Series #25 Preview: Nats at Phillies
Call me crazy,but the Nats (34-34) are showing signs of life and a little consistency. Yes, they are 3-3 at this point in their road trip, but with the exception of the awful game pitched by Dan Haren against Colorado, they could as easily been 5-1 if a few things would have gone their way. They are currently sitting 6.5 games behind the Braves for the lead in the NL East and are back to .500 baseball, but the games feel different. They are hitting the ball. They are not scoring a while lot, but they are hitting.
What is the difference? Anthony Rendon. The guy is hitting .361 in 17 games this season. I know he has only had 68 plate appearances in his career, but he’s yet to look overmatched. Since being called back up for the second time this season, he has hit safely in every game. He has the longest current hitting streak on the team sitting at ten games. His last two games have both been three hit games, so he does not seem to be slowing down. This only makes the decision to sit Rendon for Friday’s opening game against the Indians even more baffling.
The Nationals head to Citizens Bank Park for a three game series with the Phillies (33-37). The Phillies won two out of three against the Nats in their only other series this season and the teams split the season series last year at nine a piece. The Phillies’ Michael Young is two RBI shy of hitting the 1,000 career RBI mark. There are only 18 active players that have recorded 1,000 or more RBI, so let’s hope he has to wait until the Phillies next series to join that club.
In injury news, it looks like Bryce Harper will start baseball activities after a week of rest to reduce the effects of his bursitis and could start a rehab game by either the end of the week or early next week. Wilson Ramos aggravated his hamstring, but it is reported that it will only affect his rehab calendar by a day or two and he might be able to rejoin the team by then end of the month. Danny Espinosa has been playing in rehab games in Syracuse for the AAA Chiefs, but neither Davey or Rizzo has said when he will rejoin the big league club.
Game 69: Monday, June 17, Citizens Bank Park 7:05pm, Dan Haren, RHP (4-8, 5.70 ERA) vs. John Lannan, LHP (0-1, 6.14 ERA)
In his most recent outing, Dan Haren lost again and gave up multiple home runs again, but let’s be honest, he’s not the first person to get roughed up at Coors Field. He lasted only five innings and gave up five runs, off of eight hits, while striking out six batters. Haren has not won a game since May 9, where he squeaked out a 5-4 win against the Tigers.
Haren has started five games against the Phillies where he has amassed a 0-3 record and 5.79 ERA. He faced Philly earlier this season on May 25 and came away with his only no decision of the season. He did put the Nats in a position to win the game, giving three earned runs off of four hits, while striking out 10. The result of the game would have probably been different if half the hits he gave up were not home runs to Erik Kratz and Domonic Brown. Haren has been very effective against the Phillies slugger, Ryan Howard. Howard has a measly .556 OPS and six strikeouts against Haren over his career.
Current Phillies vs. Dan Haren:
| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Young | 64 | 61 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 11 | .311 | .328 | .410 | .738 |
| Delmon Young | 27 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .308 | .333 | .385 | .718 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 13 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .308 | .308 | .538 | .846 |
| Humberto Quintero | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 | .273 | .455 | .727 |
| Ryan Howard | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .111 | .111 | .444 | .556 |
| Laynce Nix | 8 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .250 | .375 | .625 |
| Ben Revere | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 |
| Domonic Brown | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | 1.333 | 1.667 |
| Freddy Galvis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Kevin Frandsen | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 152 | 148 | 41 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 33 | .277 | .289 | .426 | .715 |
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This feels a little awkward… It is kind of like when your sister starts dating your best friend. Well, I guess in this case, it is kind of like your sister dating the creepy old guy that no one likes. In this analogy, John Lannan is your sister and the creepy old guy is the Philadelphia Phillies. Since moving to DC and becoming a Nationals fan I really liked John Lannan and I felt bad for him when he was pretty damn good on all those horrific teams. The guy started two Opening Days for the Nats and more often than not put them in a position to win when he took the bump, but the offense never helped him. One season, he was first in getting opposing batters to ground into double plays, while being last in run support. Some sports writers believe that during his best years with the Nats he could have played on a better team and won at least 15 games, but alas, he never got the opportunity.
Over his career with the Nationals Lannan has a 4.02 ERA over the course of 783 2/3 IP. His most memorable moment with the Nats probably came in August of 2007. During the game on August 6, 2007, Barry Bonds stepped in against him and was only one home run away from becoming the all-time home run leader. Lannan, who was only 185 pitches into his MLB career, was undeterred and pitched right at Bonds. When the dust settled that night, the rookie came out on top and Bonds was 0-3 for the night. With the Nats acquisition Gio Gonzalez and the emergence of Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann, he was non-tendered in the offseason and signed with the Phillies.
Lannan strained his quadriceps tendon in his left knee and has been on the disabled list since April 17. In his last rehab start he went seven innings and gave up two runs. He throws five pitches: Two-Seam Fastball (86-92 mph, 88 avg), Four-Seam Fastball (86-92 mph, 89 avg), Curveball (70-75 mph, 73 avg), Slider (73-84 mph, 80 avg) and Changeup (81-86 mph, 83 avg). Lannan likes to throw his slider on 0-2 counts and tends to not throw his changeup to left handed batters. He keeps the ball low in the zone and no matter what the situation he tends to be very methodical in his delivery.
Lannan has only faced four members of the Nationals lineup: Jayson Werth, Chad Tracy, Adam LaRoche and Ross Ohlendorf. Obviously, all of these plate appearances came when these players were with other teams and Lannan was pitching as a Nat. Werth, when he was with the Phillies beat up on Lannan pretty bad, amassing a 1.345 OPS in 28 plate appearances. LaRoche on the other hand, has been completely shut down by Lannan. In 12 plate appearances LaRoche has not managed a hit.
Current Nationals vs. John Lannan:
| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jayson Werth | 28 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | .333 | .429 | .917 | 1.345 |
| Adam LaRoche | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Ross Ohlendorf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| Chad Tracy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 44 | 39 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 11 | .231 | .302 | .590 | .892 |
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Game 70: Tuesday, June 18, Citizens Bank Park 7:05pm, Ross Detwiler, LHP (2-4, 3.02 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee, LHP (8-2, 2.55 ERA)
Manager Davey Johnson had Ross Detwiler on a short leash during his last start, which was his first since coming off the disabled list. Detwiler only went five innings, throwing 77 pitches, 51 of which were for strikes. He looked like a guy that had not pitched in a month, but he got the job done, allowing only three earned runs off of six hits, while striking out two Rockies batters.
Detwiler has started seven games against the Phillies dating back to 2009 and has come away with a 2-4 record and a 4.24 ERA. However, his career ERA is a little deceptive. In 2009 and 2010 Ross put up back-to-back 6.00 ERAs against the Phillies, but has been much better since then. Jimmy Rollins has fared well against the National Det and he has faced him the most of any member of the Phillies current lineup. In 21 plate appearances, Rollins has a .286 BA and three doubles.
Current Phillies vs. Ross Detwiler:
| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Rollins | 21 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .286 | .286 | .429 | .714 |
| John Mayberry | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .200 | .273 | .500 | .773 |
| Ryan Howard | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .143 | .333 | .143 | .476 |
| Domonic Brown | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .125 | .000 | .125 |
| Cole Hamels | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .000 | .167 | .000 | .167 |
| Kevin Frandsen | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .400 | .600 | 1.000 |
| Michael Martinez | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Humberto Quintero | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Cliff Lee | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 68 | 63 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | .206 | .265 | .317 | .582 |
Can someone inform Cliff Lee that he is 34 years-old and not 24 years-old because he is pitching like he is a decade younger. It is true that he has lost about a mile and a half of velocity on his pitches this season, but since the guy has not lost a game since May 1, I do not think it really matters. In fact, over the last 38.2 innings he has only given up nine runs. In all honesty, if the Phillies are not going to contend for the NL East this year, they might want to deal him because they could probably rebuild their team faster by trading him than having him be their ace. Even with David Price on the trading block this season, Lee is the better choice for teams in contention or someone who want to win the whole thing because he will eat innings and win games, plain and simple. Since 2011, he has a 2.85 ERA, 2.81 FIP and 12.5 WAR. His WAR is 3rd in MLB behind Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw.
Lee throws five pitches: Two-Seam Fastball (88-93 mph, 91 avg), Cutter (81-90 mph, 87 avg), Four-Seam Fastball (88-93 mph, 90 avg), Changeup (81-88 mph, 84 avg) and Curveball (71-77 mph, 75 avg). He truly mixes up his pitches and is not afraid to throw any to any batter in any count. He throws his first pitch for a strike 72 percent of the time, so Jayson Werth might not want to take his traditional first pitch against Lee because it will be wasted if he does.
He has a 5-3 record against the Nationals over the course of his career where he was a 2.51 ERA. Lee averages 8.6 strikeouts over nine innings against the Nats. Last season he was particularly devastating when playing against the Nationals because his ERA was a bewildering 1.80. The only two players who have done well against him are Kurt Suzuki and Denard Span. Suzuki, who has been really struggling at the plate since Wilson Ramos’ injury, has a 1.003 OPS against Lee in 19 plate appearances. Denard Span has a .350 BA and .409 OBP.
Current Nationals vs. Cliff Lee:
| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denard Span | 22 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | .350 | .409 | .500 | .909 |
| Jayson Werth | 20 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | .263 | .250 | .421 | .671 |
| Kurt Suzuki | 19 | 17 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | .412 | .474 | .529 | 1.003 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 18 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .167 | .167 | .333 | .500 |
| Ian Desmond | 14 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .231 | .286 | .308 | .593 |
| Adam LaRoche | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .273 | .273 | .455 | .727 |
| Roger Bernadina | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .429 | .429 | .429 | .857 |
| Steve Lombardozzi | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 | .333 | .200 | .533 |
| Chad Tracy | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Ross Detwiler | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Chris Marrero | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Ross Ohlendorf | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 134 | 127 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 35 | .276 | .306 | .386 | .692 |
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Game 71: Wednesday, June 19, Citizens Bank Park 7:05pm, Gio Gonzalez, LHP (3-3, 3.40 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick, RHP (6-4, 4.76 ERA)
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Last Friday, Gio Gonzalez dug down deep and gave the Nationals everything he had in the tank…and then some. The guy threw a career high 127 pitches against the Cleveland Indians. In the effort he only surrendered one run and three hits in a battle that went tied until the bottom of the ninth when the Indians managed a run off of Fernando Abad, which was the first and only run he has given up in limited action this season. Gio has had a rough year. He was a little erratic early in the season, but has settled down as of late. Sadly, the Nationals offense has not helped him out and since May 6 he has only recorded one decision, a loss to Baltimore.
Gonzalez has started against the Phillies four times in his career, all coming last season, where he has a 3-1 record and 2.52 ERA over 25 IP, He has averaged 10.4 SO/9 and only given up one home run to them. Ryan Howard has stepped in six times against Gio and has not been able to muster a single hit. The only time Howard has reached base against Gonzalez was due to a walk. John Mayberry has also struggles in 12 plate appearances where he could only manage a .182 BA.
Current Phillies vs. Gio Gonzalez:
| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Young | 25 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | .227 | .320 | .409 | .729 |
| Delmon Young | 16 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .267 | .313 | .267 | .579 |
| John Mayberry | 12 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .182 | .250 | .455 | .705 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .429 | .556 | .571 | 1.127 |
| Kevin Frandsen | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .400 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Ryan Howard | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .167 | .000 | .167 |
| Freddy Galvis | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .400 | .600 |
| Ben Revere | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .667 | .750 | .667 | 1.417 |
| Domonic Brown | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .667 | 1.000 | 1.667 |
| Michael Martinez | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Kyle Kendrick | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 91 | 80 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 12 | .250 | .341 | .375 | .716 |
Kyle Kendrick seems to never make Philly fans happy. The guy has been arguably one of the best fourth or fifth starters in the National League over the past two seasons, but he is blasted the majority of the fanbase. Maybe it is because he is behind Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in the rotation. Maybe it is because he is not much of a strikeout pitcher. Who knows?
He throws three pitches: Sinker (86-93 mph, 90 avg), Split-Finger/Changeup (79-86 mph, 83 avg) and Cutter (82-89 mph, 87 avg). He is very vulnerable to left-handed batters, who over his career have put up a .287/3.56/.479 slash line. His whiff rate of only 12 percent is much lower than the MLB average of approximately 18 percent.
Kendrick has started eighteen games against the Nats in his career and come away with a 4-6 record and a 4.90 ERA. In his only outing aga
inst the Nationals in 2013, he was blasted for eight hits and five earned runs over five innings of work. The Nationals came away with a 5-2 victory at the conclusion of the game. Zimmerman, Tracy, Span and Desmond are all sporting an OPS over 1.000 against Kendrick. Three players, Desmond, Lombo and Suzuki are all batting north of .400 BA, as well.
Current Nationals vs. Kyle Kendrick:
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| AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Zimmerman | 40 | 35 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | .314 | .400 | .600 | 1.000 |
| Adam LaRoche | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | .174 | .321 | .304 | .626 |
| Ian Desmond | 27 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | .400 | .407 | .800 | 1.207 |
| Steve Lombardozzi | 15 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .400 | .467 | .867 |
| Jayson Werth | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .071 | .133 | .071 | .205 |
| Roger Bernadina | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .167 | .286 | .167 | .452 |
| Kurt Suzuki | 13 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | .400 | .538 | .700 | 1.238 |
| Denard Span | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .250 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| Chad Tracy | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .400 | 1.000 | 1.400 |
| Craig Stammen | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chris Marrero | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 180 | 159 | 43 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 22 | .270 | .346 | .484 | .831 |
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