Let's just try to keep it under control, alright fellas? Ladson reported from the first day of Spring Training today, and from most of what he shared with us, I have good news: the Nats are going to win like 120 games this season. In reality, the team keeps saying it expects to hit .500, which would be excellent progress, but the reports coming from camp are all sunshine and roses. One of Ladson's big points of excitement is that we don't have to worry about auditioning pitchers for the rotation this spring. What? Time for a rundown of just how solid our rotation is!
RHP Shawn Hill - Injury plagued, but when he's healthy, he's great.
RHP Jason Bergmann - Struggled some with injury, pretty good when he's healthy.
RHP John Patterson - This is broken. Did we keep the receipt? I don't care that he says he's healthy, I've heard that before, and you know how it ended? Surgery. In Canada, because it's not approved here.
LHP John Lannan - He was excellent in limited time last year, but he's completely unproven.
LHP Matt Chico - 150+ IP, 4.X ERA, I'm happy with this one. No one expects him to be the ace.
But this is it? This is our "set" rotation? I'm not unhappy with four of the guys on it, don't get me wrong, but these fellas don't exactly have the stalwart durability of Mount Rushmore. "If they can just stay healthy" is a huge "if" for this bunch. And John Patterson, well, I've said my bit about John Patterson. The fact that he's back this year, and the fact that his name was listed by Bill Ladson at the front of the list, with some implication that he's the presumptive ace? I don't like that AT ALL. Patterson has had one good season, in a Nationals uniform or otherwise. It's time to move on. We'll be seeing Garrett Mock and Tyler Clippard before too long, mark my angrily written words!
Also, Nick the Stick is apparently 100% ready to play. This is very good news, if it's true. There's a lot of speculation that Nick will be traded if he's actually healthy. I don't like this, because I love Nick and I don't like Dmitri Young especially, though I have nothing against him. Dmitri is apparently a big part of the "Keep Elijah From Killing Anyone" strategy, though, so it'd be surprising to see him go.
Felipe Lopez lost his arbitration hearing. Good. I don't know why he thought he deserved that much of a raise. He didn't deserve a raise at all, but that's how arbitration works, so whatever. Felipe could be traded, too, if there's any value to be gained from him. He's not in the starting infield this year, and I'm unconvinced that he's really worth it to keep around on the bench.
Lo Duca Watch 2008: Paulie Dukes isn't at camp yet, though he's expected to take a physical this weekend. Also, he still hasn't said a damn thing about the Mitchell report. I don't know why we, as the fans, or they, as the team are accepting this so readily. It's pretty much bullshit at this point. He did it, I think we all know he did it, but I feel like he's also losing his last chance to save any face by not talking about it. Pull an Andy Pettite, a Jason Giambi, or any of the other guys who've acknowledged it and come out and say "Yep, I did it. It wasn't illegal, and I was trying to win." Everyone seems to have accepted that just fine, and you know, we can all understand that on some level. But this Groundhog Day shit has got to go.
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