Next Game
Pittsburgh Pirates
@ Washington Nationals
Thursday, May 21, 2009, 7:05 PM EDT
Nationals Park
Ian Snell vs Craig Stammen
Clear. Game time temperature around 75.
?'s For The DC Faithful...
• How Long Before Cabrera's Used Out Of The Duck Pond?
• Would You Rather Be Seeing Daniel Cabrera Pitch Tonight?(laughs)
• Any Relievers Down There In Syracuse Who Can Close?
LINKS:
Complete Coverage >
DC Starting Lineup...(courtesy of MLB.com's Bill Ladson)...
- The Guzzzzz - SS
- Nick "Two-Spot" Johnson - 1B
- THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!!! - 3B
- The Big E - RF
- HAMMER - LF
- Willie "TAWH" Harris - CF
- The Bard - C
- Anderson "Elvis" Hernandez - 2B
- And Making His Major League Debut...
Craig Stammen To Make MLB Debut...
The story of Craig Stammen's impending MLB debut actually broke in Stammen's hometown paper, the Dayton (OH) Daily News, in an article by Chick Ludwig entitled, "Former UD, Versailles baseball star to make major league debut", several hours before the Washington Nationals made the official announcement.
Stammen, a right-hander who was a 12th Round pick by the Nationals in 2005, who turned 25 in March, made several stops at A-ball in the Nationals' system before jumping from Class-A Potomac to Triple-A Columbus in 2007, and he pitched at every level of the organization but the majors last season, struggling only at Columbus, where he was (1-4) with a 7.33 ERA in 8 starts and 1 relief appearance as a Clipper.
Stammen replaces Daniel Caberera (0-5, 5.95 ERA) in the DC starting rotation, and you'll be forgiven if his name wasn't instantly recognizable to you when it was announced yesterday since, according to "Acting" DC GM Mike Rizzo, as quoted in MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Nationals move Cabrera to bullpen":
"'He's a little bit of a late bloomer," Rizzo said. 'He was a different pitcher last year. He was a power pitcher with a four-seam fastball that was pretty straight.'"
Stammen In Syracuse - (4-2), 1.80 ERA, 7 GS, 40.0 IP, 33 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 4 HR, 8 BB, 14 K's, .223 BAA.
Stammen's Syracuse Splits:
vs Left - 2.37 ERA, 19.0 IP, 13 H, 5 ER, 3 HR, 2 BB, 7 K's, .188 BAA.
vs Right - 1.29 ERA, 21.0 IP, 20 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 7 K's, .253 BAA.
Night Games - (2-1) 4 GS, 23.0 IP, 20 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 4 HR, 4 BB, 9 K's, .227 BAA
May - (1-1, 1.06 ERA), 3 GS.
Tonight's Pirates' Starter Is Looking For A Sweep, And He'll Try To Intimidate You Now:
Nationals vs Snell...
Ronnie Belliard - 3 for 13, .231 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Adam Dunn - 3 for 23, .130 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's.
Cristian Guzman - 3 for 10, .300 AVG.
Willie Harris - 4 for 9, .444 AVG, 3 2B, 1 RBI.
Nick Johnson - 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Austin Kearns - 3 for 12, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Josh Willingham - 0 for 7, .000 AVG.
Ryan Zimmerman - 2 for 8, .250 AVG, 2 2B.
For A Pirates Fans' Perspective, Check Out The SBN's Pittsburgh Pirates blog:
Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...
Who's Watching The Nationals?