He and the rest of the Pen are waaaay over exposed. Our deepest start has been just a hair over 5 innings. Most have been 3-4 innings. We seem to use the entire pen every night. Its awful.

Manny goes to the bullpen too soon. He did the same thing last year, time and time again. The 2008 Nats were not a playoff team so why not let some of the young pitchers try to figure out how to escape from jams? Yeah, some of the games can get ugly but at least the team will find out who really will be a part of the team’s long-term future.

I agree that releasing Hill was a dumb move. They weren’t paying him that much, at least in baseball terms. What was his salary, somewhere around $700,000? It was not a big risk to keep Hill around, even if he did get injured later on. He could have kept one of the starting spots warm while one of the young guys got more seasoning in the minors. It would have been much better for Martis or Zimmermann to come up in midsummer.

At this point, Lannan is really a no. 4 or no. 5 pitcher, but with the potential to be a no. 2 or no. 3. Olsen is a no. 4 or no. 5 starter. The same with Cabrera. Martis would probably be in the minors with most other organizations. There is no real no. 1, no. 2 or no. 3 starter on this team. Hill and Perez would have been nice to have. Not spectacular but steady and OK.

I think Lannan will figure it out. Who knows about Martis or Zimmermann? They are both so young to be starters. Olsen will be mediocre at best. Cabrera could be mediocre or he could be horrendous. Odds are that two rookies will not become aces this year. Can they at least be decent? That’s questionable. Maybe they’ll be good in 2010 or 2011, but I hope I’m wrong about this.

The pitching problem is the fault of the GMs, Bowden and Rizzo, and Acta, to the extent that he is involved with roster decisions. Everything depends on the quick development of Lannan, Martis and Zimmermann. A very risky strategy.

Lannan has #2 starter stuff. But, he wont blossum into a #2 if we put #1 pressure on him while he is young and impressionable. #1s face Santana. #2s face Oliver Perez or John Maine. Big difference there. To much pressure, and he will flame out for a few years then show up at age 28 on a minor league deal and win 15 for someone else. But that has not happened yet, so maybe he will be fine in the end.

Jordan Zimmerman has #1 stuff, but not the confidence. He went to a lessor baseball college. Has little professional experience. Iti s just to early to bring him up! Give him a few years of dominating in the minors (till he thinks he is slighted for not pitching in the majors), and then he is a number #1 starter. Bring him up to early and… see Lannan above.

I think Martis has converted to bullpen written all over his arm. But, he could dominate in a relief role, I think he has the head to close, just not the control to start.

Cabrera was and is a worthwhile gamble except that our defense is so bad the experiment will probably fail. If cabrera had an outstanding defence behind him, then he could just relax and pitch, but now he has to worry abit about not letting the ball be hit to left center, or up the middle to second once guys get on base. He lacks confidence because the orioles rushed him to the majors a few years ago when he was not ready, and he has been lit up for to long to have any confidence. But, the speed is usually there, so if he had the ideal situation (ie defense, large stadium, and #4 or #5 rotation spot), then he could find what got him rushed to the majors in the first place. But, you do not take a low confidence guy and put the Big Donkeys glove behind him and expect success.

Olson is a solid starter who will give us 180 innings with a mid 4s era. He has started fairly slow in the past. I am not worried about him yet. But, he is not capable of being any kind of savior to the staff. He is capable of as many blow outs as quality starts, but half the pitcvhers in the league fit that profile. He neither helps nor hurts us and is cheap. I think he should have gotten opening day.

That is what I think

It’s more like long toss. Someone from the outfield is going to get traded for an arm. Is it too unrealistic to imagine trading Kearns AND Milledge for an arm? I’m not sure what contractual problems would arise, but isn’t this a viable option? You’d still have Dunn, Dukes & Willingham to field and hit.

Fielding has been atrocious. I’d work on the fundamentals first.

We needed a veteran starter from the start – and Hill/Perez where not the answer (sorry, buts that’s just how I feel). The Nats badly needed someone to pitch 7 innings every 5 days and give good quality starts… and teach the young kids how to win. I dont know how much those guys cost (im not talking Santana money), but it should have been the priority off the offseason rather than a lefty power bat that couldn’t field a hard hit ball if it tied to his glove with a string.

There is an old basketball saying im quite fond of:
“Offsense sells tickets, defence wins games”.

We should have went for a good veteran starter, and some good defensive players this offseason instead of the power bat. Bowden always liked the big hitters – but its a gamble that didnt pay off.

Martis finally showed why the organization is so high on him, shutting down the Phillies on Thursday night. While it’s still just one game, it shows that maybe the young guys can get it together. He’ll still probably have his ups and downs but at least we now know that he is capable of pitching well against top Major League talent.