Nats Roundup: Injury Bug Strikes Again
Yesterday, Nationals manager Manny Acta called a team meeting to remind his players that they are not "independent league players." The point was that, despite being younger and not as talented as some other clubs, they are expected to be able to complete routine plays like hitting the cutoff man and fielding the baseball. It is clear that Manny will live with a team that is last in the National League in every offensive category, the worst team in the National League, and quickly becoming the worst team in baseball, but he will not tolerate basic baseball errors. To put it another way, the manager of the Nationals expects the same level of play from his team as my junior varsity coach expected from my team.
The Nationals are one game away from the halfway point of the season. They are currently 31-49. If they team keeps up its current level of play, and there is no reason to expect otherwise, they will be flirting with 100 losses this year. While bad, at least they are not in any real danger of surpassing 1962's 120 loss Mets team. In order to lose 120 games they would have to go 10-72 over the rest of the season. That is unthinkable, even for this team. So take heart Washington, you are only watching a really bad team, not a historically bad one.
Terrible Tuesdays
Tuesday was not a good day for the Nationals. Not only did they lose one of the worst games that I have had the pleasure to attend, but they had a host of injuries. Shawn Hill was placed on the 15-day DL after giving up 8 runs in 3 innings on Tuesday. He has been pitching through an arm injury all season, and his recent performance has forced the team to put him on the DL. Given the history of promising but oft injured pitchers in this town, I am looking forward to the upcoming Shawn Hill - Kate Grinold nuptials.
Hothouse flower Nick Johnson's season ended this week when he had wrist surgery on Tuesday. Rather than write more about Nick Johnson's injuries, we'll just link to this Google Fight.
Finally, in a touching display of solidarity with the fans, Paul Lo Duca left Tuesday's game early because he was lightheaded and felt sick to his stomach.
Photo by Flickr user bullneck.
Nats Blogs Proliferate
The Nationals have always had better blogs than they deserve. A few worth mentioning are: MissChatter, Nationals Farm Authority, and Nats320. Two new ones have started in the last few weeks that add an appropriate exasperate tenor to the way the season is going.
The first is Fire Jim Bowden. The author has layered laid out a basic case for firing Bowden, and builds upon it with each post. It is actually a well reasoned blog, not filled with the hysterics that one might expect. There is even a petition you can fill out. I will say it is amazing that the GM is so safe considering his team has gone 266-310 in his four years here in Washington.
The other blog is You Dead Dawg. I think this blog mostly defies description, but I will say that it is the only thing related to the Nationals that has made me smile in a long time.
Game of the Week
The game of the week is Saturday, June 28 when the Nationals host the Orioles. John Lannan is scheduled to start that game, and he has been one of the few bright spots for the Nationals this year. He is leading rookies with 11 quality starts, and currently posts a 3.34 ERA. Unfortunately, the Nationals don't like to score runs when he is pitching, and thus his record is only 4-8. Hopefully the bats will show up, and Lannan can get the win that he deserves.
Briefly Noted: On Wednesday, Aaron Boone became the fourth member of the Boone family to collect 1,000 hits... Paul Lo Duca has given his manifesto... The Nationals have launched a Spanish website and radio broadcast.
Meaningless Statistic of the Week: Washington is leading the National League in being hit by a pitch while playing in a night game.