The Washington Nationals have signed versatile veteran infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa to a one year contract, the club announced today. This is a no-brainer: we’ve always been fans of DeRosa, who is a welcome addition to the Nationals’ bench. He can hit and field, is a great presence in the clubhouse, and is a steady veteran of the type that Davey Johnson likes. That said, DeRosa had an up-and-down year in 2011 — though mostly down. He suffered a nasty wrist injury, which limited his season to under 50 games.
The signing of DeRosa, which has been expected, fills one of the team’s identified needs: putting together a bench that surpasses the poorly performing bench of last year. DeRosa is a plus, a kind of Jerry Hairston, Jr. player but with more stuff at the plate coupled with the ability to play any number of positions. Additionally, DeRosa said that he wanted to play for the Nationals after it became clear that his time in San Francisco was up. DeRosa is just three years on from his best years as a player when, after a doubles-heavy tenure with the Rangers, he was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Cubs. In 2008, he hit .285 with 21 home runs.
DeRosa has to show that he’s healthy; in his case, passing a physical is more than just pro forma. DeRosa’s wrist injury last year (on a checked swing, no less), might have ended his career, and some Nats fans are concerned that his wrist is now “shot.” If that’s the case (which will become clear, we assume, in Spring Training), then he might not have the late-inning pop that has become his trademark.
But this is a plus, and a big one. DeRosa could fill a yawning need at first base. Adam LaRoche spent last season injured and Chris Marrero’s torn left hamstring will make him uncertain for Spring Training. Then too, though no one will mention it, Ryan Zimmerman has had problems staying healthy — and the Nationals simply cannot afford another power void season at third base. So, if all goes as unplanned planned, we could be seeing a lot of DeRosa in 2011.
The Washington Nationals’ bullpen couldn’t hold onto a hard fought Washington lead, and the Nats were downed by a modest but effective late-inning rally in Milwaukee, 7-6 on Tuesday. The loss came at the expense of Nationals’ reliever Henry Rodriguez, who gave up a two out, two strike bleeder down the left field line to Brewers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy in the 8th inning. “That’s baseball,” Rodriguez said after the game. “You guys saw what happened. It’s part of the game. It was a jam shot, and it fell in.” The hit was just enough for the Brewers to notch their eighth straight victory at home.
The bullpen, which has been stellar for the Nationals this year, looks like it’s starting to fade. Tyler Clippard was ineffective in the 7th, Rodriguez (who came in for Sean Burnett) was ineffective in the eighth — but nearly the entire crew has been struggling of late. Nationals skipper Jim Riggleman noted that the Washington pen has been the team’s highlight reel, but that it was almost fated that it would go through a rough time: “Our bullpen’s done a great job holding leads, and it just didn’t happen tonight.”
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: It doesn’t look good for Adam LaRoche. Bill Ladson writes that the first baseman has major shoulder issues and could face surgery — but first he’ll rest his arm, which includes at least two weeks of not touching a baseball . . . Michael Morse is swinging the bat. After a great Spring Training, Morse had trouble out of the gates. His grand slam home run last night is evidence that his power swing is back, but he’s also hitting for average. In mid-May he was hitting .235, he exited last night’s game at .282. He’s hitting over .400 in his last ten games . . .
It’s funny the way things happen. Over the winter, some Nationals fans were urging Rizzo, Riggleman & Company to forego a free agent contract for a first base replacement for the departed Adam Dunn (who’s hitting all of .192 in the Windy City) and put Morse at first base. Part of the argument was that the Nationals could spend their money more wisely on an outfielder with a good bat: to replace the departed Josh Willingham (who’s hitting .233 for the White Elephants). Now they have their wish. It looks like the Nationals are about to go with a set line-up of Rick Ankiel in center, Roger Bernadina in left — and Morse at first. That’s not bad, except that Morse will not only have to keep hitting, but step up his defensive game. Adam LaRoche was a wizard at first, and his glove will be missed . . .
One of our more regular readers and a CFG fan (here he is), sent along a piece from Wired magazine (that’s a first, because most of our readers read Maxim) noting the May 24 anniversary of the first baseball game played under the lights. It’s a pretty good read, and notes that erecting lights at Crosley Field was part of a desperate measure to keep the Reds in the Queen City (that would be Cincinnati of all places). Lights caught on around the rest of the league, the article noted, except in Chicago, where lights (and winning) were a late addition . . .
And speaking of firsts, if you haven’t read the article on the New York Mets ownership (and the Fred Wilpon-Bernie Madoff fiasco) in the New Yorker you should. The article is long, but you can do it (and you’re all grown up now, and it’s time), and it gives a fair and even sympathetic picture of the Mets’ owner and his struggles to keep his team. We were all set to dislike the guy (as with everything else blue and orange), but ended up thinking that, despite all of his problems with financing, Wilpon not only seems like a good sort, but (surprise, surprise) knows his baseball . . .
You can’t mention the words Milwaukee Brewers without adding “surging” — as in, the “surging” Milwaukee Brewers. After taking three from the Colorado Rockies that left the Helton’s reeling, the Brewers decided that they’d had enough of Corey Hart’s 0 for 11 start of the season, and the big bopping right fielder victimized the Nationals with three home runs and seven RBIs.
But even without Hart’s heroics, the Nationals would have fallen to the Brewers’ bats: the Anacostia Nine accounted for eight hits (which included a Michael Morse dinger) and just three runs — but the game was not as close as the final 11-3 score indicated. Without pitching the team is starting to look like road kill to the rest of the National League. Washington starter Tom Gorzelanny looked particularly ineffective on Monday, giving up eight hits and six runs over five innings. The Brewers, meanwhile, are just three games behind the Cardinals in the N.L. Central, as the Reds have dropped six in a row.
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines:Adam LaRoche was put on the 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. But it might be worse than fifteen days. Isn’t there a pattern here somewhere? Last year, Jason Marquis had much the same problem, tried to play through it — and couldn’t. It took a second year for the free agent signing to work out. With Ryan Zimmerman out until June, LaRoche sidelined and Rick Ankiel rehabbing, the Nationals are playing with one-third of the starting line-up they started with in April . . . Stephen Strasburg is now throwing off a mound, which means that he’s playing catch off a mound, not pitching off of one. Hey great. See you in 2012 . . .
Book ‘Em Danno: Joe Torre, MLB’s head of baseball operations has fined Nats’ G.M. Mike Rizzo an undisclosed amount of cash for confronting umpires after Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Mets in New York. Rizzo and Nats’ catcher Ivan Rodriguez were upset with a call on Jayson Werth that snuffed out a late inning Nationals rally, and confronted the umpiring crew in a stadium tunnel after the game. Rizzo had no comment on the fine, except to say that he would always stick up for his team and organization. “I’ve always got the manager’s, the coaches’ and the players’ back,” Rizzo told a reporter. “Whenever I need to put myself on the line to do so, that’s my job, so I’m willing to do it.”
Ya just gotta love Mikey (and we sure do), but maybe he’s gotta bigger problems than umpires. Yardbarker has put together stats on Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche’s slumps and concluded that the first two months of the season are actually “among the worst months these guys have ever had.” A quick scan of the stats shows this is probably so; and leads us to the conclusion that as statistics are only terrific when predicting past performances, they show what we’ve been saying all along: Adam LaRoche needs shoulder surgery, and Jayson Werth needs Ryan Zimmerman . . .
The Washington Nationals rapped out a meager eight hits and fell to the Mets in rain-soaked New York, 3-0. The key to the Mets victory was the steady pitching of starter Jonathon Niese, who threw seven complete and held the Nationals scoreless. The only Nationals’ player who seemed on track was Michael Morse, who started in left field after nearly a week of seeing sparse duty. Morse was 2-4 and raised his average on the season to .258 — which marks him as one of the better batsman in the Nationals’ anemic line-up.
Nationals’ manager Jim Riggleman, who usually answers questions on the team’s hitting by saying that it’ll all work out in the end, has apparently stopped searching for an explanation. “There are no excuses,” he said in the clubhouse after the game. “We are playing defense, [we are] pitching, but we just haven’t been on track [hitting-wise]. I really don’t have an explanation for it.” Even Roger Bernadina, who started his stint with the Nationals by hitting the ball well, has now apparently been hit by the no-hit bug: his average is down to .293, a fall of 71 points over the last two weeks.
While there’s no easy explanation for the continuing drought, Adam LaRoche thinks that if he started hitting, then the rest of the team would follow: “I feel like I’m close one day and not the next,” LaRoche said. “It’s getting frustrating trying to find it. Obviously, I’ve learned how to get out of it. I wound up OK. I just haven’t figured out how to get on the right track and that’s the frustrating part. For whatever reason, I feel like if I get going, I think other guys fall in and start hitting, too.” LaRoche is hitting .177 and looks so bad at the plate that Nats’ fans are beginning to view him as an automatic out everytime he steps into the batter’s box.
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The Metropolitans may have finally found their second baseman, though he’s playing third for the time being. Justin Turner (above, against the Nats last night) has played just 38 games in the show in his entire career, but it appears he knows how to handle a bat. The 5-11 26-year-old graduate of baseball powerhouse Fresno State took his good sweet time in getting to the majors — kicking around such hot spots as Billings, Dayton and Chattanooga before winding up in New York. He’s an interesting story, the victim of a vicious beaning during Fresno State’s run at the College World Series back in 2006 — when the Titans were eliminated by UNC.
Turner was beaned in an attempted bunt. The ball hit him flush in the left cheekbone and he crumpled to the ground, inadvertantly planting his ankle as his body twisted. Turner ended up none the worse for wear from the beaning, but he broke his ankle. After being examined by doctors for damage to his cheek and an MRI which checked for a concussion, Turner was about to be released. “Even when I got the hospital, they did all the CT scans, MRI stuff,” Turner said. “And they were about to send me out. And I was like, ‘Dude, what about my ankle?’”
That Turner might end up as the Mets’ regular at second base shows you just how thin New York’s farm system is — and how injuries have damaged the Apples’ starting nine. Turner started at third last night because David Wright (a stress fracture in his lower back) is out for two weeks, as is Ike Davis, the regular first baseman. The injuries forced Daniel Murphy to play first and shifted Turner to third. New York’s backing and filling must be wearing thin: Angel Pagan is rehabbing from an oblique injury, and the Mets have been shuffling players between the big club and their Triple-A affiliate.
In many ways, however, the injuries could be viewed as a chance for the franchise to see younger players — and determine who will be available at the trade deadline. At least the Mets will be able to get a good assessment of whether guys like Turner can play. Still, the Mets’ outlook isn’t good. Turner is a case in point, for while he looks strong enough now, he’s not a product of the Mets’ farm system: the team got him off the waiver wire from the Orioles — who got him in a trade with Cincinnati. New York baseball writers are putting as good a face on this as they can, saying that the kids are showing just how tough they can be. We don’t buy it, and our guess is that Mets’ fans don’t either. Earlier this year, ESPN’s Keith Law ranked the Mets’ farm system 26th in Major League Baseball.
The Washington Nationals pulled out a much-needed extra innings victory against the Florida Marlins last night in Miami, 3-2. The 10th inning squeaker came on a sacrifice fly by Adam LaRoche in the top of the game’s final frame that scored Jayson Werth from third. The Nationals, who almost always struggle in Miami, are now 2-2 on the year against the Marlins. The victory was sealed by the Nats’ bullpen in the bottom of the 10th, when Sean Burnett relieved Drew Storen and retired Chris Coghlan on one pitch with men on second and third.
The Nationals-Marlins tilt reflected Friday’s pitching-dominant match-ups throughout the majors. Jordan Zimmermann pitched beautifully through six complete innings, holding the Marlins to two runs on five hits — and striking out six. Zimmermann was particularly effective in the second inning, when he struck out the side on nine pitches, all of them strikes. The Nats continued to struggle at the plate, or perhaps Ricky Nalasco was on his game: the Marlins’ righty struck out eleven, bringing the total number of strikeouts for the game to 30.
The win in Miami gave the Nats a lift after their pummeling in Philadelphia, where they were swept. But outside of the win, the story of the night was Tyler Clippard, who came on in relief of Zimmermann in the sixth inning and struck out six batters in a row. Drew Storen pitched the ninth inning, and retired the Marlins in order. “Clippard was his amazing self, and Storen was outstanding, and you almost forget that Zimmermann had a nice ballgame for us,” skipper Riggleman said after the win. “It was just a great team effort. That was a great effort all night. It was a well-played game by both clubs.”
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Just how good is the Nationals’ bullpen? Drew Storen has saved 100 percent of all games that he’s been called on to save (that’s six for six), with an ERA of 0.51, with a 0.91 WHIP. Tyler Clippard is one of the game’s best set-up men. Only four other relievers have struck out six hitters in a row over the last twenty-five years — with Clippard now one of the game’s best late-inning strikeout kings. He has a 1.29 ERA and is a workhorse, having appeared in fifteen games already this season.
Todd Coffey might be the forgetten guy in the bullpen. After a slow start he’s been incredibly effective: in Philadelphia on Thursday he struck out five, including Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco and John Mayberry, Jr. He has lowered his ERA to 3.72. Sean Burnett, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the league’s most effective lefty specialists — when he’s not closing. Victimized in New York on April 27, Burnett has fought back, vindicating his effectiveness with a one-pitch out last night to register his fourth save. Henry Rodriguez (an electric fastball, with five strikeouts in four innings), Doug Slaten (a lefty specialist) and Brian Broderick (a young, talented work in progress) round out the back seven, which may well be the best relief corps in the game.
Hitting the “Invisi-ball: The 30 strikeout Nationals-Marlins contest seemed par for the course on Friday. In St. Louis, Redbird righty Jaime Garcia flirted with a perfect game through the seventh inning, but had to settle for a two hit, 6-0 shutout of the Brewers. Garcia struck out eight. He’s now 4-0 . . . Out in San Francisco, strikeout expert Ubaldo Jimenez struck out seven in six innings, but just couldn’t come up with a win. Jimenez, the 2011 version, is trying to recover from a rocky (so to speak) start and was in line for the win: until Freddy Sanchez stroked a walk off single in the ninth that scored World Series hero Cody Ross . . . This Colorado-San Francisco thingie could turn into the story of the summer, but only if San Francisco can stay close . . .
But the best game of the night was played in Philadelphia (now didn’t we tell you that, huh? huh? huh?), where Derek Lowe went to the mound against Cliff Lee. The final score (a 5-0 Atlanta victory) tells only a part of the story. Derek Lowe had a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Lee had a weird final line: seven innings, nine hits, three earned runs — and 16 strikeouts. Lee struck out nearly two-thirds of the batters he faced, and lost the game. After the game, Chipper Jones implied that the Braves were lucky, by hitting em where they ain’t. ”It seemed to be all or nothing,” Jones said. “Whenever we put a ball in play, it found a hole.”
Sure, but the story line from our perspective was the pitching of Derek Lowe, who seemed unfazed by either Lee or Philadelphia’s fans. “D-Lowe, he had the invisi-ball tonight,” Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins said after the Atlanta win. “Invisi-ball. Yep. You see it in one place, and when you go to swing, it just wasn’t there.”
Adam LaRoche and Jayson Werth teamed up to give the Washington Nationals a 4-3 extra innings victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park on Friday. The victory came as a result of Werth’s heads-up base running: the Nats spark plug got on base as a result of a Brew Crew error, then took third during Milwaukee’s right side shift against Nats’ first baseman Adam LaRoche. When LaRoche bounded a grounder to Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, Werth hustled home on the drawn-in infield, beating the throw and giving the Nationals the victory.
The Nationals extra innings triumph came after solid pitching performances from starter Tom Gorzelanny (6 innings, 5 hits, two earned runs) and solid outings from relievers Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen. But current closer Sean Burnett gave up a double to Rickie Weeks in the ninth, which was followed by a Carlos Gomez ninth-inning game-tying single. It was Burnett’s first blown save of the season. Chad Gaudin pitched the 10th and notched the win. But it was Werth’s base running that manufactured the victory. “I come to the ballpark ready to play and play my game,” Werth said after the game. “I try to take advantage of certain situations, play the game hard, play the game the right way and good things could happen.”
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Last night’s game provides an interesting score sheet. There’s a question mark on my scorecard in the 6th inning (and a footnote in the box score), when Riggleman decided to pinch run Laynce Nix for Michael Morse. Because Nix is faster than Morse? Well, he’s not. Because he wanted to get Nix’s bat in the line-up? That can’t be: Ramos was caught stealing by the Brewers in the bottom of the 8th — taking the bat out of Nix’s hands. Maybe Morse wasn’t feeling well, except that Riggleman did this same thing in New York. “I don’t get it,” a Section 1-2-9 partisan said. Yeah, well me neither . . .
There was an air of anticipation on Friday night, as fans awaited a chance to welcome Nyjer Morgan back to Washington. Morgan took a shot at his old team, and the city, during an appearance on ESPN radio in Milwaukee, implying that Washington wasn’t a good baseball town: ” . . . it feels good to be in a baseball city,” he said of Milwaukee, “[with] people who understand my game and love just the aggressiveness and the hard work and the hard play I bring.” Morgan should learn some history: Milwaukee has had as hard a time holding onto teams as Washington and in mid-August (when the Cubs are in town), the city turns into Wrigley North . . . Listen, I’ve lived in Milwaukee and I can tell you from my own experience, it can get downright pleasant in August . . .
Brewers semi-ace Chris Narveson has had a long road to the majors: drafted in the second round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000, Narveson was shipped off to Colorado, then sent to Boston, then was claimed on waivers by St. Louis. He had elbow surgery in 2002. In 2007 he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent and made the team as a fifth starter in 2010. The Brewers have a hell of a rotation (Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and the soon-to-return Zack Greinke), but Narveson is emerging as the surprising stopper. Prior to last night’s second inning debacle (three walks, two singles, a sacrifice fly — three runs), Narveson had thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings, including a seven inning masterpiece against the Cubs. It’ll be fun to watch the Younts in July, when they streak past the Reds into first place in the N.L. Central . . .
Adam LaRoche broke out of his start-of-the-season hitting slump, putting an 0-1 offering from Marlin reliever Edward Mujica into the right field seats to power the Washington Nationals past the Florida Marlins, 5-3. The LaRoche bomb saved the Nationals from a sweep and preserved a brilliant outing from the Nats’ bullpen. “I was looking for a pitch to hit. I faced [Mujica] a few times,” LaRoche said following the Nats’ victory. “He pitches me pretty tough. He mixes it up — three pitches. He has a really good split and that’s what it was.”
The LaRoche dinger saved the Nats from a 1-5 record, but it was only a part of the story. The Nats’ bullpen kept the Anacostia Nine in the game, and then some — combining for six innings of two hit baseball, along with eight strikeouts. The relief corps’ outing confirmed Washington’s claim to having one of the major league’s best hold-em-and-save-em crews around. Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Sean Burnett were all sharp, joined in this outing by Todd Coffey, who has been struggling. “It’s great, but that’s baseball, man, especially being a bullpen guy,” Todd Coffey said following the victory. “You can have a horrible night the night before, but you have the next night to redeem yourself. We went out there, we attacked the zone, we threw strikes. We made them put the ball in play and we won.”
Bosox To Nosox: It wasn’t that long ago that Red Sox fans were talking about their team’s 2011 World Series appearance. The swagger seemed justified. Carl Crawford had arrived from Tampa, Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego, and Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and John Lackey (oh, and Tim Wakefield) were at the front of one of the best starting rotations in the game. That . . . that and the team was opening the season in Texas against the over-hyped Rangers before going on to Cleveland, where they would face the no-account Indians. Okay, so maybe the Rangers might take two in Arlington (at worst), but the Red Sox would conquer the Tribe, before heading home for the opening series against the hated Yankees. And then? And then the inevitable march to the post-season. “Best Team Ever,” the Boston Herald headline . . . ah, heralded.
Well, maybe not. The Red Sox were swept in Texas, swept again in Cleveland and now stand at 0-6. Sure, it’s still early, but the Red Sox are reeling. The team is hitting a mind boggling .191, Carl Crawford seems lost at the plate, John Lackey’s first outing was a car wreck, and close plays have gone against them. Red Sox fans are decidedly unhappy, moving “closer to the ledge” and angrily spouting their anger on Boston’s ubiquitous sports talk shows. At least the Red Sox can be assured that their home fans will support them, right? “I hope we don’t get booed,” reliever Daniel Bard (16.87 ERA) said.
Can the Red Sox turn it around? Sure they can turn it around — and they will turn it around. Crawford will hit, the starting four will steady itself and, after a few minutes of expressing their disappointment, Red Sox Nation will rally behind their team and make them feel at home. Things will return to normal at Fenway and the Red Sox will begin the slow but certain crawl past the Yankees to first place. Maybe. “We’ve just got to put a halt to it, go home, and luckily we have our fans, great fans on our side that will bring us out of this,” Red Sox pillar Kevin Youkilis says. “We thrive on them, and they thrive on us. It’s time for us to go play for them and go play for each other in here. We’ve got a good team. We’ve just got to get out of this little funk we’re in and hit the high notes, play some music in here after the game.”
