Up is Down, and Down is Up

It’s been a bit, and I don’t care. What I do care about is that the Nationals are above .500 for the first time in almost 2 years. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I’m not sure what will. What I can say is that the most impressive thing about the Nats’ record at this point in the season is they aren’t playing good baseball. Aside from 2 or 3 games, the pitching has been awful, and the hitting has, until recently, died when the starter was pulled. They also played the Phillies in a home and away series, and they’re still alive. This is all we could ask for.

Again, in spite of their record, many players haven’t gotten going, and some have overperformed. DId anyone seriously expect Ivan Rodriguez to be hitting .419 and slugging .581? If you say you did, you’re a liar. Willingham is hitting .120 points higher than his career average. Our team leader in strikeouts? TYLER CLIPPARD.

For the guys who are stinkin’ up the place despite the Nationals overachivement, here’s a look. Adam Dunn, .156 avg with 2 rbi. Nyjer Morgan, .220 avg (his OBP is okay). Everyday second baseman, Adam Kennedy? .281 OBP. Pitching? Don’t get me started. Here are the guys with ERAs over 5: Mock, Walker, Olsen, Lannan, Burnett, Batista, Bruney, Marquis, Bergmann, and Stammen. Wow.

Yet. Yet. 6-5. If that doesn’t make you more SBF than Capital Pun., check your pulse.

Oh, there are other things. Nats bloggers have been granted credentials to all Nats home games, and some pretty serious access. Sigh, makes me wish I was more dedicated and more…supportive. Not for the access, but for the free tickets. If you’re reading this Nationals employee (you’re not), I can be censored with gifts of tickets.

Nats Shock the World, by Winning

After witnessing two epic and fundamental failures at Nationals Park over the last three days, I rested. Well, to be honest, I had tickets to the Potomac Nationals opener, and I consulted weatherman Kyle, and he said I should stay home. So stay home I did, as I stare out the window looking at torrential, and biblical rain.
Oh yeah, the Nationals won. It wasn’t without its typicals National moments, including an error in center field, shaky relief pitching, and walks. But, somehow, somewhat, the Nats prevailed. You have to think that not facing Cole Hamels or Roy Halladay was also a major factor in the victory, but they were facing the same lineup.
Craig Stammen pitched decently, if not spactacularly, allowing quite a few hits but not walking anyone and striking out one. After the previous performances by Lannan and Marquis, he looked Tom Glavine esque. Matt Capps pitched a strong 9th after a leadoff double, and was pumped to get his first save.
Christian Guzman is becoming an issue. Not a bad one, but an issue nonetheless. The man can hit. As much as people tried to convince me that Guzman was horrible and we should be rid of him, I believe my eyes. I say he splits time with Kennedy, and leave Desmond be. If Kennedy gets angry, so be it. I can bet that AK won’t be winning us many games with his bat, and won’t be saving too many with his glove. I think he and Guzman ends up a wash, and I’ll take the bat of Guzman. Ridicule away.

My Lyin Eyes

First off, to those of you with a significant other, Happy Valentine’s Day!  Don’t say anything stupid that will ruin your night.  To those of you who are single today, Happy Sunday!  Go watch some Olympics!

I know this is early to be apologizing for lack of activity, but it’s been a while since we’ve had this blog operational, and its hard to keep it up.  Once Spring Training picks up, it should be a little easier.  We know there’s enough to read out there without listening to three guys with no access talk, but hey, we’re nice.

There has been a bunch of almost news since Shawn Estes signed a minor league deal.  We may sign Kris Benson. The Adam Kennedy move is done, with no 40 man roster move announced.  The done deal-not done deal-maybe near done deal with Chien Ming Wang has been discussed and a resolution should come sometime this next week.  Pitchers and Catchers report this week, and with that will come a lot more news.

But this post is about a phenomenon all too familiar with baseball fans.

I’m sure this has happened to you.  You go to a game, and you check who the starting pitchers will be, and make a funny face when you see its a battle of number 5 pitchers.  You console yourself in thinking, “Well, I guess that means we’ll see some runs.”  This particular scenario played out May 2nd, 2009.  I went to see the Nats face the Pujols-less Cardinals, and was of course surrounded by overfed, and volume immodulated St Lucians.  Shairon Maris was on the hill, and to that point he was 2-0, but many were unimpressed.  All I knew about him was that he had pitched a 7 inning no-hitter for Netherlands in the WBC 2006.

If for some reason you remember that game, you’d remember that it was insanely fast.  Like, I think my fiance was watching a tv show, and I was home before it finished.  But the take away from watching Martis throw a 5 hit 1 run complete game against the Cards made me a fan.  He has 6 k’s and no walks, which are considered his main vice.  Cody Rasmus is a bomb about 15 feet to my right in my LF Box seat, whereupon a flood of beer and flying food crumbs showered my neighbors.

It was also the game in which Austin Kearns hit a triple.  You may remember this, because it was rare.  Because Austin Kearns was awful last year.  Also, Adam Dunn hit one into space.  I think it may be a threat to the Space Station, but if it breaks something, they’ll just fix it.  Anyway, back to Shairon.  110 pitches, 79 strikes.  A picture of efficiency, and perfection.

Because of this game, I want Martis to make the team out of spring training.  I know he has a crazy BB/9 rate, I know he has no real big league pitch aside from his change up, and I know that his chances are slim.  But the point is, its amazing what a small sample size and being an eyewitness will do.  I mean, I went home and bought his rookie card!  That aside, the competition for spots 4 and 5 will be tough, and will be undoubtedly the main Spring Training storyline this spring.

But My ALCS Past Is Nipping at My Heels…

In the wee hours of Friday morning, it is being reported that the Nationals are close to signing second baseman/former Scott Feldman antagonist Adam Kennedy. An obvious reaction to being spurned by newly minted Minnesota Twin Orlando Hudson, the Nats chose the next (is best the right word here?) thing. We can hardly fault Rizzo ‘n Friends for wanting to make Washington’s middle infield situation a little more competitive. Kennedy and Cristian Guzman, it appears, will compete for the starting job at second base.

This is Orlando Hudson. He will not be playing for the Nationals in 2010.

Kennedy enjoyed a nice comeback in 2009, posting a .289/.348/.410 in 129 games for Oakland while playing all over the diamond. While that sounds palatable given the .251/.310/.341 the Nationals had at second base in 2009, Kennedy featured the defensive wizardry of one of those lions at the front of the New York Public Library. He rocked a UZR/150 of -14.8 in 50 games at second and -11.4 in 82 games at third, respectively, for Oakland last year.

This is Adam Kennedy. He, on the other hand, will be playing for the Nationals in 2010.

The man from Cal State Northridge is not that far removed from plus-defensive seasons, so perhaps he will bring his glove to Spring Training. Perhaps.

For now, let’s hold our collective breath that Kennedy’s contract is not in excess of $2MM. Well, in excess of $1.5MM. Well…