More Moves

Scott Olsen in, Shairon Martis to Syracuse

It was inevitable that Scott Olsen was going to take someone's spot. The assumption was that it should be Jesus Colome's spot, moving Stammen to the bullpen, and that made sense based on Colome's numbers. However, Stammen is just beginning to get comfortable as a starter. He is still prone to the big inning, but is striking batters out at a reasonable rate and getting to the seventh inning occasionally. Stammen will be removed from the rotation at some point, but more likely to be shut down for the season.

Martis, on the other hand, has been laboring mightily since his shutout of the Cardinals May 2nd. He has basically been the right-handed Barry Zito. He isn't striking anyone out, he's walking too many, and he is throwing too many pitches per inning. His stuff is not unacceptable; he has just gotten into the habit of nibbling and isn't consistently hitting his spots. The demotion will give him a chance to pitch more aggressively without the fear of getting pounded by the likes of Raul Ibanez.

The key here, believe it or not, is keeping Colome on the roster. He is more or less scrap heap, so he has no trade value and the Nats don't really have a stake in whether or not they abuse him. Joel Hanrahan, on the other hand, has some potential and trade value. He is still young, and if he can get his slider/changeup worked out (right now they are the same pitch), his fastball will not be pounded. Whether or not Hanrahan is hurting is irrelevant (though his workload last year is daunting); the Nationals do not want him to be perceived as a AAAA pitcher, especially since he cannot be demoted to AAA to work on his stuff. In the meantime, the Nats will want to work him into low leverage situations and limit his innings. Having Colome around will allow them to do that.

Odds are, Hanrahan will be back to his 2008 form sometime before next season. Martis will find his way back to the rotation soon enough, whether it's because Hanrahan gets moved, Colome get demoted, somebody gets hurt, etc. He is a baby by starting pitcher standards and the time on the farm will be better for his long term health.

I give this move a B+, actually. They had no choice bringing Olsen back, and showed some decent foresight protecting two of their better assets.

Phillies Series Preview

Friday: Ross Detweiler vs JA Happ

Saturday: Shairon Martis vs Cole Hamels

Sunday: John Lannan vs Jamie Moyer

Just as a refresher, JA Happ is the man who came out of the bullpen two Fridays ago and with a runner on struck out Johnson, Zimmerman, and Dunn to force a 12th inning. Despite Hamels being the ace, Happ will likely be the toughest puzzle to solve. Right now, his numbers look great, but when you dig a little deeper, Happ has been a strike out pitcher at every professional level. Since moving to the majors, however, despite what he did to the heart of the Nats order, he has been absorbing more contact all the while posting a .219 BABIP. Has Happ been lucky? Possibly. Do these tactics figure to work as the Phillies move him into the rotation? Probably not. He is a lefty who has shown he can get the Nats big bats out, so it will be interesting to see how Manny sets his lineup tonight. The Phillies are absorbing a big blow losing Brett Myers, so the Nats need to make the most of this opportunity to exact some revenge.

After a shaky start, Hamels looks to be rounding back into frontline form. Another lefty will give Manny more decisions to make with the lineup. The key will be to get his pitch count up early and have him out of the game by the sixth. Happ probably won't go too deep, so getting to their bullpen two straight days will create some opportunities against the likes Chad Durbin and Chan Ho Park. A third straight lefty will follow Sunday with Jamie Moyer, who has really struggled this year with the Medicare cuts. He has always skated by with low K rates, but now his command is a little off and teams are crushing him.

Getting Jesus Flores back will definitely help, and we know what to expect from the top four slots in the batting order. Willingham should get a decent audition this weekend, and Dunn will probably move to first for a game to get Kearns some swings. Honestly, if Kearns cannot get going against these lefties, it may be time to eat the contract... Rizzo does get tired of watching people.

As far as the Nats starters go, continue throwing strikes! The Phils are going to get their runs with the loaded middle of their lineup, but it's best to avoid big innings by walking guys who a are struggling, like Rollins and Victorino. Once again, the Nats cannot spot their opponent two to four runs in the first inning, as they have been often this season.

The best thing going for the Nats this series is that it cannot possibly be as bad as their last stand against Philly. There are only three opportunities to blow it this time. And what are the odds Martis stays perfect? I vote good... just a hunch.

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.

Congratulations to Ryan Zimmerman

It is a special type of athlete who an maintain his discipline during a tumultuous first month, refining and improving his approach each game. A 30-game hit streak, which ended during a game in which he ended up on base twice via the BB and IBB, is nothing at which to sneeze. He also demonstrated consistent power, ripping 20 extra-base thus far this season, which as of this posting leads the National League. He looks to be joining David Wright and Evan Longoria as the new class of elite third basemen, much like Jeter, Nomar, A-Rod, and Tejada sprung upon the American League at the end of the '90s.

Tomorrow is a travel day, and then we will be on to the 30-win streak for Martis. If he does that, the Nats stand a chance at .500.

I'll also be putting together some information on pitching changes later this week, in a effort to breakdown how Manny Acta is approaching his bullpen, and why his moves have been consistently incorrect.

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.