This was Gonzalez’ second win in a row, and second brilliant outing in a row. But the Nationals needed a series of dinks and dunks, including two fly balls that (arguably) should have been caught to secure the win. Houston’s Wandy Rodriguez was also brilliant, matching Gonzalez pitch-for-pitch before he also departed in the 7th.
“He was great,” Nats’ manager Davey Johnson said of the Gonzalez performance. “I was going to hold him to around 100 this early in the season. If a guy pitches in that kind of ballgame, I don’t give him an opportunity to lose it. He had a great changeup, good fastball, outstanding curve. He was tough on left-handers, and he made it look easy.”
The lone Nationals’ run came on a Jayson Werth double that was just out of the reach of center fielder Justin Maxwell, followed by an Adam LaRoche bloop single that dropped into left field. Werth scored — and the score held up as Tyler Clippard pitched the eighth and Brad Lidge snuffed out a ninth inning Houston rally. The Nationals are now 9-3, and still atop the N.L. East.
The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: That old gang of ours is back for yet another season, but as skeptical and outspoken as ever. “I see Espinosa got a hit,” a late-comer said in the bottom of the second. “Let me guess, he’s facing a lefty and batting from the right side.” There were nods all around. “At some point someone has to tell him to just bat righty. You’d think that Davey or someone would study his splits from Double-A to the majors. He’s weak from the left side, always has been . . .”
The debate was joined: “They think he can develop into it,” a regular noted. “They say it’s a matter of confidence.” Universal harumphs greeted this. “What a crock. He only ‘developed into it’ in Single-A,” the skeptic intoned. “Go ahead, check it out. He scorches the ball hitting from the right side and he hits the hell out of lefties. He’s nothing on the other side, and I mean nothing . . .”
The talk, inevitably, turned to the state of the franchise. A young woman, gazing at the modest crowd, shrugged: “We have to expect this,” she argued. “They won’t really start to put them into the seats until school lets out. It’s not like other cities. People here keep their kids home on school nights.” There was general agreement, with one dissent: “It’s just not a baseball town,” one season ticket holder argued.
“I don’t think that’s it,” a seatmate responded. “If you take the average attendance from June on until school starts in September, this team draws well.” The Nationals were twentieth in attendance last year in the majors, another regular pointed out: “We were right behind the White Sox and ahead of Tampa Bay and Baltimore.” This brought an interjection. “Still, it could be better,” another 1-2-9 regular said. “I mean, look at this team. It’s a helluva team.”
1-2-9er’s debate Espinosa’s splits and the back-and-forth on attendance is a yearly topic, but no one disagrees on the subject of the club’s decision on hype. The standard, and breathless, introduction of players still roils the regulars — “now batting for Washington, Dannnyyyyyyy Espinosaaaaaa.” No one disagrees: it’s contrived. “They’ve just got to stop that,” a 1-2-9 regular says, shaking his head. “It’s bush league stuff. Save it for Potomac.”
It was only a matter of time before one of Washington’s young hurlers was squeezed by an umpire, and it happened yesterday in the Nats 8-5 extra inning loss to the Reds. In the first inning of the game, there were two instances where home plate umpire Laz Diaz wouldn’t call a clear third strike. The squeeze hurt starter Ross Detwiler, as did a missed call at first when Mike Everitt ruled Scott Rolen safe on a play in which he was clearly out.
The Diaz squeeze and Everitt’s missed call sparked a Reds’ rally, and the Nats were then victimized by a Ryan Ludwick grand slam. After the game, Detwiler was philosophical about the calls, putting them down as a “lesson learned” in a long season. “Things are not going to go my way. It’s a big test when you see how you react to that. I guess, today, I didn’t react all that well,” Detwiler said. “I only went five [innings]. I put so much pressure on the bullpen. And being down four runs after the first is terrible.”
Washington was able to claw its way back from the deficit, with timely hitting from Ian Desmond and a revived Adam LaRoche — and were able to send the game into extra innings. But in the 11th, the normally solid Tyler Clippard gave up a two run double to Joey Votto, which gave the Reds the victory. Even with the win, however, the Nationals took three of four from Cincinnati, and emerged from the series with a 7-3 record.
The Nationals near sweep, and their stellar pitching, signaled to the rest of the league that the Washington Nine needs to be taken seriously. Certainly, that was the message taken away by Reds’ manager Dusty Baker. “I’m just glad we won and got out of here by the skin of our teeth,” Baker said following the extra inning win. “It wasn’t easy until the end. They were battling. They are playing good, inspired baseball, and are getting what they need.”
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Tyler Clippard complained about “shoulder discomfort” before the game, but Davey Johnson said the pain was “not serious” — and that Clippard has it every Spring. “It’s just normal stuff I’ve been going through my whole career,” Clippard said. “Nothing out of the ordinary. I felt really good today . . .”
Clippard’s statement might bring a sigh of relief to Nats’ fans, except that with closer Drew Storen out until after the All Star break following minor surgery to remove a bone chip, the Nationals actually might be facing a short fall in the bullpen. The Nats are in need of an extra bat (or maybe, given the right set of circumstances, they’re not), but it’s clear that an extra arm also wouldn’t hurt. Hmmmm . . . Huston Street is available . . .
Dan Kolko points out that the surfeit of extra innings games have put pressure on the bullpen. “Yeah, I’m tired,” Clippard said. “I haven’t really been pitching a lot, but it definitely takes a toll on you. But they’re fun, they’re fun games to be in, and you can’t really ask for much more than that.”
The prospect of Storen and Clippard both ending up on the D.L. must be sending shivers through the front office (knock on wood . . . now), and populating Mike Rizzo’s nightmares. The Nationals are deep in the bullpen, but not that deep — who is?
It wasn’t so long ago that Nationals’ fans winced when thinking about their pitching staff — hoping to find in the bunch (remember Scott Olsen?) just three solid innings eaters that would give the team a chance to win. My, my, my how things have changed. Not only can Nats’ fans count on three good pitchers, there’s a chance that the five they have are among the best in baseball.
Edwin Jackson (pitcher number 4 behind Strasburg, Gonzalez and Zimmermann), showed his stuff on Saturday, throwing the team’s first complete game of the season and holding the Cincinnati Reds to just two hits. Jackson, who dominated this “little Red Machine,” threw just 92 pitches in his outing, leading the Nationals to a 4-1 victory before 35,000 appreciative fans on Saturday.
Of course, the “baseball Gods” could turn all of this around — and they usually do: jinxing teams that become over-inflated, tearing up muscles from young wanna-be’s, sending well-thrown fastballs over band box fences. But so far, at least, Nationals pitchers have got the pundits and critics flummoxed over their predictions that the Washington Nine are no better than third place in the N.L. East, behind Philadelphia and Atlanta. In fact, they’re first, having won their last five in a row, and with youngster Ross Detwiler headed to the mound.
Davey Johnson knows all about the baseball gods. “When I’m seeing a gem and we need it, lights out, it makes me nervous,” he said following the Jackson outing. “I usually don’t get nervous. But when you see something like that — he had a low pitch count, just a dominating game — from a manager’s standpoint, you don’t want anything to go wrong. You kind of protect against all contingencies. You are all wound up.”
Jackson’s two hitter was punctuated by another good outing from Nats’ hitters, who spread out ten hits in scoring four. Adam LaRoche and Jayson Werth contributed another two hit day, with LaRoche plating two of Washington’s four runs. Jesus Flores, the D.C. backup catcher (it’s only a matter of time before other teams come knocking, if they haven’t already) went 3-3. Washington wraps up the series against the Reds on Sunday, playing for a sweep.
So, just how good is this staff? In truth, its only competition in the N.L. East comes from the Phillies (with Halladay, Hamels and Lee), while the Giants (in the West) provide the only similar set of arms in the entire National League — with Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner a tough front three. Okay, fine. But the Nationals are at least four deep, as Jackson showed yesterday. But the season is young and anything can happen. So knock on wood, throw some salt over your shoulder, and sink to your knees. If anything can happen, it usually does.
Converted Chicago reliever Jeff Samardzija dueled Washington lefty Jordan Zimmermann to a near standstill on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley, but the Cubs were able to salvage a 4-3 victory. Samardzija’s outing was epic: he threw into the ninth, stifling Nats’ hitters and providing Chicago with a much needed win at home. In all, he allowed four hits and one home run — and only left the game after torrid Nat Adam LaRoche put his last offering into the right field seats.
Jordan Zimmermann pitched well — if not as spectacularly. He gave up six hits and struck out four in seven complete innings of work. Shortstop Ian Desmond continued his good start, accumulating two hits in four at bats, raising his average to .385 in the young season. Three games in, the pattern now seems set: the Nationals will get good pitching, but their bats need to come alive.
The Nationals almost rallied for the win with two out in the 9th inning, when Starlin Castro’s errant throw to first put Ryan Zimmerman on base. Adam LaRoche followed with his home run, which brought on Carlos Marmol in relief. Marmol, who’d come in for heavy fan criticism following his indifferent relief outings in the first two games against the Nats, walked Jayson Werth before Xavier Nady popped out to Starlin Castro near the third base line.
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Nats fans got a good eyeful of what ails the Cubs — suspect starting pitching (Samardzija was stellar, to be sure — but he’s new to the starting rotation) and teeth gnashing relief. Cubs fans are more impatient than ever, booing the otherwise popular Kerry Wood after his second in-game collapse on Saturday and greeting Dale Sveum’s decision to bring Marmol in on Sunday with a near riot . . .
It didn’t help that Marmol dismissed his poor outing on Saturday as “just one game,” and hardly emblamatic of last year’s version of the Pathetics. “Last year is over,” he told reporters. “It’s a new year. You see a lot of new (players) here, huh? That’s what it is. Last year is over. Next question.” And with that, Marmol returned to his locker — cranking up Bob Marley on the clubhouse stereo as he did . . .
What the Cubs have is a solid second baseman (Darwin Barney), a rehab job at third (Ian Stewart, who hit .156 last year for the Rockies), an experiment at first (the absolute definition of “late bloomer”), and an outfield that is a rollercoaster: a defensive adventure in left (Alfonso Soriano), an aging veteran in center (Marlon Byrd), and a short-term fill-in in right (David DeJesus). We’re tempted to say that “these aren’t your daddy’s Cubs,” but then your daddy’s Cubs weren’t exactly your daddy’s Cubs either . . .
Then there’s Starlin Castro, a potential All-World perennial All Star at short who’s worth the price of admission. Chicago can’t stop talking about Castro, albeit in large part because he’s the only thing they have. The Dominican speedster (he stole four bases against the Nats) is that rarest of rare Cubs: he’s a home grown product. He was an All Star last year, at age 21, and is already ripping the cover off the ball in the 2012 campaign: he registered five hits in 13 at bats against the Nats in three games. If he could pitch, the Cubs might go to the playoffs . . . er . . . maybe not . . .
It’s not like Cubs fans haven’t noticed. Bleed Cubbie Blue loves Castro, recoiling from criticizing him for nearly throwing away the game today. BCB has a point: Bryan “Minors Phenom For Life” LaHair probably should have scooped up the errant throw. Then too, as we are quick to note, Castro has such range that he can get to balls that most shortstops can’t touch. He saves runs . . .
The View From The Bleachers points out that Castro has a fourteen game hitting streak, carrying over from last year, when he hit .307 and had more hits than anyone else in the National League. He was an All Star at 2011. In the midst of the hand-wringing over the plight of the Slugs, VFTB points out that the Nationals obtained Jordan Zimmermann with the compensatory draft pick they got when Soriano signed in Chicago . . . we had not remembered that . . . Good God that must be hard to swallow . . .
So much for starting slow. The book on Adam LaRoche is that he doesn’t start to hit until the flowers start to wilt, but in Chicago on Saturday, LaRoche went 4-5 and stroked a home run to help lead the Nationals to a 7-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Nationals are now 2-0 in the still-young 2012 campaign. The difference came in the 8th inning, when the Nationals sent 11 men to the plate, erasing at 4-2 deficit.
Nationals fans will claim that new Nats’ starter Gio Gonzalez pitched well, but the box score shows that he couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning. Gonzalez couldn’t get a strike call for his low-in-the-zone fastball, and Cubs’ hitters took advantage — scoring on four singles, a walk and a triple. The Nationals needed an eighth inning rally — and a clutch Chad Tracy single — to catch the North Siders.
Outside of the LaRoche-Tracy heroics, the Nats’ bullpen was as advertised, with Craig Stammen, Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Henry Rodriguez holding the Baby Bears to just one hit over 5.2 innings. Craig Stammen was particularly effective in his long-relief role, stifling the Cubs by keeping the ball on the ground in throwing 16 of 28 strikes. The Nationals will feature Wisconsin native Jordan Zimmerman tomorrow against former footballer Jeff Samardzija, in the final game of the three game set.
Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Rumors of an impending trade continue to swirl, with John Lannan set to go to Chicago for someone — perhaps former Nat Marlon Byrd. “Why not? The Nationals have a good team, but I have something to finish in Chicago,” Byrd told Nats beat reporter Bill Ladson. “I love Chicago. If the Cubs can get a piece that can make them better, that’s all I want.”
Bringing Byrd back to Washington would be a head scratcher, to say the least. He his .245 while he was here, and while he’s much improved from 2005 and 2006, the imminent return of Michael Morse, the promotion of Bryce Harper, the final rehab of Rick Ankiel, Mark DeRosa’s defensive abilities and LaRoche’s hot start would almost certainly relegate him to bench duty. Adam Kilgore today asked who Morse and Ankiel would replace when they arrive, focusing on who would be cut or sent to Triple-A. In fact, their arrival could easily put Byrd on the bench.
This is, in truth, an embarrassment of riches — with a soon-to-be crowded outfield that would force Davey Johnson to choose between Werth, Harper, Bernadina, Ankiel, Morse, and DeRosa. That’s six players for three spots: with the addition of Byrd that would be seven. But the real back-up would be in center field, where Byrd would compete with Ankiel, Bernadina and (in May, is our guess), Harper.
Which is no competition at all: Harper would play center field everysingleday. So what’s the point? Either hang on to Lannan (it’s baseball, and anything can happen — so we’re gonna need him) or trade him for prospects. And let Marlon Byrd stay in Chicago. Which is where he wants to be . . .
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 . . .
