Friday, March 4, 2011

Nats vs. Braves (ss) - 3/4/11

File photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
Space Coast Stadium hosts the Braves today.
Jason Marquis gets his first chance to pitch this spring today, hoping to build off his strong finish from last season and put his otherwise wretched 2010 completely behind him at last. The veteran right-hander has been in good health so far this spring and has every reason to believe his elbow injury is a thing of the past.

We'll see today how much progress Marquis has made against a split-squad Braves team that is sending a few regulars to Viera, including Martin Prado, Nate McLouth and Brian McCann.

Most of the Nationals' regulars are in the lineup today, the only exceptions being Ian Desmond and Ivan Rodriguez. Adam LaRoche is playing, though he's again restricted to DH duties while dealing with some minor shoulder soreness.

In other news today, both Chien-Ming Wang and Tom Gorzelanny pitched in the morning minor-league intrasquad game, facing each other. Gorzelanny tossed two innings; Wang was pulled after one inning with some shoulder stiffness. We'll have to see if that's reason for actual concern or only a minor blip in the Taiwanese right-hander's long-term recovery.

BRAVES (ss) at NATIONALS
Where: Space Coast Stadium, Viera
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV/Radio: None
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 73 degrees, Wind 20 mph LF to RF
STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS
CF Nyjer Morgan
LF Roger Bernadina
RF Jayson Werth
3B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Adam LaRoche
C Wilson Ramos
2B Danny Espinosa
SS Alberto Gonzalez
1B Chris Marrero
(P Jason Marquis)

BRAVES
3B Martin Prado
CF Nate McLouth
1B Freddy Freeman
C Brian McCann
DH Wilkin Ramirez
RF Jordan Schafer
2B Brooks Conrad
SS Diory Hernandez
LF Matt Young
(P Brandon Beachy)

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW Great test for Beachy as well who I believe, is one of the top pitching prospects for Atlanta. Nationals hitters need to know one thing if they want to win today: hit the ball Conrad's way and you will get on base somehow. Thanks for the update on Tom. I was wondering when we will see him pitch in a ST game.

A DC Wonk said...

"Wang was pulled after one inning with some shoulder stiffness. We'll have to see..."

Ughh . . . I hate sentences that start like that . . .

Tcostant said...

Will Wang ever pitch an inning as a National in a regular season game?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

Wonk, just keep reminding yourself, "*Wang" is pronounced *Wong*."

But not vice versa, which is lucky for you.

Anonymous said...

Shoulder stiffness is probably never a minor blip on someone who had Drew Brees Surgery.

Anonymous said...

"Wonk, just keep reminding yourself, "*Wang" is pronounced *Wong*."

But isn't "wonk" pronounced "wank"?

Dave said...

Holy crap! Marquis has thrown 11 strikes, no balls. Got through three innings scoreless without throwing a single ball. One hit, one strikeout.

Maybe this is the Marquis the Nats thought they had signed last winter?

Steve M. said...

Dave, they aren't tracking actual pitches on MLB Gameday but yes, 9 up and 9 down by Marquis is great news!

Dave said...

Hey Mark, how do we get back to the main blog page from a single post? The title banner no longer shows up as a link to the blog home page. How do I get back "home"?

Dave said...

Steve M., I realize they're not tracking the pitch, but they do seem to have an indicator for strikes and balls, or? Is that stat next to the pitcher's photo not accurate?

Steve M. said...

Dave, they aren't tracking balls just strikes and not sure how accurate that is.

JD said...

Nice job by Marquis.

PAY TO PLAY said...

and on another note, Nyjer Morgan is now batting .083 and making everyone look spot on with their assessments of him.

This will get real interesting. Is it time to start the Nyjer Cut-icide watch?

Dave said...

Okay. Well, anyway, Marquis went three complete and gave up one hit. No runs, one K. A good outing for Jason.

JD said...

And the Nyjer bashing begins !!

Mark'd said...

What is the Las Vegas Over/Under for the this aptly named Nyjer Morgan Cut-icide Watch and I say March 11.

BTW, nice outing by Marquis!!!

HHover said...

Does anyone else find it amusing that the Ritalin munching LaRoche appears in the boxscore as "LaRoche, Ad DH"?

jd said...

HHover,

Not before you mentioned it but it is kind of funny in a morbid sense.

Mark'd said...

What isn't funny is Ryan Zimmermans own lack of offense and 2 DPs he has batted into. My observers in FLA say Zim seems like his body fat index has gone in the wrong direction. Can anyone confirm?

JD said...

Lack of offense?

Zim has had 7 at bats. Can you guys chill?

Hey; Marrero is 4 for 4 batting .1000; you think this means anything?

Anonymous said...

Wang = Hill/Patterson?
Gorzelanny = Olsen?

MM

Mark Zuckerman said...

Dave said...
Hey Mark, how do we get back to the main blog page from a single post? The title banner no longer shows up as a link to the blog home page. How do I get back "home"?


Works for me. Have you given it another try?

HHover said...

Mark

It works in Firefox, but not IE.

Mark Zuckerman said...

Thanks, HHover. I didn't realize that since I use Firefox. I'll let our designer Greg know about the problem and hopefully he can fix it.

Steve M. said...

If Ryan Zimmerman goes 3 for 3 tomorrow he will be batting .400 so I agree, chill. On the BF index, I just hope he continued his winter workout and nutrition regimen.

PAY TO PLAY said...

I am on an archaic computer running on IE 6.0 and it works for me.

CapPeterson said...

FWIW, in his interview with the Sports Junkies this a.m. Zim, in response to a question, gave no indication he had changed his off-season routine. FWIW.

The Zim Watch said...

Zim does have that hot new girlfriend Heather as I had a chance to meet her so I am sure his routine changed a little. FWIW
;-))

MGG said...

What was that about Zimmerman? He just homered.

Mark Zuckerman said...

OK, just heard back from Greg about the Internet Explorer issue. He says it should work, but two suggestions for anyone having problems:

1. Clear your cache and cookies.

2. If you are using anything less than Version 8 of Internet Explorer, you should update it.

Hope that helps.

The Zim Watch said...

I knew once we start jabbing Zim he would hit a HR and now batting .250 FWIW

Tcostant said...

Want to give full credit to Nats Journal at washington.post for this update:

Bottom 3, 1:40: Just had to get this in: The game was just delayed for about 90 seconds by what appeared to be a swarm of bees that briefly took over right field, sending fans (and Braves right fielder Jordan Schafer) scrambling for cover. The creatures are gone now, and play has resumed.

Nats are leading 2-0 in the 5th. A bee strom - scary stuff!

PAY TO PLAY said...

Mark Zuckerman said... problems:
1. Clear your cache and cookies.

2. If you are using anything less than Version 8 of Internet Explorer, you should update it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you can lend me some cache, I promise I will use it to update my Compaq 3XB running on Internet Explorer 6.0.

My computing experience sucks.

Steve M. said...

Bryce Harper is in the game!

Mark'd said...

My ex-wife cleared out my cash and cookies and I have to rely on my cellphone as my computer.

hondo69 said...

Mark'd -- LOL, the Post of the Day!!!

--------------

Mark'd said...
My ex-wife cleared out my cash and cookies and I have to rely on my cellphone as my computer.

Steve M. said...

What a horrible performance by Storen. That is back to back sub-par appearances and both while facing AAA and AA guys.

Doc said...

@ HHover: Actually the correct medical nomenclature is ADHD, not ADDH. But comical just the same.

Not sure if LaRoche is still being prescribed meds?

Anonymous said...

Harper had quite the day per the NJ. He is a work in progress. SO, error, misplayed fly ball...

Dave said...

The banner-link will work okay for me at home--Firefox on a MacBook Pro--but not at work. The computers on my school's network have IE7. Oh well.

JD said...

Steve M.

Ok, now that Zim homered we are going to stress over Storen?

Cmon; it's spring training; people are working on things; he is gonna be fine.

JaneB said...

What JD said.

hondo69 said...

Dave -- Until the problem is fixed, you can just click on "Home" at the bottom of each page.

N. Cognito said...

IE8 - banner link no work

Anonymous8 said...

JD, you have to stop calling people out when someone is critical and close to correct on an opinion and/or statement, and you have to get the person's name right. I just read through everything and the only comment from Steve M. with regards to Zim is this:

If Ryan Zimmerman goes 3 for 3 tomorrow he will be batting .400 so I agree, chill. On the BF index, I just hope he continued his winter workout and nutrition regimen.

March 4, 2011 2:30 PM


Nothing wrong with that except he is wrong on the stats unless that was before Zim hit the HR. A 3 for 3 day would put Zim at .454

The comments on Storen were harsh but accurate:

What a horrible performance by Storen. That is back to back sub-par appearances and both while facing AAA and AA guys.

March 4, 2011 3:36 PM


He isn't saying cut the guy or send him to AAA rather it was a horrible performance against Minor League quality guys, and probably wasn't helped by a catchable ball in RF.

Mark'd said...

What Anonymous8 said.

Sunderland said...

IE8, banner link did not work.
Cleared temporary files and coockies, all good now.

Anon8, you have lost me being critical of JD today. I just don't see what you are referring to.

BTW, HHover, Pay2Play and Mark'd, enjoyed you all especially today. This is the best Nats blog by far.

Anonymous8 said...

Sunderland, if JD wants to call someone out, get the right person.

Also, if someone is critical but accurate, they should be allowed to speak their mind IMO. I thought the Storen comment was on point.

Otherwise, it is all good. I also enjoyed some of the humorous banter. Spring Training is supposed to be fun, so lets all enjoy.

JD said...

Anon8,

I am not calling anyone out. I am just suggesting that people should chill about irrelevant small sample performances. You know what Zim is going to give you so who cares what he does in 7 at bats in games which don't count?

Storen may be working on a new pitch or trying some new grip; so who cares if he gives up a bunch of runs in games which are designed for just such experimentation?

BTW; if you guys choose to stress over every spring training at bat then go for it; whatever makes you happy.


Also; people on the bubble like Balester, Detwiler, Stairs etc don't have the luxury of just preparing for the season; they must impress or risk losing their jobs. They can stress over poor spring performances.

Dave said...

I am basically with JD on this. As nice as it feels to have the Nats at 3-2 in Grapefruit League play, it means nothing. And in fact, it could be even thought of as detrimental to spring training to consider these games (or player stats) meaningful.

I would add Morgan to your list of people on the bubble, JD. He has plenty to prove, just by virtue of last year's season.

There are people in camp who simply need to work on their stuff, and there are other people in camp who are auditioning. Neither of these things necessarily leads to good team performance in these practice-games.

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