Thursday, May 30, 2013

Baltimore's barrage sinks Nats



BALTIMORE — There should be no surer thing for the Nationals right now than Jordan Zimmermann on the mound in the seventh inning with a three-run lead.

Even though the ball had been flying out of Camden Yards all night Wednesday — Ryan Zimmerman, for crying out loud, clubbed three homers in his first three at-bats — Zimmermann had been able to keep the Orioles' potent lineup mostly in check. And now as this game was moving into its final stages, the right-hander and unofficial ace of the staff should have been primed to put the finishing touches on this Nationals victory.

And then ... well, let Davey Johnson explain how that seemingly comfortable lead morphed into an agonizing, 9-6 loss amid a sudden barrage of Baltimore home runs.

"That one hurt," the veteran manager said. "It's a tough ballpark to pitch in, and one little mistake ... you let them get something going and the momentum shifts real quick. I thought Zim had pretty good stuff, but this ballpark can eat you alive."
Read more

113 comments:

DWS said...

Blame this one on the Manager, who is usually quick to blame himself. A healthy second baseman and a fresh catcher and a quick hook on the pitcher might have made a difference.
I did not watch the game yet and am undecided if I even want to.
But these are the impressions I'm left with after reading various reasonable posts on the previous thread and Marks insights.

E. said...

HROD is best pitcher, lol.

Unknown said...

You got it, more or less. Plus, the ball was up in the strike zone, rarely down. At least that's what it looked like to me.

MicheleS said...

UGH that was horrible. I guess i should be thankful that my phone died in the 7th

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

We need to just get on a winning streak which has avoided them so far.

Play like defending champions need to be the motto.

jeeves said...

Aside from injuries, the Nats biggest problem, to me, is management's intransigence. Davey stubbornly sticks to the same players when, possibly, better ones are available. He constantly mismanages pitchers. Yet, because of his past experience and success, his decisions now are considered sacrosanct. Why was Perez or Korbernus brought up if there was no intention of playing them? Why is Moore not sent down to get it together? He is not hitting and is poor defensively. And, of course, there is Espy, who even the most positive fans on this site, are asking why. He hasn't hit for almost two years now, not with any consistency, and he is hurt. You have to wonder how that makes the other players feel, especially Lombo. Guess Espy has carte blanche to call the shots. Poor management is the root of the Nats poor showing.

TimDz said...

A few years ago, the Nats were playing the Astros and Lance Berkman got a very generous check swing no call...a call that should have been strike three to end the game...he ended up getting a walk off base hit...the Nats season went into the tank after that.....
While yesterday's loss was not due to a bad call, it was one of those games that may or may not set the team into a tail spin...I'm hoping this team can use as motivation.....

Gonat said...

TimDz, I remember that Berkman play you refer to but nothing was worse than the 9 run lead the Nats blew last year to the Braves and the Nats went on a roll after that.

The Nats are coming up to a fork in the road and Davey needs to decide which road to take.

It's quite possible that if he sticks with the same way the team may not get better but keep in mind that 5 key players are missing in Harper, Werth Detwiler, Ramos and Mattheus.

For all the heartbreak losses this team is still in the mix.

Gonat said...

By the way, Jayson Werth went 1-2 last night for the P-Nats.

Rabbit34 said...

My oh my.It wasn't the ballpark that beat the Nationals, it was the Baltimore Orioles. It was just too bad that Zimmerman's three homer were for nothing, but it was nice to see him hit three homers in a row that have three strikeouts in a row; we've seen that before. At least we are scoring runs. But no Nats50 from Papa Johns!!!!! Zimmermann gets a pass on this game. He is only human, I think!

Doc said...

Now let's win the game tonight, that we were thinking that we couldn't win!

Davey is getting ready to shave!

baseballswami said...

Jordan's first pitch was not even close. He had trouble with fastball command, walked a hitter and went 3-0 to hitters. If you watch regularly you know what that means. Despite that, he is so tough and smart, he was able to battle and stay in the game. His innings were very stressful, so don't let pitch count fool you. He was toast. He has also been bombarded with attention lately, something not all that easy for him. Front page of the WaPo a similar curse to SI?? It happens to every single pitcher and the O's are a super hit team offensively. Ryan had a ridiculous game . If you have not done the DVR thing, do it to watch him. Danny made a defensive miscue, reached base on an overthrow but was choking up some. Can 't see how in his current state if health he is an upgrade. We are holding on without some of our best players and those of you who are calling for Moore to be sent down, check again. He just had a five game hit streak and seems to have figured things out, as have Lombo and Bernadina. Catch up. Usually six will win a game for us. Werth and Bryce join the party and that will be nice. Things are not all that bad. Hope the shark is ok after his unfortunate foul " ball" incident.

NatsLady said...

Try to remember we scored fifteen runs in two days without Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos--OR Michael Morse--and with Desi in a slump.

baseballswami said...

NatsLady- others are much better at the stats and math than I am, but I am guessing that our runs per game has got to be up. And I am also guessing that batting averages in general are going up. You can see the part time players settling in. And Ryan-- oh, my. He was brilliant on both sides of the ball.

EmDash said...

Can't blame Davey too much for leaving Jordan in as long as he did. He's been our best pitcher by a wide, wide margin so far this year - if anyone's earned the chance to try to work his way out of the jam, it's him. And Clip has been the most reliable reliever. They both just hung some pitches to a good-hitting team, on a night when home runs were flying out - several of the wall-scrapers like Pearce's probably would've been long fly-outs earlier in the year. (That's maybe an adjustment Zimm will have to make - focus on the ground-outs, because keeping flyouts in the ballpark will be harder until at least late August.)

jeeves said...

Without Zimm's barrage yesterday, there wasn't much more offense. Oh, and a homer by the Shark. So it's really only one big offensive day, sans Zimm. I still think the Nats will pull through though. My reservations, however, still stem from the the entry I posted above.

DJB said...

TimDZ, I try to be the eternal optimmist. And last year I was right more than wrong. I can't help but agree with you, though. With Haren up today in a hitters park similar to Cincinnati, I think yesterday may have been the proverbial straw. We'll see. I'm not impressed by the hitting. You need to hit in cold and warm weather. Runs will be up around the league. We were facing a pitcher that was grooving a fastball. This may have been the worst pitching team we faced all year.

DJB said...

To add to my comment, its not hitting that matters, but run differential, and there we have not improved. This is going to eventually correlate to team record. It doesn't matter what competition we are facing. These are all big league teams, and you can't count on what seems to be an easier schedule going forward.

phil dunton said...

Jeeves, Rizzo shares the blame. He structures the team based upon strong pitching and good defense, totally ignoring the fact that a team also needs to score runs to win ballgames. Now that the pitching is failing, everything is falling apart. They could end up in third place soon with a sub .500 record.

SCNatsFan said...

Gonna be another real long day in this forum today. Positives are, well, here in SC it is a sunny day.

Gonat said...

EmDash said...
Can't blame Davey too much for leaving Jordan in as long as he did. He's been our best pitcher by a wide, wide margin so far this year - if anyone's earned the chance to try to work his way out of the jam, it's him.
___________________________________

As many have written even during the game thread, Jordan didn't have his fastball command. He was off. It happens and somehow he was pitching good enough to win. It was over 90 degrees and Davey let him go longer than he should have I believe. It happens. Davey had Stammen fresh to go. JZ 5 innings, Stammen 2, Clip then to Soriano.

natsfan1a said...

Oof, I was able to watch the first hour or so in real time (with the radio on for sound, which was nice). Tuned back briefly to hear a loud ovation. I figured that an O had done something good. Then I realized that it was for the second RZ dinger. Well done, Nats fans. Imagine my chagrin to tune back in yet again to see Clip on the mound and an upended lead. Didn't see the entire game and may just delete that one from the DVR without watching. Tonight is another day. Or something.

baseballswami said...

What pitcher are we facing today? That could be a factor. I find it frustrating that I have heard how the O's bullpen is weak but we have not taken full advantage of that. I don't think their starters are all that good, either. They overcome with hitting, we are supposed to overcome with pitching. While I think things are better and we are hanging on, but I would love to have Bryce and Jayson at full strength.

NatsLady said...

SCNats, yeah. I'm gonna do my Opening Day Starters post. Other teams got trouble, too. The Rangers and Tigers were running away with their Divisions a couple of weeks agao--wait, what?

The Giants, according to Bochy, “pretty much covered all facets of the game tonight as far as not playing well.” The Royals won just about every game in Spring Training and a bunch of real games, too. oooooops!

Just keep your heads, boys. Long way to go.

baseballswami said...

Natsfan 1a - do not delete until you scroll through for Zim highlights, defense as well as home runs. Such a treat. Yes, the Nats fans were loud for Zim. And Bernie's teammates were unkindly laughing at him in the dugout, even Lee Kuntz after his unfortunate owie.

NatsLady said...

I think Davey was saving Stammen for tonight. It's hard to expect Haren to go more than 5 (at best 6). Yes, in retrospect a plan of JZ, Stammen, Clip, Soriano would probably have worked--but many a-time JZ has reached back and found another inning.

With Haren not up to full strength and the baby pitcher on Sunday, our bullpen is going to get taxed. There is an off-day on Monday (June 3), so hopefully by the time the Mets come in Werth will be back and Harper will be healed.

jeffwx said...

Garcia 1-2, 4.61 ERA

natsfan1a said...

Will do, swami. Thanks. The good thing about watching on DVR is that I can fast-forward through all the talking-head blather. Yay.

jeffwx said...

yes, june is looking much better.
The O's have done this comeback thing to a lot of teams this year (boston in particular). They give up a lot of runs, giving them the opportunity to come back with good hitting.
Goes without saying, the Nats are so much better with Werth, Harper and Ramos when he returns.

Doc said...

Thanks for the encouraging remarks, NatsLady.

Also, we're only behind the Braves by a few games---it could be worse!

NatsLady said...

Freddy Garcia? Guy's been around the block--more than once. Junk ball pitcher, Came in on a minor-league deal for the O's and was brought up at the beginning of May. Experienced hitters like ALR and Zim should eat him alive, but he can fool a guy like Moore. If Tracy DH's, there's really no excuse for him not hitting this righty.

jeffwx said...

yes, thanks Nats Lady for putting one game in a long season in perspective. I look forward to enjoying the Nats one day, one game at a time.

JaneB said...

The O's are fighting back in the way we did last year. I'm glad the bats are starting to heat up. I'm glad HRod isn't uncorking any airmail. I'm glad Zimm is able to throw again. The next benchmark for me will be clawing back from being down. Or maybe, even holding the lead. We still have time to be a contender. Heck, we still ARE a contender. Just not with as safe a margin as we wished.

jeffwx said...

and i see from the post journal that Garcia has the highest hr allowed percentage, 7 hrs in 27 inning pitched (Haren is third)

BigCat said...

Yes, I always like to see HROD hitting 100mph.

We are at least competitive. Last year was an aberration. We are a .500 ballclub. Decent pitching. Worst hitting in the league

jeffwx said...

great article on MASN cable deal from the distict on deck

"This situation was bound for conflict from the beginning, mainly because it gives one team control over the broadcasting rights of another. In addition, the two teams are in starkly different TV markets. Washington, D.C. is the eighth biggest market, while Baltimore is significantly lower at 27th."

but the Nats get 18% of revenue while accounting for more than 70% of market....wow.

jeffwx said...

start a new network
AASN -- Adios Angelos Sports Network

Tcostant said...

Just a heart breaking loss. Needed to go to the store late yesterday. Game was 6-3 when I went in and 9-6 when I got out. I'm almost glad I didn't have to hear (or see) it live.

A win tonight and 2 of 3 vs. the Braves would go alone way to help me get over this one.

P.S. I hope we see Espi on the bench tonight...

Eric said...

Last night was so, so strange. There was so much joy in being at my favorite ballpark watching my favorite Nat play absolutely stellar ball both on offense and defense. I still get a huge smile when I think about everything prior to the bottom of the 7th inning. Hard to believe we lost.

"Decent pitching. Worst hitting in the league."

I think you meant to post this after a different game... ;)

NatsLady said...

Doc, it could easily be worse. We could be in the NL Central and have our Pythagorean record (24-29). As Kilgore pointed out, we went 27-26 last year after the 14-4 start.

I'm not saying we'll go 19-6 against the Mets, Twins, Rockies, Fillies, Indians and D-backs in June, but it sure is possible. The Mets and Twins are bad teams. The Fillies--it depends who you get pitching. As we saw, they are old and error-prone on the field.The Rockies are a crap-shoot, especially in Coors. The Indians are hot, and have good offense but chancy pitching. Out of that group, probably the most formidable is the D-backs.

Dave said...

NatsLady @ 7:59 AM: "Try to remember we scored fifteen runs in two days without Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos--OR Michael Morse--and with Desi in a slump."

Word. That was a tough game to hear and read about, but there's another one tonight.

I was in a show at the Kennedy Center. Checked my iPhone before the curtain at 7:30 and RZim had made it 1-0. Then another check at intermission showed it at 6-3, with Ryan having knocked three dingers.

Imagine my surprise to see the final score when the show let out at about 9:50. First impulse was to see which reliever coughed it up. Big surprise to see 7 earned runs in the box score for Jordan.

So it's Haren tonight, then Stras, Gio, and Karns in ATL?

Dave said...

Oh yeah: one good thing about being at the theater instead of watching is that I didn't have to hear that idiotic teamed-up play-by-play.

Charlie & Dave tonight on the MLB app, delayed MASN picture through my DVR.

Nats106 said...

I expect the Nats to continue this trend until the all star break. Really, after 50 games compared to last year over this year there is not much difference. 29-21 vs 26-24. Take out the Houston series last year and replace with the Cards and our lost effort against the Cubs...well. And remember the only reason we won the Cubs series is because they had no closer.

For grins, I looked ahead to the all star break and earlier this week told tcostant I expected this team to be 24-21 from the O's series to the all star break. My breakdown:

Orioles: Lose series 3-1
Braves: Lose series 2-1
Mets and Twins Win series 4-2
Rockies/Indians/Phillies road trip: 4-5
Rockies/dBacks homes series: 4-3
Mets away 2-1 win series
Brewers/Padres Home series: 4-3
Phillies/Marlins away: 4-2

If so, they will still be competitive and I still believe we will be a playoff team come season's end. We just need to get to July 14th over 500 and get players healthy. I believe we will.

Theophilus T. S. said...

You should expect to beat up Garcia like a red-headed stepchild. But remember the pathetic performance against Foultz (sp?) in San Diego?

If nobody has mentioned it, the general understanding -- no specific acknowledgement -- is that Camden Yards was configured so that Cal Ripken's Memorial Stadium doubles would be turned into HRs. As such, it is a perfect park for Zimmerman (although his HRs last night would have been out in almost any park). There are a lot of line drive hitters who reach or exceed the left-centerfield wall. But to compare CY to "Great American" in Cincinnati is unkind. That place is a real popcorn-popper.

Someone noted that except for Zimmerman there wasn't much offense. That's absolutely correct. And as they pretty much always seem to do, they scored a bunch of runs (off Tillman) and then shutd own. As a team, they still have not shaken their two-month/third of a season slump.

Eric said...

swami, agreed re: JZimm. He was off in a somewhat concerning way from the get go. Unsettling to see it after the revelation he pitched with a "sore neck" against Philly. Hopefully he's just a little worn down from absolutely dominating so much already this season.

Joe Seamhead said...

I stated in the last thread that there are a lot of positives, but the fact is, we're basically playing with one arm tied behind our back with the injuries to Bryce, Jayson, Wilson, Det and Ryan the Mutt, Mattheus. And it's only a matter of time before Moore gets Span hurt if he doesn't learn to stay out od Denard's way. It's a pretty simple outfielder's rule, Tyler: the center fielder calls for it, just get out of the way. The CF always has the right of way out there. The error Moore was charged with last week was a catchable ball by Span, but Moore is trying too hard. I know Davey still sees this as a marathon, and as such, he wants Moore to be the force that he envisions that he's capable of being. I am not seeing a guy that should be on this roster, and would rather have a steadier fielder like Brown playing. They obviously have no confidence in Corey, but I feel like he deserves a chance.

Theophilus T. S. said...

In with Nats Jack on the 40-man roster. But nobody is going to insist that Purke is going to be useful anytime soon. (With all of the David Copperfield stuff shrouding Purke, I was really surprised at how unready -- physically -- he was at the beginning of this season.) Nor do I see Marrero ever having a role in DC, or Perez (o-for-the outfield in his major league "career?").

But they should have given Kobernus a shot instead of pushing the reset button on Espinosa. And they're doing a Jesus Flores on Suzuki by wasting Solano on the bench night-after-night. Rodriguez of course is a broken record/Jay Leno material. They're not only injured they are playing 3-4 men short.

Tcostant said...

I enjoyed the MASN article but it did fail to point on that the agreement had a five year re-set to change the fee.

I agree the best course is to sell it to Fox Sports or the like and let Angelos eap big $$$ there, but let the Nationals get a true market rate.

It also should be noted that the new Dodgers deal will pay the team over $200 million a year, a lo more than the $80 million noted.

JD said...


This is unbelievable. If Davie had taken JZimm out after 6 and the bullpen blew up all the same whiners would complain that he took him out too soon. Davie did absolutely nothing wrong last night. His ace was up by 3 in the top of the 7th with the bottom of the order coming up and with a low pitch count. Things unraveled quickly; it happens.

Then he went to his best reliever and he got hit hard; that also happens. It's a tough loss to a good hitting team when your pitcher has an off night. Oh well; it's a long year.

natsfan1a said...

I also seem to recall Boz noting, perhaps in a chat, that the can had been kicked back to Selig. I believe that CSN was said to be in the running as well.

NatsLady said...

Danny flailing at the high heat reminds me of Ankiel. He needs to just TAKE A FEW. Seriously--I know it's not Davey's philosophy, but in Danny's case, just keep the bat on your shoulder a few times and see if they will throw strikes. He is swinging 41.6% of the time at pitches out of the zone.

(BTW, Lombo is next worst of the regulars, his O% is 36.5%, which is bad considering he has no power).

You think Desi is a free swinger (and he is, swinging at over 50% of pitches) but he doesn't swing at pitches out of the zone as much).

Here is how Danny stacks up against some of the notorious bad-pitch swingers

Hitters who swing outside the zone

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=150&type=5&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=3,d

Nats Plate Discipline

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=5&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=6885,9219,11579,1904,1433,8347,8259,1327,4220,5422

Doc said...

So far you're correct about the Nats BigCat.

We'll see about the next 100 games or so. Last year, in their 'aberration year' the offense came to life a little late too!

By the way, are you related to BlackCat? LOL

NatsLady said...

JD, my point of view exactly (as I said in my game post). They got to our best starter (who had only gone 6 at 75 pitches) and our best reliever. I was working, and then listening to the game on my drive home, so didn't see anything until Clip came on. But, I don't remember Charlie and Dave saying JZ looked "gassed" until he was in the dugout. Sometimes you score 6 runs and they score 9. When Karns pitched we didn't expect to win, but we did, so it evened out.

Eric said...

So, I just went to MLB.com to check on how many hits we got (8) and noticed that RZim's name is all over the place. That was nice to see. It seems as though his incredible game is not being overshadowed in the least.

Regarding our offense, I have to disagree that we're still in our slump. I think we could still falter back into it, but it seems to me that we've climbed up quite a ways from the bottom.

JD, I generally agree, especially regarding how people would've reacted if JZimm had been pulled sooner; however, Clip should've been up from the moment JZim threw his first pitch in the 7th. It was pretty clear from "play ball!" that he wasn't JZim the Dominant last night.

JD said...


Jordan Zimmermann is regressing to the mean. His BABIP was an unsustainable .210 earlier in the year and it's now up to a more reasonable .243 and it's likely to climb a little higher still.

What this means is that JZimm has been very lucky with ball hit into play and luck evens out. In order to be more consistently successful JZimm needs at least 6 - 8 strike outs a game.

Knoxville Nat said...

NatsJack said:

".... it appears that there at least 4 or 5 guys on it that Davey has no use for "

So my question Jack is why? What does Davey not like about these guys? And how do the Nats go about changing that?

NatsLady said...

On most teams the backup catcher only pitches once in every 5 or 6 games (typically day game after a night game, or Sunday afternoon...) so I don't see using Solano more often than that. We were spoiled by having both Ramos and Suzuki. Yes, almost-everyday-use wears Suzuki down offensively, but catcher is not the position to expect a lot of offense.

Rabbit34 said...

Go Espinosa! We can always use another three strikeout night.

Eric said...

"I don't remember Charlie and Dave saying JZ looked "gassed" until he was in the dugout."

He looked gassed to me by the second inning. I think the number of 3-ball counts says it all. I seem to recall he started the 7th with two very high, outside pitches.

Tcostant said...

natsfan1a said...
I also seem to recall Boz noting, perhaps in a chat, that the can had been kicked back to Selig. I believe that CSN was said to be in the running as well.

Me: My understanding is that Selig had a group of owners look at the situation and make a recommendation. And Boswell has said that recommendation has been made and it is back in Selig's court. It been implied that recommendation was to explore a network sale and Angelos wasn't interested in selling.

baseballswami said...

Although it pains me that the debate seems to end up at second base everyday, I will add to It once again. Different hitters in the line up have different styles, different roles. There is the middle if the order power hitter- big slugging percentage, maybe a lot of K's.
Lead off hitter gets on base, goes full count. Lower in the order maybe singles hitters, make contact, move runners, sac fly. I think Espi sees himself as the middle of the order power guy when he isn't. He keeps trying to be that guy. We need him to make more contact and be a better situational hitter. He has a strong arm and power potential. Kind of like owning a car that goes over a hundred mph when you do all your driving in the city so what you really need is a nice Prius that gets the job done and is efficient. Who doesn't want to be the Ferrari? It's much sexier. But it might not be what you need.

NatsLady said...

Maybe JZ is not that good in hot weather? Or, shall I rephrase that--not physically adjusted for the hot weather. I seem to recall that Stras got dinged by commenters for not taking his IV before a game on a hot day. The weather changed pretty quickly from chilly to summer. For JZ's previous start it was 53 degrees and cloudy. Last night at game time it was 86 and humid. That's quite a difference.

SCNatsFan said...

Danny still thinks he is a 25/90 guy and his swing shows that. As long as he thinks he's just a tweak away from that player then we will see exactly what we are seeing.

Eric said...

Re: MASN, is Bud Selig the most impotent manager of a borderline protected monopoly to have ever lived? JUST FIX THE PROBLEM MAN!

Eric said...

"Danny still thinks he is a 25/90 guy and his swing shows that. As long as he thinks he's just a tweak away from that player then we will see exactly what we are seeing."

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that is the heart of where management might be doing him a disservice. Everyone talks about his potential power. Seems to me he needs to refocus on simple contact and then let any power grow from the confidence that gives him.

But, what do I know...?

DJB said...

Nats106, I don't think baseball is susceptible to an analysis based on the strength of schedule. There are simply too many games. You need to look at run differential, team era, whip, and team OPS. All of this spells trouble for the Nats. Lets hope there is no injury to JZimm. If not, he let the team down last night. No excuse for the 7th if he wants to be our stopper. Also, I'm very concerned with Bryce's propensity to injury and lack of maturity. A lot of this is the organization's fault, but we need to watch it.

Joe Seamhead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nats 128 said...

"Eric said...
"I don't remember Charlie and Dave saying JZ looked "gassed" until he was in the dugout."

He looked gassed to me by the second inning. I think the number of 3-ball counts says it all. I seem to recall he started the 7th with two very high, outside pitches."

I agree. He and Suzuki were sweating so much there jerseys looked blue/gray. It was a humid 90 degrees for a kid from Wisconin who up until yesterday was pitching in cold and cooler weather.

The Coaches again have to make the decision for the player and it just is what it turned out to be and you turn the page. Im not saying they were right or wrong as Stammen couldve come in and blown up also.

The Orioles pulled Tillman and the fresh arms from there bullpen did a good job. Clippard made 1 bad pitch in that hanger to Davis. Oh well, today is a new day of baseball.

Joe Seamhead said...

NatsJack has a good point about the under use of the 40 man roster. Does anybody seriously see Ryan Perry ever pitching here again? And Chris Marrero, baring a series of injuries is a stop in for a cup of coffee in September guy. Perez? Gee, run once on the bases without the sign and you might not ever get off the poop list.
I still think Davey is one of the best managers out there, but I sure get flustered with his stubbornness regarding Espy and Moore, but especially his loyalty to Danny. I don't see Lombo as the second coming or anything, but he has beat Espy out with his play on the field, in my opinion. And he shows every sign of being one thing that Espinosa has shown that he isn't, and that's in a word, coachable.

JD said...


NatsJack,

'Ideally, you'd like to see a 40 man that would allow a constant revamping of the 25 man when needs arise'.

I don't think that this is strictly correct. Aren't there people on the 40 men roster because they have future value as major leaguers or in trade. Marrero for example would be picked up by someone if he was not protected but I think he can get you something in a trade.

The bigger issue is that because of injuries the subs are put in regular positions and minor leaguers are put in the sub positions and in both cases each group is somewhat over their heads. You can't expect to lose Harper and not feel the pain.

Don said...

Tough loss, but what can you do.

Anyway, Espi needs to be DL'd or sent down, it is just awful watching that guy try to make good contact. He's not helping the club and the club is not helping him by trotting him out there to fail every day. Only 24 Hs with 43 Ks to 4 BBs in 153 PA??

JD said...


NatsLady,

JZimm was NL pitcher of the month last June. I don't think he has an issue with hot weather. We need to stop looking for mysterious reasons for bad games. As you often point out we are dealing with humans and sometimes they are not as good as other times; nothing more complicated than that.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Eric said...
"Danny still thinks he is a 25/90 guy and his swing shows that. As long as he thinks he's just a tweak away from that player then we will see exactly what we are seeing."

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that is the heart of where management might be doing him a disservice. Everyone talks about his potential power. Seems to me he needs to refocus on simple contact and then let any power grow from the confidence that gives him.

But, what do I know...?

May 30, 2013 9:48 AM


You are correct and it's a back to basics approach to start with making solid contact with a shorter swing. The HRs will come when you are making solid contact but right now the team just needs him getting on base.

For anyone who golfs you know that you can hit the golf ball further with the driver but much more accurate with the shorter irons. It comes down to the shorter swing gives you better control albeit shorter distance. That's the same tradeoff Espinosa has to approach by cutting down on his swing.

Between Tyler Moore, Chad Tracy and Kurt Suzuki they combined for a 0-12 and add in Espinosa in the 9 hole and you have a 1-16 and 6 strikeouts out of the 16 ABs for a K% of 37.5%. Of course Espi alone was 75.0%

EmDash said...

JZimm's control was a little off all night, but he still had a quality start until the 7th inning happened. He's been able to wiggle out of a lot of trouble so far this season. Some of it's luck and some of it's approach and some of it's circumstance - in another park on a cooler night, a lot of those would've been pop-ups. So it wasn't unreasonable to think he could get through the bottom of the order more-or-less unscathed. And we would've been pretty unhappy with Davey for pulling Zimm what we'd see as too early if a reliever had come in and blown up too.

And with Haren starting tonight and rookie kid pitcher on Sunday, that's likely to be a big strain on the bullpen. Haren's home run problem + that stadium + that lineup + humidity = bet on a short outing, I'd say. Trying to get one more inning out of your best starter even if he's not at his best is a reasonable gamble under those circumstances.

I agree with the oddness of the management of the 40-man, and the minor league call-ups as well. Davey's use of them indicates that he does not trust them even a little bit, not even using them as defensive replacements too much unless the regulars really desperately need a day off or are injured, or it's a game against a pitcher like Kershaw that he didn't expect to win. Changing up the bench wouldn't make much difference if Davey doesn't think enough of the new players to use them...

Nats 128 said...

"JD said...

NatsLady,

JZimm was NL pitcher of the month last June. I don't think he has an issue with hot weather."

Look at last years schedule after the Chicago opener it was a lot of warm weather starts if you go through those box scores. "Weather" you think so or not you have to look at any pitcher going from 65 degree weather to 90 and humid could have a effect.

Tcostant said...

They said on the radio during the game that Zimm was having trouble getting is slidder over, so he was throwing more curves and even change ups as off speed pitches last night. So he clearer wasn't "on".

Nats 128 said...

All the HRs they hit were wall scrapers except Markakis. The ball was flying last night. Only Zimm and Bernie connected for long ones and those go out in any stadium.

Eric said...

"For anyone who golfs you know that you can hit the golf ball further with the driver but much more accurate with the shorter irons."

For sure. Speaking of golf, anyone else notice that Tracy seems to be confusing ABs with teeing off lately? I swear breaking balls at or below the bottom of the zone are to him as shoulder-high fastballs are to Espi.

JD - it's certainly possible he just simply didn't have it last night. My only concern is that it follows a start where Davey acknowledged that he had a "sore neck." And, there were a couple of early close ups of JZimm where he looked kind of...I dunno...unsettled, nervous even.

Of course, if he did just have a regular old off night, it seems plausible that pitching in upper-80s humidity for the first time this year played a role...that different than saying he's bad in hot weather in general.

Anyway, it's neither here nor there, so long as there isn't something going on with his "sore neck".

NatsLady said...

JD, the only reason I said that is because of observations that JZ looked sweaty and "gassed" by the second inning. (I didn't see it, and am not going back to look.) It's not so much warm weather as the abruptness of the change. I recall reading that it takes about three weeks for the human body to adjust to DC summer weather, which is why tourists are overwhelmed while natives are wearing long sleeves.

I'm not looking for "mysterious reasons," but there are so many things that we don't know about that affect performance. JZ's been solid all season. I'm entirely willing to give him a Mulligan or two, but I don't think it's unreasonable to inquire into what might have caused it and learn from it.

Eric said...

Bernie's knock was outrageous and extremely surreal. As I said last night, not a single player on the field moved (including Bernie) and not a single person in the crowd made a peep. I marveled as I saw it go out of the stadium, but I was sure it was foul. Then, Bernie started his jog and the boos slowly trickled through the crowd.

On the way home on 106.7 Charlie or Dave commented that it was the second time a National has hit the ball out to Eutaw street. The other one was hit by Dunn. Pretty wild! I had no idea Bernie was capable of that kind of power.

Nats 128 said...

Eric - They are pounding Tracy up and out or low and away and he gets no extension on it. Just lazy popups. His only hope is a mistake pitch down the middle like he got in San Diego.

Can't wait for a outfield of Harper, Span and Werth!

EmDash said...

On the plus side, they're now the 27th best team in terms of OPS. Take that, Mets and White Sox!! *g*

They're doing better in terms of slugging. But in terms of average and OBP, they're still near the bottom. This would indicate the problem is that they're going up looking for extra bases every single time instead of just trying to get on base; it's notable that all but one of the home runs last night were solo shots. Harper has 12 homers and 23 RBIs - that's pretty strange.

They have the 7th most strikeouts and 21st most unintentional walks. That's a pretty good sign of overaggressiveness.

Also, interesting fact - the Nats have the least HBPs so far this season, with 8. The leader in baseball for that so far is Pittsburgh with 27.

JD said...


NL,

I wan't criticizing you at all. In my opinion JZimm has struggled a bit in his last 3 starts (San Diego, Philly and Baltimore), I think that BABIP is getting even with him a bit which is to be expected and at the end of the day he will have a great year.

Right now Stras is pitching better than any one else on the staff which given his tools is also not surprising. I am anxious to see how he handles the Atlanta game on Friday. I would love to see him in full attack mode and confident.

JD said...


Nats 128

'Can't wait for a outfield of Harper, Span and Werth!'

Amen to that !!!

John C. said...

Blame the manager for leaving the pitcher in too long? How many times have the same posters lit up the manager for having too quick a hook? Did any of those posters notice that when Davey did go to the 'pen, they promptly threw gasoline on the fire? No? Ah, well.

Jordan Zimmermann entered the 7th inning having thrown just 72 pitches in six innings. And he's not exactly Nate Karns - with Matt Harvey he's been the best pitcher in the NL this season. If Davey hooks him and the bullpen stinks, just picture the reaction.

Davey's worst mistake was making a move that didn't work.

Nats 128 said...

NatsLady @10:24, you dont need to backoff your statement. Its a well thought out statemnt. If Jordan was pulled at the end of the 6th he finishes with a QS and a nice outing. Cant change the past, look foward.

JD has a way of sounding like the authority. He has a past record of predictions that we all know isnt stellar. Ian Desmond turned into a All Star right before our eyes. Jayson Werth had a good 2012. Wilson Ramos wasnt throwing out baserunners because nobody on this team can. When people stop acting like the ultimate authority here and share opinions instead of 1 upping it will be a whole lot nicer. Come to think of it I like not hearing about Zimm moving to 1st and ALR getting traded.

John C. said...

Also, OPACY absolutely tilted for the O's last night. All four Nats HRs were crushed (I didn't think Bernadina could hit a ball onto Eutaw Street), but two of the O's HRs were first row OPACY specials. It felt like the Cincinnati debacle earlier this year in that respect. Pearce's ball especially hurt - there are ballparks where that one doesn't even reach the warning track, but in OPACY it's GONE! Maybe it goes out in the Great American Smallpark as well, but I think those are the only two.

And it's not unfair, per se - both teams play under the same conditions - it's just gimmicky and annoying.

NatsLady said...

Remember Derek Norris (catcher that we traded away)? Here is a recent interview with him.

Derek Norris

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/qa-derek-norris-an-as-catcher-progresses/

Eric said...

"Nats 128

'Can't wait for a outfield of Harper, Span and Werth!'

Amen to that !!!"

Indeed!

"Pearce's ball especially hurt"

Yeah, especially since Moore was so close that it's almost a given that Harper, Span, Bernie, or even Werth gets it.

C'est la baseball.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

John C. said...
Blame the manager for leaving the pitcher in too long? How many times have the same posters lit up the manager for having too quick a hook? Did any of those posters notice that when Davey did go to the 'pen, they promptly threw gasoline on the fire? No? Ah, well.


John C., I haven't said a word on this but I will say that relievers throwing "clean innings" is the typical way Davey does it. The approach is much different than coming in to be a stopper.

It's been a while since a reliever here was dubbed as a stopper. I thinks that's where you would want a Mattheus and a reliable LOOGY.

Mattheus put on the best stopper appearance I can remember in Game 1 in the playoffs with bases loaded and no outs losing 2-1. He threw 2 pitches total to get 3 outs. 6-2 groundout and then the 5-4-3 doubleplay. Oh yah, and the Nats win on an 8th inning pinch-hit 2 RBI single by TyMo.

Tcostant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric said...

"John C., I haven't said a word on this but I will say that relievers throwing "clean innings" is the typical way Davey does it. The approach is much different than coming in to be a stopper."

Agreed. I think Clippard (or Stammen or whomever) very well may have had a MUCH different experience starting the inning and pitching to 7 - 8 - 9 than starting under the circumstances he walked in to.

NatsLady said...

Nats 128, not a problem. One thing I like about these discussions (when civil) is people bringing facts and expertise to the table. I had forgotten about JZ's stiff neck.

My car has this way of giving me warning signs before some major feature (like the brakes) conks out. We don't know if JZ's stiff neck was a warning sign or he just slept bad the night before.

Also, we are dealing only with what information the team chooses to make public (which with Davey might be more than desirable). So there is plenty of room for speculation, as long as people remember that's all it is--speculation.

Eric said...

"John C., I haven't said a word on this but I will say that relievers throwing "clean innings" is the typical way Davey does it. The approach is much different than coming in to be a stopper."

Agreed. I think Clippard (or Stammen or whomever) very well may have had a MUCH different experience starting the inning and pitching to 7 - 8 - 9 than starting under the circumstances he walked in to.

Still, JZimm had been making it work well enough up until that point and had 7-8-9 coming up. I think Davey's only mistake was not having a reliever up in the pen as soon as JZim took the mound in the 7th.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

The BABIP turned crazy. The ball back to the mound that rolled up JZim's arm by Flaherty to start the 7th then the HR that I agree with Eric and others that any other outfielder catches except TyMo and Lombo. Bryce in LF gets that easily as it stayed up there.

I also thought the corner outfielders were playing too shallow. With the carry on the ball they weren't protecting enough against the doubles or in this case the HR.

TyMo gets to both doubles quicker if he was deeper and throws out the one runner at 2nd and gets to Machado's double and makes that relay throw to get him at the plate.

Sometimes it's not your night. If you watch enough baseball this happens every few days. Like someone mentioned it happened to the Orioles on Sunday in Toronto!

NatsLady said...

Clip is entirely capable of being the stopper--he's done it twice this month already, if I recall. But it's a tough assignment for a flyball pitcher on a night when (as JZ said) you think you are getting popups and they are home runs. Mattheus' sinker is missed here. Davey might have gone with Stammen, but, as I said, I believe he is saving him for tonight and then will probably need him in Atlanta.

Eric said...

Yeah, agreed re: Mattheus. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Fisticuffs! ;)

Eric said...

Oh yeah, during the O's insane rally last night, the Oriole mascot jumped up on the O's dugout and started dancing and jumping around, firing up the crowd. When we'd go to Memorial Stadium when I was a kid, I LOVED it when that happened and was always so bummed when it didn't.

It resulted in a very strange moment that mixed pleasant childhood nostalgia with the torturous experience of watching the Nats implode.

Nats 128 said...

Natslady dont you think sometimes you have to live for today as you dont know what you will have tomorrow. You can put Duke behind Haren if you have to however maybe Haren goes a full 6.

Thinking back to David Proctors observations during the game he was right on with his thinking about Jordan. I didnt agree at the time. He kept posting about Jordan missing with fastballs and looking done for the night early on. I thought Jordan was doing his pitch to contact. Davey really could have pulled Jordan after 5 with the 6-2 lead or after 6 with the 6-3 lead and given that clean inning to the bullpen. Sure no guarantees on how that wouldve worked.

Nats 128 said...

Eric its also a fact that the Orioles recycle the crowd noise through speakers all around the stadium much like a band in a rock concert does.

If your ever walking along Eutaw street there can be 8000 people in the stadium and you would think there were 100000.

Illusion is what the Orioles are all about. Its much the same way they reported attendance at 39,000 and the upper decks weren't nearly covered and much of rightfield was empty. They have been known to pump up there numbers using group donated tickets that never show up.

I guess they also made last night Crash Davis night with the 1st 15000 getting free Tshirts and hearing people were lined up at 4pm at the gates that didnt open until 5pm.

JD said...


Nats 128

'JD has a way of sounding like the authority. He has a past record of predictions that we all know isnt stellar'.

I absolutely positively never try to come off like that. I have opinions, some of my predictions have been right and some have not, I don't keep score. My opinions are never personal (you sure try to make it that)and I try to back my opinions by looking up data which is easily available.

I especially like the back and forth with NatsLady, Bowdenball,Swami, Ghost, 222 and others who seem to maintain proper perspective and don't make it personal.

JD said...


Nats 128

'If Jordan was pulled at the end of the 6th he finishes with a QS and a nice outing. Cant change the past, look foward.'

If Jordan is pulled at the end of 6 with about 85 pitches thrown and the bullpen gives it up you and everyone else would be screaming at Davie about taking out an effective starter too soon. Hindsight is 20/20.

Davie has to make the decisions before the results are in.

John C. said...

If Davey had hooked JZ with a 3 run lead after just 72 pitches in 6 IP Davey would have been creamed by the second guessing crowd, especially if the bullpen got toasted the way it did. You know it, I know it, we all know it.

Nats 128 said...

JD, sorry if I offended you. Just calling it as I saw it. I was wrong last night about Jordan. I admit it. I see you and the Ghost and you have track records over many years of making statements. I just try to judge the most opinionated on how there opinions have panned out.

I thought you took the counter opinion to Natslady and she was absolutely right and right or wrong at the end of the day they are all opionions unless we are quoting REAL facts.

Its easy to dredge up old statements. The only ones that are ever 100% right are the ones that say nothing.

Theophilus T. S. said...

Zimmermann -- unlike others -- is one of the Nats pitchers for whom no excuses or apologies are necessary. He had a bad game. Don't say, "He has trouble in warm weather." He will bounce back and run off another streak of five-six good starts. At least 12 wins by the All-Star break.

NatsLady said...

Nats 128, no, you can't always live for today, at least, that's not Davey's way of thinking. He's got a plan in mind that covers at least a week (two series) and sometimes longer. It may be that he adheres to his plan too rigidly, but that's how he works, like it or not. He goes by the probabilities, and the probabilities say JZ was going to win that game and Haren (or Gio or Stras) and the baby pitcher will need help.

Nats 128 said...

John C., I wasnt right last night. Read David Proctor and a couple of others that saw Jordan was out of sorts. McCatty and Davey missed it and they get paid to see it.

If the bullpen blows it which you and I have no idea with a time machine if that happens so dont project what none of us know. I was wrong last night. Jordan shouldve been spared and pulled after the 5th or 6th even with the low pitch count. The 90 degree weather with the humidity probably added a factor of 30 to 40% to zap all the pitchers energy last night.

Nats 128 said...

Natslady I just dont subscribe to that thinking and never seen Daveys theories like you state in print to believe that is how he does it.

I always liked the Tony LaRussa get the win today and we will worry about tomorrow when it happens approach. Tony was always said to be one of the smartest managers and he put his thoughts to print. He and Dave Duncan would read their pitchers but also the upcoming batters and go with matchups.

He would worry about tomorrow when tomorrow came and never seemed to have a problem with that over his entire managerial career. Sure he made mistakes. He also has plenty of rings.

Eric said...

"Natslady I just dont subscribe to that thinking and never seen Daveys theories like you state in print to believe that is how he does it."

There were some articles about it in the WaPo towards the end of last season. There's no question the man thinks on a strategic level first and a logistical and tactical level second.

I do think Davey plainly adjusts to the situation if it's blatantly obvious that the day's plan is failing. But, that wasn't the case last night. Despite the fact that JZimm was struggling, he made it work through 6 and had 7 - 8 - 9 to deal with in the 7th.

Again, imo, Davey's only mistake last night was that he had no one up in the bull pen from the moment JZimm took the mound for the last time.

Nats 128 said...

"Again, imo, Davey's only mistake last night was that he had no one up in the bull pen from the moment JZimm took the mound for the last time."

Managers will be second guessed even after they hang there jersey up in their closet.

Are you saying David Proctor and others were wrong last night. They were saying it beforehand. I respect that. I was wrong. I thought he was fine also.

There is something called heat exhaustion. They wont admit it and Jordan gave a real nice speech afterwards and took the blame for the team loss.

Nats106 said...

DJB, thanks for your comment. for the most part I agree which is why I'll bet football, but rarely baseball. Along with the variables you mentioned (run differential, team era,etc.) It also boils down to matchups, confidence and timing. Ex: I would rather play the Pirates in August than May because injuries start to mount up for them and their questionable depth becomes apparent. And who would you want at anytime during the season? The Cardinals who are always contenders or the Astros who are just trying to have players get experience? Looking ahead, our better opportunities may be best against Cleveland and Coloarado, as both are treading water. It's going to make for an interesting (and maybe fun, maybe not) 45 days or so.

Eric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric said...

I'm not saying pulling him after 6 would've been a mistake, I'm saying, sending him out there for the 7th isn't what sank the inning. Yes, JZ was off his game, and that was clear to me very early on, but he managed to battle through it for 6 innings. Regarding *why* he was off his game, even in retrospect I'm not ready to state authoritatively that "It was the heat." Is it possible it was the heat? Sure.

At any rate, again, what sank the inning, imo, was not having someone up in the pen from the moment JZimm took the mound in the 7th and ready to pitch the moment JZ gave up the Pearce homer.

"Are you saying David Proctor and others were wrong last night. They were saying it beforehand. I respect that. I was wrong. I thought he was fine also."

I am saying nothing in that regard. I have no idea who said what when, who was right or wrong, etc. That game isn't really my bag.

Post a Comment