The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Seafood just does not agree with the Nationals. Pick your poison. Last night, a 1-0 10-inning loss capping a pitching duel. Tonight, a 16-10 slugfest featuring only slightly more hits than hit batters. Either way, the Marlins remain the team the Nats just can't find a way to beat.

Speaking of beatings, I can't understand why Nyjer Morgan seems determined to beat a path out of DC. Maybe the relationship was irrevocably damaged when the team put Morgan on the DL against his will. Maybe he can sense that he's not part of the team's long-term plans. Maybe all the losing is getting to him. We may never know for sure. What we do know is that for all the reasons FJB lays out, the time has come for Morgan to go.

Steven's also right that this reflects badly on all involved. GM Mike Rizzo brought Morgan in and shipped Lastings Milledge out to "change the tone" of the clubhouse. I sincerely doubt that this is what he had in mind. Time to get that aura reader recalibrated, Mike. I initially assumed that the incident in Philly was just an overreaction to a misunderstanding, but everything that has happened since has inclined me to believe that Nyjer Morgan probably did chuck a ball at a fan.

For his part, Manager Jim Riggleman seems to have no relationship with Nyjer, and no control over his activities on the field. Leaving aside the question of whether Riggleman hung Morgan out to dry in the press, (he did) if you can't convince your 170-lb centerfielder to stop impersonating a blocking fullback, major league baseball manager may not be your optimal gig. Even worse, the teammates who are forced to back Nyjer after these stunts come off looking like dopes.

And speaking of dopes... so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen and goodbye to Rob Dibble. Honestly, I could have forgiven the Strasburg he-man idiocy if Dibble wasn't just plain bad at his job. Being a shameless homer because you have a deep, visceral, almost disturbing connection to the team is one thing. (Hi, SBF!) Being a homer because the team signs you paycheck is just embarrassing. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said the everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Too often Dibble's version of reality was at odds with what was happening on the field (and in the strike zone.) I know there are fans who thought that Dibble's antics were the only thing keeping the Nats watchable. To them I say, you are bad fans.

To sum up: subtract Morgan and Dibble; add Wilson Ramos and Danny Espinosa? Who knows, maybe morale will improve in spite of the beatings

Matt & Nate: Coming Out of the Booth

That's right, we're sellouts. The Nats reeled us in with a "Blogger Day" and cushy seats in the mile-high press box. Also, Q&As with Drew Storen, Josh Willingham, Jim Riggleman and Stan Kasten. We'll chime in if anything interesting happens here, otherwise expect a write-up of thoughts later tonight.

8:20 pm: Mike Leake is clearly a better pitcher than Stephen Strasburg.

8:30: I feel that Luis Atilano learned the wrong lesson re: pitch counts from Livan's start last night. 80 pitches through 5 innings is not a goal.

8:45: Clippard, Storen and Capps pitched last night. Slaten, Walker, Burnett tonight? Do not want.

8:50: I'm sure it would be tremendously difficult, but can someone please teach Adam Dunn to push a bunt down the 3rd base line?

8:55: Joey Votto needs more stick'um.

9:05: Apparently the goal for the evening was to get Atilano's ERA under 4.25. Mission accomplished.

9:10: What is it about Willie Harris's slash line that makes him the automatic first pinch hitter off the bench?

9:20: If you're not part of the solution, you're Tyler Walker.

9:24: It's the Joe West show, folks.

9:28: Cheer up, Wil. Some days you're the pigeon, some years you're the statue.

9:34: Why Miguel Batista? Why not?

9:45: Zimmerman walking - Good. Dunn hitting w/ men on base? Bad. (See above re: bunting down the 3rd base line.)

9:54: No warning to Batista? Joe West is a jackass.

10:02: I have absolute confidence in the Nats' ability to come back from this. ::weeps::

Livan Hernandez: An Appreciation

It is fitting that Livan Hernandez returned the Washington Nationals to winning baseball. No pitcher better represents the spirit of this team. Even when he's been with other clubs Livo has remained close to the heart of Nats fans - a feeling that's clearly mutual. We should savor every inning, because it's unlikely that we'll get to enjoy a pitcher quite like Hernandez again.

Photo from MissChatter's photostream

If you didn't get a chance to see today's performance, you missed out on the Nationals' most complete game of the season. The bats were working up and down the lineup, but Livan's complete game, 4-hit shutout was the story. Working off his standard 85 mph fastball, changeup and ridiculous 63 mph curve, Hernandez kept the Brewers off-balance all day without breaking a sweat. This performance follows on the heels of seven shutout innings against the Mets last week in Queens. 16 shutout innings by a starter to start the season is, no surprise, a DC franchise record.

More than anything else, it's just a joy to watch Livo pitch. He never looks like he's laboring, he never pays undue attention to the guys on base and he's perfectly willing to throw a 3-2 strike and make the batter do something with it. Hernandez provides a blueprint to success for every other pitcher on Mike Rizzo's pitch-to-contact staff. Hit your spots, mix your pitches and trust your defense. It's even possible to strike a few guys out if you slip a fastball by them while they're looking for a 73 mph changeup.

Livan won't pitch seven scoreless every time out, and if he has a game where he's getting squeezed or missing his spots, he'll just as likely give up as many runs as innings pitched. Nevertheless, if you have a chance to take in a Nats game this season before Saint Stephen of Harrisburg makes his debut, I highly recommend aiming for a Livo start. You haven't lived until you've seen a big fat guy lobbing baseballs into home plate and making major league hitters look silly.

Nats - Dunn = .500

Thanks to tonight's 5-3 victory we can say with a fair degree of certainty that Adam Dunn knows the strike zone better than the umps, but tossing your helmet will get you tossed every time. Also, Josh Willingham can wear the hell out of a silver Elvis wig. On the other hand, there are all sorts of bad lessons that Jim Riggleman could draw from this win over the Brew Crew.

Bad Lesson #1: Zimmerman and Dunn are sort of superfluous. Willingham and Nieves are all the offense any team needs.

Bad Lesson #2: Batting Guzman and Gonzalez 3-4 is the key to victory. Slappy and scrappy beat OBP and SLG any day.

Bad Lesson #3: Ian Desmond should sacrifice bunt more often!

Bad Lesson #4: Brian Bruney is exciting and should be employed to liven up any ballgame.

One day the lack of secondary power on the roster (aka hitters other than Dunn, Zimm and the Hammer) will come back to bite this team. Fortunately, today was not that day. Instead, a solid performance from John Lannan and just enough timely offense was enough to get the Nats back to break even.

Tonight's win should give the Nats new journo-bloggers some good material. In general though, I'm with Kevin and Chris on this issue. Until someone with credentials kneecaps Dibble, that is.

In other news:

• .500 ball is enough to bring all sorts of old friends out of the woodwork.
• Behold, Stan Kasten's favorite customers in all their hometown glory.
• You mean Strasburg can't control the weather? OVERRATED!
  

Zimmermann to Andrews to Strasburg

You may not know this, but the NTP gang has been inconspicuously absent from Nationals Park since the Randy Johnson rainout of June 3, 2009. Two plus months of not subjecting ourselves to live Nats baseball. Well, that all ended this weekend. On Friday NTP Dave was in attendance to see the fellers take their sixth straight game (with an able assist from the first base ump.)

Last night I journeyed down SoCap in search of bobbleheads and managed to snag a win in the bargain. Seven in a row is seven in a row, but all is not sunshine and lollipops for the Nationals. Garrett Mock was effective, but he pitched worse than his final line and there's no starting pitching relief on the horizon. John Smoltz, anyone?

The latest news on Jordan Zimmermann only compounds the problem. In case you've somehow missed the wailing and gnashing of teeth emanating from across the Natmosphere, J-Z's most recent MRI "caused concern" with the Nats crack (cracked? quack?) medical team. This sparked a referral to Dr. James Andrews, which "caused concern" among Nats fans. Now, no visit with Dr. Andrews is ever just a pleasant social call, but there's no sense organizing the mass suicides until Zim'nn's surgery is actually a "complete success and he should be ready for Spring Training." In the meantime I'm more interested in the impact of this news on the Strasburg negotiations.

Buster Olney, based on what appears to be nothing at all, is reporting that "real doubts are beginning to emerge that the Nats will be able to sign Stephen Strasburg." First of all, this is just lousy sentence construction, either by B.O. or MLB Trade Rumors. I can't believe anyone doubts that the Nats are able to sign Strasburg, the only question is whether they're willing to meet his price. "Nats unwilling to sign Strasburg" would be a better encapsulation. But I digress..

There are two potential lessons to be drawn from Jordan Zimmermann's current predicament that could impact the Strasburg signing in very different ways.

Lesson #1: Talented young team-controlled starting pitching is a commodity of unparalleled value, and the more of it you have the better off you are.

Lesson #2: Even the best pitchers are one elbow twinge away from a potentially career-altering visit with James Andrews.

Taking lesson one to heart would suggest that the Nats should pay the freight for the most talented amateur pitcher of the decade and hope for the best. Heeding lesson two would cause the team to avoid committing record setting sums of money a twenty one-year old right arm, no matter what its pedigree. The next eight days just got a little more interesting.

You Never Forget Your First Time

See, it really was Milledge's fault all along! But seriously, at least now we know what it takes for the Nats to get a win.

1. Hold the opposing team to 2 runs on 5 hits.

2. Get home runs from Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes and Alberto Gonzalez.

3. Don't let Saul Rivera out of the bullpen.

Simple enough, right?

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Bullpen?

Nationals 3 - Marlins 1

Did you know there is no particularly good Latin transliteration for bullpen or relief pitcher? No wonder it's a dead language. Yes, NTP Dave and I saw Watchmen last week. Like most things it was neither as bad as I'd feared nor as good as I'd hoped. Taking visuals directly from a graphic novel works pretty well in most cases; directly importing dialogue... not so much.

Shawn Hill actually pitched a (reportedly pain-free) inning, J.Z. followed with a 4-inning Encore performance, and the much-maligned bullpen managed to hold it together the rest of the way. (Box Score)

Lastings Milledge went 3-4 and paced a cobbled together offensive attack that managed to turn 12 hits into just 3 runs. Anderson Hernandez had a pair of hits, as did Corey "Why is this guy taking ABs away from J-Max, Bernadina and Langerhans?" Patterson. The scare of the day came when Cristian Guzman left the game early with "a cut on his left little toe." So now you know about Guzmania's Achilles Toe.

As for the bullpen, apart from today's rousing success they've been, shall we say, less than competent. In the abstract that's worrisome, but my concern is tempered by two factors:

First, if we've actually reached the point where the bullpen is a bigger issue than the rotation, the lineup, the bench, the coaches, the front office and the owners, that represents major progress for this franchise; and

Second, I just have to believe they'll be able to assemble Hanrahan, Rivera, Colome, Bergmann, Young, Mock, Julian "J-Lo" Tavarez and one or two anonymous lefties into a servicable 6 0r 7-man bullpen. I mean, we're talking relief pitchers here, not the staff of the Manhattan Project.

Speaking of rocket scientists, Tavarez's comments were undoubtedly offensive to club-goers, BBW, Jennifer Lopez, alcoholics and a wide range of other interest groups, but as I can't disagree with him on the merits, I have nothing else to add.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: Blastings Thrilledge and Zimmermann (again).

What More Can I Say

Nationals 6 - Mets 4

If the Nats have 99 Problems, Jordan Zimmermann ain't one. (Box Score)

If there really is only one spot open in the 2009 rotation, (which would require guaranteeing jobs for Hill and Cabrera) then J.Z. appears to have taken an early lead over Collin Balester for the fifth and final slot. Zimmermann pitched 3 perfect innings, striking out 3 and throwing just 34 pitches. Big Pimpin' indeed.

It was a performance BallyStar couldn't match. He imploded in the 5th inning, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and surrendering dingers to noted sluggers Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro. Collin recovered to pitch a scoreless sixth, and today's relief corps of Jason Bergmann, Garrett Mock and Jesus Colome was uncharacteristically solid.

The offense came in bunches, as Nick Johnson recovered from his brush with the DL to lauch his second homer of the spring. Another day, another two hit game for Ryan Zimmerman. Ronnie Belliard was 2-3 (with a SB!) and the Attorney General continued to impress off the bench.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: Nick the Stick and Everyday Colome.

Wil Ledezma Sleeps With the Fishes

Nationals 9 - Team Italy 6

I guess those hitting tips from Elijah Dukes paid off. A 2-out 9th inning homerun by Roger Bernadina rescued the Nats flailing bullpen as Washington escaped with a win over the Italians in a WBC warm-up. (Box Score)

Nats' bats feasted early, led by Elijah Dukes's triple and solo homer. Ryan Zimmerman also contributed a triple as part of a 2-hit day. Perennial SS-of-the-future Ian Desmond had a pair of hits (and an error), but Bernadina was the star of the show, going 3-5 with 3 RBI.

Once again the starting pitching shone, once again the bullpen tanked. John Lannan and Shairon Martis again combined on a scoreless outing, only to see their good work undone by Marco Estrada and Wil Ledezma. Gary Glover almost managed to slam the door on the Azzurri, but instead became the beneficiary of Bernadina's blast.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: the Wowin' Curacaoans, Bernadina and Martis.

Oh yeah, Nick the Stick got whacked.

Houston? No Problem

Nationals 2 - Astros 0

Good pitching, great defense and just enough offense equals an uneventful win. (Box Score)

Shawn Hill didn't disintegrate in his brief first outing of the spring, and the pitching that followed was uniformly solid, highlighted by Joel Hanrahan's 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K to garner his first save. The offense managed 7 hits, but there were no breakout performances. RBI doubles from Cristian Guzman and Jesus Flores accounted for all of the Nats' scoring.

Alberto Gonzalez continued to impress with the bat and the glove. The middle infield competition, where there are likely only two roster spots for the Attorney General, Ronnie Belliard and Anderson Hernandez, is shaping up to be one to watch. Big league quality roster depth, what a concept.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: GUZMANIA! and Hanrahan.

More Bad News for Detroit

Nationals 2 - Tigers 1

The Big Three automakers are on the verge of collapse, the Mayor resigned in disgrace (take a hint, JimBo), people are encasing themselves in ice, the Lions... and now this. (Box score)

The starting pitching led the way again, as Collin Balester and Jordan Zimmermann combined for 4 hitless innings. J.Z. racked up 3 Ks in two innings in his Spring Training debut, but just as impressive were his 3 groundball outs. Strike people out and keep the ball on the ground, that's a formula for success at any level.

"Irish" Mike O'Connor joined the reliever chokefest a day late, giving up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts in one inning of work. I guess that's what you'd call a sort of Three True Outcomes pitching line. OK, not really. Rule 5 draftee Terrell Young worked two hitless relief innings with a BB and a K, which is nice if you want to see him do well enough to needlessly tie-up a roster spot all season.

Two runs on four hits means nothing much to report on the offensive front. Pete Orr went 2-3 and scored both runs, but also had the game's only error. The Snowman, Wil Nieves, smoked an RBI double to center, but otherwise, ZZZZzzzzz.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: J.Z. and Dead Weight.

The Nats Are Losing, It Must Be Spring

Astros 6 - Nationals 3

A 9th inning rally couldn't salvage nice performances from John Lannan, Shairon Martis and Alberto Gonzalez. (Box score)

Bullpen maybes Gary Glover, Steven Shell, Mike Hinckley and Garrett Mock engaged in an ill-timed choking competition. Nats batters not named Alberto mostly did nothing for 6 innings, highlighted by Austin Kearns's whiff-tacular 2 AB, 2 K, 5 left on base performance.

After nine innings of exceedingly meaningless B-squad action the starting pitching is in good shape, the bullpen is a shambles and the offense looks exceptionally unchanged from 2008.

Honorary 25-man roster spots go to: American Hero and the Attorney General.

100 Games of Suckitude

 Gm  Date          Opp     Score       WL      Winner       Loser           

  4 Thu, Apr  3   @PHI  L   7-8 (10)   3-1     C Condrey    J Colome        

  5 Fri, Apr  4   @STL  L   4-5        3-2     B Looper     O Perez       

  6 Sat, Apr  5   @STL  L   4-5        3-3     A Wainwright M Chico        

  7 Sun, Apr  6   @STL  L   0-3        3-4     K Lohse      J Lannan       

  8 Mon, Apr  7    FLA  L   7-10       3-5     R Pinto      T Redding      

  9 Wed, Apr  9    FLA  L   4-10       3-6     S Olsen      J Bergmann     

 10 Thu, Apr 10    FLA  L   3-4        3-7     M Hendrickso O Perez        

 11 Fri, Apr 11    ATL  L   0-3        3-8     T Hudson     M Chico      

 12 Sat, Apr 12    ATL  L   2-10       3-9     J Smoltz     J Lannan  

 14 Tue, Apr 15   @NYM  L   0-6        4-10    M Pelfrey    O Perez  

 15 Wed, Apr 16   @NYM  L   2-5        4-11    J Maine      M Chico       

 16 Thu, Apr 17   @NYM  L   2-3 (14)   4-12    J Sosa       J Hanrahan    

 18 Sat, Apr 19   @FLA  L   5-6        5-13    K Gregg      S Rivera      

 19 Sun, Apr 20   @FLA  L   1-6        5-14    S Olsen      L Ayala       

 20 Mon, Apr 21   @ATL  L   3-7        5-15    T Hudson     M Chico       

 22 Wed, Apr 23    NYM  L   2-7        6-16    J Santana    T Redding     

 25 Sat, Apr 26    CHC  L   0-7        8-17    C Zambrano   M Chico       

 30 Fri, May  2    PIT  L   4-11      12-18    D Marte      J Lannan      

 33 Tue, May  6   @HOU  L   5-6       14-19    D Brocail    L Ayala       

 34 Wed, May  7   @HOU  L   3-4       14-20    J Valverde   J Hanrahan    

 36 Fri, May  9    FLA  L   3-7       15-21    R Nolasco    T Redding     

 37 Sat, May 10    FLA  L   0-11      15-22    A Miller     M O'Connor    

 38 Sun, May 11    FLA  L   4-5       15-23    L Kensing    L Ayala       

 40 Tue, May 13   @NYM  L   3-6       16-24    J Maine      J Lannan      

 43 Fri, May 16   @BAL  L   3-5       18-25    G Olson      S Hill         

 44 Sat, May 17   @BAL  L   5-6       18-26    B Burres     O Perez       

 47 Tue, May 20    PHI  L   0-1       20-27    T Gordon     J Rauch       

 48 Wed, May 21    PHI  L   2-12      20-28    J Moyer      M Chico       

 50 Sat, May 24    MIL  L   2-5       21-29    S McClung    J Lannan      

 52 Mon, May 26    MIL  L   3-4 (11)  22-30    C Villanueva S Rivera      

 53 Tue, May 27   @SDP  L   2-4       22-31    H Bell       C Manning     

 55 Thu, May 29   @SDP  L   2-5       23-32    H Bell       S Rivera      

 57 Sat, May 31   @ARI  L   0-4       24-33    B Webb       J Bergmann    

 58 Sun, Jun  1   @ARI  L   0-5       24-34    D Haren      S Hill        

 59 Tue, Jun  3    STL  L   1-6       24-35    K Lohse      O Perez       

 60 Thu, Jun  5    STL  L   1-4       24-36    T Wellemeyer J Lannan      

 62 Fri, Jun  6    SFG  L   1-10      25-37    T Lincecum   J Bergmann    

 63 Sat, Jun  7    SFG  L   0-6       25-38    J Sanchez    S Hill        

 64 Sun, Jun  8    SFG  L   3-6       25-39    B Zito       G Mock        

 65 Mon, Jun  9    SFG  L   2-3       25-40    M Cain       T Clippard    

 67 Wed, Jun 11   @PIT  L   1-3       26-41    I Snell      J Lannan      

 68 Thu, Jun 12   @PIT  L   5-7       26-42    T Gorzelanny J Bergmann    

 72 Tue, Jun 17   @MIN  L   1-2       29-43    L Hernandez  J Lannan      

 73 Wed, Jun 18   @MIN  L   2-11      29-44    K Slowey     J Bergmann    

 74 Thu, Jun 19   @MIN  L   3-9       29-45    G Perkins    S Hill        

 76 Sat, Jun 21    TEX  L   3-13      30-46    K Gabbard    G Mock        

 77 Sun, Jun 22    TEX  L   3-5       30-47    V Padilla    L Ayala       

 78 Mon, Jun 23    LAA  L   2-3       30-48    J Lackey     S Rivera      

 79 Tue, Jun 24    LAA  L   3-8       30-49    J Garland    S Hill        

 82 Sat, Jun 28    BAL  L   1-9       32-50    G Olson      J Lannan      

 84 Mon, Jun 30   @FLA  L   5-6 (10)  33-51    K Gregg      J Rauch       

 86 Wed, Jul  2   @FLA  L   2-4       34-52    R Nolasco    C Manning     

 87 Thu, Jul  3   @CIN  L   3-5       34-53    J Cueto      J Colome      

 88 Fri, Jul  4   @CIN  L   0-3       34-54    B Arroyo     J Bergmann    

 89 Sat, Jul  5   @CIN  L   2-3       34-55    F Cordero    J Hanrahan    

 90 Sun, Jul  6   @CIN  L   5-6       34-56    E Volquez    C Balester    

 91 Tue, Jul  8    ARI  L   0-2       34-57    B Webb       O Perez       

 93 Thu, Jul 10    ARI  L   5-7 (11)  35-58    C Qualls     L Ayala       

 95 Sat, Jul 12    HOU  L   4-6       36-59    W Rodriguez  C Balester    

 96 Sun, Jul 13    HOU  L   0-5       36-60    B Backe      O Perez       

 97 Fri, Jul 18   @ATL  L   6-7       36-61    T Hudson     T Redding     

100 Tue, Jul 22   @SFG  L   3-6       38-62    B Zito       J Bergmann    

101 Wed, Jul 23   @SFG  L   4-6       38-63    G Espineli   L Ayala       

102 Thu, Jul 24   @SFG  L   0-1       38-64    M Cain       T Redding     

103 Fri, Jul 25   @LAD  L   2-3       38-65    C Billingsle J Lannan      

104 Sat, Jul 26   @LAD  L   0-6       38-66    D Lowe       O Perez       

105 Sun, Jul 27   @LAD  L   0-2       38-67    C Kershaw    J Bergmann    

106 Tue, Jul 29    PHI  L   1-2       38-68    B Myers      C Balester    

107 Wed, Jul 30    PHI  L   5-8       38-69    J Moyer      T Redding     

108 Thu, Jul 31    PHI  L   4-8       38-70    K Kendrick   J Lannan      

113 Tue, Aug  5   @COL  L   2-8       42-71    M Corpas     L Ayala       

116 Fri, Aug  8   @MIL  L   0-5       44-72    C Sabathia   C Balester    

117 Sat, Aug  9   @MIL  L   0-6       44-73    B Sheets     T Redding     

118 Sun, Aug 10   @MIL  L   4-5 (13)  44-74    G Mota       L Ayala       

119 Mon, Aug 11   @MIL  L   1-7       44-75    D Bush       G Mock        

120 Tue, Aug 12    NYM  L   3-4       44-76    J Santana    S Rivera      

121 Wed, Aug 13    NYM  L   0-12      44-77    J Maine      J Bergmann    

122 Thu, Aug 14    NYM  L   3-9       44-78    O Perez      C Balester    

123 Fri, Aug 15    COL  L   3-4       44-79    J de la Rosa T Redding     

124 Sat, Aug 16    COL  L   6-13      44-80    L Hernandez  J Lannan      

125 Sun, Aug 17    COL  L   2-7       44-81    A Cook       O Perez       

126 Tue, Aug 19   @PHI  L   4-5       44-82    R Madson     S Shell       

127 Wed, Aug 20   @PHI  L   0-4       44-83    B Myers      C Balester    

130 Sat, Aug 23   @CHC  L   2-9       46-84    R Dempster   O Perez       

131 Sun, Aug 24   @CHC  L   1-6       46-85    R Harden     J Bergmann    

139 Tue, Sep  2    PHI  L   0-4       53-86    C Hamels     J Lannan      

141 Thu, Sep  4   @ATL  L   0-2       54-87    J Parr       S Martis      

142 Fri, Sep  5   @ATL  L   5-10      54-88    J Jurrjens   J Bergmann    

145 Tue, Sep  9   @NYM  L   8-10      56-89    J Smith      C Manning     

146 Wed, Sep 10   @NYM  L  10-13      56-90    J Smith      S Rivera      

147 Fri, Sep 12   @FLA  L   1-2       56-91    S Olsen      S Martis      

148 Sat, Sep 13   @FLA  L   2-4       56-92    J Johnson    T Redding     

149 Sun, Sep 14   @FLA  L   7-8       56-93    A Miller     S Shell       

152 Wed, Sep 17    NYM  L   7-9       58-94    B Knight     S Martis      

153 Thu, Sep 18    NYM  L   2-7       58-95    J Santana    T Redding     

154 Fri, Sep 19    SDP  L   6-11(14)  58-96    J Hampson    L Speigner    

155 Sat, Sep 20    SDP  L   1-6       58-97    C Young      J Lannan      

156 Sun, Sep 21    SDP  L   2-6       58-98    C Baek       O Perez       

158 Wed, Sep 24    FLA  L   4-9       59-99    J Johnson    T Redding     

159 Fri, Sep 26   @PHI  L   4-8       59-100   J Blanton    C Balester



Incredibly depressing info culled from Baseball Reference & Retrosheet.   

Lucky 13

Sorry Cubbies, you're not allowed to be the "best team in baseball" from now on. The "best team in baseball" simply does not blow a 4-run lead and lose to the Washington Nationals 13-5. Dropping two out of three at Nats Park in April is one thing. But you're getting awfully close to losing the season series. No self-respecting World Series caliber team drops two sets to the worst team in all of professional sports ever. So be afraid, be very afraid.

Is Willie Harris Belliard or Da Meat Hook?

One of the many pitfalls of running a terrible team is that you're constantly afflicted with the curse of the mediocre player having a career year. In 2007 Ronnie Belliard and Dmitri Young spun Spring Training signings into two-year, multi-million dollar contracts. I'd say the Belliard contract has been a good deal, the Young deal, not so much (even with his impending return to baseball activities.)

Willie Harris is poised to repeat the pattern this offseason. The Nats have expressed interest in resigning the utility man, though negotiations haven't really kicked in just yet. On the heels of his first career multi-homer game, Big Willie is hitting .255/.342/.455 and is tied with Lastings Milledge for the team lead in homers, with 12 long balls. But Harris's career line is a much less sparkling .248/.323/.345, which suggests that this year's power surge is something of a fluke.

There's no question that Willie has value as a left-handed bat who can come off the bench and play all over the field. He's only 30, and if he gets a two-year deal on the order of what Ronnie Belliard got, in the $3.5M range, it could be another nice signing to bolster the bench. But if the Nats go crazy for another average guy having an above average year on a terrible team, watch out.

Crow Calls

Aaron Crow's appearance on Baseball Digest Daily's weekly radio show generated a lot of buzz in the Natosphere. I know for a fact that Mike from Hendo's Hutch was listening in to the Nats former top draft pick. You can listen to the show for yourself, so I won't bother with a transcript, but after hearing Aaron's side of the story I'm inclined to think that this is a deal that wasn't ever going to get done. Crow is where he wants to be, following in the footsteps of his former Mizzou teammate, Arizona's Max Scherzer and hoping for a better deal in 2009. The Nats have two top ten picks next season. Maybe that's the optimal outcome for everyone.