Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Devendra Banhart @ 9:30 Club
Saturday Thanks Don't End At Thanksgiving Photo: November 28, 2009
Bonjour! This Nats update is coming to you straight from Paris -- that is the level of our devotion to this team. How has the team repaid us? Well, they've gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, own a better record than 6 teams in baseball, and have all but guaranteed that they will not finish last in the NL East. They are currently 6 wins away from tying last year's record, a feat that would certainly earn manager Manny Acta some manager of the year votes. The pessimist will point out that they are still 14 games under .500, and maybe it is the Parisian air, but I think this team is doing pretty well.
E5!
Despite our optimism and the team's record over the last 10 games, the Nats have been plagued by errors recently. They are currently 5th in the National League with 100 errors. Ryan Zimmerman currently has as many errors (23) as he does home runs. He also committed two errors in one inning against the Braves on September 7th, and has already committed 8 more errors this year than last year. Many people in the organization project that Zimmerman will eventually be a gold glove third baseman, but they have to find this increase in errors to be disconcerting.
Wily Mo Finds His Stride
Wily Mo Pena's two home runs last night give him a total of 7 homers in his 21 games as a National. That is two better than his total in 73 games with the Red Sox earlier this year. Many in baseball felt that playing regularly would help Pena's stats, and he seems to be proving that as a National. While it is nice to have a player who is a threat to go deep in every at bat, we wonder what Pena's future is with this team. In addition to his 7 home runs, he has 20 strikeouts. It's one of life's great mysteries why any pitcher throws him anything but a curveball.
Useless Statistic of the Week: At .888, Dmitro Young has the 31st best OPS in baseball. There are no other Nationals in the top 90.
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How exactly do people keep mentioning Acta as manager of the year for his amazing ability to keep a losing team losing? I like the team, but some of his late inning subs have me gritting my teeth.
I'm not worried about Zimmerman's errors. His first full year at third base, Brooks Robinson had 22. Boggs had 27 his first year and 20 his second, and George Brett's error totals are pretty impressive: 21, 26, 26, 16, and 30 his first 5 full seasons. They all turned out to be pretty good.
I don't think anyone seriously thinks Acta deserves to be Manager of the Year. But for a team that was expected to possibly shatter the record for most losses in a season, and had basically an open call during Spring Training to fill out the remaining 4 of their 5-man pitching rotation, it's rather impressive that they are not the worst team in baseball.
Rather sad expectations for any pro team. But it is a step up from before when we were just happy to have a baseball team in the city. "Dayenu!"
Last place means 1st draft pick. What have we done?!