Nats Update: First In War, First In Peace...
The talk about the Nationals being the worst team in major league history seems to have been slightly exaggerated. That being said, they've been pretty awful in losing 5 in a row, including being swept by the Cubs this weekend. The Nats are 9-22, 10.5 games out of first place in the National League East and 5.5 behind the fourth place Phillies. And they face the surprising Brewers, who have the best record in baseball, next.
The boys from RFK are currently on pace to just barely edge the pathetic 2003 Detroit Tigers in wins, but there are a few good things on the horizon, namely the return of shortstop Cristian Guzman and outfielder Nook Logan. Guzman and Logan's return means the team has the starting line-up they expected at the beginning of the season. Guzman was an All-Star in 2001 for the Twins, but missed all of last year due to injury, and had a bad 2005 season with the Nats, hitting .219.
But with good news in the field comes bad for pitching: staff "ace" John Patterson went on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his arm. Patterson has pitched poorly so far, going 1-5 with an ERA above 7. Hopefully the time to recover will help him bounce back to his 2005 form, where he was 9-7 with a 3.13 ERA for the team. And closer Chad "Chief" Cordero has blown 4 of his 8 save opportunities.
Logan's return may help Nats pitching, giving the team a solid defensive outfield with Ryan Church and Austin Kearns. The move would also send the struggling Kory Casto and his .132 average to the bench or the minors. The team also added another defensive outfielder in Ryan Langerhans.
Photo by Flickr user taylordavidson
Washington is also struggling to score runs, batting a league worst .181 with runners in scoring position. Manny Acta has tried being proactive, moving outfielder Ryan Church to the cleanup spot starting on the 30th, but so far Church has only one RBI from the spot, leaving ten runners on base. His average is still .283 however, so hopefully he'll come around and start getting hits when they count. And languishing in the Nats' triple-A affiliate in Columbus is slugger Tony Batista. While primarily a third baseman, the position held by the Nats' best player, Ryan Zimmerman, Batista played second and short in his younger years, and the team could certainly use another slugger, even if he is a career .251 hitter. Plus we just like the video of him scaring a pitcher in Japan in 2005.
So while the team isn't doing well, at least we can be happy at others' misfortune. While fomer Nat Daryle Ward collected the game-winning hit in the Cubs' win over the Nationals on Sunday, Alfonso Soriano has yet to turn it on, having only five RBIs so far this season. So there's something positive-ish.