Nats Chat

Mark Zuckerman & Al Galdi, Blue Wire

A Washington Nationals podcast offering recap and analysis after every game, plus all the breaking news throughout the year. Hosted by Mark Zuckerman of natsjournal.com & Al Galdi, host of "The Al Galdi Podcast". For sponsorship opportunities, contact Tim Shovers at natschatpodcast@gmail.com.

Play

Open in

59 episodes
daily
Avg 34 min
English

Episodes 59

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

#998
August 25 · 34 min
Lile Homers in Rout of the Rockies
The Nats snapped their four game losing streak by trouncing the visiting Rockies 13-3 on Monday night. Mark & Al have a productive offensive evening to sort through as the lineup combined for thirteen hits despite not getting their first one until the bottom of the 5th. (08:00) CJ Abrams made a big impact in his return to the leadoff spot as he doubled and stole two bases as the DH. Abrams is the first 25-25 player for the organization since Alfonso Soriano twenty years ago. (12:00) When wi
#997
August 24 · 30 min
Swept in Miami to End an Awful Road Trip
The Nationals lost to the Marlins 6-2 on Sunday afternoon to conclude a wretched 1-8 road trip. Mark & Al discuss the team now finding themselves ten games below .500 and they are 6-15 in the month of November. (06:00) CJ Abrams sat out all series. Should he have been placed on the 10-Day IL in order to open up a roster spot? (08:00) Dylan Crews went 2 for 4 with a RBI double and his OPS is currently at .644. (14:00) Is it time to call up Seaver King from AAA? King is a SS who was the org
#996
August 23 · 34 min
Embattled Lineup Only Scores Twice in Saturday's Loss
The Nats lost 4-2 in Miami on Saturday afternoon and are now 1-7 on this interminable road trip. Al & Tim begin with the lineup that has really struggled without CJ Abrams & James Wood. (07:00) Hindsight look at Paul Toboni's actions leading into the Trade Deadline. (16:00) Jake Irvin gave up four runs in six innings of work. Irvin's ERA is consistently flirting with 6.00 and it is unlikely that he will be back with the organization in 2027. (21:00) Erik Tolman tossed a scoreless bottom of
#995
August 22 · 30 min
Beaten in the 9th in Miami
The Nats tied the Marlins in the top of the 9th, but couldn't get out of the bottom of the 9th unscathed on Friday night. Al & Mark recap the 3-2 loss which ended on Javier Sonoja's walk-off single off of Clayton Beeter. (05:00) The offense is really struggling without CJ Abrams & James Wood as they both are on the IL. (08:00) Why did Nasim Nunez try to steal 3rd in the top of the 6th with Daylen Lile up to bat? Nunez did swipe two other bags in the loss and now leads all of MLB with 42 sto
#994
August 21 · 31 min
Blanked Again in Texas
The Nats were shutout for the second time in three days as they fell 2-0 on Thursday night in Texas. Mark (From Arlington, TX) & Al begin with Jacob deGrom, who had a vintage performance against Washington. The former Cy Young winner struck out ten while only allowing one Brady House single in six innings on the mound. (08:00) Will deGrom make it into Cooperstown? (10:20) CJ Abrams sat on Thursday night due to a sprained ankle that occurred in the 9th inning on Wednesday. Abrams still has not
#993
August 20 · 38 min
Cavalli Whiffs 11 in Shutout Win
Cade Cavalli was excellent again in Wednesday's 6-0 win over the Rangers. Mark (From Texas) & Al discuss Cavalli's 11 strikeouts, the most he's thrown since his late June outing in Fenway Park. (06:00) Cavalli was pulled after six innings of work and 84 thrown pitches. Should he have pitched the 7th? (10:00) Cavalli is up to 162 strikeouts on the season and he likely has roughly six starts left. (16:00) CJ Abrams made a great defensive play.... at shortstop. When will the move to 2B actu
#992
August 19 · 30 min
Shutout in Texas
The Nats were blanked 5-0 on Tuesday night at the Rangers for their 4th consecutive loss on this road trip. Mark (From Arlington, TX) & Al put into perspective how severe the drop-off has been as Washington lost 11 of their past 12 road games. (07:00) Rangers starter Cal Quantrill dominated the Nationals offense by tossing seven scoreless frames. The only player to get multiple hits in the loss was CJ Abrams. (10:00) Abrams' agent has made it publicly clear that his client was not thrilled
#991
August 17 · 30 min
Swept in Queens
The Nats lost 4-3 to the Mets on Sunday afternoon as the weekend series resulted in a New York sweep. Mark (From Citi Field) & Al convene after Washington has dropped ten of their past eleven road games within divisional play. (04:00) CJ Abrams was hitless over the weekend after recently finding out that he will be moving to 2B. (06:00) Update on James Wood's oblique injury. (08:00) Abimelec Ortiz homered again and he is now up to five homers this month. (14:00) No hits or walks for Dyla
#990
August 16 · 31 min
Cruz Blows the Save in New York
The Nats couldn't hang on in the 9th and lost 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at the Mets. Mark (From New York) & Al begin with Yovanny Cruz, who inhertied a 4-3 lead in the middle of the 9th. Cruz was unable to overcome the lead off walk and Francisco Lindor's walk-off single sealed Washington's fate. (12:00) This was a planned bullpen game for the Nats and they immediately rain into trouble. Brad Lord got the start but was only able to record two outs. (14:00) Will Dion stepped up big time as he
#989
August 15 · 37 min
Abrams' Eventual Switch to 2B Announced Before Loss
The Nats lost 4-1 on Friday night to the Mets, but the major news of the day came during pregame. Mark (From New York) & Al dive into the fact that CJ Abrams will soon see time at 2B. Abrams leads all of MLB with 19 errors committed at SS. (05:00) Blake Butera and CJ Abrams seemed to be on different pages in terms of the shift to 2B. (08:00) This announcement comes one month after Abrams started for the National League in the All-Star Game at SS. (12:30) Did the Nationals newfound organiz
#988
August 14 · 35 min
Cavalli Blanks the Cubs
The Nats avoided the sweep on Thursday afternoon as they shutout the Cubs 7-0. Mark & Al have plenty of flowers to throw at Cade Cavalli as he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Cavalli ultimately pitched eight innings and struck out ten along the way. Cavalli is now up to 151 strikeouts on the season, which is the 7th highest in the NL. (10:00) Blake Butera says he will not stand in the way of a no-hitter unless the pitch count situation is egregious. (14:00) Cavalli is sporting a 3.36
#987
August 13 · 29 min
Bregman Homers 3 Times in Rout of the Nats
The Nats were beaten 12-6 by the Cubs on Wednesday night to drop to four games below .500. Al & Tim dig into the defeat that saw Alex Bregman go deep three times against three different relief pitchers. (05:00) Jackson Kent made his MLB debut as he was called up from AAA. Kent struck out six Cubs, but issued five walks as he pitched into the top of the 5th. (08:30) Four relievers were need to pick up the slack, but no one fared that well. Trevor Williams ate up the final three innings to av
#986
August 12 · 32 min
Abrams Homers in Loss to the Cubs
The Nats lost 8-6 on Tuesday night against the visiting Cubs. Mark begins by relaying to Al that he saw Miles Mikolas saying goodbye to teammates in the clubhouse following the defeat and likely will be released in the near future. Mikolas pitched the final three innings in Tuesday's loss and his ERA is at 5.82 for the season. Jackson Kent is expected to get called up from AAA and make his MLB debut on Wednesday evening. (07:30) Will Brad Lord get moved back to the starting rotation? (14:00)
#985
August 10 · 26 min
Bullpen Game Ends in a Successful Sweep
The Nats swept the Reds on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 win in the series finale. Al & Mark recap the unusual victory that was led by the bullpen for all 27 outs. Brad Lord pitched into the 3rd before handing the ball off to the recently acquired Will Dion. The pitching was good all weekend as Cincinnati only scored six combined runs in the three games. (09:00) Trevor Williams recorded seven outs and has been impressive in his five appearances since being activated off of the IL. (14:00) And
#984
August 9 · 33 min
Chaparro Drives in 3 Runs in Win over the Reds
The Nats topped the Reds 8-2 on Saturday night for their second straight win. Mark & Al begin with the offense getting to Chase Burns this time, unlike when they faced him three months ago. Washington tagged Burns with five runs and knocked him out during their rally in the bottom of the 6th. (07:00) Andres Chaparro pinch-hit for DH Josh Tena with the bases loaded and delivered. Chaparro's 2-run double in the 6th made it 5-2 Nationals and he later added a RBI single in the bottom of the 8th.
#983
August 8 · 29 min
Lile & Ford Homer in Cavalli's Win
The Nats opened the homestand with a 5-3 victory over the Reds on Friday night. Tim & Al begin by wondering if the team is still considered part of playoff contention as they trail the Phillies by 5.5 games for the final wildcard spot. (06:00) Cade Cavalli struck out out eight Reds and pitched into the 7th inning. Cavalli is up to 141 strikeouts for the season and the question will be how many starts does he get down the stretch. He did struggle a bit though as he gave up seven hits and three
#982
August 7 · 33 min
Mikolas Gives up 12 Hits in Philly Loss
The Nats ended their difficult road trip with a whimper as they fell 7-3 in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Mark (From Philly) & Al convene after the 1-7 trip that saw the season's fortunes change significantly for the worse. (03:00) Miles Mikolas reached ten years of MLB service time with the start on Thursday, but allowed twelve hits during the outing. Mikolas is in jeopardy of being DFA'd in the near future just like Zack Littell was on Wednesday. Mikolas' numbers are quite grisly as his
#981
August 6 · 37 min
Littell DFA'd but a RBI for Mikolas in Extra-Inning Win
The Nats ended their seven game losing streak with a hard fought 10-4 victory over the Phillies in extras on Wednesday night. Mark (From Philly) & Al begin with the very unusual moment in the top of the 11th when Miles Mikolas of all people laid down a RBI single to give the team a 3-run lead. The offense erupted in the 11th with six runs off the back-end of the Philadelphia bullpen. Washington lost the DH when Andres Chaparro took over at 1B for Abimelec Ortiz. (07:00) CJ Abrams 2-run triple
#980
August 5 · 32 min
Wood to the IL Before 7th Straight Loss
The Nats' losing steak is now up a to season worst seven games after getting shutout 5-0 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Mark (From Philly) & Al immediately address the sorry state of affairs as just one week ago they were two games above .500 and very much in the wildcard hunt. (06:30) Prior to the game James Wood was placed on the 10-Day IL due to a left oblique strain. Wood exited Monday's game shortly after he injured his side on a swing in the top of the 6th. (11:00) The offense was
#979
August 4 · 37 min
6th Straight Loss After Trading Griffin
It was a long Monday for the Nationals in Philadelphia as the Trade Deadline elapsed less than an hour before losing 6-3 for a a 6th consecutive defeat. Mark (From Philly) & Al start with Blake Butera getting ejected for the first time as a major league Manager. It came in the 7th inning after Nasim Nunez made an out on the bases. (06:00) The Nats made a pair of trades on Monday, but certainly of different magnitudes. All - Star starting pitcher Foster Griffin was sent to Cleveland in exchan

Showing 21–40 of 59 episodes