Interchangeable Parts... or Not

See, this is what pisses me off the most.

I was up trying to take a dump or something in the 5th inning when Craig Stammen was due to hit. All he had done was come in with the bases loaded and nobody out and bail Marquis out. With the bullpen already stretched thin this week and Strasburg up tomorrow, one would think that Riggleman would try to get three innings from Stammen. Especially since Stammen is one of the few pitchers in the NL who can be trusted to swing a bat.

Instead, Riggleman through the white towel for Sunday as well and gave Justin Maxwell a charity swing. It is very difficult to watch uninformed decisions being made at the highest level. Anyone who has watched batting practice knows Stammen is a good all-around athlete with more than a little pop. Given a fair complement of plate appearances, he may not duplicate Zimmerman's numbers, but it is fairly safe to say the following this season:

Craig Stammen is a better hitter than Nyjer Morgan;
Craig Stammen is a better hitter than Wil Nieves;
Craig Stammen is a better hitter than Willie Harris;
Craig Stammen is a comparable, if not better hitter than both Pudge and Alberto Gonzalez;
and finally,
Craig Stammen is a much, much better hitter than Justin Maxwell.

Instead, since Riggleman thinks that his roster is full of interchangeable parts, where Willie Harris = Mike... err, Michael Morse, and John Lannan = Craig Stammen. He sees P and and thinks that designation defines the player's skill set more than the player himself. Just like the disaster sending Guzman out to right field, Riggleman saw that middle infielders like Morse and Desmond play acceptably out there and figured a "32" (I don't trust those birth certificates anymore) year old career shortstop would be just fine. Everyone who had ever watched Guzman play knew that even second or third would be a stretch for him, and the outfield, was, at best, a wild gamble. Justin Maxwell getting on base (walk) against an average pitcher is a stretch, but with Kennedy throwing strikes as well as he was last night, it was a wild gamble to think Maxwell would get on against him. Just frustrating as hell, and fortunately, I was reenacting Marquis' second inning in the bathroom when it happened, so I didn't have the chance to raise hell down in 116.

Oh yeah, about that Jason Marquis...

Turn the Page

As expected, Cabrera laid an 85 pitch wet fart last night, walking five and striking out one, all the while keeping his Houdini act alive until the 6th inning. The two runs he surrendered in the first five could have easily been more, if not for some fortune, with two double plays and a few line outs. Even ManRam only went 0-2 with a walk. In the sixth, he did exact what he had been doing all night, putting runners on, but Manny yanked him this time and all hell broke loose.

But with every bomb Cabrera lays, at least until they DFA him, hope will follow in the form of Jordan Zimmerman and Shairon Martis. Zimmerman has basically been the anit-Cabrera everywhere he has pitched in the Nats organization, pitching hard and efficiently with roughly a 4:1 K:BB ratio. He wins games, too, which is a plus. Martis' decision to skip the WBC looks to have jump-started his major league career, and he is coming off the first Nationals' complete game pitched at the new park. Yes, he made history Saturday. He doesn't have the best pure stuff, but he is a competitor and seems to be figuring things out as the season progresses.

Hopefully Zimmerman steps in with some history of his own tonight, breaking the Dodgers' streak.