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
