April 30, 2008
Nats Roundup: Getting Better All The Time?
Since we last left them, the Nationals have won four of their last five games. They no longer possess the worst record in the league (thank you, Texas). Nationals attendance is also rising, and they are poised to break an average of 30,000 fans a game. Also, Wily Mo Pena has received his World Series ring!
All is not puppies and sunshine for the Nats, though. First, closer Chad Cordero felt his arm go out after 13 pitches last night and seems destined for the DL. Also, while the offense is showing some signs of life, the Nats are still second to last in the National League in Batting Average, OPS, and Slugging. Also, Shawn Hill's arm is still not feeling normal.
The Nats have five more games in this homestand, their longest of the season: one against the Braves, and four against the 10-16 Pirates. Also, tomorrow is one of the most important home games of the season... Dmitri Young bobblehead day!
Lannan Emerges
One of the surprises this season has been the pitching of John Lannan. He is 2-2 with a 2.64 ERA, and has not allowed a run in the last 19 innings he has pitched, including a gutsy performance against the Cubs last Sunday. He has only 11 major league starts, but he is showing signs that he may be one of the pitchers of the future. Not only that, but he visited Lafayette Elementary school in Northwest this week, and learned a little about baseball in the District.
Nieves Makes His Case
The other highlight for the Nationals this past week has been the unstoppable Wil Nieves. He hit his first major league home run last Friday night, and it happened to be a walk-off to beat the Cubs. He is currently batting .348 with a .423 OPB OBP and 4 RBIs in 23 at bats. He has also caught in the aforementioned John Lannan's last 3 starts. With Paul Lo Duca expected to return to the team soon, it will be interesting to see what Manny Acta does with his three catchers.
Briefly Noted: In a move that surprised no one, the Nationals have released reliever Ray King... Barry Larkin stopped by to help the Nationals get out of their offensive funk... Despite going 0 for the last week, Rob Mackowiak wants more playing time. I can think of a place where he can get some at bats...
Meaningless Statistic of the Week... The Nationals are leading the National League with a 1.49 ratio of ground balls to fly balls.
Photo by Flickr user tayloe75.
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Barry Svrluga just posted on his Nats Journal blog that Chief as a tear in his lat and will be out for 4-6 weeks, so he's definitely going on the DL.
Interestingly, if the Nats maintain their ratio of 1.49 ground balls to fly balls to lead the league, this will be the highest ratio since 2003....when the Montreal Expos had 1.54 ground balls to fly balls!
Just goes to show that you can take the baseball out of Montreal, but you can't take the Montreal out of baseball! GO EXPOS!!!
First, you're talking about Nieves's OBP, not OPB. Fix your typo.
Second, Ray King's ultimate release was, in fact, sort of surprising. He hadn't been doing so well this season, but neither had the rest of the bullpen, and he was the only left-handed reliever on the roster. He had some great holds against lefties last season. The reason he was sent down has lot more to do with the overall poor performance of the rotation and bullpen than his own poor performance. When you're not getting the innings you need out of your starters, you need an endurance middle reliever like O'Conner to eat up innings more than you need a lefty specialist like King.
Moreover, his refusal to report to Columbus, when it is not clear he will find work in the big leagues, is also a bit of a surprise. You're right, none of this is a huge shock, but the Burger King deserves a bit more respect than you give him.
Third, Mackowiak is right that being used as a once-in-a-series pinch-hitter will depress your batting average. It's natural he would rather be in the lineup, or be hitting more frequently. It's not outlandish to imply this would be in both his and the team's best interests. It wouldn't be too strong a statement that he's been (unintentionally) set up to fail.
Just a heads up, todays game starts a 4:35pm, for some odd reason.
"They no longer possess the worst record in the league (thank you, Texas)."
Actually, still have the worst record in the league (but now tied with San Diego). Texas is in the American League.
flipperman,
I'm pretty sure Charles was referring to MLB as a whole.
Rob Mackowiak should get more ABs. He isn't good enough to have a regular spot in the lineup, but his defensive versatility allows for you to use him in spot duty all over the field and get him into the line-up 3 or 4 times a week.
Thank you for the correction.
As for Ray King. There were a lot of people, at least in the press and blogs, calling for Ray King's head. I also think that the team is more interested in seeing what Mike O'Connor can do. That is why I don't think that it is that surprising to see Ray King gone. In fact, I was a little surprised to see the Nats resign him in the first place, because he is a left specialist.
As for Mackowiak. Well, I agree that pinch hitting is tough, and his stats show is avg going down with his at bats. That said, he is still 1 for 18, and I am not sure that the team has an interest in using him more. He is not part of the future, and this team is all about the future.
I did mean in the whole league, but I should have made that clearer.