Nationals News: Yes, the Nats are Actually this Good
by John Quinn on Apr 26, 2010 11:15 AM EDT
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PrintJayson Stark says that the Nats are legitimately this good. FJB gives us five reasons the Nats will sustain this success, and five reasons they won't.
Dave Shenin has written a great piece on Stephen Strasburg's adjustments to the minor league lifestyle.
The Nats are hoping that Ryan Zimmerman will start the series today in Chicago.
Nyjer Morgan has been caught four times in nine steal attempts, perhaps because he has been trying to slide feet-first this season.
The Nats are now 5-4 without Ryan Zimmerman in the starting lineup, particularly impressive considering that the Nats don't have a primary third base backup.
As the Nats travel to Chicago to play the Cubs, they'll again cross paths with Alfonso Soriano, still the Nats' single-season home run record holder.
Adam Dunn has noticed attitude differences between this year's club and last's, and it's obviously paying off.
An MRI has revealed that Willie Harris does not have significant knee damage, and should be back in the lineup sometime this week.
Screech turned five over the weekend, and DC-area mascots threw him a party on top of the dugout on Saturday's game.
Scott Olsen was spot-on yesterday, at one point retiring 13 of 14 batters.
Around the league...
A Cubs fan fell 14 feet while trying to catch foul balls at Miller Park.
Pirates' Pitcher Chris Jakubauskas was placed on the 15-day disabled list after being hit in the head by a line-drive comebacker.
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"So all teams have to do with the Cubs is just grind the starters down and get into that bullpen."
Patience at Wrigley…
"There's a *raccoon* roaming the concourse at Space Coast Stadium." -Strasburg's Debut
Funny trend...
Brewers kicked the crap out of the Pirates scoring a zillion runs.
Then the Cubs kick the crap out of the Brewers scoring a zillion runs.
Hopefully the Cubs left all their run scoring in Wisconsin.
Nyjer's baserunning has become an issue
Don’t know what to do about it outside of asking him to be more conservative. OBP, runs, and steal’s percentage are about the only thing I’m asking from him provided his defense is sound.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
To me, it's not the bunting.
It’s that one of the advantages of bunting seems to bring fielders in and he’s not going the other way on the ground to punish guys for coming in. You’ve got to be able to hit it on the ground some to take advantage of the defense when you bunt. I’m not worried about the bunting too much. I think he’ll be fine with that. It’s just OBP, runs, stolen base percentage. That’s about it for me with Nyjer. He’s been fine so far but he’s going to have be grounded at 1B for awhile until he stops running us out of rallies.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
by souldrummer on Apr 26, 2010 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Which is fine. I’m just saying that you need to be able to go the other way to keep them honest if you are going to bunt or stop bunting. I’m not worried about Morgan’s bat. It’s his mind and his basestealing extincts. That is one goofy dude, though. He was quite silly with Old Ray during yesterday’s postgame.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
by souldrummer on Apr 26, 2010 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you just have a talk with him
The mistake he made trying to get a triple was a heart breaker, but I am gonna guess Jim sat him down along with the third base coach, and reviewed the tape. He should be fine this just falls under the “keep teaching fundamentals” category. If it keeps up you put him down the order for a game or two to straighten him out.
We would so benefit from having a great basestealer on the coaching staff
I keep saying this but the Nats need someone like Davey Lopes to help balance their aggression with prudence and strengthen the basestealing skills of their young speed guys like Maxwell, Morgan and Desmond.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
by souldrummer on Apr 26, 2010 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions
In Nyjer's defense...he knows he made a bone-headed mistake at 3B.
After the game, he said that he played aggressively but not intelligently. To me that indicates he understands his error and knows he needs to think things through better.
When do we move Balester to the bullpen?
He’s getting rocked in Syracuse again and is currently sporting a 9.68 ERA.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
8ER for Bally today. Yuck. ERA up to 10.42
Maybe he wants to get banished to the bullpen.
A real American hero...taking down Habs one game at a time
If I were him, I’d start getting the feeling like I got passed like I was sitting still.
Last year he was Nat material. This year, he may be looking at AA or A ball if he keeps dragging the Chiefs down.
In his favor is the fact that there’s a lot of money in the Nats bullpen. If he proves he can hit the mitt and trust his stuff, maybe he can take the place of a Bruney eventually.
I think Bally needs to concentrate less on his mustache and more
on his pitch placement.
In the end though, I think he may have Hanny disease…wrong temperament to be a good pitcher above minor league. Plus I wouldn’t want him in the bullpen. His worst pitching usually happens early…a BAD trend from the pen.
Not long enough
Rob
"Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of a hit-and-run." -- Branch Rickey
Watching the Cubs this season
I think there is a good possibility they come out flat tonight. Lou’s teams seem to get up for teams they perceive as “good” and don’t take “lesser” teams seriously. So far they have “woke up” the Mets and Astros so I don’t know how they will react to a team like the Nats that have been for the most part, playing better baseball than the Cubs have this year.
Lannan’s stats against lefties worry me, however and Fukudome has been very hot lately. However, the wind is blowing in so “small” ball should be Riggs’ game plan. Fear not, he knows Wrigley very well so hopefully the guys won’t go up swinging for the fences.
Should be an interesting series. I’m particularly interested in Silva, Riggs essentially told Carlos to take a good look in the mirror during his short stint as interim manager of the Mariners and it would seem that Silva has taken that message to heart this season. It could go either way, he may hate Riggs and want to kick his a$$ or he may have appreciated the wake-up call. You never know how these things will play out until they get on the field.
Patiently waiting for "next year" since 1971.
Whoa! Lou has an all righty lineup!
He didn’t even look at Lannan’s stats agains lefties … He’s sitting Fukudome. Unbelievable.
Patiently waiting for "next year" since 1971.
But.... righties are better against lefties!
Lou don’t need yer new-fangled stats to know how to manage!
"And everybody lived happily ever after. Except the Phillies and the Mets. The End." --Sasskuash
Friend of Dukes and Desmond #3
Since we lost tonight, I'm retroactively declaring your post title to be a jinx.
STOP! JINXING!
"And everybody lived happily ever after. Except the Phillies and the Mets. The End." --Sasskuash
Friend of Dukes and Desmond #3
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