Thursday, September 6, 2012

Submit questions for Beltway Baseball

A two-day offensive explosion seen only twice before in baseball history. A rookie slugger doing things only two other 19-year-olds have ever done. A dominant young ace about to make his final home start of the season. And a ballclub on pace for 100 wins and the city's first postseason berth in 79 years.

Suffice it to say, there's plenty to talk about the Nationals right now. Chase Hughes and I will be doing just that this afternoon when we tape our latest edition on Beltway Baseball. The episode will be posted tomorrow morning, but before then we need your help as always.

Submit your questions about the Nats in the comments section, then tune in tomorrow to see if we selected yours...

21 comments:

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Mark, have you been able to find out about LaRoche's option or will this be an off-season discussion.

Anonymous said...

Question #1: Is this really happening?

Question #2: Seriously, come on now. This is a dream, right? Or an elaborate prank?

Candide said...

Right now, the Nats look like an AL batting lineup. But they have minor leaguers and part-time players banging at the door. They're too good to keep down on the farm, but the regulars are too good to get rid of.

How do you see the Nats handling promoting guys like Moore, Lombardozzi and ultimately, Rendon, to the starting lineup? If you unload LaRoche and Morse, what kind of players do you get for them?

Theophilus T. S. said...

Don't mean to step on Candide's toes but I think the question is whether Moore, Lombardozzi have shown enough to consider them to be future full-time starters, or are they just gifted, valuable part-timers?

I don't want the Nats to be in the position they have been in w/ Bernadina for some time -- tantalizing flashes of brilliance, no consistency. (Until this year anyway, and because of his past performance, they have to be wondering whether he continues this performance next year or fades back to "normal." Ask them that question, too: "Which Bernadina are we seeing?").

The question Candide wants answered could be, just as easily, "What kind of players can the Nats get in exchange for some of the bench players?"

CN said...

Do you think Johnson will begin to limit his starters innings for the rest of the regular season (w/ expanded rosters), particularly with Zimmermann, who has yet to experience this much of a workload that will surely grow in the playoffs?

Do you think the Zimmermann's drastic increase in innings will have a Steve-Avery type effect on future seasons?

JG said...

What are the Nats chances in this post season to get their first ring? With a team this good, skys the limit...

Joe Seamhead said...


Bryce has been pretty good for the past few weeks, but can he do it against the league's elite pitchers? Right now that kid is looking very focused and confident. Davey seems to be handling him with amazing patience and wisdom.

Can we draft Davey Johnson to run as a third party candidate for president, as he really does seem to have all of the answers? More seriously, is there any question as to whether Davey should be the NL Manager of the year?

Holden Baroque said...

With the move to 2 wild cards, the standings tiebreakers have changed. Since it might affect who the Nats have to play after they run away with the NL East, could you briefly go over the rules there, at least for 2-way ties?

MicheleS said...

Is Davey coming back next year? And who do we have to bribe to make sure he does come back?

Grandstander said...

Any chance, other than injury, one of the callups leapfrogs someone on the lineup to make the post-season roster? (Besides Lannan).

ehay2k said...

The Nats are a young team, and only a few players have postseason experience, and of all of them, I believe that Werth is the lone every day player. Ejax can help the pitchers, but is that enough veteran leadership for this team, or does it really not matter because of the team's makeup, which Davey says is exceptional?

What will the playoff roster look like? Will they keep SS on it just in case? (running, ducking)

jcj5y said...

If you were Davey, what would your playoff rotation be? I was thinking this even before last night, but I think I would go with Gio, who is higher risk/higher reward, in game 1. I might also consider Detwiler over Jackson in game 3, depending on the circumstances.

Mark Zuckerman said...

Apologies, folks. We're going to have to cancel today's episode because Chase had to take care of some other things. Thanks for your questions, and keep them fresh in your mind. We'll come back and try to revisit some of these topics when we tape our next episode.

MurrayTheRed said...

Whatever happened with the MASN arbitration?

MicheleS said...

FYI. Bryce is back on Twitter.

@Bharper3407

NatsLady said...

Thanks, Mark. Guess we have plenty to discuss. I would certainly go with Gio for the one-gamer (which WON'T happen!!!). I might also go with him for game 1. I think we need to wait on the rest of the rotation to see if JZ can recover his form.

Anonymous said...

With Jordan Zimmermann faltering a bit as of late, it would seem a good idea to skip him once through the rotation to freshen his arm as his innings pitched mount. With John Lannan here to replace Strasburg after two more starts it would seem a good fit to insert him in Zimmermanns place before that happens. Why do you think the Nats haven't chosen to do this?

The Real Feel Wood. Accept no substitutes. said...

MicheleS said...
FYI. Bryce is back on Twitter.

@Bharper3407


So will they put that up on the big screen when he's at bat, like they do with the other players who are on Twitter (Espy, Desi, etc)?

sjm308 said...

I have been good about not responding to questions posed to Mark & Chase but since he has released us, I wanted to put my two cents in. Early in the year, I still thought JZimmnn was our best pitcher and had actually written I thought he deserved the ball on opening day for what he did last year. I was still believing he was our best pitcher until the last 3 or 4 outings and I now think Gio definitely deserves the ball in our first playoff game. For one thing, our guys equate Gio pitching with a win and while Jordan has had tough breaks its a reality that we win more times than not with Gio and do not do that with Jordan. I realize that is not his fault but its still my most important stat WINS!

MicheleS - I was going to ask the same question about Davey. I do hope he is back but again, the reality is, he is the oldest manager in the league and he has to have some rough days. I would answer my own question by thinking that if we win the World Series, it would be easier for him to step into an different role with this team. I do expect him to be around Rizzo for years to come in some capacity.

I am actually eating a Red Carpet ticket as we get ready for a trip to SanDiego. I will be at Petco Park on Tuesday rooting for the Padres against the Cards, and will be reading if not posting as my ipad is not as easy to write with as the computer.

Go Nats!! Go Playoff!! Score First!!

The Real Feel Wood. Accept no substitutes. said...

I am actually eating a Red Carpet ticket as we get ready for a trip to SanDiego.

Do those taste better or worse than a slice of Flippin' Pizza? Just curious...

sjm308 said...

I plan to get it down with a nice bottle of Newcastle Ale. Food is just an option.

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