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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER Ross Detwiler faces the Braves today at Space Coast Stadium. |
Nope, we've still got two more games down here, starting today with the Braves. Fredi Gonzalez is using only relievers in this one, so Eric O'Flaherty will actually start and then pitch only one inning. Ross Detwiler starts for the Nationals. This is actually Stephen Strasburg's day to throw, but instead of facing a division rival, he already pitched in a minor-league game this morning, his final tune-up before Opening Day.
Bryce Harper, as you know, isn't in the Nationals' lineup. All the other regulars are, though. As opposed to the split-squad game taking place simultaneously in Jupiter against the Cardinals. There are no regulars down there, not even anyone from big-league camp.
Plenty of updates from this one to come...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Space Coast Stadium, Viera
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: Braves radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Sunny, 57 degrees, Wind 8 mph out to CF
NATIONALS
CF Denard Span
RF Jayson Werth
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
C Wilson Ramos
LF Tyler Moore
LHP Ross Detwiler
BRAVES
SS Andrelton Simmons
CF Reed Johnson
1B Chris Johnson
3B Juan Francisco
LF Evan Gattis
C Gerald Laird
2B Ramiro Pena
RF Jordan Schafer
LHP Eric O'Flaherty
1:09 p.m. -- We're underway on a crisp, late-March afternoon in Viera as Ross Detwiler fires to Andrelton Simmons.
1:15 p.m. -- A clean top of the first for Detwiler. He did allow a single to Chris Johnson and hit Juan Francisco but got out of it unscathed. Ryan Zimmerman got a chance to make a routine throw to first, which he did with no problems.
1:30 p.m. -- Jayson Werth singled in the bottom of the first but was thrown out trying to steal second. Detwiler allowed another hit in the top of the second but got out of the inning. So it's still scoreless in the middle of the second.
1:41 p.m. -- Wow, what a play at shortstop by Simmons. He dove way to his left to snag Desmond's hard shot, then flipped to Ramiro Pena from his belly to start a spectacular 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the second. This kid is going to be a really good player for Atlanta.
1:50 p.m. -- It appears Desmond and Simmons are trying to out "Web Gem" each other today. Ian just climbed the ladder to rob Gattis of what looked like a sure RBI base hit to end the top of the third. Great stuff from the two shortstops so far in this one.
1:58 p.m. -- And there's Wilson Ramos' first homer of the spring, his first since tearing his ACL last May. An opposite-field shot to right. Here's a bold prediction for you: Ramos will get the nod behind the plate on Opening Day. Jayson Werth then added an RBI single to cap the bottom of the third, scoring Denard Span (who walked and stole second) to put the Nats up 2-0.
2:29 p.m. -- Sweet Fancy Moses! The Nats absolutely took it to lefty Daniel Rodriguez in the bottom of the fourth. Zimmerman homered. Espinosa doubled. Ramos crushed his second homer of the day, an absolute bomb. Moore homered to make it 8-0. All of this before Rodriguez recorded one out. Quite a pounding this lineup is giving the Braves today.
2:44 p.m. -- Make it a two-homer day for Zimmerman as well after an opposite-field shot to lead off the fifth against Cristhian Martinez. It's 9-0 Nats, who hit five homers over a span of 15 batters. I'm no mathematician, but that seems pretty good.
2:58 p.m. -- Now the Braves get in on the home run party. Evan Gattis and Gerald Laird go deep back-to-back off Detwiler to open the sixth. Ross rebounded to strike out Pena, but that ended his afternoon. His final line: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR. We'll next see him on April 6 in Cincinnati.
3:21 p.m. -- OK, here's how Henry Rodriguez's afternoon went. He started things off with five straight balls. Then he started throwing some sliders for strikes, including one for a strikeout. Then he allowed a two-out single, followed by a two-out walk, with the last pitch ricocheting to the backstop. Then he got a little comebacker for the final out of a scoreless inning. So Henry's final line for the day is: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 tongue-lashing from Steve McCatty. In other words, a pretty typical outing for him. Still 9-2 Nats at the stretch.
3:29 p.m. -- Scary moment as Jayson Werth gets tagged by an inside fastball. Looked like it might've gotten him on the left arm. He was in obvious pain but stayed in. But then he got a chance to trot around the bases on Zimmerman's third homer in four innings. Yes, three homers in four innings. Mercy. 11-2 Nats.
4:25 p.m. -- Nats win 11-2. J.C. Romero pitched a scoreless eighth, Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless ninth. Ryan Zimmerman did NOT homer again. After the game, Davey Johnson informed Carlos Maldonado and Fernando Abad they are being sent to minor-league camp. Micah Owings will go down after tomorrow's game. That leaves only 26 active players in camp, the extra man for now being Romero. Davey did tell the lefty he'll make the trip north with the club tomorrow night and be in D.C. for Friday's exhibition. But he hasn't been told he'll make the team yet. Basically, either Romero makes it and Henry Rodriguez lands on the DL (or DFA'd, though that seems unlikely), or Rodriguez makes the team and Romero reports to Syracuse.
75 comments:
Why have (or schedule) a "major-league" game with NO major leaguers?
I'm surprised Bernadina isn't playing today - he needs the at-bats. Maybe he's in the minor league game against the Cards?
Slidell2, it's a quirk of the scheduling - MLB gave them a split-squad day pretty late in the spring training season, and I imagine Davey didn't want to break up the ML guys while they're finishing up their defensive tune-ups for the season, so minor leaguers it has to be.
Fifty-seven degrees! Good practice for early April in Washington!
For them what has MLB TV, the Cards game is on. Jaime Garcia pitching for the bad guys.
Just saw the starting line-up for the Cards game. Still no sighting of Brian Goodwin, even in a game with only minor leaguers. Anybody know if anything is up with him (e.g., injury)?
Wonder when the Barves will shut down Medlen? He only threw 138 innings last year. 30% more would be about 180 innings, which wouldn't be a full season, in all likelihood.
Would be nice to see someone else questioned about a shutdown.
Are we expecting a weather-reduced crowd at the Yankees-Nats exhibition on Friday?
My unscientific survey reveals some reluctance on the part of worker-bees to take off Friday as well as for the Monday opener.
"we're underway on a crisp, late-March afternoon in Viera..."
Hot damn! In 48 hours Mark can use that same intro but instead of "in Viera" ...how about "at Nationals Park"?
Medlen is 27, so don't expect a shutdown. Those limits are usually reserved for pitchers under the age of 25.
Puig was sent down, a guy who batted over .500 in spring training (though he didn't draw any walks). Listening to the analysis of why--I mean, what does it take to make a team out of spring training??--was interesting. First of all, pitchers who are trying to build up arm strength throw a lot of fast balls. Who hits fast balls well? Our Kid. Secondly, if you are a pitcher who will face him during the season, do you regard it as your job to teach him to hit breaking balls? Um, probably not.
Without Pitch F/x, I would speculate Bryce has gotten a pretty steady diet of fastballs for those reasons. It's fun to watch his hitting "streak", but it isn't much more significant than batting practice. Probably the same for Mikey Morse and his unreal spring stats.
Wait until the bell rings, then we'll see.
STH like myself were forced to buy the Friday game as part of our packages. Usually the attendance at the exhibition game consists of STH forced to buy the ticket plus bandwagon fans of the opposition. Last year, Red Sox. This year, Yankees. STH are probably more likely than bandwagon fans to stay home if the weather's not great, but either way the announced paid attendance will be the same.
Love that Buffalo took one deep. Good to see him rounding back into form
I am going to Friday's game (can't go to Opening Day because of Work). I know quite a few STH's that want to go but can't because of the Sequestor hanging over their heads. They elected to take Monday off to go to Opening Day.
Thanks, Tcostant. I wonder, however, if Medlen really should approach 200 innings. Not my problem, of course. I just remember last year everyone saying how smart the Barves were to start him as a reliever, to avoid the innings limit. Of course, they had no idea he was going to be the starter he was.
IKN8.. and funny thing is, they used Medlen in the bullpen when they started them out and only won the Wild Card birth and we all know how that Play in Game turned out.
I'll be there on Monday, but not on Friday.
MicheleS did I miss a nickname in the past? Ramos is the Buffalo! Interesting..
ZIM BOMB!
Murray, yea, they call Wilson the Buffalo, can't remember how that got started. I will check around and post back.
I have to say, since my primary method of following all the daytime games is MLB's GameDay web thingy, I'll be really glad when spring training is over and the score tracker will actually, you know, work. Without having to constantly refresh for updates or use Twitter or NI for the same purpose. If nothing else, I miss seeing the balls and strikes play out.
MicheleS, I'm not trying to be smart here but what does the sequestor have to do with being able to go to Friday's game vs. the Yankees? I don't follow that at all.
I enjoyed the Red Sox game last year, though, if I recall, there was a controversial call at the end of the game and no one bothered to argue it.
hehe, atta way, Wilson!
Knoxville. A lot of people are having to work numerous hours planning in case of the sequester results in furloughs or trying to find ways to avoid the furloughs entirely. Other's don't want to burn PTO in case they do get furloughed (they are hoping they can use PTO time and still get paid - they know it's a pipe dream, but want to save as much PTO time as possible)
BUFFALO!!!!!!
And Tyler, too.
And we are teeing off on Braves pitching. I like this.
Oh, dear. He walked the pitcher.
MicheleS--"teeing off" would include Ross getting a hit here . . . [checks Gameday] A walk works, too! :-)
It doesn't count.
Nooo, we liked that pitcher.
NatsLady, we know. But it's the Barves.
So we cheer.
Murray, this was the response I got back on the nickname:
one of his teammates said it would be like getting run over by a buffalo if he collided at home.
Plus, is Spring Training over yet?
Even the braves guy is trashing their pitcher today:
Mark Bowman@mlbbowman1m
Forty years ago Davey Johnson hit 43 homers for the Braves. I'm pretty sure he could hit one today if gets in there before Rodriguez exits
Great fourth inning for us. Bad for the Braves. I thought we traded HRod!
Hairston used the nickname, but not sure if he coined it.
I am always curious about how the big club pitchers, e.g., Strasburg do against the minor leaguers and vice versa. Anybody know?
From the NI archives, on the Buffalo.
1A.. you are the best for digging up when the nickname started.
MicheleS.........thanks for the explanation.
I put it in the NIDO glossary as well. 0:-)
MicheleS, totally understandable that people would want to conserve leave during these uncertain times, but unfortunately you can't use leave to avoid losing pay during a furlough. See Question E1 on page 11 of this OPM Guidance.
Great idea to add nicknames and their origins to the Glossary. If anyone writes up the Shark, be sure to include Ladson's rear guard action to stop that nickname in favor of "Speed Racer." I still remember the online poll he put up asking readers to choose, and he lost 90%- 10%.
It looks like someone already added Sharkadina.
Also, Sweet Fancy Moses, are those guys still teeing off! :-)
I'm sure no one will agree with me on this either (because even I know I'm being silly): call him Shark, or call him Bernadina. Sharkadina makes no sense. Make a choice, and commit!
Oh, and a quick update for those of y'all wondering how the Cards game is going: don't ask.
I don't name 'em, I just report 'em. :-)
Hey, the Barves are copying our hitters. What?
Eh, it doesn't count. hehe.
Theo: Nationals Journal, over at the Post, has a post that looks like it might describe Strasburg's minor-league game.
"I'm no mathematician, but that seems pretty good."
Come on Mark, you went to Northwestern, or are they simply known as a basketball school? LOL!!
Moment of truth for Henry...and he walks the first batter on 4 pitches. Same as most of his outings.
It seems no mater what Rizzo is going to give Henry a chance to embarass himself in DC this year... and I've been on Henry's side forever but this is what he is.
Zimmm!!!
Zimm is killing it today
From posts way back - thanks to Sec. 3 my sofa for putting the JayB rants in perspective - I am wondering if you have one of those fish over your sofa?
Mac - I am not trying to be argumentative but my 20 game schedule includes that exhibition game as game #21 so I am not sure you can honestly say we were forced to buy it. In my mind, they gave it to us. The one disappointment I did have is the Nationals forcing us who have smaller plans to buy the opening day ticket. That had been a free game as well up until this year. I understand we are now a successful franchise and they don't need to do as much but it was still a nice gesture. I am surprised the red carpet points returned although certain games are now priced much higher. Anyway, I on Friday I start at Justins, 3 or 4 innings of exhibition baseball and then make decisions on the rest of the afternoon. I am gearing up for 9 strong innings on Monday.
Go Nats!!
In my NatsFitness quest, I'm taking THIS game as the game for which I will do the push ups. Not the horrible loss to the Cards.
For some reason, I think it was Jason Marquis who first compared Wilson to a buffalo. And FP has mentioned it several times. It stuck.
I'm starting to get really excited about Real Baseball. I thought I might be behind schedule but it turns out my spring training schedule is going to have me peak on April 1.
Final score from Jupiter: 10-1, Cards.
But it wasn't as close as it sounds.
(The game ended a little while ago, but I had to keep pausing it, so I just saw the end.)
Also, nice work stretching yourself out, sjm.
Rob Dibble's career.
Dibble
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/27/rob-dibble-fired-as-high-school-coach-after-10-games/
"Mac - I am not trying to be argumentative but my 20 game schedule includes that exhibition game as game #21 so I am not sure you can honestly say we were forced to buy it. In my mind, they gave it to us."
And you gave them the money to pay for it. Do the math. You can't buy a partial plan without buying that game. That translates into being forced to buy it.
"The one disappointment I did have is the Nationals forcing us who have smaller plans to buy the opening day ticket. That had been a free game as well up until this year."
It was never a free game. It was one of the games you paid for as part of your package. Typically they charge a certain amount per regular season game in the package, and the exhibition game costs half the regular season game cost. Again, do the math.
Last year, I had already paid in full for the ST package (Opening Day included) before they scheduled the exhibition game. Once that game was scheduled, I got a call from my rep asking me what credit card I wanted to use to pay for the exhibition game. I had no choice to opt out.
Fantastic find on Dibble NL! The nugget buried in the story is that he's going to be calling the Angels games this year for Compass Media. Sean Burnett better be ready to man up.
sjm, Mac is right. You paid for that microphone, I mean, game.
Nats win. Yay. Is Spring Training over yet?
According to the beat writers, Abad and Maldonado have been sent to the minors, and Owings and Rivero will go after tomorrow. No decision on the final bullpen slot; H-Rod and JC Romero will both come north with the team for Friday's final exhibition game.
@Mac-I'm trying to be argumentative, yankees game is free. You are wrong. And I don't believe they charged you for the Redsox game last year
so there!
OK, I will argue as well. I am charged a certain amount for my 20 games and get a season ticket discount. The price for those 20 games is a certain value and that 21st game is not added in to my cost so like Ivan said and like I tried to say earlier, it was free. Now, I don't have a full season ticket package so if they then charged you for that game you have a point but I paid the same this year as last year for my partial package. Last year I got both the Red Sox game and opening day. This year I got the Yankee's and no opening day but my 20 games still came out to the same total. Either way, we are both fans, we both want success and hopefully we will be paying huge amounts for post season play as well.
Go Nats!
Rodriguez put three men on base in an inning, Romero two. Sounds like a Hobson's choice to me.
"And I don't believe they charged you for the Redsox game last year"
As I said, I got a phone call to give them a credit card number for the ten bucks or whatever it was - AFTER I had already paid the full amount on the invoice they sent. Then the charge showed up on my statement. What other aspects of modern finance do you not believe in?
Well, i seem too remember that Feel Wood having these same comments as Mac about the exhibition game.
Ding ding ding!
"What other aspects of modern finance do you not believe in?"
Well since you asked I've always felt trickle down was just a fancy way of saying P'd on
Regarding the exhibition game, anything better than paying $150 (plus another $50 to park) for a meaningless Skins game where everyone is out to not hurt themselves (unless M Shanahan decides to put in RG3 as part of his rehab)
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