Thursday, April 4, 2013

Nats bring back Young, plus other notes

Photo by USA Today
After spending almost two weeks searching for a big league job outside of Washington, right-handed pitcher Chris Young has returned to the Nationals with a minor league contract. The 6’10” veteran will report to Viera, Florida to throw a few bullpen sessions before joining the Triple-A affiliate Syracuse Chiefs.

Young was granted an unconditional release by the Nats on March 26 to seek offers from other teams after he opted out of his minor league deal with the club. He appeared in four spring training games with Washington, posting a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings pitched. He allowed 11 hits, two home runs, and kept opponents to a .193 batting average.

Young’s brief stint with the Nationals impressed manager Davey Johnson and left him surprised no one picked him up.

“He had a good spring for us. It was probably that late in the year that a lot of clubs are going with their young guys,” Johnson said.

“He threw the ball good this spring, pitched really well, he’s a competitor. He’s real great insurance.”

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13 comments:

Positively Half St. said...

Another serendipitous roster outcome for Mike Rizzo. I read elsewhere that the Nats would still consider letting Young go if a Major League team wanted to offer him a roster spot. I hope at this point that Rizzo wouldn't do it without at least getting something in return. There's only so much that one has to do to earn goodwill. It only makes sense if that was the main selling point to get him to sign the deal.

Holden Baroque said...

That would be generous of Rizzo, indeed. I assume at this point it would require some significant compensation for the Nats if they trade him. "Hey, you had your chance for two weeks to sign him. He's ours now. What'll you give us?"

Tcostant said...

I'm confused, those White Sox games at Nationals Park where no DH is used? I don't think the DH is an issue until late May when they play in Baltimore.

I agree with Davey, the game with the pitcher is more interesting IMO.

pwilly said...

You're correct. The DH is only used in AL parks. In today's Reds/Angels game in Cincy the pitchers were hitting.

Section 222 said...

Tcostant -- Oops. :-) Good catch.

Tcostant said...

I wonder if the president will show up next week to see HIS team...

peric said...

i suspect they let him go if he wants to go ... or else he tries to do what Zach Duke did last season. Of course as I mentioned on the previous thread SYR could be pretty close-to-major-league caliber especially after they promote Rendon. There are no weaknesses in the lineup. The rotation is extremely strong as might be the bullpen especially when they start getting guys from XST along with Young. So, everyone is going to have the idea to impress management enough to get a call-up. Ala Lannan and Duke.

Old-time Yankee depth.

peric said...

I wonder if the president will show up next week to see HIS team...

The ChiSox? I bet the guy prefers the warmer weather and climes having spent a good bit of his life in Hawaii and Indonesia. Might be too cold for him.

John C. said...

Peric, I agree with you on the Syracus lineup. It's going to get to the point of being hard to find playing time for the Syracuse Taxi Squad as it is in Nats Town. Rivero may well find himself as the Lombardozzi of Syracuse if Rendon can hit his way to Syracuse - the regular infield would be Rendon, Walters, Kobernus and Marrero. If the outfield starts the season with Brown, Perez and Micah Owings then when Komatsu is healthy someone is going to have to sit. With a rotation of Chris Young, Danny Rosenbaum, Yunesky Maya, Ryan Perry and Tanner Roark (who is just placeholding until Christian Garcia and/or Bradley Meyers is healthy), that's depth!

Holden Baroque said...

Should be warmer here by next week, and of course, he probably still has the White Sox cap. I don't think he stays for the full game anyway.

Joe Seamhead said...

Interesting. This quote from Davey seems to contradict what has been repeatedly stated as Davey Johnson's philosophy:
“I think there’s plenty of potential for long ball in the lineup. But the big thing is a lot of the younger guys in the lineup are becoming better hitters. I would rather have a better hitter then the long ball. You can do more damage when you’re a quality hitter and can get on base and can keep the line moving. And Denard Span has done that his whole career. We were very successful having Jayson do that, he got on base a lot and took a lot of pitches, but Denard does the same thing. I don’t worry about the long ball, there’s plenty of power in this lineup.”

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Seamhead said...

Hey, NatsJack in Florida, check this out:
http://www.natsenquirer.com/2013/04/jayson-werth-using-werewolves-of-london-as-his-walkout-music.html

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