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US Presswire photo Space Coast Stadium plays host to the Houston Astros this afternoon. |
Livo will face a few more regulars than he did last time, with Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa and Wilson Ramos all starting today. Bryce Harper also returns to the lineup after finally getting his first game of the spring off yesterday; the 19-year-old currently leads the entire roster in hits (5) and at-bats (11) in Grapefruit League play.
Edwin Jackson makes his second start of the spring, once again hoping to get his timing and mechanics down after struggling a bit with them last week in Kissimmee. He'll be cleared to go four innings or 60 pitches. Jackson is due to be followed on the mound by Ross Detwiler, Henry Rodriguez (making his spring debut) and Ryan Perry.
Enjoy the game and the discussion...
HOUSTON ASTROS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Space Coast Stadium, Viera
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: Astros radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Scattered showers, 78 degrees, Wind 16 in from LF
STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS
SS Steve Lombardozzi
2B Danny Espinosa
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Mark DeRosa
DH Jayson Werth
LF Jason Michaels
C Wilson Ramos
RF Bryce Harper
CF Brett Carroll
(P Edwin Jackson)
ASTROS
CF J.B. Shuck
SS Marwin Gonzalez
RF Brad Snyder
1B Carlos Lee
LF Fernando Martinez
3B Chris Johnson
DH Jason Castro
C Chris Snyder
2B Diory Hernandez
(P Livan Hernandez)
135 comments:
LIVO!!!!!
Okay.. time to flip over to NJ and twitter for udpates.
hmmm, still no LaRoche... Wonder if he'll be a late fill-in for DH...
LIVO!! (Okay, here's the deal. You can have your good innings, just as long as we can run up the score after. :-))
CN.. Amanda is posting on Twitter the LaRoche Updates from a minor league game. Sounds okay. And the good thing is ankle (running) is more of a concern than the shoulder (throwing)
Thanks, Michele. I must've missed the update that LaRoche was going to play in a milb game..
CN, they've said there were going to wait until Sat. to start LaRoche in Grapefruit League game.
MicheleS, try the federalbaseball website if you want constant updates, the game day threads there are very active (you'll get every at-bat).
Yay - I got the mlb site's Gameday Audio subscription button to work today! Now I can listen while I work (in theory). Check it out, swami, if you're reading.
LOMBO!!
Wow, that was efficient for EJax. 3 pitches, 3 strikes, 3 outs.
Loving Ejax!
It is on MLB at BAT on iPAD.
Loving the Face of the Franchise, too! HR.
RZimm with a dinger!!
(charlie slowes accent)
and the z-mann does it again
Trying to find out why Bryce was a late scratch!
NatsLady (and everybody): they don't have their fancy pitch-tracking thing at the spring training games. A strikeout shows up as three strikes, a walk shows as four balls, and an out or hit shows as one strike (they count balls in play as strikes).
Just read on Kilgore's blog that Harper was a scratch for today, no details yet :/
Thanks, Scooter. Still very nice, and another nice inning in the 2nd for Ejax.
Astros announcers talked about how much better Edwin Jackson looks today.
Harper left calf tightness
These damn business phone calls keep interfering with the Gameday audio on the iPhone. Who do these clients think they are?
Oh, Lombo fumbled a ball and recovered. OK, that's it for him. Cut him on Monday...
Anonymous said...
Harper's ready. He knows he's ready, Davey knows he's ready. The world knows he's ready. Kid can hit, kid has massive power. He's ready.
March 08, 2012 1:03 PM
Thanks for this post. There is no sure things. The kid knows he's ready is a given. 2 ground ball hits into open areas and a hustle infield single tells me very little so far except the kid hustles.
Let me see some line drives hits and the power you speak of consistently. I believe its there but you don't want to rush him. Rizzo will do right by this kid and hope the kid shows us what he can do and be an impact player.
To me, that's what its about. Making an impact and I'd rather it be in high OBP than swinging for the fences every time.
Nice hand for Livo going out. Still has lots of friends among Nats fans.
I know its a pipedream, but still would see Boras work out something with the Nats so he can start the season here but the Nats not lose the year. I know, it won't happen... but it would be best for all involved. I hope with his newfound maturity Bryce understands he'll be riding the bus for a month based on the economics of the game, not his talent.
Did Jayson swing at the first pitch again? Miracle of miracles.
I love NatsLady commentary.. If I can't listen to Charlie/Dave, I will take her any day of the week!
SCNatsFan said:
'I hope with his newfound maturity Bryce understands he'll be riding the bus for a month based on the economics of the game, not his talent.'
Last year at AA HArper hit .256 .329 .395 with 3 HR's in 147 PA's. What in that line makes you think that he's ready for the majors?
Great by EJax. Wonderful control, he was painting the corners. You think there is a little competition among the Four?
jd, what makes me think he is ready is his performance this spring as well as the dearth of options we have in the outfield. By all accounts every team that sees him has something to gush about. The argument is it better for him to finish his polish in the minors or on the big club is an argument better decided by people smarter themn me.
NatsLady said...
Great by EJax. Wonderful control, he was painting the corners. You think there is a little competition among the Four?
That's Greeeaat!
You got to love it when the Astros radio guys are impressed with our 3rd or 4th starter.
Way to go Mr. Jackson
Just read on Kilgore's blog that Harper was a scratch for today, no details yet :/
Clubhouse ran out of eye black?
Astros announcers with this on Perez A-You-REE (Eury). Can we have a ruling on pronunciation?
Didn't Davey see something in Brett Carroll? Perhaps he sees thing others don't.
Worth have a(ny) quality AB's today?
Don't you know that Ian is hearing Lombo breathing down his neck.
According to Astros announcers Werth chased a bad pitch for strike three.
Did they ever say how Livo fared with the comebacker? I didn't hear it, if so.
Amusing to hear HOU announcers and watch mlb gameday. They failed to notice pinch runners, said Lombo scored when Rendon took his place, said RZim scored when actually it was Teahen.
Amusing to hear HOU announcers and watch mlb gameday. They failed to notice pinch runners, said Lombo scored when Rendon took his place, said RZim scored when actually it was Teahen.
Lombo and Zim are so good they can score even when not in the game!
Best 25 go North!
dfh21
I don't think it's just the HOU announcers. I've noticed that in other ST games watched this season.
Sosa = so-so today.
C'mon, if your announcer and you can't drink at a spring training game then when can you drink?
What's the score
Score 4-0 Nats..
Make that 5-0 Nats!! Rendon gets a double!
5-0 Nats, bottom of 6th.
Make that 7-0.
Jackson's final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 SO
Very solid.
Going to the 7th after the break.
MicheleS , nice
So who was pitching after Jackson?
Detwiler.
Anon@2:14, when Werth comes up with no one on base and the Nats ahead 7-zip and dings one, I'll let you decide if that's a quality AB.
He's still pitching.
Yeah, the other day the announcers mixed up Eury Perez and Jayson Werth. Still trying to figure how that happens.
Astros retired in order. Still 7-0.
In other news, evidently the Gameday graphic gnomes started the stretch early.
Well, they do both have 5 letters in their last name . . .
DC teams have a terrible habit of playing up to and even more often down to their level of competition. I LOVE seeing us put a solid beating on an inferior squad.
Yes I know this is only spring training, but this is a habit we need to get into and carry along to the regular season. Good teams maintain their focus beat up the bad ones.
Detwiler 3 perfect innings with 3 Ks.
A HBP (I think) and Brown with a double. Leon on Leon action coming up. Awesome.
And a walk. And a pitching change.
The Nats baserunning bunch awaits.
Did we know that Jon Rausch is a Met now? Mets/Marlins on mlb televised. Hanley hit a hr - not something I want to see a lot of. Checking out the nl east competition.
Message from Detwiler... don't you forget about me
Yes, we did. We also knew that Herrara can fit his entire body into one leg of Wookies' pants, courtesy of the recent Mets tv broadcast. :-)
Bixler gets the lead guy but another run scores.
Anon3:00- Yeah I'm watching the Mets-Marlins as well.
I always liked Rauch, and his best years were definitely in DC.
A flyout ends the inning. 8-0 Nats.
Found this Tweet via the Houston Chronicle site (I can't help myself - it's Livo):
28 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
CampbellChron profile
CampbellChron Livan Hernandez, who left game in third inning after he got hit on right calf by batted ball, says he's fine. No swelling. 29 minutes ago · reply · ret
(That would be from Steve Campbell on the Astros beat.)
So Detwiler pitches perfectly and he'll be in the bullpen. Our staff is scary. PLEASE STAY HEALTHY!!!
Ryan Perry in for Detwiler.
Okay, now Gameday graphic is ahead of the radio.
Off to work. Let's not have a Chicago, guys. Don't blow this lead...
Wait, it's behind. I'm so confused. :-)
We'll try to hold 'em, NatsLady. See you later.
Scoreless inning for Perry.
I don't remember what exactly happened but Rauch had some personal problems while he was in DC, something to do with his wife or child but I remember reading it and feeling bad for the guy, thinking it had something to do with his decline after the trade.
Oh - and an Austin Kearns sighting, too! I recognized him instantly as he was making an out.....
Anon- Also saw Gaudin and Miguel Batista. Lots of former Nats in the MIA-NY game.
Fasten your seat belts, H-Rod's coming in.
Groundout.
Livo's supposed to be on the postgame. Hope I can hear it on the Gameday Audio thingy.
'nother groundout.
Hey, it's Bixler!
Good to see Corey Brown getting some hits...
And groundout. Buh-bye. 8-0 Nats.
love the collaborative effort on the updates and play-by-play, thanks everyone & enjoy the spring afternoon
Today, the Good Henry. Tomorrow, ?????? And, I think Ross has zoomed passed Gorzo on the depth chart.
Please don't tell me it was THAT Delino DeShields
natsfan1a said...
Okay, now Gameday graphic is ahead of the radio.
March 08, 2012 3:13 PM
natsfan1a said...
Wait, it's behind. I'm so confused. :-)
That's because the Gameday graphic is driven by actual human beings who are at the ballpark watching the game and who type in the result of every pitch using some sort of special code that the system understands. If there's a complex play or a hit-or-error decision, they have to wait for the official scorer to rule before they type anything in about the play. Thus, delay is introduced. (They must hate the official scorer at Nationals Park, who often dithers well into the next AB to make a ruling - and then changes it shortly thereafter.)
Radio announcers are also actual human beings (usually) but if they don't understand what just happened they say something anyway and plow right on with the broadcast. Radio delays are due to built-in system delays, or on the web due to the dreaded buffering. Thus it's easy for the radio and Gameday to get out of sync. Probably easier than it is for them to stay in sync.
It's his son. Drafted in the top 10 this year.
It's Delino DeShields JUNIOR. Drafted last year or the year before.
Not so fast. Gorz does not need notice days ahead of time to get ready to come into a game.
Thanks for the Gameday timing explanation, Feel Wood.
From the last thread:
For the opening day get-together at Duffy's--it's on.
Yes, we are not normally open at that time, but will open up at 2pm for opening day with happy hour prices.
Here is the link to Happy Hour Prices
hmm...some pretty good looking eats there.
If Mark's not on the road then, maybe he'd consider joining us.
Umm opening game starts at 1pm...
D'oh! Perhaps they were looking at Chicago time?
DOH... you meant actuall Opening Day, not our Opening day..I need coffee
Yes, but that wasn't explained in this thread, so it's not you. But if you're going to have coffee, I'd have a bon-bon as well, if it was me. :-)
Come to think of it, sec3 might want to be double-check that Duffy's isn't thinking about the home opener.
The opening day game begins at 2:20pm (eastern time).
Wow - meetings all afternoon and the game is over already. I have learned more here than on another site's game thread, however. Sounds like this edition of the former nats reunion was pretty good. I have to say that I really love the Pitching Plethora. Should we be worried about Bryce? I think if they let him he would play with a limb hanging off so you never know. Hitting improving? Doesn't sound like any of the posters were at the game. I hate not seeing anything!!!
To be (discount?) double-checked, or not to be double-checked, that is the question. I may need coffee as well. Later...
But of course that's in Chicago.
Sorry, misunderstood :-)
Hey, swami, I successfully activated Gameday audio today. Give it another try if you haven't already done so.
Wait, who's on first? Yeah, this would be the inaugural *away* opener Insider gathering, as initially proposed by Sunderland in the previous thread. Well, *we* won't be away, but the team will. Eh, never mind...
And I want the Storen Natitude Shirt "the bottom of the 9th has been cancelled!"
Just read the comments thread all the way through. You guys are great!
MicheleS said...
And I want the Storen Natitude Shirt "the bottom of the 9th has been cancelled!"
That would be the home jersey version. The away shirt would have to be something like "The bottom of the ninth is brought to you by the letter K, and the number 0."
One significantly happy note to take away from today's game:
Nine innings pitched....ZERO walks. And this from pitchers including EJax and HRod.
That right there is a beautiful thing.
Yes, Michele, I meant Opening Day--1:20 Central, 2:20 Eastern--not the home opener the following week, which is a 1:05 scheduled start.
That right there is a beautiful thing.
Yes, it is.
Only wish I'd seen it.
Oh, and welcome back, Scooter!
Heard the beginning of the Livo interview on Gameday before it cut off, he said he came out not because of the come-backer but because he had thrown 55 pitches.
Then I got to hear, I KID YOU NOT, the Minnesota Twins announcer making promos for EVERY radio station in the upper midwest (some of them several times, as he refined his pitch.) Gameday has, let's say, some tech problems to work out.
I heard that, too, NatsLady. Livo also referred to his former Nats teammates as being like brothers to him. I tuned out before the Twins promos. Lucky me. Speaking of commercials, I thought it was funny that the sausage (saahsage for Cubs fans) company guy in the Astros commercials was actually named "Kielbasa." How awesome is that? :-)
At the game today ... Mostly a very impressive one. Zim of course was Zim, already locked in at the plate -- his dinger was where a LH pull hitter would have put it, and his RBI single was classic clutch Zman. but I wondered at two sidearm throws to first on slow rollers towards the hole... Looked natural for the way he picked up the ball while running, so I wondered if maybe he's just doing the 3/4 throw where he can set his feet? Hmmm, something to watch.
EJax was overpowering most hitters, the double was very hard hit but no question LaRoche and maybe Morse would have gotten to it. Det was equally in control for two of his three innings but the middle one was three consecutive hard hit liners that the wind might have hung up just a bit (not to take anything from the OFs, especially Perez who made a very nice running grab on one. (Perez was also solid in 2 ABs
iPhone freezing on me there a bit.
Anyway, hoping Perez will get to run wild at Harrisburg this year and get a look-see in September -- still a little raw but clearly a toolsy guy.
Nice also to see the aspirants for the bench doing such great hitting with RISP, maybe they'll inspire the regulars. Espy was terrific in the field as always but was totally exposed by Livo on his second AB, swinging at predictable garbage in the dirt (a reminder of how lethal Livo could be against younger or more predictable hitters). Zim of course, conversely, clearly had Zlivo's number
Espi shouldbat RH against a guy like Livo. Topped out at what today, maybe 82 mph?
Thanks, Sec3. It feels so good to be back at the Dexter Lake Club.
And Fast Eddie.... thanks for saying "Hi". It's always great to meet another NI guy. See you Saturday.
It's great to have the Dexter Lake Club back, too!
What an effin hoot this "we can tweak Jackson's delivery to help reach his full potential" BS turned out to be. One good 4 inning outing against a mixed bag of astros (a sh***y team last year), and suddenly all the tweaking is scrapped and it's back to whatever got him to this point in his career. and now the stage is set so that when Jackson signs somewhere else next year, the next GM and pitching coach can help beat writers fill headlines for a month with talk of tweaking his delivery the way countless other teams (and now the nats, too) never could.
Scooter said...
Thanks, Sec3. It feels so good to be back at the Dexter Lake Club.
March 08, 2012 7:18 PM
Scooter - It was real good meeting you and talking baseball and stuff with you!
The pleasure was all mine, Andrew.
Garrett Mock just signed with the Red Sox
And for all you HRod doubters, the September MPHRod is back. Overpowering hitters to the point of being disarming, and even Bixler who clearly had a plan (the first two hitters were just flailing) could only foul off a few and then tap out weakly to second.
Even Perry looked decent though hard to know against prospects on a weak team.
And capped the afternoon by saying howdy to NatsJack and getting a free ale at Jack and Charlie's.
Scooter said...
The pleasure was all mine, Andrew.
March 08, 2012 9:27 PM
It certainly made this Spring Training more fun for me than prior years getting together with Nats-Insiders.
Next year, we should all plan together.
Sorry I missed it. Wait 'til next year!
I plan to be there as well!
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