MIAMI -- The Nationals have been waiting for a bevy of injured pitchers to rejoin their rotation since April. At long last, they may not have to wait much longer for the reinforcements to arrive.
Ross Detwiler, Scott Olsen, Jason Marquis and Jordan Zimmermann all should be within a month of returning to the majors, with Detwiler and Olsen perhaps only a couple weeks away.
And, according to Mike Rizzo, John Lannan may join that bunch in Washington in the near future as well.
"John is going to be a big-league pitcher this year," Rizzo said of the left-hander, who was demoted to Class AA Harrisburg last month. "John is a major-league pitcher. He's a go-to guy for us."
Get Rizzo's take on all of those pitchers on CSNwashington.com.
11 comments:
He's missing a pitcher? What about Nathaniel Karns formerly of Texas Tech, UNC and Martin High School?
Nathan Karns RHP Coppell Copperheads R-R 6-3 235 SIGNED/Nationals
SCOUTING REPORT: Karns had clearly the best raw stuff in the TCL, pitching in the 89-92 mph range with his fastball and touching 94-95. His hard-breaking curveball was a plus pitch at times and, more importantly, Karns showed confidence in throwing the pitch for strikes. He also showed some feel for a changeup while going 4-0, 1.20 with 47 strikeouts in 30 innings. His improved consistency and confidence this summer was the primary reason the Washington Nationals ended up offering Karns a $225.000 signing bonus as a 12th-round draft pick, an offer the big righthander accepted at the signing deadline. Karns’ ability has been well known to scouts dating back to his high-school days, when he was a 10th-round pick of the Houston Astros despite a college commitment to Texas. He never ended up pitching for the Longhorns and spent his first season at North Carolina State (3-2, 2.67) before transferring back home to Texas Tech and enduring two largely-unsuccessful seasons (3-6, 8.46 in 2008; 4-5, 5.47 last spring) while struggling with his delivery and command.
Five pitchers are returning within a month? So, Strasburg is out? Erm...I think not...not until early September, that is.
Except for JZ, i'm not holding my breath waiting for these guys.
Strasburg, Detwiler, Zimmermann, Livan and Olsen. I'll take that rotation until proven otherwise. But I just can't see this group all being healthy at the same time.
John Lannan if he could get out lefties would be ideal for the bullpen. Has he really improved enough to get back in this rotation?
Olsen was such an impact pitcher up until he got hurt as was Jordan Zimmermann.
@Mark Zuckerman wrote...Lannan is due to make his fifth start for Harrisburg Saturday night against Altoona. The Nationals’ two-time Opening Day starter experienced some ups and down over his first four starts, going 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA, but the organization believes he’s made progress during his minor-league stint.
“He’s down there to get himself straightened out,” Rizzo said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in him that he’s going to be a good, productive, major-league starter for a long time.”
Lannan’s return is based entirely on improved results. The other starters close to returning to the majors are trying to prove they’ve fully recovered from a variety of ailments.
1-2 with a 4.50 ERA doesn't sound Major League ready especially for a pitcher accumulating those stats in AA.
No mention of Wang. How much are they paying this guy not to pitch this season? I predict--we won't see him this season. No wonder no other team was dumb enough to sign him.
Rizzo blew $2 million on Wang--right down the rat hole!
Rizzo took a risk on Wang that pretty much everyone in baseball said was calculated ... but still a good one. From what I've read in AK's update they are being especially cautious with him. One wonders if the language barrier is a part of that? Still, he gets a look next spring for sure.
Another poor performance from John Lannan in Harrisburg -- 4 2/3, 5 hits, 4 runs, 1 ER, 3 BBs -- in a wild 18-15 Senators loss to Altoona. If performance is the criteria, John won't be back with the Nats any time soon.
I watched Olson pitch in Hagerstown last night did well the only run he gave up was either on a wild pitch or a passed ball, not sure how they scored it.
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