Saturday, April 26, 2008
I Only Update When He Pitches
Matt Chico has been pounced upon tonight for five runs on eight hits with two walks tonight facing the Cubbies. I didn't really expect to win this one with Carlos Zoombeenie on the mound for the Cubs, but it's also Chico's third consecutive terrible start. I think it's time to send him down to AAA to work out whatever kinks might be in his system. Either that or accept that he's not real good. Tyler Clippard and Jay Bergmann have both been pitching like hot garbage in AAA, but Colin Balester is rocking a 2.66 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings. Might be worth a shot. Then again, he's younger than me (oh god) and maybe should be left to mature a bit in the minors. In any case, Matt Chico is getting knocked around hard, and with the team as bad as it has been so far this year, changes have to be made. I'm downright shocked that no one's head has rolled yet this year.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Bend Me, Break Me, Any Way You Want Me
...As long as we win, baby, it's alright. That was ugly. But there were certainly bright spots worth talking about.
Tim Redding - Tim has emerged as the presumptive ace of our staff after this start, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, his second start was weird and wonky, but his first start and this one have been very solid. Your ace is the guy you turn to when you need to stop a skid, and Tim did that today. 6IP, 3ER, and he pitched better than that through five, so I'm happy with it.
Invader Zim - Strong outing today from Zimmy. From moving Lastings Milledge over to third in the eighth to his other hits and his two RBIs, Ryan had a good day. He'll be fine, have no fear.
Lastings - Okay, first things first, he was safe. I still don't like the decision to run, but he was definitely safe at home. If he can keep getting on base like he did today, he's going to make Omar Minaya look like a real asshole.
The low lights of course made their appearances today, and they were headed chiefly by the return of the most exciting closer in baseball. Chad Cordero, who I want to succeed, I really do, went .2IP, 1H, 2BB. And then Big Jon had to come in and get a one pitch save on a flyout to right that had my heart racing. I hope Chad can get his issues worked out, but man, I hate knowing that a 1-2-3 9th just isn't going to happen.
The Nats have the day off tomorrow and then head up to the Sheadium, where I'll see them take on the Mets on Wednesday and potentially Thursday. Excitement abounds. Also, Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton pointed out today that the Nats could very well see Tim Hudson four times in a span of less than a month. Ugh, fate worse than death.
Since I'm updating this from a Mac, it of course looks funny, but I'll fix it later.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Big Jon's Got Nooooothing
Wow, this is a tearjerker. Matt Chico goes on the board with the best start for the Nats this year, 8IP, 5H, 1BB, 3K. He'll get the loss.
A questionable ninth inning decision to use the struggling Jon Rauch resulted in two more runs, as Rauchie's ERA rose to 9.00. His fastball is only hitting about 86, and while he's no flamethrower, he's usually more in the 91 range, which makes me wonder if he's hiding an injury. Either the Jesus or Saul Rivera would probably have made much better choices for the ninth, but I'm not the manager.
The Nats offense has continued a proud tradition of lying down for Tim Hudson. I've got to dig up his lifetime numbers against us. The man's good, but he's not this good. Zimmy's average has dropped back under .200, which is sort of to be expected - he generally has pretty terrible starts, but it's really ugly to watch, especially with the team having lost eight in a row. They're a sorry bunch at the moment. Wish I had more to write, but damn, it's hard to get up much momentum when it's loss after loss.
Tomorrow we'll see a battle of the Johns, Lannan versus Smoltz. Also, it should be noted that a decision has to be made about the rotation pretty soon in light of Shawn Hill's impending return. It looks like Lannan will be the odd man out, because Matt Chico definitely removed himself from the chopping block with his performance tonight. Something is amiss with Jay Bergmann, too. He's now pitched four solid in two straight starts and then imploded in the fifth. It's painful to see, but hopefully he can work out whatever is causing these little collapses pronto.
A questionable ninth inning decision to use the struggling Jon Rauch resulted in two more runs, as Rauchie's ERA rose to 9.00. His fastball is only hitting about 86, and while he's no flamethrower, he's usually more in the 91 range, which makes me wonder if he's hiding an injury. Either the Jesus or Saul Rivera would probably have made much better choices for the ninth, but I'm not the manager.
The Nats offense has continued a proud tradition of lying down for Tim Hudson. I've got to dig up his lifetime numbers against us. The man's good, but he's not this good. Zimmy's average has dropped back under .200, which is sort of to be expected - he generally has pretty terrible starts, but it's really ugly to watch, especially with the team having lost eight in a row. They're a sorry bunch at the moment. Wish I had more to write, but damn, it's hard to get up much momentum when it's loss after loss.
Tomorrow we'll see a battle of the Johns, Lannan versus Smoltz. Also, it should be noted that a decision has to be made about the rotation pretty soon in light of Shawn Hill's impending return. It looks like Lannan will be the odd man out, because Matt Chico definitely removed himself from the chopping block with his performance tonight. Something is amiss with Jay Bergmann, too. He's now pitched four solid in two straight starts and then imploded in the fifth. It's painful to see, but hopefully he can work out whatever is causing these little collapses pronto.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
OH MY FREAKING GOURD
So, I'm on Staten Island this weekend, which has killed my blogging capacity. As such, I'm going to skip the last few Nats games, because they've lost, but not by a lot. If they could manage to pitch just a little better, I feel like we'd be okay. They certainly haven't been the kind of losses that have you leaving in the fourth inning that have been so common in the past. I'll pick back up with the dailies tomorrow or Monday.
BUT, oh my god, the Capitals won. The Caps have done it, they've won the Southeast division. This is seriously such a celebratory moment for a team that hasn't had a sniff of success in a long time. I can't wait until I get this same kind of rush from the Nats, but man, until then, I'm so stoked for the playoffs.
BUT, oh my god, the Capitals won. The Caps have done it, they've won the Southeast division. This is seriously such a celebratory moment for a team that hasn't had a sniff of success in a long time. I can't wait until I get this same kind of rush from the Nats, but man, until then, I'm so stoked for the playoffs.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
161-1?
Well, teams lose games, so I'm certainly not surprised that the Nats left the ranks of the unbeaten today, but the way they did it was frustrating. After jumping out to a 5-0 first inning lead, Jay Bergmann pitched very well for five innings, but the wheels started coming off in the sixth. He gave up thee runs all by himself, was removed, and Saul Rivera was unable to keep Bergmann's additional two baserunners from crossing the plate, making Bergie's line look way worse than it was. 5.1IP, 5ER, 1BB, 6K is the ugly stepsister of 5IP, 1ER, 6K, which was his line after five.
Saul Rivera was actually unable to really do anything, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 ER without retiring a batter. Ray King came in and cleaned things up for a while, followed by a good inning from Joel Hanrahan, and Luis Ayala who was part of a walkfest, but got out of it unscathed. Jesus Colome pitched a good ninth, but was given the questionable signal to IBB both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases. He then walked Jayson Werth in on four pitches to end the game. I wasn't able to watch the game on TV, but the pitches better have been well wide for an umpire to have the balls to call four straight balls to end a baseball game.
The IBBs today were actually just really annoying in general. Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome were both asked to IBB Chase Utley and Ryan Howard today, and certainly those two are very good hitters, but you have to imagine that putting two guys on base for free has an effect on a pitcher's mental game. Furthermore, the 10th inning walks to Utley and Howard loaded the bases to allow for the winning run to be walked in. Utley has a career .357 OBP and Howard has a career .387, but walking them for free gives them that 1.000 for free of charge. I just don't like it. Six or seven times out of ten, if you pitch to them, they get nothing.
But while the pitching was suspect, the hitting was pretty good. Fourteen hits is good to see obviously, though Ryan Zimmerman's 0-6 line wasn't pretty. The real question in my mind is why Willie Harris was trotted out to bat in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Dmitri Young remained planted firmly on the bench while Harris grounded out to first. That's really confusing to me, because I thought the whole idea of D-Meat on the bench was that he would get some clutch late game at bats, while I thought the idea of Willie Harris on the bench was that he could do everything, but none of it very well. I'm sure Manny has his reasons, but I had a few choice words for MLB.com when I saw who the pinch hitter was, that's for sure. Also confusing was the eighth inning decision to pinch hit Rob Mackowiak for Joel Hanrahan, and then pinch Lo Duca for Mackowiak without Mackowiak taking a pitch. I mean, I know they were going for the righty vs. lefty match up, but what a way to waste a bench player. One who could have been useful, perhaps, in place of Willie Harris in the ninth. OH WAIT THERE WAS SOMEONE READILY AVAILABLE WHO IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ADEPT AS A HITTER THAN WILLIE HARRIS.
Did I mention that I didn't like that move?
Today's lineup also managed to generate a good amount of hitting without being the A-team. Three starters were given the day off today, as a Boone (probably Bob) played first, Jesus Flores caught, and Felipe Lopez made his debut in left. Felipe didn't seem to be too awful from what the internet has told me, he didn't make any errors or anything, as he went 1-5. Jesus was trying desperately not to get sent to AA as he singled, stroked a pair of doubles, and walked, driving in a run in the process. He also notably didn't strike out, which has been one of his problems. His performance today once again raises the questions of why Paul Lo Douchebag (oh my god, do you see what I did there?) is playing every day. I think maybe I have an idea for an answer. While I wouldn't be able to tell even if I watched the game, it's possible that Flores' game calling ability was what hurt Bergie and Saul today. I really don't know if that's true, and certainly Lo Duca allowed the pitchers to get six runs tacked on them a couple of days ago, but it's one of the few explanations I can come up with that would make sense.
Ah well. O-Diesel Perez will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Braden Looper as the Nats (3-1) head out to St. Louis (2-1).
And while one season is just beginning, another is nearing its end. If the Caps can beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and the Flyers split their last two games of the season, the Caps will make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. How glorious that would be.
Saul Rivera was actually unable to really do anything, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 ER without retiring a batter. Ray King came in and cleaned things up for a while, followed by a good inning from Joel Hanrahan, and Luis Ayala who was part of a walkfest, but got out of it unscathed. Jesus Colome pitched a good ninth, but was given the questionable signal to IBB both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases. He then walked Jayson Werth in on four pitches to end the game. I wasn't able to watch the game on TV, but the pitches better have been well wide for an umpire to have the balls to call four straight balls to end a baseball game.
The IBBs today were actually just really annoying in general. Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome were both asked to IBB Chase Utley and Ryan Howard today, and certainly those two are very good hitters, but you have to imagine that putting two guys on base for free has an effect on a pitcher's mental game. Furthermore, the 10th inning walks to Utley and Howard loaded the bases to allow for the winning run to be walked in. Utley has a career .357 OBP and Howard has a career .387, but walking them for free gives them that 1.000 for free of charge. I just don't like it. Six or seven times out of ten, if you pitch to them, they get nothing.
But while the pitching was suspect, the hitting was pretty good. Fourteen hits is good to see obviously, though Ryan Zimmerman's 0-6 line wasn't pretty. The real question in my mind is why Willie Harris was trotted out to bat in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Dmitri Young remained planted firmly on the bench while Harris grounded out to first. That's really confusing to me, because I thought the whole idea of D-Meat on the bench was that he would get some clutch late game at bats, while I thought the idea of Willie Harris on the bench was that he could do everything, but none of it very well. I'm sure Manny has his reasons, but I had a few choice words for MLB.com when I saw who the pinch hitter was, that's for sure. Also confusing was the eighth inning decision to pinch hit Rob Mackowiak for Joel Hanrahan, and then pinch Lo Duca for Mackowiak without Mackowiak taking a pitch. I mean, I know they were going for the righty vs. lefty match up, but what a way to waste a bench player. One who could have been useful, perhaps, in place of Willie Harris in the ninth. OH WAIT THERE WAS SOMEONE READILY AVAILABLE WHO IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ADEPT AS A HITTER THAN WILLIE HARRIS.
Did I mention that I didn't like that move?
Today's lineup also managed to generate a good amount of hitting without being the A-team. Three starters were given the day off today, as a Boone (probably Bob) played first, Jesus Flores caught, and Felipe Lopez made his debut in left. Felipe didn't seem to be too awful from what the internet has told me, he didn't make any errors or anything, as he went 1-5. Jesus was trying desperately not to get sent to AA as he singled, stroked a pair of doubles, and walked, driving in a run in the process. He also notably didn't strike out, which has been one of his problems. His performance today once again raises the questions of why Paul Lo Douchebag (oh my god, do you see what I did there?) is playing every day. I think maybe I have an idea for an answer. While I wouldn't be able to tell even if I watched the game, it's possible that Flores' game calling ability was what hurt Bergie and Saul today. I really don't know if that's true, and certainly Lo Duca allowed the pitchers to get six runs tacked on them a couple of days ago, but it's one of the few explanations I can come up with that would make sense.
Ah well. O-Diesel Perez will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Braden Looper as the Nats (3-1) head out to St. Louis (2-1).
And while one season is just beginning, another is nearing its end. If the Caps can beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and the Flyers split their last two games of the season, the Caps will make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. How glorious that would be.
Oh, What The Hell?
Nothing like watching a five run lead evaporate. I want to cry.
Wow, Ray King actually got the job done. Still, going from 6-1 to 7-6, that's depressing. Hopefully they can come back, but this kind of collapse reminds me too much of years past to be confident about it.
Wow, Ray King actually got the job done. Still, going from 6-1 to 7-6, that's depressing. Hopefully they can come back, but this kind of collapse reminds me too much of years past to be confident about it.
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