Next Game
Washington Nationals
@ Arizona Diamondbacks
Sunday, May 10, 2009, 4:10 PM EDT
Chase Field
Scott Olsen vs Max Scherzer
Sunny. Game time temperature around 100.
?'s About The DC Faithful...
• Can Ryan Zimmerman Do It Again?
• Can The Washington Nationals Win 4-Straight?
• Do You Know What Happens When There's A Sw--p Around Here?
• Who Closes Today?
LINKS:
Complete Coverage >
The D-Backs' Starter Is Going To Stare At You Now...
Max Scherzer, Looking Back For A Glimpse Of The Future...
With the 11th pick in the 1st Round of the 2006 Draft, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Maxwell M. Scherzer out of the University of Missouri, where the 21-year-old, 6'3'', right-hander had completed a (7-3) '06 campaign in which he'd posted a 2.25 ERA with 78K's in 80.0 IP in which he'd allowed 57 hits and 20 ER, a year after he'd gone (9-4) with a 1.86 ERA and 131 K's in 106.1 IP.
In 2006, the MLB's Draft Rules still stipulated that a player had until the week before the next year's draft to sign with the team that had selected him, before he'd reenter the draft pool, and as of April 2007, Scherzer, still unsigned, decided to sign with the independent Ft. Worth Cats. A month later, on May 31st 2007, with the deadline for signing literally moments away, the D-Backs and Scherzer finally put pen to paper, signing what Baseball America writer Jack Magruder reported in an article entitled, "Diamondbacks sign Scherzer" was a, "four-year major league contract worth $4.3 million in guaranteed money...Scherzer's deal included a $3 million bonus. Incentives could push its total value up to $5.85 million."
By the time the '07 Draft took place, a week after Scherzer's signing, Major League baseball had new rules in place to avoid situations like that created by prospects like Scherzer or another D-Backs' pick, Stephen Drew, who were holding out until the last very minute under the old deadline to get the biggest possible signing bonuses. Starting in 2007, and still today, a player has until August 15th of their draft year to sign, down to three months from a year, mainly, many believe, because of the actions of one man, the man behind these holdouts, Scherzer's agent, and Drew's, and the man representing Stephen Strasburg, the No.1 prospect for the '09 Draft, one Mr. Scott "Maximum" Boras.
The positive note that we'll end this look back on...
In ESPN.com's Peter Gammons' 3/21/09 article entitled, "Trade to A's was best thing for Holliday", (which was the first article to mention Scott Boras' desire to sign Strasburg to "Daisuke Matsuzaka money" ), Mr. Gammons wrote that there was some hope that the Nationals and Strasburg might agree to a deal, because:
"...Mike Rizzo, who's now handling interim GM duties for Washington and personally has experienced success drafting Boras clients as Arizona's scouting director (Stephen Drew, Max Scherzer)."
This is going to be one fun summer...
Scherzer vs The Nationals...
Scherzer vs DC - 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB's.
Give'em The GLARE, Olsen!!!
Scott Olsen vs The D-Backs...
Scott Olsen's (0-2) in 3 career starts against Arizona, with an 8.47 ERA, a 1.94 WHIP and a .342 BAA in 17.0 IP in which he's surrendered 25 hits, 16 ER, 2 HR and 8 walks, while collecting 11 K's from D-Backs' hitters. 2 of Olsen's 3 starts opposite AZ have come in Chase Field, where he's given up 20 of the hits and 13 of the ER, while posting an 11.70 ERA.
The D-Backs vs Olsen...
Conor Jackson - 5 for 8, .625 AVG, 2 2B, 2 RBI's.
Felipe "FLop" Lopez - 8 for 26, .308 AVG, 2 RBI's, 8 BB.
Mark Reynolds - 1 for 6, .167 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Chris Young - 1 for 6, .167 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
DC Starting Lineup...
- Anderson "Elvis" Hernandez - 2B
- Nick "Two-Spot" Johnson - 1B
- THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! - 3B
- The Big Watchy - RF
- THE HAMMER - LF
- TAWH - CF
- Cintr-O-n!!!! - SS
- Wil "Block'em All" Nieves - C
- Scott Olsen - Glaring Out From Under His Low Brim...
After hitting a home run in the eight inning of last night's game against Arizona to extend his hit streak to 27 games, Ryan Zimmerman told MLB.com's Bill Ladson, as quoted in an article entitled, "Zimmerman extends hitting streak to 27", that, "'It's definitely easier when you get [the hit] in the first at-bat...'" (ed. note - "It's easier on us too, Zim") Zimmerman's HR, his 6th this season, also gave him his 21st RBI, and left him with a .336 AVG after 29 games and 125 at bats. In the eyes of the winning pitcher last night, DC lefty John Lannan, that's good enough to qualify Zimmerman for All-Star status, or as Lannan puts it in Mr. Ladson's article:
"He is unbelievable. I think he is going to be in the All-Star game this year. In my eyes, he is the starting third baseman, so far. Knock on wood," Lannan said. "He is playing great ball right now -- on offense and defense. The extra run helps and his play at third saved the ballgame."
(ed. note - "Good thing Lannan knocked on wood, (in thought at least, no word if he actually did), otherwise we'd have to add him to the oft-mentioned Federal Baseball.com Jinx FAQ.")
Have you voted for Zimmerman for the All-Star Game? What are you waiting for? 28 -Straight? It might happen today...
To See What D-Backs Fans Are Thinking, Check Out the SBN's Diamondbacks Blog:
Who's Watching The Nationals?