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Not that he didn't probably prove it during his sprint around the bases yesterday to score the winning run at Fenway Park, but if you needed any confirmation of Bryce Harper's back being A-OK, here it is: He's back in the Nationals' starting lineup tonight in Toronto.

Harper will bat second and man right field, with Roger Bernadina back in center field for the second straight day. Davey Johnson said he wants to get Bernadina some more playing time, certainly after he delivered the game-winning double yesterday in Boston. The highly athletic outfielder does have six hits over his last 11 at-bats and has reached base 10 times in his last 16 plate appearances.

Edwin Jackson gets the assignment for the Nationals, facing a Blue Jays lineup that features a whole lotta thunder out of the Nos. 3 and 4 holes; Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have each clubbed 17 homers already this season...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 7:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 178
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS (35-23)
LF Steve Lombardozzi
RF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
DH Michael Morse
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
CF Roger Bernadina
C Jesus Flores
(RHP Edwin Jackson)

BLUE JAYS (31-29)
3B Brett Lawrie
CF Colby Rasmus
RF Jose Bautista
DH Edwin Encarnacion
2B Kelly Johnson
SS Yunel Escobar
1B David Cooper
C J.P. Arencibia
LF Rajai Davis
(RHP Brandon Morrow)

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It's been a week since the air was sucked out of D.C. in the Nationals Game 5, 9-8 loss to the Chicago Cubs. 

And now that we've had a few days to decompress from another early D.C. playoff exit, Nats right fielder Bryce Harper decided to take some time to thank fans for their support this season.

Harper posted an Instagram video Wednesday afternoon, with a fresh cut, and thanked fans for continuing to pack Nats Park. In the video he says he looks forward to "chasing that championship" again next spring. 

The 2017 season could be described as a rough one for Harper after missing the last few weeks of the season with a bone bruise in his left knee. 

Harper had a .319 average during the 2017 season, along with 29 home runs, 97 RBI's, 95 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. He is entering the final year of his contract.

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National Fans. Thank you!💯 #RedLightRecording

A post shared by Bryce Harper (@bharper3407) on Oct 18, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT

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On Thursday night, a Washington, D.C. pro sports team did something Washington, D.C. pro sports teams are very good at doing: fall short of making a league or championship game.

The Nationals' disastrous fifth inning against the Cubs in Game 5 of the National League Divisional Series was the beginning of the end, not to mention yet another in a long line of disappointing playoff results for Washington, D.C. sports teams.

You see, Washington, D.C. is the only city with at least three major pro sports teams to not have a single one make a conference or league championship game since 2000.

To make matters worse, Washington, D.C. sports teams have now lost 16 consecutive playoff games in which a win would've advanced the team to the conference or league championship. 

Think about that for a second. Four teams. Zero conference championship appearances since 1998. 

Here's the list.

city-sports-10.13.17.png

Washington, D.C. sports fans are not greedy. We can't be. We've had some very good teams recently, with the type of talent, coaching and intangibles needed to win a championship. 

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The last time a major Washington, D.C. pro sports team won a world championship was in 1992 when the Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI.  The last time a major Washington, D.C. pro sports team even made a conference championship game was in 1998, when the Capitals advanced to the Eastern Conference Final, defeating the Sabres to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

Washington, D.C. isn't allowed to have nice sports things.

Sure, we have great players and great teams, but when the playoffs roll around, all the nice things go away. We aren't privy to plucky upstarts who run the table and we aren't privy to dominant teams that make long postseason runs.

Washington, D.C. will have its day, eventually. Sure it may only be a conference championship appearance, but for us, that's fine. We don't expect world championships. We just want something to get invested in.

Early playoff exits are rarely worth the investment.