Inside the Park Homeruns and More

The Nats were drowning in quicksand. Quicksand, as you may remember from the Reeves epic "The Replacements" is when a team continues to self-destruct at the slightest hint of adversity. The team was, and still is, teetering on the bring of becoming quickly irrelevant and forgotten. Players had come into this season expecting to win, and were granted with a brief taste of success. Of course, the Nationals are not a deep talented team equipped to remain in the Wild Card hunt all year. However, as a professional athlete in any sport, the paramount goal is to win the competition, leave it all on the field.

The 2008 and 2009 Washington Nationals knew out of the gate that they sucked... the players themselves couldn't pinpoint why they sucked, and nobody wanted to buy into Manny Acta's philosophies, so nobody improved. This season, the character issues improved, and despite a slow start, the Nats won a few games and found themselves promoted from laughingstock to darkhorse. With the change in expectations will also come a sense of urgency.

There are a few ways to look at Nyjer Morgan's recent adventures. First, he is not hitting well, and therefore not on base as often. Not being on base as often has pressed him into stealing a high percentage of the time, thereby tipping his hand on opportunities. Nyjer Morgan has not been contributing much from an offensive standpoint. Morgan has, until recently, been a reliable, rangy outfielder. However, with both pitching and offense struggling for a team losing a grip on its position in the standings, Tony Plush tightened up and tried to make plays that weren't quite there. And while spiking the glove in frustration is unprofessional, it exemplifies that he knew how important making that catch was. Nobody is "showing up" their teammates here, and Nyjer Morgan is more embarrassed than he would have been had the ball careened off his head for a home run. Had he turned and picked up the ball and tossed it in, it is likely that neither run would have scored on the play. Benching isn't the answer here...

But they need to stay focused. Ryan Zimmerman had great all around game, except for a heinous baserunning blunder that created a double play and allowed the O's to walk Willingham with Guzman on second. I get frustrated when our co-ed rec softball team makes these mental mistakes. The worst thing you can do on offense is make an out. Outs are precious commodities, and at that point in the 8th inning, Zim needs to know that they only have a few left. With the lead, he needs to run a little more defensively, and hopefully the next guy plates him. Yes, Zimmerman has probably been stranded at 3rd base a high percentage of the time than anyone in the league (seriously, I think I may find a way to look this up), but trying to score from first on a line drive from center only works if you don't sprint past Guzman on second.

Fortunately, none of this mularkey amounted to much, as Walker, Burnett, Clippard, and Capps were lights out in the rain, retiring eleven of the twelve batters faced. Clippard and Burnett have been relegated to "second-banana" status with the arrival of Drew Storen, but proved today that it does take 25 working parts to win ballgames consistently.

The Nationals escaped the quicksand this time, and now everyone holds their breath for the arrival of the US Air shuttle from Syracuse, the cargo of which is the future of the franchise.


* Keanu Reeves, American Visionary, Time Traveler, Failed and Redeemed Quarterback, Space Contortionist, and Eff-Bee-Eye Agent

Nationals Baseball

Where nobody has paid any attention to this 2-10 skid, as the Redskins have been incomprehensibly worse.

New Layout...

We were talking about the Patriots throwback (awesome) uniforms in the office today. I mentioned that most fans were not a big fan of the new uniforms (there was a couple different permutations between Pat Patriot and their dynasty digs), but they were also fed up enough with losing that anything was worth a shot. And for the most part, it worked. The Patriots have had just one losing season since 1993.

Therefore, fed up with losing, I have recommended a change. Only I don't have control over the uniforms... just this blog.

11-3

Hot and cold.

Those are the words to describe these Nationals. When the team left Atlanta, the eight game winning streak was a distant memory. The offense had hit the wall, the bullpen was showing some flaws... then the rookie starters, Mock and Martin, whose bargain basement expectations leave the fans and the bettors to their own devices, step up with 12 IP, 0 ER, and two big wins. The only blip on the radar has been the profoundly diabolical pitching of Logan Kensing, whose future with the team should be summed up by Jerry Hathaway: "You are no longer of any use to me!" Seriously, that Nats need him right now like a fish needs a bicycle. And they continue to do this with fairly average catching, too much Ronnie Belliard, and no starters with more than 2 years of experience.

With the Strasburg negotiations likely to come up Osaka, the winning baseball is a welcome distraction. I think the Nationals will put forth one last push tomorrow, but if this is the difference between 15 and 30 million, nobody is confident in a deal getting done. If Strasburg were smart, he only needs to look as far as the disaster Aaron Crow has created for himself. Strasburg will be lucky to be offered half of what the Nats are offering him coming of the his college performance and number one pick status. The number five pick coming out of an Indy League cannot command record money.

Hot and cold.

Great story getting Drew Storen all the way to AA before the signing deadline, but not every story can have a happy ending.

Still Have Yet to Suffer the One-Game Losing Streak

A total anomaly. But at least the bullpen appears to be back in form.

I'll try to break down Craig Stammen later today, but no guarantees.

Lastings Gets the Last Laugh

Not really, but an interesting reversal of fortune, with Nyjer Morgan stranding the go ahead run in an 0-4 effort, getting picked off first, meanwhile Lastings Milledge produced two RBI singles. One game against the Pirates in a lost year for each.

* Man, Guzman REALLY cannot move to his left.

* Lannan is the ace and the horse, but Riggleman should have noticed he looked a little flat tonight an grabbed him after 90 pitches or so... he is still a kid.

* The Nats take too many pitches with two strikes... they need to work on keeping at bats alive even though they aren't getting hittable pitches. Pitchers, especially relievers, make mistakes.

* The Nats have played four months and still have not avoided the losing streak. Amazing!

Epic Losing

Rob Dibble laid the verbal smackdown last night and it was warranted. His claims all tie back into the lack of accountability in the clubhouse.

Here is another astounding statistic that backs up what he claims. This is so bizarre I almost couldn't believe it. The Nationals have had 12 streaks of at least 3 losses this season, including a couple seven gamers. It's true, but also expected. The Nats are not very good. However, guess how many times the Nats have followed up a single loss with a win?

One.

Seriously.

One, and that one only occurred because they won the suspended game.

That is right, the Nats have not once this season bounced right back off the matt to win the next game. If there is evidence that the clubhouse has accepted these losing ways, it is staring back in black and white.

Accountability, Accountability, Accountability... maybe saying it three times will make it happen, like Beetlejuice.

No Mets Preview

The double was a great opportunity to get to a game a choose you own seats. I was able to score a couple wet seats close enough to see the hair coming out of the Unit's nose. I need to bring a real camera next time.

The game illustrated a few things. First, the Nats early season offensive explosion is history. Dunn's a wreck, Zim's reaching for balls and rolling them back up the box, and the catching platoon isn't quite ML caliber. Kearns has officially been written off for the year and Guzman looks ready to check out. One run in three straight games is inexcusable. Johnson's stuff isn't exactly electric. He tagged 92 on the gun a couple times per inning, but was usually at 89 on his fastball and 85 on his slider. He should have been pounded.

They followed that up by allowing former Nats "ace" Tim Redding to skate away on some uninspired, yet effective pitching. No matter what choice Manny makes in the bullpen seems to be wrong. I'm not saying the Nats should give up on Hanrahan, but the velocity is down and he needs to figure it out before killing another winnable game.

Stopping the Skid

As we found out earlier in the season in Arizona, firing the manager does not guarantee success, as AJ Hinch crashed and burned in his debut. It helps to have one starter that the players trust and will rally behind. Right now, that guy is Shairon Martis, who has been their rotation stopper. The Nats are 5-2 when Martis starts, and I'll let you break out the abacus to calculate their win percentage when he doesn't. Today, he'll face off against the Pirates and Jeff Karstens; this is about as money-in-the-bank as the Nats will get given their current predicament.

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of watch the first home complete game in Nats Park history pitched by Martis (sad it took nearly 100 home games to get one). He attacked hitters and forced players to put the ball in play. He is capable of getting to the 8th inning because the players and the coaches are comfortable with his approach. They know he is not Pedro Martinez, but he isn't Daniel Cabrera either. He should have no problem attacking a light Pittsburgh lineup tonight. They are below league average in slugging and walks.

Regardless, the Nats have the Orioles coming to town Friday. It will be embarrassing to have the place packed with 75% O's fans. If they are going to make a move on the manager, which is inevitable because they never renewed Acta's contract, the time would be right now. Most smart fans know that most of this mess isn't Manny's fault, but given the situation, he has done little restore a sense of order. The team is playing worse each game and THAT is his fault.