Next Game
Pittsburgh Pirates
@ Washington Nationals
Monday, May 18, 2009, 7:05 PM EDT
Nationals Park
Ross Ohlendorf vs Ross Detwiler
Clear. Game time temperature around.
?'s For The DC Faithful...
• I Sat Alone Amongst Philly Fans All Weekend, Please Tell Me You're At Least Going To See Detwiler's Debut?
• Any Chance Detwiler Hangs Around?
• Did You Hear? The Nationals Were Spotted Taking Infield Practice This Afternoon...
LINKS:
Complete Coverage >
WEEKEND UPDATE: Philadelphia Phillies Sweep Four-Game Series With The Washington Nationals In Nationals Park.
The Philadelphia Philies combined for 49 hits and 33 runs in four wins this weekend in Nationals Park, while Washington put up 22 runs on 34 hits as they were swept in the own home for the sixth loss in their last seven games. The Nationals committed three errors in the four game series with the Phillies, the last one on Sunday, the worst of the lot, and Anderson "Elvis" Hernandez should consider himself lucky that he didn't catch Jesus Colome's throw to first in the jaw, cause it would've broken it...(ed. note - "Insert some joke about how it was the only strike Colome threw all day...and laugh.")
The Wave...
In a 1/22/09 article entitled, "Market for Perez remains hard to figure", FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal looked at possible destinations for free agent pitcher Oliver Perez, (who had yet to resign with NY at that point) and reasoned that Perez might be a good fit for the Washington Nationals as a veteran presence on a team that, "...believe(s) they are on the verge of developing a wave of young pitchers." The first two members of Washington's' "wave of young pitchers", Shairon Martis and Jordan Zimmermann, were named to the Nationals' starting rotation when Spring Training ended, (though Zimmermann started the season in Triple-A Syracuse due to the odd schedule in the first two weeks of April), and now tonight, another member of the "wave", '07 1st Round pick, Ross Detwiler, makes his first major league start at home in DC's Nationals Park against the visiting Pittsburgh Peng...sorry, Pittsburgh Pirates, again sorry...
"Acting" DC GM Mike Rizzo told MLB.com's Bill Ladson yesterday, as quoted in an article entitled, "Detwiler set for first career start Monday", that the 23-year-old left-hander was chosen for tonight's start based not only on his performance this season, which Mr. Ladson writes, is so far, "...the best of his career," but also because he was scheduled to start tonight, or as Mr. Rizzo says:
"'We didn't want anyone on short rest. We didn't want anyone out with too long of rest. Detwiler's calendar fits right in. He has pitched well in Double-A and is throwing many more strikes. He has shown vast improvement over the course of time.'"
What To Look For...
In an MLB.com article by Bill Ladson from early October entitled, "St. Claire visits AFL prospects", Mr. Ladson quoted the Nationals' Pitching Coach Randy St. Claire describing what Detwiler had been asked to work on as he progressed through the fall and into Spring Training:
"He has been working very hard on keeping his lines to where he can [throw the ball on] both sides of the plate," said St. Claire. "Ross commanded the ball pretty decently. It was really nice to see him make that adjustment. I know he is working hard at it. That is something it takes a little while to correct. He was a little inconsistent with the curveball. He did throw some good ones, however."
In '07 Detwiler found himself ranked 2nd overall in the Nationals' organization on the list compiled by Baseball America's Aaron Fitt, which included 3 other pitchers from the '07 Draft Class, Josh Smoker, Jordan Zimmermann and Jack McGeary. In 2009, Detwiler remained the #2 prospect on Baseball America's list, while Zimmermann had leaped ahead of the pack to become the top prospect in the DC system, and now less than a month after Zimmermann's major league debut it's Detwiler's turn...
• For more info on Detwiler, including a pretty complete background, check out this excellent FANPOST by bluelineswinger entitled, "Another Piece of the (Future) Puzzle)?" (ed. note - "Which is linked above, but deserves another link in case you missed it the first time...")
DC Starting Lineup...
Dave from Nats News Network's post today entitled, "Washington Nationals recall Ross Detwiler; Lineups for Tonight's Game", has your starting lineups and a report from an ESPNZone event featuring Jordan Zimmermann.
These Guys Don't Quite Have The Staring Thing Down Yet...
Making His First MLB Start...
Ross Ohlendorf vs The Nationals...
Adam Dunn - 0 for 1...(Uh, that's it...)
For A Pirates Fans' Perspective, Check Out The SBN's Pittsburgh Pirates blog:
Who's Watching The Nationals?