citizens reside near the nation’s capital, waiting for an extraordinary moment with the promising future of phenom Stephen Strasburg, the gifted right-hander declaring fame in a community after a marvelous start in his debut elicited much potential.

The non-waiver trade deadline has passed and the Washington Nationals have continued to accumulate critical pieces to their future championship puzzle.

There was no purge of all veteran players for prospects, but there were deft moves to acquire highly thought of prospects, including Wilson Ramos, and create major league openings for young talent already in their system.

Adam Dunn is still a Washington National.

With a half-dozen or more teams making offers for the slugging first baseman right up to the last moments of the July 31 trade deadline, General Manager Mike Rizzo decided on Saturday afternoon that doing nothing made the most sense.

Dunn made it very clear that he didn’t want to leave Washington and believed that a multi-year deal with the Nationals could be reached any time this summer, this fall, even after the season is over.

He wants to stay. Really.

After being traded to the Phillies just one day ago, Roy Oswalt took the mound against the Washington Nationals. This debut is one that the Phillies hope isn't a sign of things to come from the 32-year-old right-hander.

The first batter Oswalt faced as a Phillie was Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan who started off the bottom of the first and Oswalt's Phillies career with a triple. Adam Kennedy would then ground out to second base, scoring Morgan and giving the Nats an early lead.

The Washington Nationals made a substantive trade Thursday and it had nothing at all to do with Adam Dunn.

Go figure.

The Nationals traded All-Star closer Matt Capps to the Minnesota Twins for minor league catcher Wilson Ramos.

The Nationals just got a whole lot better.

Capps, who saved his 25th game on Thursday, has a record of 3-3 with a fine ERA of just 2.80. The 26-year-old has already saved 92 major league games.