Your 2009 Washington Nationals

I'm back, folks

2009-02-12T13:54:00.004-05:00

So, I think the 2009 Nats will be bad enough that I'm going to have to resurrect this poor blog.

Look for lots of fun around here!

I'm posting this and nothing else

2008-04-04T14:59:00.001-04:00

New ace alert

2007-04-27T10:22:00.000-04:00

As a commenter Charlie suggested, Shawn Hill is “of course” the new ace of this staff.

In fact, Hill’s numbers are so good – 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA, 20 K (only 8 BB) – he, at this point, doesn’t even deserve the quotation marks. He is the ace. Congratulations Shawn Hill!

Now don’t screw it up. Jason Bergmann isn’t that far behind.

Nats back at the bottom

2007-04-25T16:15:00.000-04:00

Busy day!

I had to make changes to all the stuff I’m tracking. That’s all four of them!

The Nats lost
Nats are once again the most hapless team
Dmitri Young had an error
Cristian Guzman continues to contribute nothing

Don’t get me wrong: the Phillies have yet to distance themselves from haplessness. But they are winning – and with another game against the Nats and an upcoming series with the Marlins, the Phillies are clearly not the most hapless team. The Nats have regained that position.

I have the feeling that today is the last day I’ll be able to use the term “ace” and be speaking of John Patterson. If he pitches poorly tonight, that’s it. He’s out or contention for “ace.” As I mentioned earlier, Matt Chico isn’t in contention either. So who will it be?

Any ideas?

A little more clear

2007-04-23T13:55:00.000-04:00

Matt Chico is totally out of the running for the title of “ace.” You can’t walk the opposing pitcher twice and have any shot at it.

A big Thank You to Dmitri Young for getting an error over the weekend. It allowed me to finally add another one to his total. And it gave me a little more confidence is leaving his error total on top of the page. I figure that he’ll have to go at least a week without an error for me to think about ignoring his errors again.

Sure, the Phillies have a higher winning percentage than the Nationals. So what? Considering how they are supposed to play, they will remain the most hapless team until they can put some distance between them and the Nats.

Time for changes?

2007-04-20T09:08:00.001-04:00

When I refer to the “ace,” we all know who I’m talking about: John Patterson. The subtle disrespect of putting quotation marks around that word is lots of fun. But if the “ace” continues to pitch like he has, then we can no longer even call him an “ace.”

I’m going to give the “ace” one more shot. Also, any other starter gets another start to see if they can be called “ace” – or, perhaps, just ace. We shall see.

Furthermore, the inability of Dmitri Young to get more errors may force me to stop keeping track.

But I don’t feel disenfranchised. There is a worse team out there.

And I sleep like a baby knowing that Cristian Guzman continues to contribute nothing to this team.

Phillies are worse

2007-04-19T14:01:00.000-04:00

Even if the Phillies beat the Nationals this afternoon, the Phillies will remain the most hapless team in baseball today.

With the Nationals winning last night, they have secured a sport as not the most hapless team until at least tomorrow. Congratulations, Nationals!

Not so 'hapless' anymore

2007-04-18T14:03:00.000-04:00

I took a long nap and awoke to see the Nationals in the midst of a winning streak. I was too shocked to blog. With the loss last night, everything starts to make more sense.

Other thoughts:

Dmitri Young still sits on only 2 errors. I find this remarkable.
Who isn’t on the Matt Chico bandwagon?
Casto will shine… at some point. At this point, he needs to go down and get some at-bats.
Who doesn’t love Robert Fick?
Virginia Tech hats a very, very nice touch yesterday.
Nats welcome the *hapless Phillies.

* The first team this season to be labeled “hapless” were the Nats. Now, it’s clearly the Phillies. I think this is something I should keep my eye on.

The Nats are mudders

2007-04-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

OK, so no more predictions out of me. I was obviously wrong.

Did I think the Nationals were really going to win? Or did I think it was really going to rain a lot?

I like to think that the Nats are mudders (Or, if you prefer, mudlarks). You know, like horse racing. You see, under clear skies you know the Nats are overmatched. But if the rain is pouring down and the field is… well, muddy… then perhaps the talent gap between the Nats and the opponents is less vast.

I don’t know if this makes sense to you. But it makes complete sense to me.

Nats will not lose tonight!

2007-04-11T16:12:00.000-04:00

Oh the hell with it… I’m making a prediction! The much-maligned Washington Nationals will win tonight…

… or the game will be rained out. That’s my prediction. To recap:

One of the following will happen:

Nats win
Game is postponed

What will not happen:

Atlanta Braves win

We need this guy

2007-04-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

The Boston Red Sox picked up J.D. Durbin off the waiver wire. Durbin, who once dubbed himself the “Real Deal,” has been on three different teams since… well … three weeks ago. The Red Sox are now his most recent.

Durbin’s Myspace account seems to have been deleted. Even so, wouldn’t this guy be a perfect addition to the Nats roster? No… that’s too easy. But it got me thinking. Who the Nats really need to throw some pitches – and lighten up the clubhouse – is another “J.D.” That’s right, J.D. McNugent.

Nats have more errors than runs in loss

2007-04-11T11:29:00.000-04:00

Matt Chico pitched better – which continues the promising trend of starters pitching better. Good sign! But the bats remain eerily silent.

More ominous is the play of Kory Casto. The young prospect is now riding the pine. Of course, at his age he has to play every day… so will the Nats send him down? Very possible.

Even more ominous is the errors. The Nats are having a hell of a time with the fundamentals of the game. Dmitri Young had his second error of the season, which is actually a positive. I mean, I thought he would have at least four by now.

Preview: The Atlanta series

2007-04-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

Pretty much the only thing we need to look at about the upcoming series against the Braves is the pitching probables – which should probably ruin your day:

Today: Matt Chico (0-0, 13.50 ERA) v. Tim Hudson (0-0, 1.29)
Tomorrow: Jerome Williams (0-1, 6.00) v. Chuck James (1-0, 1.80)
The day after tomorrow: Jason Bergmann (0-1, 9.82) v. John Smoltz (1-0, 3.75)

Talk about a mismatch!

That is a great idea

2007-04-10T15:33:00.000-04:00

Major League Baseball’s decision to move the Indians-Angels series to Milwaukee got me thinking…

Can Washington get in on some of this action?

The Indians and Angels are two exciting teams. Folks in Milwaukee already have an exciting home team. How unfair that folks in Milwaukee can see additional baseball games showcasing two exciting teams while inhaling Stadium Sauce-laden hotdogs.

At best this season, Nats fans will get to see one exciting team – the opposition.

Let’s just look at today’s matchups:

Astros-Cubs
Cardinals-Pirates
Twins-Yankees

I could go on…

Point being, how great would it be for Nats fans to be able to head over to RFK tonight, plop down 10 bucks for lower-bowl general admission, and see two exciting teams? The answer: Pretty great.

How to improve the season, Part I

2007-04-09T13:29:00.000-04:00

Just so you know how it all works, because they have the day off today, the Nats have zero chance of adding to the loss column. Cool.

So we know the losses will be plentiful. And because we must bide our time to the new stadium opening, the Nats have the opportunity this season to really make things exciting. You know, get fans in the seats later in the season when they’re 40 games back in the standings.

Here are some ideas:

Draft Pat Venditte
He’s the ambidextrous pitcher out of Creighton University. That’s right: He can throw the ball right-handed to one batter; then switch arms and throw left-handed to the next. The MLB draft is coming up in June. The Nats could pick him, sign him quickly, and get him in the bullpen immediately. I don’t care how Circus-ish it sounds. I would pay to see him pitch at RFK.

Trade for Loek Van Mil
The Minnesota Twins pitching prospect is 7-1. No, that’s not his record; it’s his height! Mil is a minor prospect for the Twins, so the Nats could probably land him easily. He could be in the starting rotation within weeks. He would be the tallest player to ever play in the Majors. And he could be that person in the Nats jersey.

Trade for Julio Franco
He is the oldest regular position player in Major League history. But that’s not all. Every time he pinch-runs, pinch-hits, gets a double, gets a triple, etc… it makes historians ask themselves, “Is he the oldest player to ever do that?” And the Nats could probably get him in a trade. Also, though doesn’t wear one, he is the last MLB player eligible to wear a batting helmet with no ear flaps.

Get Ripken
Cal Ripken… hell, Bill Ripken… just get any ol’ Ripken in a uniform will do. Come August, both the Nats and Orioles will have trouble filling the seats. Might as well steal a few fans from Baltimore by having a Ripken at RFK.

The first week

2007-04-09T10:46:00.001-04:00

Brrrrrrrr…

Typically, you win more games at home than on the road. So the opening home-stand bodes poorly for the Nationals. 1-6 is a bad start. 1-6 at home is even worse.

On the positive, the starting pitching at least is getting better. That’s not saying much… but the starters are going longer and giving up fewer runs. That’s positive.

On the negative, the bullpen was overused in the first week. What is probably the best part of the team could get worn down too soon.

I did make it to one game over the weekend. The announced attendance was over 16k. Really? I took a photo and will upload later. But it looked more like 6k than 16k…

Arizona series

2007-04-07T10:11:00.001-04:00

Between the exhilaration of a Nats win a few nights ago and the anticipation of going to my first Nats game tonight… I completely forgot to update the blog.

Since I last left you, the Nats have lost the first two games of the Arizona series. Here are some thoughts:

The artic freeze that has settled over the Washington area has adversely affected Ryan Zimmerman’s swing. He’s cooled, folks. Cooled.
Dmitri Young has had a hot bat. But more surprisingly, he still sits at just one error for the season.
Manny Acta is moving a couple of guys around the rotation. What the hell for? No need to re-arrange the deckchairs on this Titanic.

Nationals win!

2007-04-04T16:24:00.000-04:00

What’s this talk about a Curly W in the books? Indeed, a Curly W was put in the books.

After yet another horrific performance from a starting pitcher, the bullpen – the more stable part of this team – shut down the Marlins.

The Nats offense rattled off 16 hits, including a 3-run homer by Ryan Church.

Defensively, the Nats had two errors; none of which was by Dmitri Young.

I don’t know how many of the announced 18k fans stuck around, but Nats fans got an exciting victory. So I’ll give that to ‘em.

It gets worse

2007-04-04T11:44:00.000-04:00

It’s not just bad pitching. It’s not just losing. It’s playing the game with an excruciatingly disastrous amount of ineptness.

The No. 2 starter, Shawn Hill, did better than the “ace.” But that’s not saying much. Hill went 5 innings, giving up 5 runs (4 earned). The bullpen comes behind him, pitches 4 innings, giving up 4 earned runs. It wasn’t a save opportunity, but still, Cordero gives up 2 runs over one inning.

Other lowlights:

Dmitri Young finally gets his first error of the season.
Nats could only muster 5 hits.
Cristian Guzman has been put on the DL. (Actually, this could be considered a highlight, but there’s nothing else to highlight so I refuse – refuse – to create a “highlights” section today. Maybe some day.)

One bad start

2007-04-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

Even I didn’t think it’d start out this bad. Let’s recap:

The “ace” went but 3 2/3, giving up 6 earned runs. ERA: 14.73
The bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding (not that we thought they would).
Nook Logan gets hurt, ends up on DL.
Cristian Guzman gets hurt.

Oh, but there is good news:

Ryan Zimmerman hits the ball well.
Dimitri Young had zero errors.

Rule 5 picks

2007-03-24T09:13:00.000-04:00

Looks like the Nationals are keeping two Rule 5 picks.It begs the question: How many Rule 5 picks can a team have? I’m not the Nats GM, but if I were, I would have looked into this.

For fun, let’s look at what regular Nats players we would want to keep. I should note that there are definitely players the franchise wants to keep, but if they have options, the team can send them down to the farm, then that’s where they would go (Matt Chico is a good example).

John Patterson: I don’t think he is “ace” material, but he’s the closest thing the Nats have. So we’ll keep him. Plus – and this will be a recurring theme – he could be trade bait.
Jon Rauch: Gotta keep him. He was solid last season and if he can continue the solidness, he may be decent trade bait.
Chad Cordero: Trade bait.
Brian Schneider: He’s a leader. And the team needs a guy like this to work with the pitching staff. Keep him.
Nick Johnson: Another fan favorite. Plus, he’s hurt so he won’t be taking a roster spot for awhile.
Ryan Zimmerman: What can you say… he’s the face of the franchise and will put up awesome numbers.
Austin Kearns: Solid half-a-season and he could be excellent trade bait. Gotta keep him.
Ryan Church: There’s just something about him. What that something is, I do not know. But let’s keep him.

The total (minus Nick Johnson because he’s on the DL): 7. Thus, the Nats have room on the roster for 18 Rule 5 picks. If that Nats had done this, the entire franchise would be re-stocked with talent. Of course, they would probably lose 140 games this season.

Why am I doing this?

2007-03-20T15:40:00.000-04:00

I wouldn’t fault you for assuming I hate the Nationals. But that’s not exactly the case. Do I think the Nats are awful? Yes. Do I want them to be awful? No.

Are there reasons out there to hate them? Yes. Do I buy into all those reasons? No.

But there are fundamental questions about this franchise that have to be dealt with. The big one: Direction.

One reason to despise the direction of this team stems from the Alfonso Soriano debacle. Yes, it was a debacle. Because the team chose not to trade him, the franchise is worse off. Imagine if they had traded him last season. They could have got major league-ready starting pitching and probably a decent bat too. But they didn’t. So not only is the major league club worse off, the organization on a whole is worse off.

The trade deadline last season was an opportunity to help re-build the franchise. They chose not to do this. (I will admit, however, they didn’t do exactly nothing. Matt Chico may positively contribute at some point.)

So it’s not that I’ll enjoy the Nats losing this season. It’s just that they will. And that they probably deserve it. And that someone has to blog about it.

Tigers take care of Nats

2007-03-16T13:21:00.000-04:00

The Nationals could muster just one hit against the Tigers last night. Congratulations Austin Kearns!

It wasn’t all bad, though. Matt Chico threw 4 solid innings. In fact, Tim Redding wasn’t all bad either.

The reason the Nats are going to be so bad this year is because of the starting pitching. So seeing potential starters for the Nats do well bodes well for the team. So it’s a happy day.

Great day!

2007-03-13T18:07:00.000-04:00

The Nats had the day off today. Do you know what that means? That's right! They did not lose! Which is like almost a win!

First Post!

2007-03-13T17:20:00.000-04:00

This is my first post. Sweet!

On this blog I will chronicle the Washington Nationals' season. This could be the worst season ever for a professional baseball franchise. So let's all sit back and watch how crappy they can be!! Sweet!

And no, I won't say "sweet!" all the time.