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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER Dan Haren and the Nationals face the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. |
Dan Haren, meanwhile, starts for the Nationals against the franchise that originally drafted him. This will be Haren's fourth outing of the spring, and the veteran right-hander will look to continue the progress he's been making start to start. Not too many big names in the Nats lineup since most of the regulars played the last two days at home. But we will get another look at Micah Owings, whose grand slam yesterday was the latest display of power from the former pitcher.
Today's game is being televised by the Cardinals' broadcast crew and is available to subscribers on MLB.tv. Or, if you're really deranged, you can watch the tape delayed broadcast on MLB Network at the convenient time of 3 a.m. EDT. Better yet, you can check back here for updates throughout...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (live), MLB Network (delayed at 3 a.m.)
Radio: None
Weather: Partly cloudy, 68 degrees, Wind 12 mph LF to RF
NATIONALS
2B Steve Lombardozzi
C Kurt Suzuki
RF Tyler Moore
DH Chad Tracy
1B Chris Marrero
3B Carlos Rivero
CF Corey Brown
LF Micah Owings
SS Zach Walters
(RHP Dan Haren)
CARDINALS
CF Jon Jay
2B Daniel Descalso
3B Matt Carpenter
DH Ty Wigginton
1B Matt Adams
RF Shane Robinson
LF Adron Chambers
SS Pete Kozma
C Rob Johnson
(RHP Adam Wainwright)
1:05 p.m. -- We are underway with a strike from Adam Wainwright to Steve Lombardozzi. Prior to that, today's ceremonial first pitch was thrown by ... Joe Namath, who is here for some reason. Nice ovation, as you'd expect, for Broadway Joe, who still has a little oomph in his right arm.
1:09 p.m. -- A fairly simple, 1-2-3 top of the first for Wainwright. Lombardozzi and Tyler Moore each skied flyballs, while Kurt Suzuki struck out swinging. For those wondering why Suzuki is hitting second today, don't worry, there's nothing fishy going on. Davey just wants to ensure he gets a couple at-bats before he comes out of the game after 4 or 5 innings.
1:22 p.m. -- Well, that's a first inning Dan Haren will want to forget. He was torched for four runs on four hits, all scoring on home runs. Jon Jay led things off with a solo shot to right. Matt Adams added a three-run blast later. Haren wound up throwing 16 of 22 pitches for strikes, but the four guys he threw first-pitch balls to all wound up recording hits. Coincidence? I think not. Nats trail 4-0 after one.
1:36 p.m. -- Haren enjoyed better results in the bottom of the second, but he didn't necessarily pitch much better. He only threw 8 of 18 pitches for strikes, walked Matt Carpenter on four pitches and continued to throw his fastball in the 86-89 mph range (if the scoreboard radar gun is to be believed). I'll be interested what Haren has to say afterward. Wonder if he's dealing with any dead arm issues today.
1:40 p.m. -- On the bright side, Micah Owings continues to rake. Just smoked a base hit to left field, so the ex-pitcher is now hitting .400 for the spring (8-for-20).
1:46 p.m. -- A 1-2-3 bottom of the third for Haren, who has now thrown 49 pitches, 29 of them for strikes. His fastball still hasn't topped 89 mph and has more consistently been in the 86-87 mph range. Nats still trail 4-0 heading to the fourth.
2:00 p.m. -- We're through four innings now, and the Cardinals have added another run via -- who else? -- Pete Kozma. The pesky little shortstop drew a leadoff walk, went first-to-third on a groundout to third base and then cored on Jay's sac fly. Haren has now thrown 67 pitches, 39 strikes. No action in the Nats bullpen, so he should be back out for the fifth. Nats now trail 5-0.
2:03 p.m. -- Wainwright, meanwhile, hasn't even broken a sweat through five scoreless innings. He's faced the minimum, allowing only Owings' single and a walk to Tracy. Then again, you have to take into consideration the lineup he's facing today.
2:12 p.m. -- That should do it for Haren today. His final line will read: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 81 pitches, 50 strikes. I'll let you know what he has to say about his arm once we talk to him a few minutes. Still 5-0 Cards as Yunesky Maya warms in the bullpen. My interest level in this game is about to drop by a factor of 17.
2:18 p.m. -- Hey, the Nats are on the board. Owings delivers his second hit of the day -- he's now batting a robust .429 for the spring -- and Zach Walters follows with a base hit preceding a Steve Lombardozzi RBI groundball. So it's 5-1 Cardinals as we go to the bottom of the sixth.
3:02 p.m. -- Just got back from the clubhouse, where Dan Haren was brutally honest about his performance. "Just one of those days," he said. "I felt like I was throwing a weighted ball out there." He believes this was strictly a case of dead arm and insists neither his arm nor anything else in his body is hurt. And he's confident he'll get back on track next time out. Meanwhile, it's still 5-1 Cardinals as they move to the ninth.
55 comments:
New posted:
I continue to believe that Young will go elsewhere. We'll soon see about that.
If they want to keep him, and to do that they have to stash him in the bullpen, he could take over the RH long relief role and Stammen could pitch more in the late innings. That might be a good thing because of his effectiveness against LH hitters, as discussed a few days ago.
For this to happen, H-Rod might have to catch his finger in a car door again.
His opt-out date is 26th, right? so we have time. I think HRod will fix this problem by himself one way or the other. :P
Its a good lineup to see what some of the bubble players can do.
Here's your RZim fielding update:
Washington Nationals @Nationals
"He looks great, I'm not worried about him at all," - Davey on Zim, who will get 1st start at 3rd base either Saturday or Monday
Given that quote from Davey, where the bleep did Phil Wood get his info from to make his statement on Ryan?
Suzuki batting second is interesting ... now let's see what happens whether non-bubble player Tyler Moore sees more at bats going toward opening day. If his power wakes up he just might continue to see more throughout April and May. Why? Because that's the kind of baseball Davey likes to play and Davey believes in getting fast starts ... if he wants a World Series ring and given the situation in the NL that would be wise.
Given that quote from Davey, where the bleep did Phil Wood get his info from to make his statement on Ryan?
Who cares? This isn't 2 or 3 years ago dude. They've got Anthony Rendon and Zim can slide into first base. Puts some pressure on LaRoche to not get off to his traditional slow start ... just like last year. But its a subtle always in the back of your mind pressure. Hopefully the kind that will raise the level of play.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/laynce-nix-blames-nike-shoes-leg-injuries-171427786--mlb.html
Laynce Nix blames Nike cleats for his leg injuries.
Peric, I think if you made that suggestion to Davey or Rizzo they would look at you like you lost your mind.
Unless LaRoche is injured, you aren't going to see Zim at 1st base until the 2015 at the earliest.
Scrub day - only one opening day start in the bunch.
Responding to a couple of comments in the last post.
Why do so many of you list Rendon as a 2nd baseman?
He might take grounders there and be working on all 3 positions but he truly is a 3rd baseman and I think that is where he is most comfortable and will end up for our team. I see him on the big league roster later this year as a utility guy and like Ghost says, when LaRoche is done in 2015 then they might move Zimm and plug in Rendon. My point is, Rendon is not a 2nd baseman.
Theo mentions centerfield as a weakpoint depthwise. I am surprised Peric didn't jump through the screen. His boy Corey Brown is more then competent and Bernadina also does a nice job. Add Perez, Goodwin and Taylor and you really have a backlog in Centerfield, not a weakness. Oh, there is one more guy who might be able to help in CF, I think he goes by Bryce Harper. Bottom line is, this is not a position to worry about.
Reasonable set of starters to spare the regulars the 4 hour round trip bus ride, but that is one bizarro batting order. Walters 9th and Zuk 2nd? I guess Tracy and Zuk are higher to get them more PAs before pulling them in the 6th, but looks like this is maybe partly for Davey's entertainment.
Why not? It's a long Spring Training this year.
sjm, they may (may not) need to find a spot for Rendon in 2014 and nobody knows where that position is which is why they want him to get in work at all 3 infield spots. Some of this also has to be for showcasing him to raise his value. Remember, he is still trade bait if there is a greater need and yes, luckily there isn't a greater need right now.
The best outcome this year is for Rendon to join the team as a September callup and go from there.
Well, this was an adventure. I got an email from FedEx in my spam folder, and it was, in fact, spam. When I tried putting the "tracking number" into the online system, it didn't work. So I called FedEx, and said I had gotten this email.
The lady quoted the text of the email, word for word, and then said, "I apologize, that is fraudulent."
However, by giving my address & name, she found that my REAL package is scheduled for delivery on March 18. So beware, folks!
What else was Davey going to say about RZ? All last year Zim insisted he was fine, was great, then he got the shot and he actually was great, offensively, but then after the season he reported that the shot blocked the pain and he thought he could do stuff (defensively) that he couldn't.
You are not going to get the straight story from these guys until it's absolutely unavoidable--like he's not playing or he's on the DL--and why should you? Unless you are playing fantasy baseball, you don't have a NEED to know...
I ignore any comment from Davey that starts with "John's my guy" or "I'm not worried about..."
Ghost,
I agree with your Rendon assessment completely. 2 things may change it:
1) a significant injury to a regular where they feel that an impact bat is absolutely necessary.
2) Rendon's performance at AA is such that he should not be kept down any longer.
Like Harper I don't believe Rendon will ever be brought up to be a utility/multi position player. If he comes up he will be given a position and and regular spot in the batting order; this is not Lombo we are talking about.
As you say and I agree a trade is still one of the options Rizzo will weigh. I am not so sure we have our future 1st baseman on the team just yet and there is always a possibility that we will lose one of our starting pitchers to free agency down the line.
Justin Smoak was every bit the coveted prospect that Rendon is today and Seattle traded Cliff Lee to get him so don't should think that this idea is sacrilege.
Remember the Mike Morse three-way trade? I believe this is the PTBNL, at least if I understand Byron Kerr's post correctly.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=treine001bla
JD--how's the Lee for Smoak trade looking for the M's? I think it will be a while before another team follows that model.
sjm -- The reason I said CF was "thin" is that none of your options in lieu of Span has shown the ability to hit in the major leagues. Span is here because management has decided Bernadina can't play CF on a day-to-day basis. If something happens to Span, or he goes 0-33, then my guess is Harper or Werth or some combination moves into CF and Bernadina gets slotted into the corner. That's the only way to keep the offense running and avoid a defensive roulette game.
NL,
Teams going nowhere trade stars for prospects all the time. I am just trying to caution people that prospects are never a sure thing and sometimes trading a prospect gets you the best value for him.
It's not full proof because sometimes you trade a prospect like Baltimore did with Jeff Bagwell and he winds up having a near hall of fame career.
All I am saying is that there are many ways to skin a cat.
SJM and Theo,
Span has had enough of a history where his falling totally flat on his face is highly unlikely. It just may take him more than a couple of weeks of ST to get going.
JD, well laid out and its a good problem to have when you have a stud player who is blocked.
Its possible that Rendon stays in the Minors for most of 2014 also if he is blocked because as you said he isn't coming to the Nats to be a utility player.
JD, I think you mean Boston, not Baltimore, in regards to Bagwell.
Yah, that didn't work out to well for Boston.
Let me say this about Spring Training stats (re: Span). Raise your hand if you thing the KC Royals are the best team in the AL, and the Angels are the worst team.
And raise BOTH hands if you think the Rockies are the best team in the NL.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/exhibition.jsp?tcid=mm_mlb_standings#20130929
NL, it happens that way every year and has little to do with what actually happens in the regular season although I would say that the Royals on paper look like they will compete in their division. I will repeat, on paper.
Anyone else having trouble with MLB.TV? I'm just getting the revolving circles.
Or, if you're only mildly deranged, you can DVR the tape delayed broadcast and watch it later in the day. Or not. :-)
Or, if you're really deranged, you can watch the tape delayed broadcast on MLB Network at the convenient time of 3 a.m. EDT.
Maybe he wanted to give Bryce a few lifestyle tips and didn't realize he didn't make the trip. What? :-)
Joe Namath, who is here for some reason. Nice ovation, as you'd expect, for Broadway Joe, who still has a little oomph in his right arm.
Anna, i'm watching on my laptop and having no problems except for Haren's pitching
I guess Haren's "working on things?"
When Mark said they're in Jupiter, he meant Haren's homers.
Back to Rendon for a sec. It would be great fun if he went off, had a spectacular season and forced the Nats' hand.
I like to think about Leo sitting in New York and getting reports about the kid centerfielder in Minneapolis who was hitting .477 after 149 at bats.
"All righty, then."
(No, of course I don't think Rendon is Willie Mays. Just sayin' talent will out.)
"Today's game is being televised by the Cardinals' broadcast crew "
Isn't it a little early in the day for them to be, umm, broadcasting?
Kilgore reports that Davey said Gio will pitch the WBC championship game on Tuesday if they U.S. gets that far. His and McCatty's rotation plans are kind of in limbo pending the conclusion of the WBC since Det might pitch tonight, or tomorrow, or not at all. If the U.S. loses tonight, Gio will pitch Sunday for the Nats.
Haren taking his turn at having a dead arm? Seems like all the pitcher have had a stinker day in the last week. I am hoping this is an aberration and not the norm.
OK, maybe it's for the best that I can't see or hear this one. But don't know why MLB.TV isn't working for me.
OK I can't listen to these Cardinal announcers running their mouths about how effin great their farm system is and that ours is only good because we lost 100 games twice. I will watch the rest with the sound muted. They add absolutely nothing to the broadcast except verbal vomit
Today is a good test for the fringe players to face a real MLB starter in Adam Wainwright. Let's see how these guys do.
NL -- when I got my email about Season "Ticket" shipment, it came from the Nats not FedEx, and the tracking number worked.
On the other hand, the tracking said "delivery by 10:30 am" today, which didn't change until noon. Still waiting (though no biggie as I'm working at home today anyway and our FedEx or UPS deliveries don't generally get here until 2-3).
Ghost,
Not great apparently.
I have been feeling really down about not making spring training again this year. However - I sure am glad I did not pay a cent to attend today's game. Haren/Maya, et al. If Det and Gio are not going to be around for ST games, I want to see them play on TV again real soon. Hopefully ending up with a curly W after their names in the box score.
JD, Micah Owings is 2 for 2 against Wainwright. This guy is special and it will be interesting to see what happens with him.
Ghost,
I think Owings will need to go down to Syracuse and put 100 - 200 at bats together before we can make a reasonable judgement about his potential as a hitter.
He has looked good this spring and 2 for 2 against Wainright sure helps his cause.
JD, I saw him hit as a pitcher in the Majors. I'm convinced, he has always hit and that's for a guy who only swung it once every 5 days. Give him a few starts in a row.
I think he has to go to AAA to get reps at 1st and LF.
OK, that was weird. Gameday invented a run for the Nationals, scored by "unknown" on the groundout by Suzuki. Too bad this ghost runner didn't really exist! (They've taken the run away again now.)
Eddie, check the tracking site again. Mine said delivery by 10:30 today too. I was getting ready to head out at 10:30 and no tickets yet, so I checked the tracking site again. It said "Delivery by 5:00 pm. ON SCHEDULE" I guess they're having Metro deliver FedEx packages now.
For the record, the tickets showed up at my house around 1:00.
Ghost
Walk up songs
http://districtsportspage.com/washington-nationals-walk-up-music-2012/10367
Ghost,
Here is my concern. When you are a pitcher the opposition doesn't game plan to pitch to your weaknesses. That's why I want to see what happens when he is looked upon as a hitter not just a hitting pitcher.
I got my box with the season "ticket" stuff. Been having tech problems with my 'puter all day.
Anna, when that happens to me, go into task manager and stop the process called 'Nextdef'. I have no idea what it does, but my mlb.tv doesn't work unless I stop it.
Thanks, Natslady!
I thought at the beginning of spring training that a couple of players has an outside chance of challenging for positions. Specifically I thought that if Corey Brown had a great spring he might challenge Tracy or Bernadina and Rivero if he really excelled might challenge Lombo.
With precious few opportunities left I would say that neither player has done much to further their cause and neither has much of a chance to make the big club.
I never had much faith that Marrero will challenge for anything and Owings probably needs to play every day at AAA so I think we are back to having 24 positions all locked up and only the final bullpen spot is in question and even that is probably Henry's to lose.
NatsLady and Anna, apparently that's a Known Issue:
MLB.com and NextDef process
Also on a walk-up note, this is kinda cool, from last October. Walk-up music for pla-play-playoff teams.
Aha, Sofa. It's a feature!
Haren clocked at 86-87. I know speed isn't everything, but you better have movement and you better be on the edges. Obviously, he didn't have either today. I think Haren is a guy who has had a wonderful career, but right now he is flailing in deep water, ready to go under. I think he will be out of the rotation after 6-7 starts. Hope I'm wrong
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