Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Long time coming for Bernadina

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
Roger Bernadina blasts his second homer of the day, leading the Nats to victory.
NEW YORK -- Ian Desmond sat at his locker inside the clubhouse at Citi Field, looking at Roger Bernadina across the room, standing in only his sliding shorts as he talked to a reporter about the best day of his burgeoning major-league career.

When others questioned whether Bernadina would ever enjoy a moment like this, Desmond remained confident.

"I've just been telling everybody the whole time this guy is going to be really good," Desmond said. "Just watch. Let him play and watch. People are like, 'Eh, we'll see.' But today, you saw it. He can hit the ball like that a lot. And he makes all the defensive plays. He's got a cannon of an arm. I mean, look at his body. He's the most-ripped guy in here."

Indeed, Bernadina looks the part. Lean and muscular, with a sweet left-handed swing and a nice gallop in the outfield, he looks like he should be a five-tool player in the big leagues.

But until today's 6-4 victory over the Mets -- Bernadina's coming-out party -- we just didn't have much evidence to support Desmond's claims. Yes, the 25-year-old would make a few nice plays in the field. And every once in a while, he'd square a ball up and hustle down the first-base line. But for the most part, he looked overwhelmed as a major leaguer.

Give the Nationals credit for sticking with Bernadina. That may be in part because the club has no real answer in right field at the moment, but team officials have wanted all along to get a good look at this native of Curacao, the longest-tenured player in the organization. Did you realize Bernadina was signed by the Montreal Expos in 2001, before Omar Minaya was even GM of the relocated franchise?

So when Bernadina crushed his first big-league homer in the fourth inning this afternoon, that alone was reason to celebrate.

"It's something I've been waiting a long time for," he said, surrounded by reporters and wearing the silver Elvis wig for the first time. "I was real excited when I hit it. Running the bases, I had things on my mind. That was great. I was real excited about it."

And Bernadina was just warming up. His diving, backhanded catch of Jeff Francoeur's bases-loaded line drive in the fifth saved the game. For the Nationals. For Craig Stammen, who was teetering on the brink of disaster. And for Jim Riggleman, who was trying to squeeze one last inning out of Stammen before turning things over to his bullpen.

"Bernie bailed me out there," the manager said.

"I played with him in the minor leagues, and I saw that all the time," said Stammen, who escaped allowing only four runs over five innings. "It's good to see him coming into his own and showing off his raw talent. He saved me a bunch of runs."

Across the Nationals' clubhouse, guys who played with Bernadina in the minors rave about him. They've seen him make spectacular catches. They've seen him hit (the guy had a .377 average at Class AAA Syracuse before his latest promotion). So no one was surprised when, after all he had already accomplished today, he stepped to the plate one last time in the ninth inning and launched a pitch from Francisco Rodriguez to deep right-center for the game-winning homer.

Bernadina entered the game with a .212 average and three RBI in 41 career games dating back to 2008. Injuries -- especially a nasty broken ankle suffered last year while making another great catch at Nationals Park -- had stunted his development. But now that he's finally getting an opportunity to play on a regular basis, he's beginning to believe in himself again.

"It's a confidence thing," Bernadina said. "I've started feeling more confident in the big leagues. That's why things are going better now."

Before today's game, Riggleman was talking to a couple of fellow coaches about Bernadina. "He's just too good to be sticking one out there every now and then," the manager said. "He's got too much talent."

So Riggleman made a bold prediction: Bernadina would hit a double and a triple today.

The manager was dead-wrong. He short-changed the guy three bases.

Was this Bernadina's coming-out party? Or was it just a once-in-a-career performance?

"It's one game," Riggleman said. "It's not a breakout. But it could be the start of something good. And it couldn't happen to a more wonderful kid."

Those who have been watching this soft-spoken youngster for years already know the answer.

"We haven't seen anything of what that guy can do yet," Desmond said. "Today was just a slight indication of what that guy can do. He's an unbelievable player. He's really good. Really good."

20 comments:

Section3MySofa said...

So, what are the odds that Roger is the guy they hoped Dukes would be?

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for Justin Maxwell. With Bernadina playing well and also with Harris and Morse ahead of him, it's gonna be awhile before Maxwell can be in the big leagues again.

Jeff Wang said...

Maxwell was the first "throw him out there and see if he sticks" guy. He didn't stick. He had his chances.

Aussie Guy said...

Maxwell will be traded. He'll be the second or third player in Rizzo trade that gets us bull pen help and a 2B prospect.

Uncle Atom said...

Good for Bernadina! Here's hoping he stays in the groove and claims RF as his position.

Andrew said...

Mark - Great photo!

Anonymous said...

Bernadina is different ... he is left handed and Dukes right handed. A more natural right fielder I guess. He was doing better than JMax in Syracuse.

yankish2 said...

How did Roger do against left handed pitching at Syracuse?

DJ said...

Aussie boy -

We have Espinosa/Kobernus as our 2B prospects.

I'm not ready to claim Bernadina the everyday guy or say Maxwell is done...but it was a good game for Roger, nonetheless.

Anonymous8 said...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2010_05_12_noraaa_syraaa_1

So they bring in Villone to relieve Storen and face a lefty AAA guy in the 8th spot in the lineup batting .250 and Villone gives up a double.

Real bad if Villone comes in as the situational lefty and gets rocked.

Anonymous8 said...

OK, Villone walks the next guy and then gets a comebacker and turns a double play.

Aussie Gus said...

Espinosa has played all his minor league games at SS, and Kobernus has been in the system for a whole 24 games. Hardly solid 2B depth in the system.

Anonymous said...

Possible nicknames for Roger Bernadina:

The Berninator

Bern Gully

or

The guy not named Elijah Dukes.

Sec3MyAKA said...

I thought "Roger" *was* his nickname?

Sec3ByAnyOtherName said...

But I guess now we have to ask: Mark, what does TPlush have for Bernardina?

Anonymous said...

bernadina=the flying dutchman

alexva said...

TPlush can refer to him as his replacement in CF

Anonymous said...

Berndaddy or BAMerdina!

longterm

Sec314 said...

I agree with Alexva. TPlush is older, reckless and has less power.

Steve M. said...

The Flying Dutchman is perfect for Roger since he was born in Curacao and trains in the Netherlands.

Should we check with Honus Wagner's family first?

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