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.

Giants Series Preview

Tuesday: Tim Lincecum vs. Craig Stammen

Wednesday: Randy Johnson vs. Jordan Zimmermann

Thursday: Matt Cain vs. Ross Detwiler

Wow, and the hits just keep coming for the Nationals. After going on the road to pad the two division leaders’ stats, the Nats come home to face last year’s Cy Young Award winner, the last 300 game winner the league will have for a decade (if ever), and the 2007 and 2008 award winner for unluckiest pitcher ever who is getting all the luck this year.

Hopefully, this series will instead highlight the resistible force vs. the moveable object theme. We know the Nationals’ pitching and defense has been more than generous to opposing offenses. It is the Giants’ offense that may choose not to take advantage, as only Seattle averages fewer runs per game. Their “Who-dat” lineup has posted a ghastly 78 OPS+ this season, and they continue to give prime corner at-bats to noodle-bat Travis Ishikawa and decomposing before our eyes Rich Aurilia. Their 26 team home runs ranks just ahead of Adrian Gonzalez (yes, that is a guy, not a team), and to be frank, they could be the most offensively challenged team of the decade, just ahead of the flaccid 2004 Backs.

Ahh, the things we wish. However, it will likely be decided by Lincecum maintaining his dominant form, Johnson making history, and the Nationals leaving roughly 36 runners on base in a 3-2 loss to Cain. Lincecum is actually striking out more batters per 9 than last season and has given up zero home runs while posting a 1.02 WHIP over his last eight starts. Shades of Greinke… It would not surprise me to see something special Tuesday. If Randy Johnson were not chasing history, I’d say he would be hittable. However, the Nats do like to take a reality show approach to staying in the limelight, so expect vintage Johnson.

As far as the Nationals pitchers go, expect strikes, as Detwiler and Stammen are on stupidly low pitch counts, and hopefully somebody gets J. Zimm settled down before he puts together another first inning implosion.

More Nationals History

From Jayson Stark at ESPN:

• Adam Dunn has hit 16 home runs this year. That team he plays for, the Nationals, has won 13 games. So I know what you're wondering: Has there ever been a guy who had more homers in a season than his team had wins? And the answer: Heck, no. The Washington Times' Mark Zuckerman figured that one out, with the help of the Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR magician David Vincent.

See, this season may not a be a loss after all! The only thought I have is that Dunn seems to consistently finish at 40 homers... yeah, the '62 Mets may be breaking out the champagne.