The Nationals Report

WE ARE NOT DEAD. WE HAVE MOVED.

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:52:00 +0000

Follow the revolution over here. VIVA LA BLOG MOVING REVOLUTION!

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:07:00 +0000

The Nationals' 2 game winning streak, combined with my first game viewed in person at Nats Park, has awakened the blog from the depths of internet death. So much has happened since this blog took an e-nap that it would be impossible to recap.

So let's start with last night, shall we?

As I said, this was the first of at least 13 games I will be attending this season thanks to the wonderful mini-plans/payment plan that the recession/poor attendance/worst record in baseball Nationals have made available. I also had tickets for the second home game of the year, but the torrential downpours that occurred washed away that opportunity.

Aside from the rain, a few things jumped out at me and made my stay a little...less than desirable.

1) As anyone who was there can attest, the people volunteering to "take your picture for the Nationals website" are a little overzealous and maybe just a little annoying. I felt like I was walking into Kings Dominion. Do we really think that people who wanted to take pictures forgot to bring their cameras? In this day and age, when EVERYONE has a camera? Let's kill this, please?

2) The Exxon Strike Zone. I decided to hit the cage, because I was there early, and well, why the hell not? No one mentioned that the cage was essentially a baseball themed "Guess Your Weight" or shell game. The balls coming out of this machine were pretty much unhittable. I managed to get my bat on three...but these things were silly.

3) Fans. But first, we'll start with the away fans. Braves fans. You have the right to be here and cheer your team on. I've become accustomed to grouping traveling fans in one section of the stadium, but in baseball, this isn't feasible. Since it isn't, and I have to sit next to you, please do me a favor and shut up occasionally. If you want to jeer Austin Kearns, ok, I guess you're entitled. But, at some point, find a new topic. Be entertaining. Don't just be loud, and profane. But here is where my ire really comes out. Fans of teams that aren't even playing (I'm looking at you, Asshole Phillies Fan). You, in the Right Field Reserve seats. You, who had your pants pulled down in an attempt to moon a guy who told you to shut up. You, who were double fisting beers the entire night, and who not once made anyone laugh with your heckling. You, sir...suck.

4) BIGGEST COMPLAINT...Nationals Fans . You all were awful, and I mean, horrid last night. Not a solitary PEEP until we took the lead in the 6th. Not that I am a fan of PA provocation, but you were all in a coma. When Shairon would make a nice pitch, I would literally hear my clapping reverberate around the concourse. People were on their phones, deep in non-baseball conversation, or basically anything but paying attention to the game. To be fair, you all ostensibly paid your money to attend, but for Christ's sake, give a damn! Why be here if the game is merely background noise? It's cheaper to do that at home, and at least then I wouldn't have to feel like a crazy person for being excited. Oh, I was also the only one standing in my section after Dunn's homerun. Weak.

5) The brisket. Sauce is not the main attraction here, chefs. Easy on that cheap ass sweet BBQ sauce. I like to taste meat.

Other than all of things listed above, I enjoyed myself last night. Martis can be a good #4 or 5 starter for this team. He needs to get some more confidence and not give hitters so much credit that he pitches himself into bad counts. But he has shown that he has decent stuff, and can win ball games.

Tonight, Lannan against Jurrjens. Good luck, Johnny. I wouldn't mind a three game streak...

The Return

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:26:00 +0000

Nats Report will return...as soon as the Nats win a game in 2009. So, get ready. Eventually.

Still dead, but...

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:32:00 +0000

This needs to be seen by everyone.
Steinberg says, Nats: Last in League, Last in TV Ratings.

9000 households. Wow.

RIP

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:33:00 +0000

...

This team sucks.

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:32:00 +0000

A lot.

The art of 3rd base coaching (and why we don't practice it)

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Those of you who are casual fans of the game probably spend most of your time watching a ballgame thinking about the obvious parts of the sport. You know, things such as balls, strikes, hits, runs. Some of the most savvy fans go even further, worrying about stats such as earned run average, on base percentage, perhaps even the walks hits per innings pitched. While those things are important, I'd like to focus on something even more subtle about the game, 3rd base coaching errors.

I'm being completely honest here when I think we (baseball society in general) should start keeping track of bonehead decisions of base coaches. No doubt, the Nationals would be near the league lead in that category. Case in point has been the current series with the Astros. Both nights, Tim Tolman has shown a complete lack of faith in the team and sent runners home on shallow singles with 2 outs, only to have both runners thrown out by a country mile. Last night's was particularly disheartening as Cristian Guzman would have been up to the plate, arguably our best and most clutch hitter at the moment. But nope, Tolman evidently thought Wily Mo Pena grew some wheels over the winter...he didn't. The only coherent thought that could have been going through Tolman's head at that point was that he knew the throw was going to beat WMP to the plate, but WMP is what you might call a "hoss" and if he blows up the catcher at the plate, there's a good chance he ends up safe. Well Brad Ausmus sniffed out Tolman's devious plans and sidestepped the oncoming Pena and tagged him on the leg...feet from the plate.

Another inning ending out at home, another loss for the Nats, another reason I should be coaching 3rd base!

Ahhhh, that was refreshing

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:46:00 +0000

We're back from a nice long vacation. It's amazing how actually having work to do absolutely kills my blogging time.

Finally went to my first game at the new park over the weekend. Unfortunately, I was forced to watch Matt Chico. Guz was nasty, you may have seen me in the upper deck pointing to the back of my jersey constantly. Seriously, that man is Atlas right now for our team. I can't see a combination of Flop and Belliard doing nearly as well.

Speaking of which, Mr. Lopez himself is having his best year as a National. Perhaps not being a starter for the first few weeks actually did make a change in his approach to the game.

Nick Johnson got two days in a row off this week. I understand that his hitting has been pretty woeful but he's still the team leader in OBP (a much more telling statistic than AVG) by .40 points over Flop. Well, that's unless we include Wil Nieves.

This three catcher thing is killing me by the way. Just pick two, the bullpen would appreciate it. And please pick Nieves and the winner of the coin toss. I really don't care who it is out of Estrada or BloDuca. Neither of them can throw people out at second (except for Prince Fielder...maybe). Neither are spectacular with the bat. Neither can run. I think you get the gist of where I'm going.

So taking stock so far, we're still in the NL East basement by 2 games but we're only 4 out of first, so things aren't looking too bad at this point. We're still not scoring that many runs but its getting better. I no longer call "game over!" when the other team scores 2.

Well that's all for now. Is that meat I smell?

Lastings Milledge is a bad seed

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:55:00 +0000

Remember last night how Lastings was a late scratch?

Turns out he was late to the ballpark, and Manny benched him. If this sounds familiar, it's because it should. Same thing happened in his brief stay in Flushing.

Some quotes from the article.

"He showed up late for work," Acta said. "I love Milledge and he knows it. Out of all the rules I have, I have three rules that are unbreakable regardless of who you are. You can be the 25th guy on the team, or Ryan Zimmerman. At least, [Milledge] gets disciplined. Go ask Jim Bowden, Stan Kasten and the Lerners what would they do to me if I showed up late for work."

Milledge didn't deny that he was late to Nationals Park, but declined to give the reason. Asked what happened, Milledge said: "That doesn't matter. I was late. ... It's something I couldn't control. I take full responsibility."

Lastings, buddy. Listen to me. Your job is to play baseball. You make not shabby money for it. Hire a driver. If you're waiting on the green line, you might not make it in time. Stan Kasten was not talking to you about "Go Metro".

Potomac Update

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:21:00 +0000

I know Brian at Nats Farm Authority does this excellently, and I won't come close to his level of knowledge about our minor league guys, but I've got free tickets to any PNats game I want, and I've gone twice, and I wanted to share some observations.

- Seth Bynum, SS- I like this guy about 20 times more than I like Ian Desmond. Decent glove, and nice bat. Not major league starter material, but could be a good utility guy.

- Marvin Lowrance, DH- I'm guessing if you're a DH in Single A, you really suck in the field. Not with the bat though, as he's come thru with a lot of extra base hits thus far, and seems to be a big RBI guy for them. Can't imagine him in the bigs, ever.

- Chris Marrero, 1B- I know this guy is our number one prospect, but each game I've been to, he's stunk up the joint. 0fers, both times, with errors in the field. Hope he actually produces next time I go.

- Jordan Zimmermann, SP- This guy will be in the bigs, next year. Mark my words. Electric stuff, excellent command, and good composure. He'll be next year's John Lannan.

- Seth Rogelstad, 2B- I'm high on this guy, cause he can really handle the stick. Has an Utley like body, not your average short, light hitting 2b. Want to see him move up before long.

There are others, but these are the guys who stood out when I was there. Go to a game, they're cheap.

As I'm typing this, Tim Redding hit an RBI double. Unreal.

Keepin' the dream alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:26:00 +0000

How much money is it going to take to buy some wins here. Most people are probably going to go down the easy path and say things like...

The Lerner's are cheap
Fire Lenny Harris
Fire Randy St. Claire
Jim Bowden is mismanaging the team
Manny Acta is mismanaging the team

Well not me folks. You can blast the organization all you want but the fact remains that none of those people play the game. Not one of them.

Everybody is looking at the middle of this lineup and saying WTF mate? Why can't these guys hit. The default answer from pretty much everyone is that its all Lenny Harris' fault. He's trying to make guys flip the ball the opposite way. I think those people overestimate the importance of a hitting coach. Hitting coaches don't make good offenses, good hitters do. Right now we're just not hitting well, and it has little to do with coaching. Ryan Zimmerman is obviously trying to do way to much right now. He's trying to be Atlas after hitting up Gold's Gym a few times, its not going to happen. Things started to look up for him last night though as he stopped check-swinging at the first pitch. If you're not going to swing at the first pitch, study the pitcher, who cares if its a strike, now you know what it looks like. And that's exactly what he did last night. As for Nick Johnson, he got off to a hot start, went into a lull (not nearly as bad as Z-man or Kearns') and finally got a hold of one last night. Right now I think it's really a case of one guys struggles spreading. If you know Kearns isn't going to get a hit, you don't have to give Nick Johnson good pitches. And I think we've seen that, Johnson is regularly getting ahead on the first two pitches but struggling to put the ball in play on those hitter's counts. I'm never the kind of guy to be gloom and doom and I don't think this type of hitting will continue all year, the players are just too good. And all the coaching in the world can't take away your talent.

I'm going to leave the pitching staff alone right now. They are what they are and we have to live with it. (Lannan's my boy)

If you go back a couple posts you will see me waxing poetic about the great defense that our team had been putting on display through the first two weeks of the season. Well the day Wily Mo Pena came back into the lineup, that all went to hell. I think he drugging the water cooler with suck-ness. For a guy so large, WMP moves extremely well. But, all the speed in the world can't make up for taking bad routes. Also, his running stride seems very bouncy and I think it may be causing him to look focus of ball when it's in the air. I dunno maybe I'm just imagining things. One thing I'm not imagining though is his awfulness in the field. And its spreading evidence by Belliard's gaffe last night. I actually like Belliard as a fielder as he turns double plays lightning quick. My only knock on him is that he plays it Mr. Casual a little too often. To make up for his lack of range, he's always got one foot in the grass. This gives him plenty of time to work with balls hit straight at him. In my opinion too much time. It lulls him into a false sense of security that he can just take this play off. For a team like ours, we can't afford to be taking anything for granted.

*soapbox done*

Take heart Nats fans, things are never as good or as bad as they seem. We are (numerically speaking) the worst team in baseball right now but I haven't lost faith. If you remember, many baseball pundits predicted the NL East would be the toughest division in baseball this year, and that's pretty much what we're seeing.

There's still 146 yet to play, and we can't lose em all!

Ryan Wagner's Replacement Has Finally Been Found!

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:02:00 +0000

Finally, someone to take the "pitching machine" mantle from RW!

Address your kudos to Nats Report

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:42:00 +0000

Listen, we accept your apology. You have doubted, despite continued encouragement on our part. We've given you jpegs, we've given you stats, but still you doubted. It's ok, we know you're sorry.

Oh, what about?

The fact that GUZMANIA is here to stay.

The man is KILLING it right now. Here are some numbers to illustrate the obvious.

2008: In 59 AB, he's hitting .322/.542/.328 with 10 runs scored and 6 RBI on a team that has only scored 51 runs. 3 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 HR.

In his last 50 games, he's hitting .335, with a .383 OBP.

Boom, baby. We forsee the Guz getting an extension before the year is out. Or being traded for prospects. We hope the former, because we've got no one in the chute.

Another year off my life

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Word to your collective mothers! Been out for a bit but I'm back in this humpty bumpty. And so are the Nats.

After what seemed like a losing streak of immense proportions, our boys somehow tricked the Braves into letting them win a game. It wasn't without its moments though. Chad Cordero looked like...Chad Cordero. Rauch came in though, and saved his ass once again. I'd like to see a count of the number of saves Rauch has had after Cordero has already pitched in the game. I would bet the number would be surprisingly high. Or maybe not so surprisingly high. Hopefully now that they've got the taste of winning back in their mouths, this will spur us on to a little streak of the opposite variety.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention...WMP is back baby! Seriously I think he's the only reason we won the game yesterday. He really had nothing to do with the win at all, in fact his main function in the game was to cool off the opposing pitchers by fanning them with bat. But, I chalk this win up to the awesomeness that is Wily Mo and the good vibes which he puts out. I don't have the skills to look up weird stats like this, but I'd really like to see what the franchise's record has been since they acquired Wily. (EDIT: 22-32. You're welcome - Jon) (Random question: Is Mo part of his first name, last name, or somewhere inbetween? I can't imagine that's his real middle name)

Now that I've got the recap out of the way, lets look at a recap of the first 2 weeks (approx.) of the season. I know its a small sample size but there are plenty of good things and bad things.

First up, the offense! I'll give you a hint, it's awful

The Nationals do have a league leader in one stat. Guz leads the league in AB's. GUUUUUUUUUUUZ
We're last in batting average. WAH WAH WAHHHHHHHH!
Bottom 5 in slugging percentage. WAH WAH WAHHHHHHHH!
Bottom 4 in on base percentage. WA...
10th in strikeouts. So we're making contact at least!
19th in walks. Perhaps we're making contact when we shouldn't...
Chicks don't dig our team (8 HRs)

Next we'll take a look at the pitching machines! Again, that's not a good thing

Bottom 4 in ERA
Next to last in giving up the long ball
Top 5 in walks given
19th in strikeouts...Even a jugs machine can fan a batter or two

I told you there were some good things right? Go figure, ITS THE DEFENSE!!!

3rd in the league in fielding %
3 least team stole on in the bigs (lord knows why though, LoDuca has a pea shooter for an arm)
3rd fewest errors

So there ya go, we can't hit for beans, our pitchers are manufactured somewhere in Oregon, and our defense is actually good!

I like that the defense is actually doing their job when they can. So pretty much it all comes down to the fact that we need to hit better and pitch better. Wow, it's all so simple! Again, this is a small sample size and looking at these stats after an 9 game losing streak is probably a little disingenuous, but they are what they are. Following Nostradamus' predictions for the 2008 MLB season, our offense will get better, so will our pitching (not much I'm afraid), and our defense will fall off a bit. Pretty much meaning we're about the same place we were last year, maybe a little better. This big difference this year is I don't expect lightning to strike twice with our pitching staff. I mean as many times as we trotted out Mike Bacsick last year, we really should've lost more of his starts than we did. Tim Redding looks like he's going to be the only guy from last year who still has some left in his tank. I'm still holding out for Bergmann but things don't look so good on that front. There are arms in the minors tho so at least there's light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope we don't contend enough that Bowden gets crazy and trades away some of those arms to try and get in the playoffs. Let's get real though, that's not going to happen. The contending part that is, I really do believe trader Jim is that crazy.

I'm promise it won't be so long until the next post. Unless the Nats go on another 9 game streak of teh suk, then I'm going to electronically defecate on this blog and not return until we win back to back games.

As quick as it can go right, it can go wrong (And some small blog news)

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:02:00 +0000

Hey folks. Back for a trip, and ready to blog. After a hot start, the Nats have lost three straight, and are currently trailing the Cards 2-0 in the third inning. The ol' can't hit with runners in scoring position bug has returned from last year, and I hope it leaves quickly. However, a stat of note, the Nats currently lead the Majors in extra base hits.

So, we've got that going.

Lannan looking strong, if not completely accurate. Curve looks good, fastball isn't locating as well as he needs it.

Either way, tomorrow the Nats return to the glorious Nats Park, which I was lucky enough to be in last Sunday. Wonder if there are tickets...go if there are. I'll be in class.

Also, Ankiel is a stud. Still can't get over the fact he used to pitch.

Oh yeah, our last post was post 200 for Nats Report. So happy birthday, blog.

Blessing in disguise

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:03:00 +0000

According to the Wash Times via Nationals Enquirer John Lannan is on his way up to Washington. He further speculates that this means a trip to the 60-day DL for Shawn Hill. While Hill does have great stuff and I wish he were healthy, I'm also excited to see Lannan back up with the big club. Things are setting up for the Nats to be a force next year with experienced young players.

I guess he really will play anywhere to be part of the team

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Bowden right now thinks he is the genius of our time. Because he's predicting that lightning will strike twice. Of course I'm referring to his genius plan of moving a second baseman out to left field.

That's right, todays starting left fielder will be Felipe Lopez!

There are a few crucial differences between this move and the one two years ago that saw Alfonso Soriano make the move to the grass and the upper echelon of outfielders. The first of which is that Soriano never had problems hitting the ball. The guy raked the day he set foot in Washington and continued to do so until the day he left. Felipe Lopez however continues to look uncomfortable at best at the plate. He credits this to a lack of AB's (It's not). The second difference is that in 2006, we really didn't have a better option out there than Sori. This year, aside from injuries, that is not the case. Both Wily Mo and Elijah Dukes can ably play left. Currently both are injured but their injuries don't appear to be serious and they should be back shortly. Thus, I really think this whole Flop left field experiment is just temporary anyways. That said Ronnie Belliard is struggling out of the box after a white-hot spring training. It wouldn't be a stretch to see Flop get a few games back at his usual 2B position when Dukes/WMP come back.

I view this move with healthy skepticism but I've been wrong before. Just don't expect another Sori to happen (not that anyone in their right mind would).

We would not have won that game last year

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:35:00 +0000

A tip of the cap to Tim Redding as he kept the Phillies lineup off-balance all night. This is exactly the type of game that the Nats were winning in their inaugural season and just the kind of game they usually lost last year.

I kept dreading it all night, about the 6th inning is when things got really tense on my couch. Especially after Zimm hit that home run. The M.O. last year was that we'd score a run and then give up 4 in the bottom half. Good thing that didn't happen today.

We're well on our way to my prediction of the playoffs!

WE'RE FINALLY A REAL TEAM

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:48:00 +0000

Finally we're back. Spring Training just started getting really old and tedious so we said we'd had enough and we decided we weren't going to post until real baseball was being played. That, sirs and ma'ams, is tonight

I know live-blogging a game is about the most absurd thing ever but I'm going to do it anyways as this is a very important night for the Nats. (This is going to be the most thorough live blog of a game you'll ever see in your life) My compatriot Jon somehow swindled his way into the stadium tonight so no doubt you will have images tomorrow.

7:50 - SBF from Nats320 is on the big screen...jealous...maybe a little

7:54 - Baseball Tonight is still on so I'm watching pieces of a glacier fall into the sea in Alaska on Discovery HD Theater

7:56 - Roll credits on the ice...#@$% I just realized I have no beer, I guess wine it is...I'm a loser

7:59 - SE Austalian Shiraz it is...it doesn't even have a date...WOOOOO PLAY BALL!

8:01 - This pre-game schtick sucks. How about talking about the Nationals. They are playing tonight after all. Nope, its still all about the Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox...and Dmitri

8:03 - John Miller is looking older every single year, and he just admitted it!

8:04 - With all due respect to Joe Morgan, Chipper Jones is no Manny nor Ortiz...Texiera is the real deal though

8:06 - Yet another story about how horrible of a person Lastings Milledge was last year. I'd expect nothing less from the worldwide leader in sports

8:10 - I'm not a fan of operatic interpretations of the national anthem. There just seems to be a lack of emotion behind it. Which is ironic because that's the whole point of opera. I dunno, just doesn't get my blood pumping.

8:11 - How boss would it be to be sitting behind Colin Powell

8:13 - HAHA THE PRESIDENT IS GETTING THE BUSINESS FROM THE CROWD!!! AND ITS A BALL AND THE NATIONALS ARE SCREWED FOR ANOTHER YEAR!

8:15 - Girl scout cookies are amazing

8:16 - Way to take the field as a team...

8:20 - What the hell is "breaking stuff" to me that means he should throw at batters and go postal in the dugout...I don't think that's what ESPN meant...

8:22 - Odalis Perez needs to tuck the tag of his shirt in, its very unprofessional...and he K's Kelly Johnson nice start

8:23 - From now on I will only post at the end of each half of the inning, unless something hilarious happens

8:29 - Yunel Escobar hangs tough and draws a walk. Joe Morgan is incensed at Odalis but that was just a good at bat by Yunel. He fouled off some tough pitches. Chipper is out on the first pitch...wow, there's no space down that right line. Perez is trying to blow it by Texieria and the ball is riding up. Oooooh that 4th pitch looked good. Perez sits him down. Texiera can go suck on one because that was a strike sir. Next up...GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

8:31 - Sorry Baseball Tonight...that wasn't funny. Although taking Ravi's "In the mouth" out of context, it could be hilarious

8:32 - GUUUUUUUUUUZ! 'Nuff said

8:33 - Wow the Braves are hapless...

8:42 - Joe Morgan telling it like it is. I think Milledge is awesome for slapping hands with fans! Ouch! that was a good pitch, and Milledge is caught. Zimmerman picks his spots and goes down swinging. Tim Hudson is good. I'm looking for a patented Nick Johnson double...and I get it! HA NJ is nasty. Jon chimes in via txt that Johnson's slide was ugly. I don't care as long as he doesn't injure himself

8:43 - Kearns laces a single through the right side of the infield and Johnson scores from second. Good to see NJ holding nothing back

8:45 - Nick Johnson looks old and Jon Miller doesn't know where he is

8:47 - Blow-Duca is battling...Lastings is piling the seeds into his mouth and LoDuca chops to third. Game on!

8:50 - Zimm's first throw of the season was high...ugh

8:52 - Power Kearns guns another one down. Man should have to register that arm...Belliard gobbles up the grounder and the inning is over

8:56 - Dukes pops out...Belliard grounds out...Odalis Perez has an awful swing, you can tell he's from the AL...and he strikes out

9:03 - Dubya is in the booth and he's straight cheesin'. Look at his posture, he's lounge-nasty. And Perez picks off Johnson. Nice move

9:09 - Guz pops out (the Nats need some stronger bats)...Zimm grounds out to end the inning (he might have made it if he hadn't stumbled)

9:10 - Evidently the leader of the free world doesn't really have that much to do on Sunday night so he's just going to spend some more time in the booth.

9:14 - Chipper lines one out...this is going to be a hitters park no doubt...

9:20 - Texiera grounds out...the wine is kicking in and I'm missing whole AB's. I need to settle down. Zimmerman has a sitter...someone pops out and the inning is over

9:25 - Teddy didn't win because he didn't want to.

9:27 - Hudson makes a nice jumping grab...Blo Duca grounds out and the side is retired. Still up 2-1 I'm happy

9:29 - Joe...his name is Dmitri, not Delmon

9:30 - John, John, John, you obviously haven't seen Guz play the glove...it wasn't the field

9:36 - Kotsay flies out to Dukes...Johnson ends yet another inning and Dukes is up next

9:41 - Dukes grounds weekly to third (lame! Tim Hudson has really settled in)..Belliard and Mackowiak ground out and the inning is over. I'm really surprised Acta is bringing out the hook so early on Perez. The only problem he had in the 5th inning was a Guzman error. I really don't get this. I know our bullpen is good but they're going to be overworked this season as they were last year. Only use em when you need em.

9:45 - Harris in for Dukes. John Miller thinks Dukes got injured but again, ESPN didn't cover a single damn Nats game last year so he doesn't know that Manny substitutes more than any other manager in the league. He's already playing for the 2-1 win. Which means Chief is going to make us all have a heart attack again...especially in this park

9:47 - Jon suspected pitch count for for Perez...70 pitches...I don't think so. But River retires the side quickly, perhaps thats why I don't manage a big league team

9:49 - Round-up pump-n-go, sounds like an Elliot Spitzer story...BA-ZING!!!!

9:53 - Guz grounds out...Milledge grounds out...and Hudson is being Hudson...Gammons reports that Dukes experienced hamstring tightness and that it was a precautionary move. I like that they're bring cautious...Zimm grounds out and its not looking good for the offense. I will re-iterate that Tim Hudson is pitching. Remember when the A's let him go because Billy Beane is cheap, that was a bad idea..

9:?? - McCann flies out to Kearns (btw Kearns looks hungry this year, I'm tipping him to have a breakout year)...another flyout and the inning is over.

10:08 - I missed an entire inning...grrr

10:11 - Ray King is fat

10:11 - Seriously this is setting up for a typical Nats/Cordero cardiac finish. I'm not looking forward to this

10:14 - I love the MLB media machine. They're blowing so much smoke up the Lerner's butts they're going to need nicotine patches to come back from reality

10:15 - Ray King basically comes in and does his job and he's being lifted. Good job. I'm pouring my final glass in anticipation for the Cordero train wreck this is sure to come.

10:20 - Weird play down the third base line for Zimm...Escobar is retired...and Cordero will face Jones and Texiera...oh no

10:26 - Uh oh, there's a Mike Hampton sighting, that can't be good news for anyone...some Nat grounded out (I remember now! it was Willie Harris!) and the Braves are changing pitchers

10:30 - FOUR EYES!!!!! (As he get as out...) Flop off the bench to pinch hit...and he K's looking...that was rediculous... how can he possibly be pissed that he's not in the starting lineup...the man is horrendous at the plate. He looked like he was pouting up there! I'm done with him. Too bad he'll be worth nothing in a trade.

10:32 - Here comes squeaky bum time as my favorite English soccer manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) would call it. I'm glad Rauch has come in to get this done...and he grabs the liner...that man is a pimp and should be able to make love to any woman he wants. (except my girlfriend)

10:34 - And Texiera tattoos a ball off the wall. I think everyone thought it was out...on further review it was a pretty good pitch, turns out Texiera is just a really good hitter.

10:36 - My sphincter is sooooo tight

10:36 - After all that Blo Duca completely screws up the game. I knew we got him for some reason. Standard Nats.

10:45 - BAAAAANG ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM go the fireworks! Ryan Zimmerman lines one out to end the game. Literally I think the same fan who caught Jones' home run caught Zimm's

10:48 - Seriously, I don't think there could be a better way to open a stadium than having Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off home run. I'm not exactly sure what holiday it is today but I'm sure someone is celebrating somewhere because Z-man jack-a-lacked one. I'm glad we played in Nationals Park today because that was a double off the wall in RFK. Then again so was Jones'

That's all for tonight, I need to sleep this Shiraz off. Good start to a great season

P.S. Jon Rauch got the win tonight which I guess should be obvious since he led the team in wins last season

Most Surprising (maybe not) News of the Spring (Multiple Updates)

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:29:00 +0000

"Ace" John Patterson has just been released by the Nationals due to "lack of performance.".

This all just happened recently, and there isn't a lot of news on it. But, sufficed to say, he wasn't as good as they hoped he'd be, and someone was tired of waiting for his promise to come true. Here are some quotes:

"They told me I didn't blow the doors open and that there were other pitchers pitching better," he said.

*On the reasons he was given for the release: "I think I wasn't progressing as fast as they wanted. They weren't seeing what they wanted to be seeing from me. For me to [ potentially] be not 100 percent -- it was a risk they weren't willing to take."

*On whether he's hurt: "I'm not hurt. I just think I didn't progress as fast as they wanted."

*Patterson also said it didn't help his case that Mark Lerner witnessed his most recent start Sunday in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles, an admittedly rocky performance. "I pitched pretty well my [previous] two starts," Patterson said. "But he didn't see those."

*He also said he was "caught in between" Manager Manny Acta's desire for him "to get outs" and GM Jim Bowden's desire for him to throw more fastballs.

*Finally, he said, "I have great memories of D.C. and this organization. I'll always remember what it feels like to wear this uniform. Jim stuck by me as long as he could stand by me."

A lot to digest, but the last one makes it seem that it was Manny's call to cut him loose.

Kyle and I are both in agreement that a release seems hasty. Waivers would have been the better route. Or DL him. Something, anything. It's not like we have a lot of major league talent ready to go. We have a lot of young arms, but you have to have a balance between experience and youthful talent. We'll see what happens here.

Update: Courtesy of Nats Chatter:

The reason for the timing of the move: Patterson, as it turns out, had a nonguaranteed contract. By releasing him now, the Nats don't have to pay him his $850,000 salary.

Update 2: Again from Nats Chatter, here's Bowden's reasoning...

After watching Patterson pitch for the last month, Bowden (and the club) became convinced he just wasn't going to regain his velocity and command to a point where he was a better option than some of the other younger pitchers in camp (ie. John Lannan, Matt Chico). Patterson insisted he was healthy all along, but the fact his fastball never surpassed 87 mph was a sign to the Nats that things weren't going to improve for a long time.

"We believe he had better stuff last season [when he was 1-5 with a 7.47 ERA]," Bowden said. "We hoped we could get him back, and it just never came."

"We've done everything we could possibly do. He just never got the stuff back."

Worst News of the Spring

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:50:00 +0000

The not oft-read Washington Times blog has brought forth this horrible news...

Nats win, 9-1. After the game, the club announced it has reassigned outfielder Alex Escobar and catcher Humberto Cota to minor-league camp. Cota, however, exercised a clause in his contract that allowed him to opt out and become a free agent.

What it means: Barring a miraculous recovery by Johnny Estrada (not likely) or a scenario in which the Nats think Jesus Flores would get three or four starts a week, Wil Nieves is the likely backup catcher on Opening Night.

The Nieves as backup thing is pretty horrifying, but my MAIN MAN, Escobar is gone. TO the siberia of baseball, "Minor League camp". Do I wish injury upon our left fielder, so that Escobar may play? Do I wish that we had never signed Mackowiak?

I'm not saying.

Comedy of Errors

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:12:00 +0000

First, Wily Mo Pena hurt himself in the cage, by I can only imagine swinging so violently, his muscles exploded. He'll be out for 4 weeks. At least. That article states that Pena's injury comes as good news to Elijah Dukes, who will be the starting left fielder.

OH NOZ. Elijah Dukes strained his hamstring running to second today, and is "day to day". Know what takes a long time to heal? The hamstring.

Come on down, next left fielder. Be careful, if Manny gives you the job, your body may break down without warning. If he names Escobar the starting left fielder, he might just literally explode.

Edit: Also, we tried to sneak Josh Whitesell through wavers. FAIL. Arizona took him. That means "Little Papi" Luis Jiminez and Larry "I'm never going to play in the majors" Broadway in AAA with Marrero into AA at some point.

It's Getting to be about that time...Roster Guesses

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:58:00 +0000

Barry brings it up this morning, its time to start guessing who's coming North.

Here is my pick for the Opening Day roster
Starting Pitching: John Patterson
Jason Bergmann
Tim Redding
Odalis Perez
(Hill on 15 day DL, and Chico to AAA)

Bullpen: Joel Hanrahan (no more options)
Jesus Colome
Ray King
Saul Rivera
Luis Ayala
Jon Rauch
Chad Cordero
(Wagner on the DL, Schroeder to AAA)

Catchers: Paul Lo Duca
Humberto Cota
(Johnny Estrada either on DL or AAA for rehab, Flores hopefully to AA, Nieves cut or to AAA)

Infielders: Dmitri Young
Nick Johnson
Ronnie Belliard
Cristian Guzman (WOOO)
Felipe Lopez (BOOO)
Ryan Zimmerman
Aaron Boone (think he has a big league deal)
(Boone cut or traded, more likely traded for a low low low prospect, Casto sent to siberia or Columbus, either or, Orr to AAA, Whitesell to AA, Whitney returned to Indians (although I'd like to see a trade for him))

Outfielders: Austin Kearns
Lastings Milledge (pencil him in for a while)
Rob Mackowiak
Elijah Dukes
Alex Escobar or Wille Harris (I see this as the spot with the most competition, until...)
(WMP gets back from the DL, which is when Dukes should be sent to AAA to play every day, Guzman sent back, Langerhans to AAA)

What's your guess?

Non-Nats News

noreply@blogger.com ((j)on) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:35:00 +0000

-This article talks about Rocco Baldelli, and why he won't be playing baseball anytime soon. Sucks, because I liked the way he played.

-Updating Kyle's previous post about Doug Mirabelli being a genius, he's now cut.

-And for some reason, Armando Benitez still plays baseball.

Sweeeeeeet Caroliiiiiiine... IS NO MORE!

noreply@blogger.com (Kyle) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Finally we won't be copying the Sox in the 7th inning stretch. You have no idea how relieving that is. In fact, you now have a choice as to what music will be played this year at the new park. Specifically what's played for home runs (get used to hearing this more often), the 7th inning stretch, and every curly W that goes in the books.

Vote Here

My choices:

HR...........................................Bustin' Loose (Chuck Brown)
7th Inning Stretch.....................Rock Me Gently (Andy Kim)
Curly W....................................Beautiful Day (U2)

Chuck Brown is such a DC institution (despite the pre-game performance that no one could hear over the shitty RFK sound system) that I had to pick him for the home run music. It doesn't hurt that its a high energy song either. The only reason I picked Rock Me Gently was because like Sweet Caroline is has that one big line in which you can just let loose and blow. And finally for the victory song, every choice was horrible so I picked beautiful day because I like U2. Post your selections in the comments...and I'll belittle your decisions.

-Update by Jon:

Go do this! They're letting fans pick the music of the stadium.

Do this only to prevent us from ever hearing Sweet Caroline at our stadium ever again.