• Nats Insider.com's Mark Zuckerman (@markzuckerman) shot a retweet around Thursday afternoon of a Twitter post by The Palm Beach Post's Marlins beat writer Joe Cappozzi, (@joecapMARLINS) who reported that the, "#Marlins [are] expecting around 25,000, which includes an expected large walk-up, for Stephen Strasburg & #Nationals on Friday," when the Nats come to town, which will be an 8,000 fan bump over the Marlins' 2010 average of 16,664 per game, which is good for second-worst in the league ahead of only the Cleveland Indians, who welcomed 32,876 fans to a Sunday matinee featuring Stephen Strasburg, which is slightly more than double their average game attendance of 16,230. (btw, the Nats are 21st in the league in home attendance with an average of 23,426 per game...)
• While we're on ticket sales, I've received a few emails recently from SeatGeek.com, a site that, "...forecasts how sports and concert ticket prices move on the secondary market," and hadn't had a chance to respond (sorry!), but I did read the information they were sending...One thing to keep in mind if you're planning on attending the next weekend home series in DC on July 30st-August 1st against the nation's capital's neighbor to the north, the Philadelphia Phillies, buy tickets early. In a recent SeatGeek.com post by SeatGeek's Max entitled, "Midseason Ticket Report – National League East Division", there's a list of the "Top 10 Most Expensive Games in the NL East" this season, and 9 of 10 are in Citi Field in NY, the only game that kept the Mets from the clean-sweep of the top ten was the 4/5/10 season opener in DC, which drew 41,290 ( a good portion of them Philly fans) to Nationals Park at an average ticket price of $107.000 per seat on the secondary market. The Philly fans are coming again, don't get shut (or priced) out again DC Faithful...
• Marlins On Strasburg...After The JUMP...
• Marlins On Strasburg: Miami Herald writer Clark Spencer quotes Marlins' outfielder Cody Ross and third baseman Wes Helms in an article this morning entitled, "Stephen Strasburg has become a National story", discussing the Sun Life Field debut of the Nats' '09 no.1 overall pick, pitcher Stephen Strasburg, but the matchup I'm looking forward to is the same one that Ross mentions in the article between the Nats' 21-year-old right-hander and the Marlins' 20-year-old '07 2nd Round pick, outfielder Mike Stanton:
"'I can't wait to see that matchup,'' Ross said. 'Just hearing the stories of Mike hitting mammoth home runs and Strasburg throwing 112 . . . but finally we get to see them up close and in person, facing off against each other.'''
Stanton, who hit for a silly .313/.442/.729 slash line in 53 games at Triple-A Jacksonville with 13 doubles and 21 HR's before he was called to the Marlins, is hitting just .231/.276/.435 in 28 games and 108 at bats has 5 doubles and 5 HR's so far this season for Florida.
• One more note for now...There's an interesting article by Ed Valentine over at the SB Nation's Yankees site, Pinstripe Alley, asking in its title, "Discussion: What Should The Yankees Do About The Bullpen?", and with all the discussion about Matt Capps possibly getting traded before the July 31st non-waiver deadline, I thought you might be interested in hearing what other team's think about the Nats' All-Star closer:
"Matt Capps -- Capps, 26, is under control of the Washington Nationals through 2011. He has 23 saves, a 3.18 ERA and just picked up the victory in the All-Star Game. Couple of things make me nervous about Capps, particularly with what we have seen in the past from relievers who are brought in to the New York pennant-race pressure cooker mid-season. He has spent his six-year career in Pittsburgh and Washington, so pitching important innings in September and October would be uncharted waters."
I think the same about Capps as I do about Adam Dunn, no one else is going to see them as being as valuable to their goals as either player is to the Nats, and as much as I agree that the RZO should consider deals, I'd be surprised if either were dealt...