Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Throw John Lannan At Atlanta Braves After Knocking Jair Jurrjens Around.
by Patrick Reddington on Aug 31, 2011 12:16 PM EDT
Email
Print
• Programming Notes: Jair Jurrjens can't beat the Nats. The Nats have issues with John Lannan. Could make for a frustrating first two games back after Atlanta's Irene-induced vacation gave the Wild Card-leading Braves a brief break. The Washington Nationals had a four-HR game last night, pounding hanging sliders from Jurrjens and backing Livan Hernandez's efforts. Tonight it's Lannan vs Lowe in Turner Field in the second game of the Nats' three-game series in Atlanta. Will Jayson Werth be back? Matt Diaz is back in Atlanta? Isn't he a Nat-killer? MASN HD, MLB.tv, 106.7 the FAN in D.C., 1500 WFED, Sirius/XM ch. 184. Who's Watching The Nationals?
• LINKS AND LINKS AND...
• MR. NATIONAL HIMSELF BEAT:
• "[Livan] Hernandez will be remembered among the pitchers of his era, not for his brilliance but because he kept throwing and throwing." - "Nationals vs. Braves: Livan Hernandez’s 50,000th pitch, four home runs spark 9-2 victory" - Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post
• "In the bottom of the second inning -- on a pitch his teammates told him simply had to be his trademark slow curveball -- Hernandez got Braves starter Jair Jurrjens to ground out to third base on a 68 mph curve." - "Livan Hernandez reaches milestone, talks about next year (with media and with Nats GM Mike Rizzo)" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "It would be interesting to see how he altered his elaborate warmup routine, which can involve throwing 80 pitches before a start, but Hernandez has the kind of rubber arm essential for long relief work." - "Where does Livan Hernandez fit in the Nationals' future?" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "Hernandez lasted seven innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He also became the 12th pitcher in baseball history to throw 50,000 pitches in his career." - "Livo reaches milestone, wants to stay with Nationals" - Bill Ladson, All Nats All the Time
• NATS BEAT:
• "Milone does not possess an overpowering arsenal of pitches, but Nationals officials and former teammates rave about his control..." - "Tom Milone to replace Jordan Zimmermann in Nationals rotation" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "Standing on third base Tuesday night, Livan Hernandez was the picture of calm. Two innings before, he’d thrown the 50,000th pitch of his career..." - "Nationals enjoy rare rout, blast Braves" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "Looking to squash Atlanta's hopes on Wednesday will be Washington hurler John Lannan. He's 8-5 with a 3.31 ERA in his career against the Braves." - "Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves: Chasing NL East leaders, Braves battle Nationals" - Sam Zuba, MLB.com Preview
• "'I was leaving a lot of pitches up and down the middle,' Jurrjens said. 'Those things are excuses. You still need to go out there and perform. I didn't perform today.'" - "Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves: Four! Nationals tee off on Braves in blowout" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap
• "'My kind of game there,' Johnson said afterward, a giddy grin plastered on his face." - "In Davey Johnson’s kind of game, the Nationals break out" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "For the fifth consecutive game, the Nationals denied Jurrjens a quality start. He is 0-3 against Washington in his last four games..." - "Nationals romp past Jurrjens, Braves to end losing streak" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "The Washington Nationals will make two additions to their rotation the next time through as they head toward expanded rosters." - "Milone, Strasburg will throw change-up to Nationals' rotation" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "After the week the Nationals' offense had, particularly their struggles driving in runs, it was interesting to see them awaken so mightily against the Braves and Jair Jurrjens." - "A few notes on some of the Nationals offense" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "As General Manager Mike Rizzo has said since spring training, Bryce Harper will continue his first full professional season by playing in the Arizona Fall League..." - "Bryce Harper will play in Arizona Fall League" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "Besides Milone and Strasburg, the Nats are expected to call up right-hander Brad Peacock once the Minor League season is over next week." - "Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg slated to make season debut Tuesday against Dodgers" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News
• NATS MINOR LEAGUES:
• Class-A Auburn: "With the win, Auburn remained two games up on Williamsport in the Pinckney Division race, as the Crosscutters defeated Mahoning Valley in Pennsylvania." - "Seven-Run Fourth Leads to Blowout" - Auburn Doubledays News
• Class-A Hagerstown: "Suns RHP Matt Swynenberg, came up shy of a quality start after spinning 5.2 innings and allowing four earned runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts." - "Joey Wong Walk-Off Single Seals 11th Inning Tourists' Triumph" - Hagerstown Suns News
• Class-A Potomac: "Tuesday night's game in Lynchburg had a little bit of everything: a benches-clearing fracas; multiple lead changes; third-string catchers driving in important runs; extra innings; and an unimaginable amount of drama." - "BENCHES CLEAR, P-NATS WIN" - Potomac Nationals News
• Double-A Harrisburg: "Oliver Perez took the loss for the Senators, giving up a three-run home run to Reynaldo Rodriguez in the first inning." - "Archie Gilbert Homers in 4-1 Loss to Portland" - Harrisburg Senators News
• "The Nationals have been allotted two more slots on the roster, one pitcher and one infielder who have yet to be named." - "Harper, Solis and Norris head Arizona Fall League roster" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com
• "Nats Name AFL Roster" - NationalsProspects.com
• "With the minor league season drawing to a close, the Potomac Nationals are now just one win away from clinching a playoff berth and a chance to defend their Carolina League championship." - "P-Nats Need One More Win to Clinch Postseason Appearance" - Ballpark Banter
• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "When you generate a reasoned desire for others to be happy, your humanity increases in strength." -
• NATSTOWN:
• "These days, there appears to be a solid distinction in the way baseball fans - in Washington, D.C., especially - view the game." - "Inflated expectations on home team's new mascot?" - MASNSports.com, Nationals Buzz: Rachel Levitin
• "[Brad] Peacock has risen fast through the ranks of the Nats farm system thanks to a tweak he made in his release at the beginning of this season." - "With 6 Straight Losses, Time for Nats Call-Ups" Keara Dowd, Win for Teddy
• "On the other side of things, "Good Livo" was back. Veteran hurler Livan Hernandez went seven strong innings, holding the Braves potent attack to two earned runs on just five hits and three walks, striking out one." - "GAME 133 REVIEW: Homers Power Nats Over Braves, 9-2" - Dave Nichols, Nats News Network
• "In 20 of his 26 starts, Zimmermann made it through at least 6 innings; he would have certainly thrown 200 innings this season if it weren't for his inning limit." - "Recapping Jordan Zimmermann's Stellar Season" - Joe Drugan, Capitol Baseball
• "Marrero is here and it's already down that Tom "MayDay" Milone will get some starts. Who else will get the call?" - "Who gets called up?" - Harper, Nationals Baseball
• NL EAST UPDATES:
• Mets: "As a second team official observed, moving Bay to center would remove the onus to be a slugging outfielder." - "Mets' Jason Bay could move to center field in 2012, team up with Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda in OF" - Andy Martino, New York Daily News
• Phillies: "The Phillies have added another left-handed bat to their roster. The team has acquired John Bowker from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash or a player to be named." - "Phillies acquire extra bat Bowker from Pirates" - Jim Salisburg, CSNPhilly.com
• Braves: "Jurrjens was hit hard by the Nationals for the third time in seven starts since the All-Star break, this time despite taking two weeks to rest his sore knee." - "Braves bombarded by Nationals" - Carroll Rogers, ajc.com
• Marlins: "Hanley's shoulder has been a longtime concern and apparently it isn't healing quickly. He will be evaluated today and we should [know] more afterwards." - "Hanley Ramirez to be shutdown for the season?" - Craig, Fish Stripes
• Franchise History:
• Mr. Robinson: "The wheels of history were turning in September of 1974. All-time hitting great Frank Robinson was purchased from the California Angels by Cleveland Indians General Manager Phil Seghi." - "Blast From The Past: Frank Robinson's Historic Season As Tribe Manager" - Greg Popelka, The Cleveland Fan
• Expos: "10,000 days ago, a very rare career achievement occurred – a baseball player recorded his 4,000th hit. Yeah, obviously it was Pete Rose, during his brief sojourn with the Expos..." - "10,000th "day-versary": Pete Rose’s 4,000th hit" - Chris Jaffe, The Hardball Times
11 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I see a report that Andy MacFail has decided not to return next year to the O's front office.
I have nothing else to add about this. I just love saying “MacFail”
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
The Washington Nationals
are Jair’s personal “ERA correction service”.
You’re welcome.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
Repost: To pick on some themes from an earlier thread:
Morse in LF: I too believe Morse is a better 1B, but he’s a better LF than either LaRoche or Marrero. The FO put Marrero in LF once they moved him off of 3B to disastrous effects in the minors, so moving him again is out of the question. Morse looked decent out there, he just needs more reps (which he’ll get). Trading LaRoche will be pretty much impossible considering his injury and salary (at least until next year’s All-Star break) so Morse in LF is just the way it will be.
I love the idea of Livo as a long reliever. Davey (who I expect to be back next year) has openly opined that he would like two starters in the bullpen – having Livo out there with Gorzy takes care of that issue. I agree that it’s time to get him out of the rotation, but keeping him in the clubhouse and on the roster seems like a win-win to me.
I’m also against putting young starters in the bullpen. I think it’s fine to piggy-back Peacock behind Strasburg since SS will only be going a few innings this Sept. but if Peacock doesn’t make the OD roster, I would prefer he go back to AAA and continue to build arm strength. We’ve seen with Detwiler this year that it takes a few starts to build up to the arm once you’ve been relieving for a while. With vets like Livo and Gorzy it’s not as big of an issue, but considering Peacock has only been a starter for about a year and a half, he needs to continue to work on the 5-day routine.
If it were me, our rotation next year would be Strasburg/ZNN/Wang/Detwiler/Milone with Peacock in AAA and Lannan traded. Livo and Gorzy would be in the ’pen. That, of course, bars any trades or FA pickups (hello CC!).
We Aim to Maim - JoseRijo es mi Amigo aka court
Detwiler over Lannan?
Detwiler is 2009-2010 Lannan. I would rather have 2011 Lannan over a player who is only still getting a shot because he was a first round pick. I understand the lack of love Lannan receives because of his pitching style, but he is a pretty good pitcher and a good clubhouse guy. I’d take him over Milone and Detwiler.
And Peacock in the minors? Come on.
Skins rule
I simply don'tunderstand the assumption so many have that Detwiler and Milone deserve a spot in next year's rotation over Lannan
Lannan has been an effective starter for most of four seasons now. Not “great” or even “well above average” … but a solid average-to-slightly-above-average ML starting pitcher. Focus on the “major league” part of that equation. In the bigs, his ERA+ this season is 106, and his career ERA+ is 103.
I also think that he’s stepped up this season overall – he’s added a bit of speed to the fastball and has worked faster. His SO/9 rate is up, although is BB/9 rate is also up slightly. Yes, watching him can make your eyes bleed – his WHIP is 1.438, which is both right around his career WHIP and easily the highest of any Nats starter. But at some point even the sabre types are going to have to admit that this is how he pitches, and his results stand up.
Understand I’m not sold on Lannan being a TOR starter, but there’s no shame in that. That Lannan was the Opening Day starter not once but twice is an indictment of the organization, not him. If Peacock, Milone, Wang and/or other players beat him out for a rotation spot, great! But entering 2012 right now, he’s got to be pencilled into the rotation unless the team acquires three proven, better ML pitchers.
+1
If Bambi continues as he has this year, that’s a solid #3 behind our two big boys. No need to trade that away (of course, always willing to revisit depending on what’s being offered in return!)
If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!
Lannan
The biggest number for me is that Lannan has averaged 5 2/3 innings per start (153 inn over 27 starts) – that simply isn’t good enough. If you can’t go 6 innings, you have no business being in a major league rotation. Detwiler is still getting better, but Lannan is what he is – a not-so-good pitcher. 5K/4BB per 9? That sucks folks.
Peacock, for all his hype, is walking too many guys in AAA and considering he was switched to the rotation from the bullpen, I think he still needs a little more seasoning. Milone, however, has put up stellar numbers for two years and actually has done better in AAA than he did in AA. That’s why he’s above Peacock in my pecking order.
And while Milone doesn’t throw hard, he strikes people out. So does Peacock and so does Detwiler. Lannan does not. I don’t care that he’s slightly improved over last year (when he was demoted for gross incompetence), or that he’s started Opening Day. He’s just not good enough to be in our rotation these days. With Livo in the ‘pen as insurance, I’d rather go younger and deal Lannan this offseason for whatever we can get.
We Aim to Maim - JoseRijo es mi Amigo aka court
I think focusing on Lannan's avg. IP should be put into perspective
Let’s look at some other Nats org. pitchers:
JZimm – not quite 6 1/3
Strasburg (’10) – 5 2/3
Milone – not quite 6 1/3
Peacock – just under 6
Hernandez – just a hair over 6
Detwiler (SSS!) – about 5 2/3
(and by the way, the guy who beat him last night, Derek Lowe, is under 5 2/3 innings per start)
In his last 9 starts, Lannan went 6 innings 5 times (I’m going back nine because 10 starts ago, the guy took a line drive off of his nose in the fourth inning and had to leave the game – I guess that’s one of his short outings). Other Nats org. pitchers:
JZimm: 5 of 9
Livo: 5 of 9
Detwiler: 3 of 5
Peacock: 2 of 9
Milone: 5 of 9
Overall, I just don’t see that much difference. And of course it should go without saying that Peacock and Milone (although I certainly am hoping for the best!) haven’t done squat yet at the major league level.
And I don’t know how you can ignore the ERA – 3.54, 19th among NL qualifiers (i.e., with enough innings). Of the 18 with better ERA’s, 10 are legitimately considered the aces of their staffs (exception made for the ridiculous Phillies staff, who I count 3 times for Halladay, Hamels, and Lee). Lannan is nobody’s ace – not trying to make that argument. BUT, he is a legitimate number 3 starter. He’s also tough and knows how to pitch. He is not a “not-so-good” pitcher. He’s definitely a “good” pitcher, and the Nats are fortunate to have him as part of their rotation.
If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!
DET and Milone............
I like DET and Hop to like Milone…………Niether however start 2012 over Lannen……….
2012 is JZIMM, STRAS, Lannen…………unknown #2 free agent, Wang, Detwiller, LIVO, AAAguys………………
LIVO to long relief is a great idea………PH bunter after the 6th inning………
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Federal Baseball
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
GAMETHREAD SPONSOR
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
