According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, in an article entitled, "Morse to supplant right-field platoon", the Washington Nationals are considering starting 29-year-old IF/OF Mike Morse in right field tonight against Philly lefty Cole Hamels in game two of 2010, as the team seeks to find some power from the position Elijah Dukes, Justin Maxwell, Roger Bernadina, and now (if they turn to Morse) Willie Harris and Willy Taveras, have failed thus far to claim as their own. With a combined 4 games started between them in right field, Harris and Taveras were named as a RF platoon coming out of Spring Training, now Morse, who's started 10 games in right over six seasons between Seattle and DC, and, as Mr. Ladson writes, "...lost out to Harris and Taveras because they were better defensively," is being considered as an option in right because the veteran of 140 major league games, "...has a .324 batting average against left-handed pitching and .277 vs. right-handed pitching," in 353 career AB's, over which he's collected 21 doubles, 1 triple, 6 HR's and 47 RBI's while posting a .295 AVG, .356 OBP and .411 SLG...
USA Today sports writer Seth Livingstone made the same assumption most did in the most recent newsstand edtion of USA Today's Sports Weekly, which features a 2010 Season Preview wherein Mr. Livingstone predicted that 25-year-old '05 4th Round pick Justin Maxwell would replace Elijah Dukes when Dukes was given his unconditional release just a few weeks into Spring Training, but Maxwell failed to capitalize on the opportunity, hitting in just 5 of 50 Spring AB's before he was sent down to Triple-A Syracuse to start the season. Roger Bernadina, who had 3.0 innings of work in right at the major league level on his resume, and had played just 22 games in right in the minors over eight seasons, was briefly considered as a possibility for the starting spot in right, but the 25-year-old Willemstad, Curacao-born outfielder was one of the final cuts this Spring.
MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling wrote late last week in an article entitled, "As Nats enter the season, status quo in right field", that Washington had, "...made some inquiries about a handful of high-profile options in right," but with no realistic possibilities for a deal available a day before the season was to start, Mr. Goessling wrote that the Nationals were, "...prepared to get by with their in-house options for now," which initially meant having Willie Harris and Willy Taveras split time in right, but that plan may last all of one game, as MLB.com's Mr. Ladson writes back in his article entitled, "Morse to supplant right-field platoon", that the decision to start Morse against the Philly lefty might mean, "...the Willie Harris/Willy Taveras platoon could be over."