After what seems like an
eternity, the Nats are finally home after their 10-game three-city west coast
road trip in which MLB thoughtfully did not include an off-day until the return
trip home. The Nats ended the trip 4-6 and even though they battled Cy Young
winning pitchers, injuries and most of all themselves, it was a somewhat
disappointing result as they could have easily been 6-4, if not better. I could
go into much more detail but we covered this pretty extensively on the Podcast
last night and that’s a much more complete conversation. Check it out if you haven’t
already.
It’s hard to believe that it’s
Memorial Day weekend and the Nats are facing the Phillies for the first time
this year, while having already faced the Marlins, Braves and Reds twice. The
Phils roll into the Nation’s Capital with a 23-24 record having a disappointing
start to the year accompanied by a troubling injury to Roy Halladay and less
than stellar production from Cole Hamels. Even with those two issues, the
starting pitching had been middle of the road with the rotation ranking 17th
in WAR, and 15th in ERA/FIP. The bullpen is a whole other kind of
awful, ranking 26th in ERA and WAR while ranking 29th in
FIP. The offense hasn’t been doing the team any favors either, ranking 26th
in MLB in OPS with a combined .690.
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I've recently complained that the Nationals' lack of organizational depth is a major reason for their mediocre start to the season. Key contributors C Wilson Ramos (twice), 3B Ryan Zimmerman, RF Jayson Werth and RHP Ryan Mattheus have all gone on the disabled list while LHP Ross Detwiler and LF Bryce Harper have narrowly avoided their own stints. None of that is even to mention 2B Danny Espinosa, who is playing with a torn rotator cuff.
Kurt Suzuki has filled in admirably for the injured Ramos, but out of that bunch, that's pretty much the only bright spot. Anthony Rendon and Chad Tracy struggled at 3B filling in for Zimmerman while Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore have been downright awful in the corner OF spots. Super-sub Steve Lombardozzi has limped along to a -0.3 WAR, almost as bad as Espinosa's -0.4.
Finding quality depth for contenders can be quite a conundrum. For every aging veteran looking for a World Series ring there are plenty of younger guys that end up with lousy teams because they have a clearer path to playing time. I hate to think of disaster scenarios, but here is a look at the players who could become key replacements if injuries happen throughout the season. Please keep in mind - I am not considering any current injuries to the minor league guys unless they're season-long issues.
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TJ, Dave, Matt and O'Hara fill out the panel this week as the Citizens crew discusses the week in Nats news, offensive consistency, roster moves regarding the bench and bullpen, the starting pitching depth that is receiving little fanfare, a look at the week ahead and as always answer questions from listeners.
Oftentimes a team's bench goes
overlooked when determining how good a team is and rightfully so as the average
bench player gets about half as many plate appearances as a starter. But bench
players, especially in the National League, are an important part of a team's
overall success. No team goes without injuries through an entire season and
every team, especially in the NL, needs pinch hitters. A good bench can provide
extra value in these situations, often creating the difference between two
evenly matched teams.
The Nationals bench in 2012 was one
of the best benches in the Major Leagues. The four main bench players: Chad
Tracy, Roger Bernadina, Tyler Moore and Steve Lombardozzi earned the nickname
the Goon Squad for the value they provided as back-ups. Altogether the four
combined for 3.4 wins above replacement according to Fangraphs. Nationals'
pinch hitters were the best in batting average and second in OPS in Major
League baseball in 2012. They were a solid unit.
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The Nats overall are 8-4 in one run games and that might lead people to
believe that they have done a good job of winning the close ones, and while
they did end up winning yesterday, the way they went about it is not the path
to success. Against Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner the Nationals scored a
combined three runs. That by itself may not sound good and no one is denying
that the Nats offense has been scuffling, but Matt Cain holds a career 3.35 ERA
and is one of the best pitchers in the NL. Madison Bumgarner is a rising star
and has been the Giants best starter this season and his career 3.17 ERA isn't
too shabby either, and while they Nats struggled to score runs against Cain and
Bumgarner the Giants scored a combined one run against Stephen Strasburg and
Gio Gonzalez. In other words, the Nats starters were just that much better.
In both games the Nats entered the late
innings with a one run lead and handed the ball to a bullpen that was believed
to be one of the best in the NL and in both games the Nats bullpen blew it and
forced the game into extra innings. The Nats ended up splitting these two
games, but they should have won both of them. These
games represent what playoff baseball is like. Whether it is
Strasburg vs. Cain, Gio vs. Bumgarner or Strasburg vs. Cueto, Gio vs. Latos or
Strasburg vs. Wainwright, Gio vs. Miller; if the Nats starters out-duel the
other team’s top pitchers they have to win the game. This is how the Nats are
ultimately going to win a World Series. While the lack of offense and ability
to score runs is very alarming the more alarming aspect of these last two games
was the Nats inability to close out games, and this isn't the first time it has
happened this season.
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The Nationals wasted a great
start by Stephen Strasburg and lost 4-2 in ten innings to the San
Francisco Giants on a Pablo Sandoval walk-off home run.
The
Nationals got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the first
inning. A Denard Span single, Bryce Harper sac fly and doubles from Ryan
Zimmerman and Ian Desmond, the latter breaking an 0-20 streak, did the
damage.
Those were the only
runs the Nationals scored all night though. They threatened in the
fourth inning when they loaded the bases with one out but a ground out
by Kurt Suzuki and strikeout by Stephen Strasburg let Giants starter
Matt Cain off the hook.
Strasburg
had a rough going in the first inning, walking two and giving up two
singles. But a slick double play turned by Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa and
Adam LaRoche helped him get out of trouble and he finished a scoreless
first, albeit in 31 pitches.
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From top to bottom the Washington
Nationals organization is slumping. The offense is OPSing a collective .656
better than only the Marlins, the manager continues to put useless offensive
player after useless offensive player in the two-hole, one of the most
important parts of the line-up, and the general manager is now calling up
useless relievers just in case Stephen Strasburg fails to go four innings. That
last one is the most puzzling. The general manager of the Nationals is betting
against his Ace starting pitcher.
The move to bring up Maya as the
eighth reliever makes some sense with every other reliever except the
recently called-up Abad, Storen, Clippard, and Soriano available if a lesser
pitcher known to struggle for five innings were on the mound, but they aren't.
Stephen Strasburg is pitching tonight and so far this season he has averaged
6.33 innings a start and has failed to get through the fifth innings twice. Now
if he goes six and the Nats use Clippard, Storen, and Soriano to finish out the
game they then have Gio Gonzalez on the mound tomorrow. Both Strasburg and Gio
are fully capable of giving the Nationals seven strong innings and good major
league relievers, like Storen, Clippard, and Soriano are, should be able to
pitch two days in a row. Thursday is then an off day followed by Jordan
Zimmermann who is averaging over seven innings a start. If the Nats want to
rest the bullpen then let Strasburg and Gio pitch, followed by an off-day, and
then have Jordan Zimmermann go on Friday.
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The Nationals continued the slump they started in San Diego, getting
blown out by the San Francisco Giants, 8-0, in game one of a three game
set in San Francisco.
The
Nationals bats were especially cold tonight, amassing only three hits
all game. That combined with the pitching styles of spot starter Zach
Duke and fellow long men Craig Stammen and Henry Rodriguez and the Nats
did not have much of a chance all night.
Giants
starter Ryan Vogelsong entered the game with an 8.06 ERA and 1.839
WHIP, struggling mightily to find the form that made him one of the best
comeback stories in Major League Baseball in 2011 and 2012.
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At this point in the West Coast trip the Nats are not doing as well as they would want to. They only won one game against the Dodgers and split the series with the Padres, of which they should have taken at least three. Now they head to San Francisco to take on the defending World Series Champions, the Giants.
Sadly, Ross Detwiler will miss his start in the series with a slight oblique strain. General Manager Mike Rizzo said that they do not plan to put him on the disabled list. Zack Duke will be taking Detwiler’s start to begin the series with the Giants. Detwiler’s next scheduled start is on Sunday against the Phillies at Nationals Park. The hope is that he will be ready to go by then, but if his spasms and soreness keeps up Stephen Strasburg could start for him on normal rest. “In essence, we’ll have 10 or 11 days until that spot needs to pitch again,” Rizzo said. “We think Ross will be okay by then.”
Bryce Harper is expected to be back in the lineup for the beginning of the San Francisco series and Davey Johnson belies that he will continue his day-to-day responsibilities in the outfield. On the other hand, Jayson Werth saw a specialist in New York over the weekend to rehab his ailing hamstring, but in the process it flared up again. Rizzo believes that he will start ramping up baseball activities this week and should join the team when they finish their West Coast road trip.
Alright, no more doom and gloom. The middle of the lineup is finally batting, as advertised. Ryan Zimmerman will hit almost any pitch that you throw at him and Adam LaRoche is attaching the ball like it insulted him mama, so that is awesome to say the least. In several of the games on this road trip those two guys have pretty much been the team’s entire offense.
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By now everyone knows there is a problem with Danny Espinosa. Major league
baseball players don't perform to a .212 wOBA unless there is something wrong,
and before the season Espinosa told everyone what was wrong. Sometime last
September he completely tore the rotator cuff off the bone. Instead of going
for a surgery that would have held him out until June he opted to try and
strengthen the muscles around it and play through it. It hasn't worked, but
Danny Espinosa isn't going to admit that it is a problem with his shoulder, and
there is a chance that their isn't, but when a player is pulling off of
fastballs down the middle and can't ever get the barrel to the ball there are
physical issues.
The bigger issue is the reason Espinosa
is playing through this injury. He is doing it in order to keep his job, but
instead he has played himself into a position to lose his job. This
situation isn't without solutions and some of them are even within the organization.
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The Nationals aimed to take the series win in San Diego to go 3 for 4 before heading off to San Francisco. Unfortunately, a 13-4 loss and more shaky defense would not allow the Nationals to do so. The Nationals will leave San Diego with a series split against a team that the Nationals were hoping to win a series over.
Dan Haren came out of the gate struggling Sunday Afternoon. He immediately gave up a single to Everth Cabrera. Cabrera then stole 2nd, then went to 3rd on a wild pitch from Dan Haren. Chase Headley got on base via the walk. Carlos Quentin doubled to bring in Cabrera, then a sac fly brought in Headley. A double from Jedd Gyorko then brought in the 3rd run in the 1st inning to put the Nationals in a 3-0 hole. It would turn out to be a deficit the Nationals would never overcome.
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A good eight innings for the Nationals against the San Diego Padres became a tie game in the ninth, but the Nats pulled through, winning 6-5 in 10.
Two players who have been scuffling lately, Chad Tracy and Drew Storen, got to play hero in the extra frame, making sure the Nationals held on to a game they had all but sewn up just an inning before.
Tracy hit the game winning home run in the top of the tenth, his first home run of the year and the first RBI from a pinch hitter this season. While Storen came in to the tenth to notch the save.
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Two weeks ago, I took a look at my pre-season top 15 prospects and how they performed through April. Now it's time to take a look at the second half of my top prospect list, mostly filled with fringe prospects and long-shots.
16) C Jhonatan Solano - With Wilson Ramos going on the DL again, Solano will get a second crack at the ML roster in 2013. He went 1/6 in three games for the Nats in April and isn't hitting much better in Syracuse - .167/.200/.208 (albeit only in 50 plate appearances). He was just reinstated from the Syracuse 7 day DL (ankle injury) yesterday, just in time to be called up. TRENDING: DOWN
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If you are in any way like me and came of age in the 90's or are younger and
happen to like retro video games then you will remember games such as
Castlevania, and if you haven't played it stop reading this and go do so now.
Furthermore if you only have time for one Castlevania game it should be
Symphony of the Night. If you are still reading I am going to assume you have
played a Castlevania game and if the only one you have played was Castlevania
64 that you are a pathetic individual. Rebuilding the rails here the point is those
games were built around boss fights. Every level ended with a giant boss and
for Simon or Alucard or whoever the main character was each boss presented a
new challenge and had to be defeated in a unique manner.
Most of the Castlevania games, and all of
the good ones, came out in a time before AI and so the boss fights were
essentially giant puzzles. There was a pattern to how to win and the best
Castlevania games combined the platforming and action elements of the game
perfectly in its best boss fights, and every boss fight got more and more
difficult. Boss fights were always filled with frustration while trying to
figure out the pattern and once you did they still weren't easy. There was
nothing better than the sense of relief at landing the killing blow with one
bar of health left. The worst thing about all these boss fights is that you
always had to do them again. Near the end of the game there was always a stage
that was nothing but the previous boss fights, and that is what Stephen
Strasburg overcame last evening.
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I woke up Thursday morning to see the Nationals had lost again last night. I
noted that the only run the Nationals were able to score was a solo home run by
Adam LaRoche. The good news is that LaRoche seems to be finding himself after a
slow start, which is not abnormal for the veteran 1B. It is easy to see what is
going on with the Nationals, really, and that is that they simply haven't been
scoring a whole heck of a lot of runs. Looking at the Nationals record isn't so
discouraging at 22-19. Even during the last stretch of games, the Nationals may
have failed to tie the Braves for 1st place, but they aren't exactly losing
ground on them either. Having lost 2 of 3 to the Dodgers, and the win last
night against the Padres, the Nationals are only half a game back of the 1st
place Braves in the NL East. So what is the deal? Why aren't the Nationals
killing baseball like everyone thought they would?
In the last several weeks, it has
seemed like everything has gone at least slightly askew for the Nationals. To
start the season, they kept throwing the ball away, the bullpen would give up
the lead, and the starting pitchers (except for Zimmermann) had been hit or
miss. Then, you had Ryan Zimmerman hit the disabled list due to a bum
hamstring, then Ramos, then Werth, then (it looks like) Ramos again. Just two
nights ago, Detwiler's back tightened up, Ramos' hamstring tightened up. We are
unsure of Detwiler right now, but Ramos is DL-bound again. Not a good night for
the visiting team. Monday, the Nationals won, but a full speed wall impact
tossed up questions about Bryce Harper, who returned to the lineup last night.
I don't even want to talk about how it looked like Haren was battling a bit of
discomfort on Tuesday, a night when he pitched so well, but suffered from a
lack of support. The fact that he fought through it and only allowed two runs
is great, but still something to look out for. In the Dodgers series, the
Nationals seemed to have been somewhat snake bitten.
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