Sunday, April 22, 2012

Game postponed, no makeup announced

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
Heavy rain forced the postponement of today's game at Nationals Park.
With rain falling all morning and no end in sight, the Nationals wasted no time postponing today's series final against the Marlins.

No makeup date was announced, but the two teams won't be sticking around to play tomorrow (a common off-day for both clubs). The Nationals are flying to San Diego this afternoon and will spend their off-day out west in advance of this week's road trip.

The game will likely be made up as part of a doubleheader later this summer. The Marlins make two more trips to Washington: Aug. 3-5 and Sept. 7-9.

Manager Davey Johnson said he won't make any changes to his rotation, so all five of his starters will now get six days of rest between outings. Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson will pitch against the Padres Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg and Gonzalez will pitch next weekend against the Dodgers.

If not for the rainout, Strasburg would have been matched up against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw in Friday night's series opener at Dodger Stadium. Strasburg now makes his next start Saturday in Los Angeles.

20 comments:

  1. My tv remote will get a rest after three and the Caps face-off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, the good news is that when the Phillis come to town in a couple of weeks they'll now get the big three -- Strasburg on Friday, Gio on Saturday and Zimmermann on Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here is an interesting chart (suggested by a Tweet). It shows that with 10% of the season completed, the Nats are projected to win 88 games and have a 62.3% chance of making the playoffs.

    They use the Pythagorean Methods (run differential) for estimating future wins. Because of the way the Nats are structured, that's not the best way for us. A big loss (11-4) is not adequately offset by a bunch of 1-run wins). However-- I'll take it!

    MLB projections

    http://www.rlyw.net/index.php/RLYW/direct/how_have_the_first_two_weeks_of_the_2012_mlb_season_changed_team_proje

    ReplyDelete
  4. Drew i hope that holds up i am going to all 3 Phillies games

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mets postponed their game and are playing a double-header agains the Giants tomorrow. First game: Miss Iowa vs. Tim Lincecum.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Here is an interesting chart (suggested by a Tweet). It shows that with 10% of the season completed, the Nats are projected to win 88 games and have a 62.3% chance of making the playoffs.

    The best two stats to use would be bRAA and pRAA which are both used to calculate the WAR. They are unbiased stats. However, to get any kind of accurate estimate of the mean the sample size should be between 30 and 40 games. 40 is better as Mark mentioned when answering this question during Beltway Baseball.

    If stats are "biased" and too dependent on external factors they aren't really all that useful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am definitely going to Friday game. SS missing out on pitching in SD and against Kershaw sucks, but watching him live is better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am in San Diego and yesterday go tickets for Friday night thinking that Strasberg was facing Kershaw in L.A. Bummer that it won't happen.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Trivia question - No peeking.
    Which Nats starter has the highest batting average against?
    It's Strasburg, just worse than(but essentially tied with) Detwiler. Gio's our best, then Zinn, then EJax.
    All 5 of them are sitting between .175 and .193. The whole league is well below Mendoza against our starting rotation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Davey appears to continue to manage/manipulate the roster according to his game plan. I believe the recent unexpected HRod appearance moved him to the "A" team bullpen and Lidge now on the "B" team.

    "A" Craig Stammen: long/middle relief, mop-up, situation.
    Tyler Clippard: setup / late innings.
    Henry Rodriguez: closer

    "B" Tom Gorzelanny: long/middle relief, mop-up, situation.
    Ryan Mattheus: setup / late innings.
    Bard Lidge: closer

    Sean Burnett: LOGY/situation "swing man"

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just checked the Nats mobile site. No mention of the rain out. That is just plain irresponsible.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I could just call my rep but does anyone on NI know the policy for STH, or anyone I guess with a ticket for todays game? Can I use it for any other game in the season or do I have to use it when the Fish come back in town? You would think an old guy like me with tickets since day one would remember how it works but I am hopeless. Glad it was postponed as I had already mentally and physically checked out from sitting in the rain.

    As always, thanks in advance for the help.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Got an email, you can use your ticket for any game except a "Prime" or "Marquee" game. Doesn't have to be a Marlins game or the re-scheduled game.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Golfersal said...

    I am in San Diego and yesterday go tickets for Friday night thinking that Strasberg was facing Kershaw in L.A. Bummer that it won't happen.

    It does suck to miss out on Stras vs. Kershaw. But with the way Ross is pitching, it should still be a great matchup Friday night.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Does this mean we swept the Marlins?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous said...
    Davey appears to continue to manage/manipulate the roster according to his game plan. I believe the recent unexpected HRod appearance moved him to the "A" team bullpen and Lidge now on the "B" team.


    _______________________________________________________________________

    Anon, Twice I've heard Davey say that it would be wrong to conclude that the "A" and "B" thing signifies one group as being better then the other. He said that it would probably be better to call them the "green" and "blue" bullpens. You are really over analyzing it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wonder how we fare against Kemp-Ethier combo.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Eugene in OregonApril 22, 2012 3:28 PM

    NatsLady,

    Thanks for that link. Interestingly, in two of the three NL divisions -- including the NL East -- the team projected to finish third is shown as having a slightly better (overall) chance of making the playoffs than the team projected to finish second. In the case of the Nats, they're projected as the third place team (after the Phillies), but then are given a 62% total, combined chance to make the playoffs, while the Phillies are given a 59% chance. Not sure how that works, but there's a similar oddity shown in the NL West.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 1:48, no, it doesn't. They are still going to play the third game, just not today.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Manassas Nats' fanApril 22, 2012 7:48 PM

    I would say yes it does, and the make up game more than likely will connect to one of the other two series.

    ReplyDelete