Oh Danny Boy. Apparently Manny Acta feels that he has defend Daniel Cabrera, whose unraveling earlier this week included an embarrassing four wild pitches. “He knows that it’s a long season and he feels like he’s just going through a rough stretch,” Acta said after his most recent post-game therapy session with the pitcher. “It’s not like he has pitched great, but he has only allowed 19 earned runs out of the 30 [he has given up]. It’s weird, but a lot of bad things have happened for him.” The sad truth, of course, is that Cabrera is not going to improve: unless, of course, the leagues’ umps hold a national confab and decide to move the plate over about six inches, so his pitches can be called strikes. This guy would have walked Casey. When he retires he can call his autobiography “Ball Eight.”

Cabrera’s mental state was on full display against the Giants — in the fourth inning he collapsed after an error by Josh Willingham, walking the next four batters. He was, reporters noted, “visibly distraught” on the mound (they should have been in my living room). The Nats brain trust met with Cabrera after the game to talk about the walk-fest and Cabrera’s “mental state.” I can hear Manny now: “We’d send you to the bullpen Danny, but we don’t have one.” Acta noted that, in addition to his inability to deal with tough situations, the Nats have been working with Cabrera on straightening out his mechanics. That is to say, they have been trying to figure out how to get him to pitch strikes. I have an idea: let’s threaten him with his job.

So, let’s sum this up. Daniel Cabrera is having trouble with his mechanics, with the mental aspects of his game and can’t keep his composure in tough situations. Other than that, he’s doing a pretty good job. Mechanics? I remember that famous line from Bill Lee. What’s your best pitch, Bill? he was asked. He looked at the camera: “my best pitch is a strike.” Forget the mechanics, throw the damned ball across the plate.  

Nats commentator Rob Dibble has this right. During Cabrera’s last start, Dibble ripped into him — and into the Nationals’ decision to bring him the 45 miles from Baltimore. Dibble said during one broadcast that he had followed Cabrera for six years and it was obvious he couldn’t throw strikes. “Now we see why Baltimore got rid of Cabrera and the Marlins got rid of Kensing,” he said. It’s hard to argue the point: last year Cabrera led the American League in walks and wild pitches. The Orioles let him walk (so to speak) and the Nats picked him up for $2.6 million. With another three million they could have signed Jon Garland. Look at it this way; if they had signed Garland they would have actually saved themselves the 2.6 they will have spent in giving Cabrera a try-out he should have have never had. Garland, I hear, dealt with the “mental aspects” of his game while he was in Little League.

Where that kind of thing is usually done.