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'Nats notesBy Todd Jacobson
June 19, 2007 6:28 pm
Some bad news before Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Nats GM Jim Bowden said first baseman Robert Fick’s mother has died, and the veteran has returned to
Fick could be gone for up to seven games, and he will be temporarily replaced on
Further back, if you remember, Watson was the Nationals’ leadoff hitter and starting center fielder last season. He was demoted to Triple-A after nine games, claimed on waivers by the Cincinnati Reds in the summer, and signed by the Tigers in November.
He spent spring training with the Tigers, but was released after spring training before re-signing with the Nationals.
Bowden said Watson had changed little as a player since hitting .176 in 34 games split between 2005 and 2006, but Watson’s record-breaking streak intrigued team officials enough to give him another look. He has hit .330 with no homers and 13 RBIs with Triple-A Columbus this season.
“We need to find out [about Watson],” Bowden said. “I think it's important to find out. Manny [Acta] and I had that discussion. We need to find out about him and this is a small window of opportunity.
"We did not want to create a roster spot for him because we did not want to release or try to outright one of our players because we knew they would not get through. So we didn't want to open up a spot that way. It’s unique circumstances that give him a cup of coffee or a double Starbucks vanilla latte. Whatever you want to call it.”
He went on to call it a “tall, double shot, skim, sugar free, vanilla latte.” In other news, Bowden said right-hander Jason Bergmann (sore right elbow) would start Tuesday (June 26th) against the Atlanta Braves – assuming he comes out of a rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Columbus OK – and that reliever Luis Ayala (ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow) would be reinstated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. Outfielder Alex Escobar is expected to be moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Watson on Washington's 40-man roster.
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June 18, 2007 6:56 pm
Remember the scene in the movie “Major League” where Pedro Serrano is scared to look in his locker for the dreaded pink slip that would tell him he’s been cut out of big league camp?
So I walked into the Nationals’ clubhouse Monday - after the team's 6-3 roadtrip - to find dozens of “pink slips” hanging from lockers with the words “No Future” written on them. Hanging on one of the TVs that the players often watch was a page out of the Washington Times that looked at the Nationals’ roster down the road, specifically detailing how the team’s rebuilding “plan” might affect the current roster.
There were mug shots of each player accompanying the article, and the pictures of those with dubious futures were shaded.
Some players, like third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, were grouped in the “Part of the future” category. (The rest: Shawn Hill, Chad Cordero, Matt Chico and Jesus Flores)
Others were in the “Not sure” boat.
Then there was the “Definitely Not” club.
The article was a perfectly acceptable look at the future of the team, but needless to say, the Times hit a nerve and the players protest was a light-hearted and hilarious response (with a grain of truth and uneasiness sprinkled in).
The Nats’ clubhouse opens at 3:35 p.m. everyday, and as a group of reporters walked in, the ribbing started.
At one point, “definitely not” first baseman Dmitri Young wore his “No Future” tag on the front of his batting practice jacket, and ticked through a list of his “No Future” cronies, each name followed by a loud “OUT!”
“Did you survive?” injured right-hander John Patterson called out across the room. “I’m ‘not sure.’ ”
“Can we have a future somewhere else,” asked outfielder Ryan Church, another in the “not sure” category.
Then, veteran left-hander Ray King walked into the clubhouse and hugged closer Chad Cordero. King was a definitely not. Cordero was part of the future.
“Hey, it’s nice playing with you,” King said, before repeating the gesture around the clubhouse.
Patterson piped up with a few more questions.
“Did you run that by Jim,” he called out, a reference to GM Jim Bowden. And this bit which casts doubt on the strategy of the Times’ article:
“How we gonna play with five players, six players? Chief [Cordero] is going to play center field and close, he’s that good,” Patterson said.
The gag was the brainchild of Robert Fick, who was an active heckler of the media throng. Is anyone surprised by that?
“They had to find some bad [expletive] to write,” Fick said. “We’re playing too good.”
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June 12, 2007 3:14 pm
Luck plays a factor in baseball perhaps more than any other sport. Fielders make spectacular plays to turn line drives into outs and flares off the end of the bat fall in for hits.
Players complain about hitting balls hard and not seeing results, while pitchers talk about making good pitches that somehow find holes. And in between the clichés, there’s some truth to those complaints, some serendipity involved in handfuls of plays each game.
No player gets hot just by talent alone. It truly is better to be lucky than good sometimes, and there’s a statistic that attempts to measure these sorts of things, trying to discern which players have been luckier than others in a course of the season. Because if there’s one thing about luck, it always changes, and by looking at what players have been lucky, or unlucky, it is sometimes possible to discern which players fortunes might turn. It’s called Batting Average on Balls In Play, a seamhead statistic if there ever was one. Take away strikeouts and homers (because fielders can’t make a play on balls over the fence), and consider the results like a batting average. The major league mean, historians have found, is between .290 and .310. Anything below it and the hitter is getting a little unlucky. Anything above and those bouncing balls through the infield aren’t likely to keep finding holes. Like everything, even baseball statistics regress to the mean over time. BABIP, however, can be a valuable tool to see which players are truly hot or just a bit unlucky. Of course, it should only be taken so far. A weak grounder is a weak grounder, and if you’re hitting too many of those, you’ll need a lot more than luck. Consider the case of 3B Ryan Zimmerman. He’s hitting .243 with nine homers and 35 RBIs, but all season, he’s not complained of a slump – rather he says he is happy with his approach at the plate. Moreover, he says many would-be hits have simply ended on the wrong of a fielder’s glove. He might be right.
Taking away his nine homers and 44 strikeouts, Zimmerman’s average on the balls that have ended up in play is .262, slightly below the league average. It's nothing extraordinary, but it's easy to say that with a few more grounders finding holes, his average might climb to the .270 range. Of course, Zimmerman has nothing to complain about. He hit .287 last season, and his BABIP was a quite fortunate .342.
Here’s a look at how the Nationals hitters have fared this year (with their career BABIP entering this season in parentheses). Take a close look at the high BABIPs for 1B Dmitri Young and SS Cristian Guzman:
The fortunate ones BA BABIP 1B Dmitri Young .342 .389 (.324) SS Cristian Guzman .346 .386 (.297) INF Ronnie Belliard .295 .338 (.303) INF Tony Batista .304 .350 (.259) About average LF Ryan Church .269 .311 (.338) CF Nook RF Austin 2B Felipe Lopez .231 .277 (.320) Can’t we get a break? 1B Robert Fick .197 .271 (.283) C Jesus Flores .224 .268 (NA) 3B Ryan Zimmerman .243 .262 (.342) C Brian Schneider .236 .258 (.289) OF Ryan Langerhans .146 .233 (.323) BABIP can be an even better tool lucky at pitchers. Which have been lucky? Not so lucky?
Here’s a glimpse into how each Nationals pitcher with more than 20 innings has fared in terms of BABIP: The fortunate ones IP BABIP RHP Jason Bergmann 49 .183 RHP Shawn Hill 50 .240 LHP Micah RHP Jesus Colome 40 2/3 .258 About average LHP Mike Bacsik 29 .279 RHP Jerome Williams 30 .283 LHP Matt Chico 66 2/3 .290 RHP Jon Rauch 30 2/3 .298 RHP Chad Cordero 29 1/3 .301 RHP Saul Rivera 34 1/3 .311 RHP Jason Simontacchi 41 1/3 .316 RHP John Patterson 31 1/3 .321
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And with the 520th pick in this year's draft... June 8, 2007 3:35 pm
Sitting here at RFK Stadium, waiting for Nationals officials to talk about the 45 rounds of MLB’s First-Year Player Draft that will be completed today, and a few D.C. United players are kicking around a soccerball. The left field fence is gone, the pitcher’s mound has been lowered, and the infield dirt has been filled in with sod. The only thing remaining from Thursday’s game is the Curly W behind home plate.
Anyways, the draft is currently in full swing, and if you think Thursday was filled with anonymous names, the second day gets even worse. Know who Luke Pisker is? Unless you’re a
And if you think 17th round picks don’t make the majors, think again. Twenty-one players on opening day rosters this year were drafted in the 17th round of their respective drafts (and that doesn’t include Orel Hershiser, a 17th rounder out of
This is what the baseball draft really is – lots and lots of players who will take years and years to pan out, if at all. There may be science involved in drafting players, but there’s also lots and lots of luck and serendipity involved.
So I guess what this proves is that there is hope for late-round picks. There are TONS of major leaguers drafted after the first round, and plenty of really good players. With that, I give you a round-by-round list of where players on this year’s opening day rosters were selected. As you can see, it trickles off by the end, but the faucet never actually turns off until you get to the 62nd round (and with today’s 50-round draft, 62nd-round pick Mike Piazza might be fixing cars rather than hitting homers).
Picks 1-30: 147 players Picks 31-60: 69 Picks 61-90: 47 Picks 91-120: 37 Fifth round: 40 Sixth round: 33 Seventh round: 23 Eighth round: 31 Ninth round: 12 10th round: 16 11th round: 20 12th round: 10 13th round: 13 14th round: 6 15th round: 9 16th round: 4 17th round: 21 18th round: 6 19th round: 7 20th round: 9 21st round: 4 22nd round: 4 23rd round: 8 24th round: 5 25th round: 5 26th round: 4 27th round: 3 28th round: 2 29th round: 2 30th round: 4 31st round: 5 32nd round: 1 33rd round: 3 34th round: 3 36th round: 2 38th round: 3 39th round: 1 (Kenny Rogers) 41st round: 1 (Todd Coffey) 43rd round: 2 (Orlando Hudson, Julio Lugo) 44th round: 2 (Jason Isringhausen, Vance Wilson) 47th round: 2 (Kyle Farnsworth, Wil Nieves) 48th round: 1 (Brad Ausmus) 53rd round: 2 (Marcus Giles, Rob Mackowiak) 54th round: 1 (Chris Woodward) 55th round: 1 (Justin Speier) 56th round: 1 (David Riske) 58th round: 1 (Jeff Conine) 62nd round: 1 (Mike Piazza) Wow, that’s a long list. Took me 11 hours to go through every major league roster to compile it. (Actually, the list was provided by MLB, and it took me about five minutes to type it in). Some of those guys were draft-and-follows, players drafted one year and signed the next for lots more money, so there may not be as many late-rounders coming out of this year’s draft. The draft-and-follow process was done away with this year. But there will be some names coming out of the back end of this draft for sure. I don’t know who the Mike Piazzas and Orlando Hudsons are of this draft, but there are a few notable names from the second day of the draft, and that starts with
McGeary is probably headed to Stanford, so he’ll be a really tough sign, but taking him in the 6th round is a decent gamble (that’s where they got college righty Zech Zinicola last year, and he’s in
Baseball
It will probably take first-round money to sign McGeary, so the Nats could be looking at negotiations that rival the Sean Black talks a year ago (
By my count,
I’ll know more when Nats officials speak, but I’ve heard they were really excited to get Loyola Marymount righty Brad Myers in the fifth round. Also, some non-draft news: OF Alex Escobar (shoulder surgery) will begin a rehab assignment tonight (Friday) with Single-A Potomac. Not sure how long he’ll be there.
Also, got this emailed from Nats PR guru John Dever, per the Elias Sports Bureau: Chad Cordero has 98 career saves and appears likely to become the 2nd-youngest player to reach the 100-saves plateau. Cordero is 25. Francisco Rodriguez was the youngest at 24 years old.
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Pitching, pitching, and a hitter June 7, 2007 5:34 pm
The Nationals went into Thursday’s First-Year Player Draft knowing there was a chance Ross Detwiler would be around at No. 6.
Team officials never thought left-hander Josh Smoker would be around when the team picked 31st, but when he was, the Nationals grabbed him, starting this draft with a pair of left-handed pitchers that will immediately add depth to the team’s minor league system. He was rated by Baseball America as the 16th best draft prospect in the nation.
“This was a special guy that we didn’t think would get down to No. 31,” Nationals GM Bowden said.
Smoker is a 6-foot-2 pitcher from Calhoun (
Here are a few other comments about Smoker:
Scouting director Dana Brown: “He pitches 89-93, occasionally touching 94. He’s got a really good power breaking ball with a really good feel for a changeup. He was one of the best pitchers this year at driving the ball to the bottom of the strike zone. He can really throw low strikes. “We are excited to have him. He’s a quality third type starter with a chance to be No. 2.”
Special assistant to Bowden Chuck LaMar: “The combination of ability, makeup and being left-handed and falling to us at 31, we feel very fortunate.”
Director of player development Bob Boone: “In the development side of the Washington Nationals we really promote throwing strikes with the fastball. We feel it’s the No. 1 issue for players. We concentrate on driving down to the bottom of the strike zone and this kid fills that bill with terrific mechanics and as we talked earlier about Ross Detwiler, a very clean arm. We know the risks of high school pitchers. We think this is minimal and we hope it is.”
Not sure if he’s signable – or how tough that might be – because Bowden and his cronies headed back to the draft room to make more picks without taking questions.
And I’ve got to write some stories. I’ll check back later. UPDATE: High school outfielder Michael Burgess was the 49th pick overall by the Nationals. Probably a really good pick considering Washington would've taken him at No. 31 had Smoker not been there. From Baseball America, he's an extreme toolsy outfielder from Hillsborough High School in Tampa, who "seems to lack focus" at times according to the magazine.
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June 7, 2007 3:53 pm
The Nationals selected Missouri State LHP Ross Detwiler with the No. 6 pick in Thursday’s First-Year Player Draft, getting the player they wanted – kind of.
Listen to general manager Jim Bowden in his opening remarks about Detwiler, a very, very solid 6-foot-4 pitcher with three above-average pitches:
“We got the player that Mike Rizzo, Dana Brown, Chuck LaMar and Bob Boone wanted,” Bowden said. “We’re thrilled with our selection where we picked in the draft. We look forward to continuing to build our starting rotation and our club as we head toward a championship in the new ballpark.” Notice he didn’t mention himself in the first four names (all front office talent-evaluators). Notice he said we’re thrilled with our selection where we picked in the draft. Sure, pitching is big, and Bowden went on to extol the virtues of solid starting pitching, how it wins championships, how it’s important in October, and how Detwiler will eventually be a top-of-the-rotation starter. And I don't doubt that Bowden is happy with the pick. But Bowden loves bats, and there’s a big part of me that thinks he was very disappointed when the big three bats in the draft – No. 2 Mike Moustakas, No. 3 Josh Vitters and No. 5 Matt Wieters – were gone by the time the Nats picked (at least with Moustakas and Vitters). Specifically, Moustakas going to the Royals had to hurt. That being said, Detwiler is a solid pick, and he should fit well – and rise fast – in a Nationals system bereft of much pitching talent. There’s Collin Balester and Colton Willems, and, well, not a lot else. (Maybe John Lannan and Cory VanAllen) Rizzo said Detwiler’s fastball is regularly clocked between 90 and 95 mph. Boone described Detwiler’s curveball as a “wipeout pitch,” and Spin Williams, the Nationals’ minor league pitching director, said his changeup is a “plus-plus” pitch. Brown described his tenacity, recalling watching him pitch in 35 degree weather early in the spring in a game against Dallas Baptist. “And he just dealt,” Brown said. “The only thing I could think of was this is an October-type pitcher with his stuff. I’m just excited. He’s a competitor. He goes after hitters. He doesn’t give in. He’ll throw all three of his pitches at any time in the count. I’m just excited about him.”
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June 7, 2007 1:09 pm
Nats GM Jim Bowden says TV ratings of his draft “war room” would beat out “Desperate Housewives.” Maybe so, but I wouldn’t want to be in there right now.
It’s edging closer to draft time and it looks like the Nationals might just be looking at a worst-case scenario.
According to Baseball
Josh Vitters, another hard-hitting prep 3B from
There’s a chance the Pirates could buckle and go elsewhere (they have missed with college pitchers like Bryan Bullington and Brad Lincoln in the past), but that still leaves the Orioles, who some projections have taking Quebec righty Phillippe Aumont, but I think may take Matt Wieters, a catcher from Georgia Tech.
Either way, that leaves Washington reaching (maybe it WASN'T so good to take two of three from the Orioles last year! It gave the O's a better pick by one loss).
As I wrote today, the Nationals want Price, Moustakas, Vitters, and Detwiler. If they don’t get those guys, they say they’ll bypass Wieters and New Jersey prep righty Rick Porcello, who wants a HUGE signing bonus, though he has the best upside of a deeeeeeeeep high school pool of pitchers.
In that case, they'll go with a mystery pick that I’ve been told will open plenty of eyes. ]
I really don’t know who that may be, but my best guess is Rice lefty Joe Savery, who has battled injury issues this year, or Georgia high school outfielder Jason Heyward, a toolsy projectable player Bowden would love.
I guess another wild card would be Beau Mills, a hard-hitting collegian from NAIA Lewis-Clark State College in
Anyways, it seems things could get interesting in the next 90 minutes or so. Good timing for all of this to be on TV (ESPN2, for those of you not at work).
Oh, and there’s a game today. Matt Chico vs. Ian Snell. Last game of a nine-game homestand. Do you care more about the game or about the draft, which is key to the team’s rebuilding plan? It’s an interesting question considering the baseball draft pales in comparison to the NFL Draft in terms of interest and exposure.
I’ll check back in after the first pick. UPDATE: Just occurred to me (through a suggestion from a friend) that the ultimate wild card would be Rutgers SS Todd Frazier. Big #s, big bat, but he'll change positions in the pros. He's from New Jersey. Nats scouting director Dana Brown is from New Jersey. Not sure if it'll happen, but it's a possibility.
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June 6, 2007 8:12 pm
So Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft is Thursday, and the Nationals have five of the first 70 picks, including the No. 6 pick overall.
The draft begins at 2 p.m., so by about 3 p.m. we should know who the Nationals have taken. But who should they take? That depends a lot on philosophy, and a lot on who you ask.
This draft is deepest in high school pitching, which coincidentally is the biggest gamble in professional sports. High school pitchers break down more than any other type of pick in the draft. Remember Brien Taylor, the first pick in the 1991 draft by the Yankees? He broke down long before he made it to the big apple, but the list is much, much longer. Consider this list of high school pitchers taken in the Top 10 picks from 1990 to 2003 (I stopped the list there because those drafted in 2004 and after still need a chance to make it). Of the 27 high school pitchers taken in the top 10 picks during those 14 years, only 10 made it to the majors (highlighted in bold). Over the same time period, 36 of 42 college pitchers taken in the first 10 picks have made it to the majors. Top 10 Pitchers Year Pitcher Pick # 1990 Kurt Miller 5 HS Ronnie Walden 9 HS 1991 Brien Taylor 1 HS James Henderson 5 HS 1992 None 1993 Kirk Presley 8 HS 1994 Doug Million 7 HS Jaret Wright 10 HS 1995 Kerry Wood 4 HS Jon Johnson 10 HS 1996 John Patterson 5 HS Matt White 7 HS 1997 Geoff Goetz 6 HS Jon Garland 10 HS 1998 none 1999 Josh Beckett 2 HS Josh Girdley 6 HS Bobby Bradley 8 HS 2000 Mike Stodolka 4 HS Matt Harrington 7 HS Matt Wheatland 8 HS Mark Phillips 9 HS Joe Torres 10 HS 2001 Gavin Floyd 4 HS Colt 2002 C. Gruler 3 HS Adam Loewen 4 HS Clint Everts 5 HS 2003 John Danks 9 HS
Jon Garland is certainly a quality pitcher, but there are more Ronnie Waldens and Clint Everts’ (the Expos’ No. 5 in 2002) and Josh Girdleys (the Expos’ No. 6 in 1999) that prove that taking high school right-handers high is truly a gamble. Considering the signing bonuses shelled out in the Top 10, it doesn't seem like a good one. “A high school pitcher, especially taken high in the draft, because of the money involved, is a potential risk. In LaMar said he’d take high school pitching again, and it seems to be the temptation of all front office types out there: a golden arm in the body of an 18-year-old. The problem is, that arm often breaks down.
“It’s a high risk-high reward sort of situation but you also need pitching and you know that’s what makes things tick at the major league level,” Lamar added. Given the statistics, the Nationals will avoid high school pitchers with the first pick, concentrating on more of a sure-thing, like high school third basemen Mike Moustakas or Josh Vitters, or college left-hander Ross Detwiler (if he’s around).
Then, the Nationals can mine this draft’s prep pitching depth with the 31st pick, or the 49th pick, or whatever pick they choose. I believe that’s the way the Nats are leaning, and I’ve constructed my personal mock draft as such. I only did the Top 7, but here they are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
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June 5, 2007 7:08 pm
It's not unexpected, but the news just came in that reliever Ryan Wagner is out for the year. He had surgery to repair a tear in the labrum of his right shoulder and will not throw for four months, team officials said. He'll begin a throwing program at that point, but considering labrum injuries generall take about nine months to completely heal (remember Brian Lawrence, or Ryan Drese?), he'll be healthy just in time for spring training next year. I haven't talked to Wagner, but I'm sure it didn't come as a surprise. He knew surgery was a possibility when he went to see Dr. James Andrews in “I just can’t really get it going,” Wagner said. “It’s one of those things you hope it’s not anything big but if it is, you fix it. I’m 24 years old. I’m still really young.” True, but the track record for recovery from labrum surgeries is nowhere near as predictable as ligament-replacement surgeries in elbows. There are plenty of pitchers that never recover their velocity after the surgery. No word if the Nationals have filed a counter-grievance against the Cincinnati Reds (remember, Wagner was part of the eight-player trade that brought Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns to D.C. and sent Gary Majewski and others to Cincy; and the Reds filed a grievance last month, saying the Nats didn’t disclose information about Majewski’s injured right shoulder. Ironic at the least, and I’m joking about the Nats filing a grievance. I think.) I meant to get this in the paper sooner, but I spoke with Nats scouting director Dana Brown about SS Luis Castillo, the 17-year-old Dominican switch-hitter the team signed over the weekend. Brown said he’s not an elite prospect like Esmailyn Gonzalez, the shortstop the team signed for $1.4 million last summer, but he projects as a potential every day major leaguer. As of now, he’s better with the bat than the glove, Brown said, and probably would’ve gone in the Top 10 rounds of MLB’s First-Year Player Draft Thursday had he been eligible. Tip o’ the cap to Capitol Punishment, who linked to hittrackeronline.com Monday. I find home run distances to be fascinating (though occasionally arbitrary) and I wrote a short note in Tuesday’s paper attributing the distance of Ryan Zimmerman’s moonshot Sunday (450 feet) to hittrackeronline.com. The interesting part was that it wasn't the longest homer at RFK this season, according to the site. Florida second baseman Dan Uggla's opening day blast went 463 feet.
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May 29, 2007 7:14 pm
Your attitude will always determine your altitude in life. There’s a dry-erase board that sits just outside the door that leads to the Nationals’ clubhouse. It’s where lineups are posted, notes appear (“Stretch: 4 p.m.”), reminders are left (like “remember to put your dry-cleaning in”), and occasionally an inspirational quote or two will pop up. The above passage was scrawled on the board before the start of Tuesday’s home-opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers by manager Manny Acta, and it seems, is an apt summation of the Nationals’ even-keeled approach to this up-and-down season. Yes, they’ve won 12 of their last 17 games, reversing a plunge toward baseball infamy. 1-8 to start the year? 12-5 in the last three weeks?
According to Acta, whose positive outlook was evident even during the down, down, down times, the outlook has been similar. From himself and from his team. “I think they’ve been pretty consistent with their attitude,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “Even when we were losing at the beginning. Talking to guys like [ “I think now a couple of maybe the younger guys, they’re [saying] ‘Well, we’re out here to prove people wrong’ and this and that," he added. "That’s not really what we’re here for. That’s not the talk we want anyways. We just want to keep getting better and see where it takes us. It’s not like we’re waiting up until we win no 31 to come out and say, ‘Hey you people that said we weren’t going to win 30.’ That’s not what we’re all about. We’re just going t keep working and try to make this team as good as we can.” The comment about 30 wins is a not-so-veiled comment directed at members of the National media who set the over-under on I don’t know how he’ll act when his team is on top, but I’m guessing he’ll sound a lot like he does now. As for the start of
That was when Zimmerman’s grand slam propelled the Nationals to an unlikely ninth-inning comeback. Remember? No? Well, it happened after 1 a.m. thanks to more than three hours of rain delays. There were approximately 100 fans in the stands, and probably just as many television viewers. But Acta remembers. “I think from then on everything just started to roll,” he said. “I think it was a very special game for us when it came down to bonding and Zimmerman being so huge that day after two outs. I think from that day on everything has been good for us, but there are a lot of games left.”
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May 18, 2007 7:30 pm
So seriously, who came up with the name of the six-game Orioles-Nationals series?
The
Likewise, a trip south from
So shouldn’t the series (if it needs an official name at all) be called the
Or is the name the
I’m going to guess that it’s not that, but it’s something to chew on. Here’s something else to chew on: a few substitute names from the press corps regarding this “rivalry,” which from the looks of the crowd tonight (my guess, maybe 25,000) isn’t yet much of a rivalry.
From WaPost Nats beat reporter Barry Svrluga: Parkway Pugilism. From me: The Battle of the Parkway (borrrring). Also from me (and yes, I’m stretching): the MASN Mauling. Me again: Bloodshed by the Bay (again, stretching). One more from me: The I-95 Encounter. From an anonymous PR staffer: Angelos vs. Lerner, the cage match. From WaPost O’s reporter Adam Kilgore: The Heist Bowl (an homage to intrepid WTOP reporter Craig Heist, who seems to end up at every O’s and Nats home game).
I think we have a winner.
Any other suggestions?
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May 18, 2007 6:28 pm
Mothers, don't let your babies grow up to be Nationals' starting pitchers? Is that how the lyric goes?
It’s sure not a good time to be a starting pitcher for the Nationals. Right-hander Jason Bergmann became the fourth starter in the last 12 days to be placed on the 15-day disabled list, joining John Patterson, Shawn Hill and Jerome Williams among
Bergmann has an inflammation in his right elbow and left-hander Mike Bacsik will be called up from Triple-A Columbus to take Bergmann’s place in the rotation Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.
An MRI exam Thursday revealed no structural damage, just some fluid on the elbow. Bergmann’s injury is not considered serious, but the timing couldn’t be worse. He pitched his finest game as a big leaguer Monday, no-hitting the Atlanta Braves into the eighth inning and winning his first game as a starter. He is 1-3 with a 2.76 ERA and his .162 batting average-against leads the majors.
“They just don’t want to make it worse,” Bergmann said. “They don’t want me to hurt something else trying to compensate. I want to pitch. I want to be healthy. If I have to take a couple extra days off, if that’s the key to that, so be it.”
Said manager Manny Acta: “It’s not terribly serious but you got to do what’s best for the kid and why push it? It’s early in the year. We’d rather have him miss two starts this early than have him miss 10 or 15 later on. We’re just going to be careful with him.”
Bacsik was 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA in nine games with the Columbus Clippers. He was 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA in spring training with the Nationals, but most of his poor numbers came in his first appearance of the spring (it was actually his second stint with the Nats. He was released by the Nats out of spring training last year and then went 11-0 in Triple-A with the Arizona Diamondbacks).
Bacsik has pitched in the majors with the Indians, Mets and Rangers, and he’s impressed in Triple-A with his control, striking out 28 and walking six in 36 innings.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=14&p=1179527304
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Contact Todd Jacobson is covering the Washington Nationals.
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Todd Jacobson is a sports writer for The Free Lance-Star
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