Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson seemed at a loss for words when trying to explain Stephen Strasburg's outing on Saturday. "Stras for some reason didn't have control of his fastball," the manager said, "Or was afraid to throw it over. I even looked up there one time and he had more balls than strikes. Wasn't his day I guess. He's usually picking us up, but we picked him up today." In his 10th start of 2012, Strasburg threw 95 pitches in just 5.0 innings, and he allowed six hits, four walks and four runs, all earned, leaving the game after Dan Uggla (who's now 6 for 9 with a double and two home runs vs Strasburg) hit a two-run home run to tie it at 4-4 after five. Strasburg was still the pitcher of record when the Nationals took the lead in the top of the sixth, however, so he earned his fifth win of the year courtesy of Chad Tracy's RBI double to left-center.

Unfortunately for Tracy, the 32-year-old bench bat pulled up lame as he rounded first with what the Nats' skipper told reporters after the game the team hoped was just the popping of some scar tissue from surgery Tracy had a while back. "Obviously he's in some pain," Johnson said, "He thinks that maybe it was that surgery he had a couple of years ago, a high groin thing that they did, and he's hopeful that he just popped some scar tissue. And we also talked to his doctor and he said that he would wait a couple days and see if that is [in fact] what happened. He's so valuable I hate to overreact and make a roster move when maybe he's going to be alright in two or three days."

Continue reading this post »

• Right Side Danny, Socks High: Washington Nationals' leadoff man Danny Espinosa tucked a pop to left just inside the line and hustled around to second to beat the throw in from Atlanta Braves' left fielder Martin Prado for a leadoff double off Braves' lefty Mike Minor in the top of the first. Minor walked Bryce Harper in the next at bat, then had a Ryan Zimmerman groundout advance both runners so Espinosa could tag and score from third on a fly to left by Adam LaRoche. 1-0 Nationals. Minor completes a 24-pitch opening frame. Braves' leadoff man Michael Bourn lined a 95 mph fastball to center for a leadoff single in the home-half of the first, but Nats' right-hander Stephen Strasburg got ATL SS Tyler Pastornicky to ground into a 4-6-3 and got a grounder to shortstop Ian Desmond from Martin Prado for the third out of the inning. Grounder. Desmond. Out. And Strasburg's through an 11-pitch first at Turner Field.

MIke Minor got a groundout to third from Xavier Nady and a swinging K from Tyler Moore before he got into trouble with two outs in the second, surrendering back-to-back singles by Jesus Flores and the opposing pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, before Danny Espinosa got all of an 83 mph first-pitch change, taking it to left and over a leaping Martin Prado and the left field wall. 3-run HR. Espinosa's 5th, 4-0 Nationals after one and a half. A 26-pitch frame by Minor has the Braves' left-hander at 50 pitches after two innings...

Continue reading this post »

• For An Atlanta Braves Fan's Perspective, Check Out The SB Nation's Braves Site: Talking Chop.

Continue reading this post »

Winning game one of three in Atlanta with Ross Detwiler struggling on the hill puts Washington in a good position with Nationals' right-hander Stephen Strasburg on the mound this afternoon in Turner Field and Gio Gonzalez set to follow tomorrow in the 8:05 pm EDT ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. "It's big. I look at every game as being big," Davey Johnson said after the Nats were able to beat Braves' right-hander Tim Hudson, who'd historically caused the Nationals trouble. "Certainly going against arguably one of their best pitchers, and to jump on him in the first inning and hold on is huge," Johnson said, "So we'll see how it plays out, but I like the way we're set up."

Strasburg's looking to bounce back from two starts in which his work on the mound was overshadowed by post game revelations, first about an uncomfortable situation with some misplaced "Hot Stuff" and then in his last start concerns about a tight bicep...

Continue reading this post »

It probably didn't help Ross Detwiler's cause, after he'd struggled against Atlanta last night, giving up five hits, four walks and three runs, all earned in 4.1 innings over which he threw 100 pitches, that Chien-Ming Wang came on and threw 3.0 strong innings in which he allowed a double to the first batter he faced, a single by the opposing pitcher and a home run, a solo shot by Jason Heyward. It was Wang's 2012 major league debut, after the 32-year-old returned from a hamstring injury suffered in Spring Training. Before Wang officially returned to the Nationals, Nats' skipper Davey Johnson had told reporters that the sinker-balling right-hander would work out of the pen as he did last night, explaining that Detwiler had, "... pitched himself into a role as one of the real main guys for not only this year, but for the future here." That future, at least the immediate future as part of the starting rotation, became a little less clear after Detwiler struggled in his fourth-straight start.

"I was a little disappointed in [Detwiler]," Davey Johnson said after last night's win. "He didn't take charge and go right after them. He kind of messed around with them and I think he had about 100 pitches in 4.1 [IP] or something and I like to go and give him every opportunity to get five [innings], but I was just getting a little frustrated with the fact that he wouldn't go right after them. He had good stuff today, and it was a tough hook for me. He's a heck of a pitcher. On the other hand, I had Chien-Ming Wang [warming] up for a couple of innings and I figured, 'If I'm going to use him I'd better use him now,' and he threw the ball very well. It's not easy to come out of the pen, but he threw the ball exceptionally well, had great sink, and I like what I was seeing."

Continue reading this post »

• Davey Believes In Det: "I think he grew up a lot today," Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson told reporters when discussing Ross Detwiler's final start of 2011 against the Atlanta Braves last September. "I mean he got a little wild and didn't get overly aggressive and just stayed within himself and pitched out of a tough jam. No outs, bases loaded with awfully good hitters up there, so that was a great effort on his part." Detwiler threw six scoreless that day, escaping the bases-loaded no-out jam that Johnson referenced in the fourth and ending his year on a streak of 13.1 scoreless innings pitched over two starts against the Phillies and Braves. The Nats' skipper predicted then that Detwiler, a 26-year-old '07 1st Round pick, would compete for a role in the Nationals' 2012 rotation, which Detwiler eventually won late in Spring Training. Late-blooming prospects like Detwiler were nothing new for the Nats' 69-year-old skipper, however, who'd seen a lot in his fifteen (at that point) years on the bench.

"Shoot, I've seen [Ron] Darling, Sid Fernandez and [Rick] Aguilera," Johnson told reporters seeking an explanation for Detwiler's sudden success late last year. "Young pitchers with great promise can take longer. I know [Detwiler] had a number of starts last year, but what he's done this year, starting once, being in the bullpen and then getting back in the rotation, he's pitched against some good-hitting ballclubs and done okay. Held his head above water." Detwiler more than hold his head above water at the start of the 2012 campaign. In four starts and 22.0 IP in March/April, Detwiler had a 1.64 ERA, a 3.02 FIP, six walks and 19 K's. In four starts and 22.1 IP in May, however, Detwiler's ERA's up to 5.64, his FIP's risen to 3.74 and he's walked five and K'd 12. He took the mound tonight looking to rebound from two tough starts, and he had a big lead when he did...

Continue reading this post »

• For An Atlanta Braves Fan's Perspective, Check Out The SB Nation's Braves Site: Talking Chop.

Continue reading this post »

The problem with the lat in Michael Morse's right shoulder wasn't affecting his ability to swing a bat, but throwing has been the issue from the start. So it's no surprise that, as the Washington Times' Amanda Comak reported on Twitter this afternoon @AComak, the 30-year-old slugger hit a home run today in an extended Spring Training game that's yet another step in his recovery from an injury that's limited him to just four games and 13 plate appearances this season, all in the minors as he attempted to play through the problem earlier this year. Morse, according to reports out of Atlanta this afternoon, will spend the weekend in Florida at the Nationals' facilities in Viera, then report to Class-A Potomac where he'll play for the P-Nats on Monday night barring any setbacks:

Michael Morse hit a homer as part of a 2-for-3 day in extended spring today. He'll play in extended thru Sunday, in Potomac on Monday.

— Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 25, 2012

Mike Morse will play a rehab game Monday in Potomac, Davey says. Morse hit two homers today in extended spring training.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 25, 2012

It was during a minor league game earlier this Spring with Class-A Hagerstown that Morse suffered a setback, as he struggled to throw in from the outfield, leading to his shoulder being re-examined before he was placed on the DL.

The right-handed hitting and throwing big middle-of-the-order bat is reportedly on schedule for a June 8th return to the majors when the Nationals travel to Boston for interleague play with the Sox, though he's hinted that he thinks he could return sooner than that.

Morse is coming off a .303/.360/.550, 36 doubles, 31 HR, +3.4 fWAR 2011 campaign, after which he signed a two-year/$10.5M dollar extension with the Nats. In announcing the plans for Morse's rehab last weekend, Nats' skipper Davey Johnson said that, "... once he can swing and throw from the outfield, I think very shortly after that he can go anywhere and play. Certainly DH and play left field." If he's fine after the weekend, that next step in the process will begin on Monday.