It’s never good when a team is swept in a series. It’s also never good when a team gives up a 9th inning lead. It takes a special team to get swept in a series by giving up three straight 9th inning leads. This rare feat was accomplished by the Nationals over the weekend, as they dropped three games to the Marlins. The result is that three pitchers from the bullpen, Saul Rivera, Steven Shell, and Wil Ledezma, were sent down to the minors after Sunday’s game. To replace them, the team called up Jason Bergman, Garrett Mock, and Kip Wells. This is a dramatic move, and sends the message that there’s a degree of losing that even the Nationals organization cannot tolerate.
The team’s 1-10 record is currently the worst in the majors. The Nats are at the bottom of the NL in most pitching categories, including ERA, Quality Starts and WHIP. In addition, their 13 errors lead the National League, and their .969 fielding percentage is the worst in the National League. Despite these stats, and the records, Fire Jim Bowden makes the case that the Nats are also the luckiest team in the league.
If you are looking for hope, the team finally signed third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to a long-term deal. The “face of the franchise” will reportedly sign a 5-year, $45 million contract. Also, Elijah Duke’s home plate song is “My President is Black.”
Lastings Milledge
In a big move early last week, the team sent Lastings Milledge down to the minors. Milledge was the starting center fielder and lead-off batter, but was having problems at the plate and on defense. He had also reportedly been late to team meetings, and some people in the organization wanted manager Manny Acta not to play him on Opening Day at Nationals Park. If being sent to Syracuse in April doesn’t open Milledge’s eyes, it’s possible nothing will. At least he’ll have Dinosaur Bar-B-Que to keep him company.
Natinals
In a clever move to get some national attention for the Nationals, the organization decided to misspell the name of the team on some of the players’ jerseys on Friday night. The team noticed the problem, and corrected it, but not before people noticed. Hey, at least some people are still watching this team.
Daniel Cabrera
Congratulations to Daniel Cabrera for finally making it to first base yesterday after six seasons in the Majors.
Game of the Week
The game of the week is either tonight or tomorrow night, depending on the weather. Rookie pitcher Jordan Zimmerman is scheduled to make his Major League debut tonight against the Braves. Zimmerman had a great spring, and many in the organization are pointing to him as proof that the team is moving in the right direction. The game has a good chance of being rained out, which would push Zimmerman’s start to tomorrow. Tomorrow is also a free T-shirt day at the ballpark, so we are going to tentatively call the Tuesday, April 21 game against the Braves the game of the week.
Briefly Noted: Forbes Magazine ranks Nationals Park as the 20th best stadium in the Major Leagues, tied with Dodger Stadium… Elijah Dukes was pulled from Saturday’s line-up because he was five minutes late. It turns out that he was at a charity event for Little League. Will he ever learn?
Meaningless Statistic of the Week: Adam Dunn is leading the National League in Intentional Walks for a Left-Handed Left Fielder thrown by a Right-Handed Pitcher, with 2.
Photo by Flickr user Kevin H..
