As the Nationals continue to digest yesterday's tense, 7-5 victory over the Phillies, their 4-5 overall record and the start of a 10-game homestand tonight, here are a few interesting stats that hopefully put the last 11 days into perspective...
-- At 4-5, the Nats have their best record nine games into the season since the inaugural 2005 campaign, when they opened 5-4. Their records after nine games the last four years ... 2009: 1-8, 2008: 3-6, 2007: 1-8, 2006: 2-7.
-- The Nats have been outscored 63-40 overall. They've suffered their five losses by an average of six runs. They've earned their four wins by an average of 1.75 runs.
-- Ivan Rodriguez ranks fourth in the NL with a .407 batting average and is tied for fourth in the league with four doubles.
-- Matt Capps is tied with Cincinnati's Francisco Cordero for the NL lead in saves with four.
-- Washington is tied for the NL lead with 11 stolen bases and has only been caught stealing once. That occurred yesterday, when Nyjer Morgan was picked off first base but still made it safely to second when Ryan Howard's throw sailed into left field. Through nine games last year, the Nats had a total of three stolen bases.
-- The Nationals lead the NL with five triples and rank second in the NL with 44 walks.
-- They've also issued 49 walks (most in the NL) while striking out only 45 (fewest in the league).
-- The Nationals have four pitchers with ERAs under 4.00: Livan Hernandez (0.00), Tyler Clippard (1.04), Matt Capps (1.59) and Jesse English (3.60). They have seven pitchers with ERAs over 7.00: Sean Burnett (7.71), John Lannan (8.31), Miguel Batista (8.53), Jason Marquis (12.96), Brian Bruney (13.50), Jason Bergmann (15.43) and Craig Stammen (15.63).
-- The Nats' .979 fielding percentage ranks eighth in the NL and equals the league average so far.
23 comments:
I absolutely love the agressive base running. We have got to be the fastest team in the NL and we should definitely take advantage of it if we are going to be lacking some power. IN a full season Morgan, Harris, Taveras, Maxwell and Kennedy could all easily steal 20 bases and boy has Willingham been getting some good jumps on the pitchers.
We hit into way too many double plays last year and this definitely has limited those already this year.
We are 4-5 after six games against Philadelphia, six games on the road, a Ryan Zimmerman injury, a very slow start by Adam Dunn, and terrible starts from our two "aces," John Lannan and Jason Marquis. It's nothing short of a miracle.
If the pitching staff can pull its collective head out its rear, maybe this team can be competitive. Or, perhaps more likely, the team stops out-performing its pythag and the season implodes.
Also, while we are 11/12 on stolen bases, Nyjer Morgan was successfully picked off in the second game of the second Phillies series. That needs to be taken into account.
@Mark
I'd be interested to read your thoughts on the decision to extend media credential to 5 bloggers. I believe your campaign was a huge factor in that. Not that you need them with you CSN gig, but I would wonder what your thoughts are on this extension of credibility to internet media and how we should read those blogs. You kind of straddle the fence between newspapers and blogs: newspaper training, integrity, and discipline with willigness to maximize core new media tools.
WOOHOO! -- Ivan Rodriguez ranks fourth in the NL with a .407 batting average and is tied for fourth in the league with four doubles.
Waive Burnett and Batista and move Stammen to the pen in June when Wang and SS are ready.
Not to be a stickler, but Join Rauch has five saves, so Capps is tied for second. Also Capps WHIP is scary, to the point where I dread his coming into the game.
Strasburg is like a tree and Wang like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
"If the pitching staff can pull its collective head out its rear, maybe this team can be competitive. Or, perhaps more likely, the team stops out-performing its pythag and the season implodes."
This reminds me a bit of the first half of 2005, when the Nats were in first place thanks to an ungodly amount of one-run games. Of course, reality caught up and we all know how the second half worked out. Hopefully, we're not seeing a similar situation playing out in 2010 and, instead, the anomalies are the stats and not the record.
Anon 12:19, wouldn't we all be ok with a season similar to 2005 this year after the last 2 seasons? I know I'd take it in a heart beat.
Also just browsing the web this morning and found this ridiculous story that makes Phillies fans look bad yet again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5098407
@Kenz aFan: Rauch plays in the AL now, so Mark is correct in saying that Capps is tied for the NL lead in saves.
Is Guzman's range at second as limited as it looks?
I now live in North Carolina but still follow the Nats thru your blog. I like the coverage you give to us as the local papers don,t cover MLB that much. Go Nats!!!!
edlewis@gmail.com
PDowdy83--Definitely. If 2010 can simulate 2005, then maybe we could finally move forward and look back on the 2006-2009 era as just one long, strange trip.
@Brian
Oops, my bad. Excuse me while I reach for my "reading glasses". Thing is though, I'll always think of Rauch as a National Leaguer.
Here is a follow up on my blog about the Phillie's fan who vomited intentionally on an undercover police captain...wow
http://capcitybaseball.blogspot.com/2010/04/phillies-fans-living-up-to-hype.html
I'm laughing out loud on those numbers. Just as I did when I saw Josh Willingham steal a base.
Besides the weird pitching stats, the team is almost unrecognizable. In a good way.
What is the team's batting average? I'll bet it is under .200.
ESPN reports that after seven games, the Nats team batting average was .218, the worst in the NL, and the team ERA was 6.20, the second worst in the NL. Rizzo has really put together quite a team.
-- Washington is tied for the NL lead with 11 stolen bases and has only been caught stealing once.
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These types of stats are even more significant for what it does to the defense and the pitcher. Holding the runner by the 1st baseman. Keeping the pitcher thinking about the runner.
Seeing the sacking of Jason Bergmann, optioning Mock must at some point have an effect on the starting pitching. Harrisburg, as expected, looks like the SF Giant's starting pitching of the minor leagues. Almost all look pretty close to ready. Plus there are a couple in Syracuse.
Hopefully, no one wants to be the one "sacked" for Strasburg. But there is also Storen, Rafael Martin, Novoa, Carr ... the staff WHIPS are all pretty amazing. Chico and Thompson have the worst with a 1.50 and 1.64. And they have pitched respectably so far.
Here's one more number for you - the team is 4-0 when the starting pitcher records 15 outs, even though only one of those outings met the low bar to qualify as a "quality start".
The rotation and the bullpen probably share some of the blame for the 0-5 record when the starter can't last for five, but it makes you wonder what the team can pull off if it starts stringing some less horrific starts together.
BTW Harrisburg has given up 23 walks against 69 strike outs and only 2 home runs so far. Again more than just Strasburg might end up on the ML roster replacing folks.
Just in case there are still some who think the Nats fan base may have gone a bit overboard railing about deplorable Philly fans invading & pillaging Nats Park for the home opener (this one's for you StanK):
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5098407
PHILADELPHIA -- A New Jersey man is facing charges after police say he intentionally vomited on an 11-year-old girl and her father in the stands during a Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals game.
Clemmens
Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Clemmens, of Cherry Hill, N.J., was arraigned Friday on charges stemming from his behavior at Wednesday night's Phillies-Nationals game.
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