Monday, April 2, 2012

Nats vs. Red Sox - 4/2/12

US Presswire photo
The brand-new JetBlue Park was designed to look like a miniature Fenway Park.
They've packed their bags, they've left Space Coast Stadium for another year and the team charter is gassed up and ready to head north later tonight. First, though, the Nationals must play one more exhibition game in the state of Florida: today's Grapefruit League finale against the Red Sox.

Jordan Zimmermann gets his last spring tune-up, coming on the heels of a fabulous performance Wednesday against the Mets. Nice challenge for the young right-hander, going up against a Boston 1-5 of Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz.

Several Nationals regulars have the day off, but there's an interesting twist with Chad Tracy starting in left field. Davey Johnson asked the veteran corner infielder a couple days ago how he would feel about playing the outfield, and Tracy said he was comfortable with it. Perhaps further evidence Tracy could wind up making the squad, especially if Rick Ankiel lands on the DL.

As you know, I'm back in D.C. spending a little QT with the family, so no live updates today. But I'll be at Nationals Park tomorrow for the exhibition finale against these same Red Sox, and then it's off to Chicago for Opening Day...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. BOSTON RED SOX
Where: JetBlue Park, Fort Myers
Gametime: 1:35 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: None
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, Wind 7 mph LF to RF
STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS
CF Roger Bernadina
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Xavier Nady
LF Chad Tracy
DH Wilson Ramos
C Jesus Flores
3B Steve Lombardozzi
(P Jordan Zimmermann)

RED SOX
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Dustin Pedroia
1B Adrian Gonzalez
3B Kevin Youkilis
DH David Ortiz
LF Darnell McDonald
RF Ryan Sweeney
SS Mike Aviles
C Kelly Shoppach
(P Aaron Cook)

111 comments:

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

Best 25 (plus Andrea) go north!

Ring the bell. They're at the post.

Anonymous said...

i simply cannot wait for tomorrow's game at Nats Park. woooooo!

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

What did I say? I meant Kristina!

Best 25 (plus Kristina!) go north!

I can't even type straight thinking of the new dugout reporter. I hope Davey can.

Anonymous said...

Big waste having Bernadina at leadoff. Been there, seen it, done it.

Mark Zuckerman said...

Folks, my sincere apologies for the disappearing comments and 503 Errors. It appears that many comments are suddenly being thrown into the spam folder (and thus disappearing from public view). I went into the folder and accepted all those comments and labeled them as "Not Spam," so hopefully Google will recognize them now.

I'm planning to talk to some of my tech people at CSN today about all these problems. Hopefully they can help solve them. Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding.

JaneB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NatsLady said...

I also know someone who has extra tickets for tomorrow. I'll be going, and giving her a lift (SS/Bethesda area, which is a haul for me). If you need a ticket, let me know and we can meet at the gate. She wants to be there when the gates open so we'll aim for that. I have no idea what the best route is, but hopefully my GPS has good suggestions that don't involve the Beltway.

Big Cat said...

Hmmm...see Milone has 6 perfect innings against the AAA squad. Hated to see him go. But Gio ain't no slouch

SCNatsFan said...

Hey you in the stands? You want to play left field for a couple of innings?

Without Morse our outfield sure looks puny. Lets hope Harper arrives the first day he can.

Anonymous said...

when do the gates open tomorrow?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NatsLady said...

Game time is 3:05, so I believe they open at 1:30. At any rate, that's when we'll be there.

NatsBrat said...

Mark, I think that only the Anons.' postings should be treated as spam.

Theophilus said...

Can't believe Johnson hasn't already seen, at least, Tracy shagging fly balls in ST. I don't think this is a bona fide experiment. More on the order of, "my decisions are pretty much made, just don't want any important people to get hurt, so, how am I going to make today's game more interesting?" Couple of flyballs into the corner could be very interesting.

fast eddie said...

Espinosa hitting third?? Is that a misprint or is Davey trying to bolster his confidence?

natsfan1a said...

I had the same thought. Maybe put an email link on the Blogger profile?

Section 3, My Sofa said...

Oh, golly, Jane--I really wouldn't post my phone number here if I were you...
April 02, 2012 11:07 AM

natsfan1a said...

Of course, I have no idea how to do that, but maybe somebody else here does.

natsfan1a said...

I had the same thought. Maybe put an email link on the Blogger profile?

NatsJack in Florida said...

Big waste reading anon posts on Nats line up.

NatsLady said...

Some of the anon posts are worthwhile, and some people have difficulty NOT posting as anon. I know when I'm where the wifi is chancy and it won't log me on to Google, it's an extra step to put my in the name/url box, and then sometimes I lose the connection. So I can see why people post as anon, I just appreciate it when they sign their name.

UnkyD said...

Easy edit, on the blogger profile, JaneB... And it's a email link-not like posting your address...

Anonymous said...

Bernadina may still be on the bubble. Davey may be batting him leadoff today in part to maximize his ABs and get the best possible look at him, especially after him having missed several days to go to his father's funeral.

MicheleS said...

Will we even get Gameday for this ?

natsfan1a said...

Looks like maybe we can watch the box score tally change. Woo. Hoo. :-)

DWS said...

Re: Gameday. I wondered the same thing on the last post, it appears not.

NatsLady said...

I thought of another option for getting around the MLB.tv blackout of games--a slingbox, which is advertised endlessly on Mr. Tony's show. So I'll try that and see if I can watch games on my "devices" as they promise.

They still have not sent the update to MLB-atbat for seeing games, that is promised for April 4. Cutting it pretty close, I would say.

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

It's so easy for trolls to use handles, and some people post anonymously for good reasons, as NatsJack (or was it SteveM?) rather cryptically pointed out some weeks ago. Actual spam, in fact, will typically have a handle for just that reason.

NatsLady said...

"Nationals officially bring Michaels back into fold on minor league deal"

This makes me smile. I mean, if you can't be in the majors, why wouldn't you want to be in AAA-Syracuse? It's practically an ML team, and will have plenty of publicity. I'm looking forward to the games on MiLB.tv.

bdrube said...

Forecast for Chicago on Thursday: Mostly cloudy, high of just 49. It's going to be a BRISK start to the season for the guys. :)

AD/HD - Indigo Nat said...

My mistake Sunderland et al ...

It was late last night and as a kind of Pirates follower (before the Nats arrived) I still follow the blogs ...

I reference the below blog entry by an embittered Pirates fan. And the more knowledgable blogs were alarmed watching while it happened!!!

I meant to say Jim Tracy pushed Gorzelanny to throw over 100 pitches multiple times in succession during 2007. He had never done that before. Gorzo was the only bright spot for the Pirates that year. That "tool" almost ruined Gorzelanny's arm. I have absolutely no respect for Jim Tracy.


I’m certain that by many calculations Tom Gorzelanny was one of the most overused and abused pitchers in the last 20 years last year. Jim Tracy rode his arm into the ground. I hope he takes some time off and comes back with no injuies because he had multiple starts last year well over 115 pitches in succession. Jim Tracy is a Dusty Baker clone without the toothpick.

Anonymous said...

I meant to say Jim Tracy pushed Gorzelanny to throw over 100 pitches multiple times in succession during 2007.

I meant to say Jim Tracy pushed Gorzelanny to throw way over 100 pitches multiple times in succession during 2007.

baseballswami said...

Seems like it wouldn't be opening day if it wasn't a bit chilly. I froze at a couple of our home openers. Alas - I won't be going this year (tear,sob). I think clouds are actually fine - no losing balls in the sun. I hope the batter's eye is HUGE.

Anonymous said...

It's so easy for trolls to use handles, and some people post anonymously for good reasons, as NatsJack (or was it SteveM?) rather cryptically pointed out some weeks ago. Actual spam, in fact, will typically have a handle for just that reason.

Sec 3 many of your comments make my eyes blur and they often come in rapid succession ... then there's the "removed by author" posts ... I guess you can't type.

One man's 'erudite posts' could be someone else's spam or inane lunacy ... not to mention dull and boring ...

Anonymous said...

One man's 'erudite posts' could be someone else's spam or inane lunacy ... not to mention dull and boring ...

And that one man would be Periculum, of course.

baseballswami said...

I think anything in bold type should be spam....

natsfan1a said...

I think the batter's eye seats quite a few people. Oh wait, you probably didn't mean this.

Anonymous said...

Gameday link for today's game is available here.

natsfan1a said...

Thanks, Anon. They had only the box score without the Gameday graphics interface thingy when I linked earlier.

NaterialGuy said...

Anybody know when and where the Nat's plane arrives?

Anonymous said...

And that one man would be Periculum, of course.

Case in point ... and some people post anonymously for good reasons,

I'm like Bryce Harper ... I'm surprised I didn't get blamed for the Tulo/Ubaldo brawl ...

All of these whining Pots calling all the Kettles black. Lots of stones flying into those glass houses ...

~peric

JaneB said...

Thanks, Sofa and 1a and unkyd. I deleted the phone number. Can't figure out how to edit my profile, so -- if anyone is looking for free seats for the Sox at Nats tomorrow, contact me at JaneBeard@InVisibleLight.com.Tickets can be picked up in SS area...

MicheleS said...

Anon 12:21.. Thanks for the Link! At least we can track the game somehow!

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

Jane, click on your own name in a post here to open the profile. Click on the Edit Profile box in the upper right, and put an email address [preferably one you don't mind getting spam because you're going to delete it in two days] into one of the text box fields--doesn't matter which one. It will then show when someone views your profile, which is a little less public than posting your phone or email address (which the spam spiders WILL collect here) on the blog itself.

Anonymous said...

NaterialGuy said...
"Anybody know when and where the Nat's plane arrives?"
Why? Are you Nats320?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

NaterialGuy said...
Anybody know when and where the Nat's plane arrives?


I don't think they have "a" plane; probably many of them on the same commercial flights out of Ft. Myers, or maybe Sarasota if there are no nonstops from Ft. Myers to DC. Anybody not at today's game probably comes up straight from Viera, or Orlando. Just guessing.

NatsJack in Florida said...

They charter. And there are a couple of non-stops from Ft. Meyers.

NatsLady said...

The Nats don't have their own plane, like the Giants (I mean, without the Beard)?

San Francisco Giants Plane

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/fly-bye-baby-san-francisco-giants-plane_n_1389893.html

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

Thank you for the correction, NatsJack.

DWS said...

Who's Paul Hagen?

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120401&content_id=27807916&vkey=news_was&c_id=was

Smurff said...

Are any of the NI regulars at the game today?

DWS said...

Not a good start by the Red Sox...2 errors.

DWS said...

Carroll replacing shark?

Gonat said...

Dan Kolko ‏ @DanKolko
Roger Bernadina was drilled by an errant pick-off throw by Aaron Cook and is leaving the game. Wow, this could make things interesting #Nats

DWS said...

I'll say this, Gameday has some work to do. Jordan managed to get three outs only pitching four strikes. Pretty efficient.

Anonymous said...

Heck with who is on first - who the heck is going to be in the outfield? Dropping like pop flies.

Steve M. said...

Unreal, that ball caught bernadina on the knee

Steve M. said...

DWS, Gameday doesn't keep accurate pitch counts in Spring Training

Anonymous said...

HARPER READY TO GO!!

Anonymous said...

Man - no one is on here today. Lots of time between posts.

Steve M. said...

JZim pitched thru the Bosox A list one time around and Ellsbury and Pedroia twice. Only 2 hits thru 3 innings.

MicheleS said...

Mark has a tweet that it will be DeRosa, Werth, Nady in the OF for Opening day. Morse could be back on 4/10 and Ankiel on 4/12 (per his new post)

Anonymous said...

What just happened? Come on Gameday, catch up!

Steve M. said...

Espi goes K in 1st inning to a HR. We will take that.

Steady Eddie said...

After seeing the Shark leave like that, it looks like both teams are anxious to swing at anything, finish and leave town ASAP. This may be one of those very few ST games where Gameday's pointless game of walk=4 pitches, K=3 pitches, ball in play=1 pitch may not be very far off.

Can't say I blame them. Nobody wants to get hurt in ST, but especially not when Opening Day is so close they can taste it.

Anonymous said...

Danny!!!!!

Nattydread said...

Espinosa. Getting hot at the right time.

DWS said...

Didn't realize SteveM, usually listen to audio or watch MLBtv. If the option is there of course.

MIcheleS said...

So happy for Danny!

Anonymous said...

No, no - not the dreaded double play!

Steve M. said...

DWS, no biggie. Can't understand why MLB is so inept in ST especially since so many of us pay a lot of money for the full service package.

On top of that, listening to the Cardinals several times this year as the only radio feed is tough. Mike Shannon may be a favorite in St. Louis like their gooey pizza, but I like guys that sound sober and 1/2 way intelligent on my broadcast.

NatsLady said...

So I drive to work, I get here and find out the Martians have been attacking our outfield--AGAIN!!

NatsLady said...

How much does it cost to sponser Charlie and Dave for spring training broadcasts? Let's take up a collection.

Steve M. said...

Boston with 4 hits in the 4th. Now 2-1 Boston

natsfan1a said...

Wait, the Nats with the long ball and the Red Sox with station to station? Either Gameday's gone off the tracks or we're all in Bizzaro World. :-)

natsfan1a said...

Or Bizarro World. Anyhoo.

Steve M. said...

Wheels off the bus. Jesus Flores drops a popup in foul territory and then the batter hits a sac fly. 3-1 I would think the 3rd run would be unearned

natsfan1a said...

Gameday has 3-1 Boston after a sac fly?

natsfan1a said...

Never mind. I think I owe Steve M. a Coke now.

Steve M. said...

natsfan1a, you don't owe me Coke. I just knew someone may ask. LOL

Steve M. said...

Over the weekend I saw that the Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren was saying that Livan Hernandez was going to be a reliever.

I'm not an expert on warm-up routines of guys like Livan and Wang but I specifically remember more than 1 person on here commenting that neither would make it in the bullpen due to their long warm-up routines.

Clearly the Braves don't seem concerned about Livan and it will be interesting if Wren botched it. On the other hand, is there some wrong intel on here?

Thoughts?

Steve M. said...

Gameday just updated the 3rd Bosox run to unearned.

Gonat said...

Steve @2:57, even on GameDay with no audio or video you are a step ahead and clairvoyant on what Natsfan1a wanted to know at 2:46 1/2.

NatsLady said...

Livo has a long warmup routine, that is for sure. However, he might be useful as a spot starter or long-reliever after a rain delay, mopup guy, or if a short-reliever came in for an innning while he warmed up.

Gonat said...

Matt Cain just signed a $110 million 5 year extension. That sets a new bar for pitchers and when Stras and JZim are ready for extensions, the price just moved up. This is getting nuts.

NatsLady said...

Speaking of Livo, an ex-teammate of his was on Intentional Talk, said Livo gave him (or offered him) at $40,000 car for some occasion. No wonder the guy is broke.

Steve M. said...

Gonat, Matt Cain just hit his Mega Millions.

Also, better to be called clairvoyant than some other descriptions. Thanks!

Steve M. said...

NatsLady, I think Livo is now on his last chance and if he can't adapt to the bullpen's routine, then he will be out of MLB baseball.

When he gets the call in the bullpen as a starter is struggling, he has to get ready quickly. He won't be afforded a 15+ minute warmup.

Its ultimately the Braves problem now but certainly surprised me when I read about it.

RPrecupjr said...

In other news, in case it hasn't already been posted, Jamie Moyer has made the Rockies' starting rotation at the incredibly young age of 49.

There's hope for me yet :)

Feel Wood said...

Clearly the Braves don't seem concerned about Livan and it will be interesting if Wren botched it. On the other hand, is there some wrong intel on here?

Probably the only way Livo could work in the bullpen is as a long man. But in Gorzelanny, Lannan, Wang, Stammen and Detwiler the Nats already have more than enough potential long men. Hence, Livo was superfluous.

A DC Wonk said...

Clearly the Braves don't seem concerned about Livan and it will be interesting if Wren botched it. On the other hand, is there some wrong intel on here?

No -- it's simple. Start warming Livo up around the 3rd or 4th inning. Then when you need him by the 7th or 8th inning, he'll be ready.

See? Simple! ;-)

Feel Wood said...

Actually there is another way Livo could work in the bullpen. He could just go out there every night around the third inning and start throwing, and continue throwing for the rest of the game. If he's needed, they bring him in. Otherwise, no big deal. Repeat tomorrow.

natsfan1a said...

I posted this link back when Livo signed with them, but yes, the Braves are looking at him as a spot starter and long relief man.

jd said...

'Matt Cain just signed a $110 million 5 year extension. That sets a new bar for pitchers and when Stras and JZim are ready for extensions, the price just moved up. This is getting nuts.'

More immediately; this just made Cole Hammels that much less affordable for the Phillies.

Gonat said...

Feel Wood, while I don't disagree with Livo being superfluous, a few on here never considered him a viable option because of his long warm-up. That's the point Steve brought up. Nothing about too many arms.

natsfan1a said...

On a game note, Gameday sez J-Zimm is done. His line: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR.

Durbin comes in from the 'pen for the 6th. Still 3-1 Boston (unless they scored while I was typing this).

Steve M. said...

Durbin with another opportunity to impress and promptly gives up a double to the first batter he sees and then a RBI double to Repko

Gonat said...

From Ken Rosenthal: Cain's new deal replaces old one. Six yrs, $127.5M with vesting player opt for '18 that can bring total to $141M over seven. Full no-trade.

Steve M. said...

Kilgore says Durbin pitching with no sleep so I guess we have to cut him a break, right?

natsfan1a said...

Well, his wife did just have a baby, right?, so I guess that's plausible. :-)

natsfan1a said...

After all, they can't all be as low maintenance as Baby Brian (yeah, I'm shameless). ;-)

natsfan1a said...

Luckily, he limited the damage and ended the inning at 4-1 Boston. Atta way, Pops!

DWS said...

I think MLB contracts are going into the Twilight Zone. Granted Cain is a good pitcher but where does the insanity end. Werth was outrageous but he plays everyday. $10 and $20 bleacher tickets say bye bye.

baseballswami said...

Not a bad outing for JZim against a tough line-up. Also - since it's spring training it depends on how he actually looked, what he was working on, and how much they really wanted him to get after it today. They might have wanted him to get his work in but not bust a gut. Now - it we could just hit....

PAY TO PLAY said...

jd, good point on Hamels. I know the Nats would like to tie up JZim long-term so that got more expensive.

$10 million seems to be becoming what $1 was in 1990.

NatsLady said...

Here is fangraphs analysis of why the Astros didn't want Livo and the Braves did.

Fangraphs on Livo


http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/astros-release-livan-hernandez-braves-swoop-in/

NatsLady said...

Heaven knows what Votto will get. Apparently he and the Reds are close to a mega-deal.

baseballswami said...

And Oswalt and Pudge sit on the couch, watching.

Steve M. said...

NatsLady, Fangraphs intel + spelling is way off. Delgado most likely will be the Braves 5th starter until Hudson is ready to return and Teheran was just not good. If they wanted to send Delgado down they could keep an extra reliever and have Livo as their 5th starter.

Houston didn't want Livan because he just wasn't one of their best 5 starters.

Anonymous said...

Some of the gameday shenanigans are pretty funny during spring training. It is especially entertaining when all the substitutes come in.

baseballswami said...

Did I mention that I really like Steve Lombardozzi? He is the underdog that I am rooting for.

Anonymous said...

baseballswami said...
"And Oswalt and Pudge sit on the couch, watching."

Oswalt will get a job somewhere.
There's not much budge in Pudge.

A DC Wonk said...

Man . . . Lidge just posted yet aother scoreless inning. With Lidge possibly recovered and a young MPHRod seemingly matured enough to get control of his location . . . adding to Clip and Store -- wow, what a bullpen!

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