Next Game
New York Mets
@ Washington Nationals
Friday, Jun 5, 2009, 7:05 PM EDT
Nationals Park
Tim Redding vs Shairon Martis
Mostly cloudy,rain. Game time temperature around 65.
?'s For The DC Faithful...
• Does It Ever Stop Raining In Washington, D.C.?
• What? Oh, Seriously? Redding's Pitching? He's Gonna Make The Nationals Pay Now, Isn't He?
• Martis, Lannan, Stammen vs Redding, Maine And Livan? Who Would You Rather Watch?
• So Was That 3-2 Pitch To Dunn Yesterday A Strike? Should He Have Been Swinging?
• What Milestones Are The Mets Reaching This Weekend?
LINKS:
Complete Coverage >
Maybe The Nationals Should've Just Signed Redding, He Looks P***ed...Don't Look Right At Him...
"Don Sutton's Favorite Pitcher" Tim Redding
#44 / Pitcher / New York Mets
5-11
225
R
R
Feb 12, 1978
'09 Stats - (0-2, 9.20 ERA), 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 18 H, 15 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 10 K's, 1.91 WHIP, .286 BAA
vs DC - 3 G, 2 GS, (2-0, 2.77 ERA), 13.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 13 K's, 1.15 WHIP, .200 BAA.
Smarty Start...
1-5 against the Mets so far this season in six games played at Citi Field, the Nationals welcome New York to Nationals Park for the first time in '09 for a three game weekend set in the nation's capital. Shairon Martis, who takes the mound tonight for DC, dropped his first decision this year in his last start, when Ryan Howard hit two home runs (the second a massive grand slam) in Citizens Bank Park to lead the Phillies to a 9-6 victory. The loss dropped Martis to (5-1) in 10 starts, and the 22-year-old right-hander is now winless in his last three outings after having won five of his first seven starts for DC. Martis has allowed 19 hits and 17 ER in his last 16 IP, and on the year, he's posted a 5.62 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP and a .266 BAA. Martis has just one start against NY 14 starts into his MLB career, but it didn't last long, as the then 21-year-old righty went just three innings against the Mets late last season in a game in Nationals Park in which he surrendered 5 hits and 6 ER on 3 HR's.
Tim Redding vs The Washington Nationals...
Adam Dunn - 3 for 12, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K's.
Austin Kearns - 1 for 4, .250 AVG.
Josh Willingham - 5 for 13, .385 AVG, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's.
DC Starting Lineup...
- The Guzzz - SS
- Nick "Two-Spaaht" Johnson - 1B
- THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! - 3B
- The Big Donkey - LF
- Elijah "Super" Dukes - CF
- AK - RF
- The Bard - C
- Anderson "Elvis" Hernandez - 2B
- Smarty - SP
STRASBURG FILES...
With the MLB Draft now only four days away I thought we'd start to look back at Federal Baseball.com's coverage of the projected #1 overall pick, SDSU right-hander Stephen Strasburg, to see how we first saw the young phenom and realized that the team and the player might be destined for one another. The first mention I can find in the archives is from September 6th 2008 (though he came up elsewhere long before then) in a game report on a Nationals/Braves game late in the season:
"...the Nationals figure to figure in two tight races down the stretch...The Battle between NY and Philly for the NL East crown, (which is the only way either team gets into Postseason play), and the battle for the #1 Draft Pick in '09, which looks to be coming down to race between the Mariners, Nationals, and Padres with the three game series from 9/19-9/21 between DC and SD possibly deciding projected #1 pick Stephen Strasburg's future...(ed. note - "More on Strasburg soon...")
I took the first serious look at the situation later that month, when I wrote an article about Strasburg, and no. 1 picks in general entitled, "Will The Washington Nationals Be Able To Sign A #1 Pick", in which I looked at the contract the last pitcher selected number one overall, David Price, received from the Tampa Bay Rays, and rehashed the then-recent failure on the Nationals' part to reach an agreement with their '08 1st Round pick Aaron Crow and concluded:
"...while you can't count on Stephen Strasburg to have as immediate an impact on the Nationals as David Price is poised to have on the Rays, the signing of Strasburg, a player who's drawn a considerable amount of national attention, would be a point of pride for a team enamored with its young stars like Ryan Zimmerman, Jesus Flores and John Lannan but desperate for even a shred of credibility in the baseball world, the kind of respect that only comes when you go out and sign the best player available in the draft...or add a free agent to the youngest roster in the Majors who can have an influence on-field and in the clubhouse in the development of a winning tradition...I can even take one more year of losing if..."
(ed. note - "I envy myself in the past, so naive, so unaware of the pain to come...")
"A shred of credibility in the baseball world," it's almost humorous to read that sentence now, back before SMILEYGATE and the resignation of the Former DC GM, before the 38 losses in 52 games, before the firing of the Saint, Randy St. Claire...
Coming Soon...(A look back at the coverage that started with this report by sdsuaztec4, our west coast correspondent who provided us with the best Strasburg live coverage around this past season.")
Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...
For A Mets Fan's Perspective, Check Out The SBN's New York Mets Blog:
(Latest Mets News: The New York Mets just lost set-up man J.J. Putz for 8-10 weeks according to Eric Simon at AA.)
Who's Watching The Nationals?