GQ's annual list of the "50 Most Powerful People in Washington" is, not surprisingly, made up of a bunch of federal types. And a couple of party planners. more ›

The baseball gods smiled upon South Capitol Street last night. more ›

Those of you heading to the second coming of Jesus this evening at Nationals Park -- be sure to bring your umbrella, poncho and a mindset that you might not be witness to such miracles. more ›

Yup, Strasburg's coming back on September 6. Here's where to get tickets. (Don't say we didn't warn you.) Better hurry! more ›

Strasburg watchers, take note! Teddy’s Team Blog cites "a source close to the Nationals" who pegs the return date of Stephen Strasburg to the Nationals Park mound on September 6. more ›

You know, it was kind of foolish to expect that Stephen Strasburg would, you know, not hit a snag or two on his road back to the major leagues. more ›

For many baseball fans, pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training is the best time of the year - full of hope and promise. Now we call follow spring training through the eyes of our beloved star pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, as he is now tweeting on an account that the Nationals have verified. more ›

Adam Kilgore reports that Stephen Strasburg, for the first time since he blew out his arm last August, has thrown a baseball. Huzzah! Of course, let's not get too excited: Kilgore also notes that the Nationals are planning to play it very safe with Strasburg, just like they did with his teammate Jordan Zimmermann, who suffered a similar injury in 2009. Strasburg could potentially come back to the mound in September, but the timetable for his return is still up in the air, depending mostly on the pitcher's progress during "months of lonely, hot rehab in Florida." more ›

Stephen Strasburg's rookie season has been one of many firsts: his first major league win, his first appearance on late night television, and, for many, the first time they've been excited about Nationals baseball in some time. Now we can add his first trip to the disabled list to those experiences. Sporting some serious kid gloves, the Nationals placed Strasburg on the 15-day DL today, retroactive to July 22. (Not a baseball fanatic? This means that Strasburg can't play for the Nationals again until August 7; it also frees up space on the 25-man roster for someone to take his place -- in this case left-handed pitcher Scott Olsen.) It looks like the shoulder inflammation which caused Strasburg to be scratched at the last minute from Tuesday night's game against Atlanta scared the front office enough: Strasburg won't throw a ball for three or four days, and then he'll be re-evaluated. For what it's worth, Strasburg said this morning that he was "feeling great already." Those of you who had bought tickets for Sunday's clash with the Phillies (for which promotional materials had pretty much all revolved around the young phenom) will have to settle for either another Miguel Batista effort or a returning Jason Marquis. (Somewhere, a Phillies fan is smiling.) more ›

The first part of the Nationals' 2010 season came to an end yesterday with a 6-2 loss to San Francisco. The team's 39-50 record to date represents a 13-game improvement in the win column over this time last year. Yay, right? Even given the atrocity of the 2009 season, it's weird to say that a team that sits 11 games under .500 is a disappointment. more ›

The Major League Baseball All-Star teams were announced yesterday, and Washington closer Matt Capps, who is tied for second in the National League in saves, will be, as of this moment, the only man wearing a Nats jersey on July 13. (Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has the chance to beat out four other candidates in the "Final Vote" fan ballot, so he also might end up on the team.) The selection is a nice honor for Capps, who has rebounded from the double-whammy of being given up on in Pittsburgh and his father's unexpected death to bring a tiny bit of stability to what has traditionally been a wreck of a bullpen. more ›

No, of course it isn't. But that isn't stopping people from pretending it is. more ›

Pardon the quality of the image, but we couldn't help but think that we should record this moment for posterity. Sports Illustrated editor Jimmy Traina showed off the next cover of the venerable sports periodical, which will feature none other than the golden boy himself, Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg even relegated the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to but measly regional cover status. A National on the cover of SI? Well, now we've seen everything. more ›

Inappropriate Twitter verb usage aside, Stephen Strasburg's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman went swimmingly. (Feel free to skip to the 1:00 mark to skip Letterman's bloviating.) It's heartening to see that the young man can poke some fun at himself -- certainly a trait which will come in handy as he handles the mighty expectations on his shoulders. more ›

It's starting to feel like the whole country is going nuts for Stephen "The Savior" Strasburg. The Nationals rookie pitcher is set to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight, where he'll have the honor of reading the night's "Top Ten" list. more ›

There is no shortage of Stephen Strasburg-themed menu items at D.C. area restaurants today. The most ridiculous is the "Strasburger" currently on offer from BGR The Burger Joint. It's a burger served with "Syracuse Orange" Vermont cheddar cheese, topped with a sliced hot dog (to symbolize Strassy's professional debut with the Phoenix Desert Dogs), plus 14 (yes, 14!) pickles on top of that, in honor of last night's 14 K's. more ›

That's what we should call it, really. Stephen Strasburg's first start as a major league pitcher has already transcended into that most rarified air of sports, an act of athleticism so impressive that it only needs to be referred to in the most common of terms. Of course, as someone who was there to witness it, I've got memories to last me quite some time -- but if you weren't there or watching on the tube, feel free to enjoy some of the best images of the evening when Stephen Strasburg blew our freakin' minds. more ›

The Strasburgasm finally cometh on Tuesday, and the Nationals are busy trying to make sure it's a total sell out. more ›

Stephen Strasburg, aka the future of the Nationals pitching staff, was promoted today to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs after just five starts with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. more ›

The Nationals made a long-anticipated move today, optioning pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg to Double-A Harrisburg, where the righty will begin the 2010 season. Strasburg will be joined in central Pennsylvania by similarly-promising pitching prospect Drew Storen. Strasburg, who just had his most vigorous outing in a Nationals uniform on Friday -- 73 pitches, 53 for strikes in 4 innings -- packed up his locker in Viera this morning. It's a nearly-universal sentiment that this was the appropriate thing for the team to do in order to insure the proper development of the most heralded pitching prospect in years. As Tom Bridge notes, getting Strasburg and Storen used to the day-in, day-out grind of professional baseball and building their confidence is far more important than any short-term boost that the club would have seen on the field by bringing them up to the big leagues right out of spring training. more ›

Sports writers use a lot of hyperbole. It's kind of the nature of the job. Think about it: let's say you're on the hometown baseball beat for a major metropolitan media outlet for two years. That means watching 324 games of baseball (not counting spring training, and potentially the World Baseball Classic and the postseason), many of them completely indistinguishable from the rest; all of which you are expected to summarize in a completely unique way, often times needing to finish immediately after the last pitch is thrown. So yeah, hyperbole kind of wades its way into the prose more than some might prefer. more ›

The man upon whom many Nationals fans have placed all their future hopes, rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg, is set to make his spring training debut today in an exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers down in Viera, Florida. more ›

It's a glorious day in NatsTown. Stephen Strasburg is finally a Washington National, agreeing to terms with minutes to spare before last night's midnight deadline. Like other people who follow the Nationals closely, the prospective combination of Strasburg and fellow first-round pick Drew Storen (who called it a "great night for the Nats") eventually gracing the mound at Nationals Park has us drooling. Is today the best day in Nationals history since they moved to D.C.? It's up there. Here's some food for thought on this very exciting morning. more ›

Perhaps I should reword that question. Could super agent Scott Boras choose Japan over Washington for phenom Stephen Strasburg? more ›