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| Photo by USA Today |
N.L. East Standings
Offensive Game of the Week: Wilson Ramos 4/6 at Reds – 3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB
Pitching Line of the Week: Stephen Strasburg 4/1 vs. Marlins – 7.0 IP, 3 SO, 3 H, 80 pitches (52 strikes)
Top Storylines
Dan Haren’s poor debut – It was just one game and a tough situation for anyone to start their season in, away at Cincinnati against their deep lineup. At the same time, however, Haren was awful in his final spring start and is looking to bounce back after a bad year last season with the Angels. There is no reason to rush to judgment yet, but his progress this month could be the biggest storyline revolving around the Nationals.
Adam LaRoche’s back injury – LaRoche has sat out the last two games dealing with a sore back, but expects to be in the lineup on Tuesday night. He told Mark he felt better after waking up on Sunday so that is a good sign. At this point it doesn’t sound serious, but it is still an injury to one of the team’s most integral players.
Nats catcher competition – Davey Johnson said before the season he believes he has two number one catchers on his team and so far he is absolutely right. Both Wilson Ramos and Kurt Suzuki have stormed out of the gate, each hitting home runs in the series in Cincinnati. Suzuki hit one out Saturday against Johnny Cueto and Ramos hit two in the Nats’ 7-6 win on Sunday. So far the competition has brought about great results from the two backstops and it will interesting to see who can keep it up.
Quote of the Week
Jayson Werth: “We've gone from an up-and-coming team to a championship team in a very short period of time. Championship-caliber clubs they continue to get better. I think that's where we're at. The window's definitely open for us right now and hopefully it'll stay open for us for a long time, but you've got to jump through that window at some point so, as the season goes on, we'll continue to learn and learn a lot about ourselves and each other and it should be fun.”
Tweet of the Week
Late night donut shops in DC?! Nothing gourmet, just donuts! Anybody?! #fatty
— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) April 3, 2013
Road Ahead
Mon. - off
Tue. - 7:05 p.m. vs. Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez)
Wed. – 7:05 p.m. vs. Chicago White Sox (Zimmermann)
Thu. – 7:05 p.m. vs. Chicago White Sox (Haren)
Fri. – 7:05 p.m. vs. Atlanta Braves (Detwiler)
Sat. – 1:05 p.m. vs. Atlanta Braves (Strasburg)
Sun. – 1:35 p.m. vs. Atlanta Braves (Gonzalez)
125 comments:
Also, does anyone have a link to Espinosa's leap on Saturday?
The play is included in the condensed game.
Stras starting Gio's bobblehead game. Ingredients for the next Nats Park sellout?
Hmm a new feature for this year? I like it.
I think, as weird as it sounds, this was one of the least exciting 4-2 weeks i have ever seen. Not sure if its offset by so many of the wins coming in less than sexy fashion against a team of the marlins caliber, or the shellacking this weekend, or simply the fact that nobody has really been dominant outside of Harper. But then again, its been 1 week...TONS of baseball left. And if I remember right, didn't we win a bunch of scrappy, ugly games early last year too? So I'll take it, and hopefully we can win both of these home series's.
"I think, as weird as it sounds, this was one of the least exciting 4-2 weeks i have ever seen."
AKA, most nerve-wracking? Sheesh! Hopefully it's a good kick in the pants. Infield needs to tighten up, and our loudly hailed pitching staff needs to consider the possibility that MLB spent the winter learning about everything they do. The Reds didn't just seem to be hitting well, they seemed to know what was coming.
I was sure a certain Rendon advocate claimed that Anthony was hitting .700 just a day or so ago...you know...raking at a rate that would force Davey to find spot in the lineup and drive Zim to 1st base.
YOU see 3onand2out? You don't read carefully now do you? I said Jeff Kobernus was WHITE HOT hitting .700. NOT Rendon. Kobernus is so hot the Iron Pigs stopped pitching to him. And what I said was ... folks had better give up on the idea of Rendon at second base because with Espinosa, Lombardozzi, and this kid Kobernus it sure looks like they are really deep at second base.
I knew this had to be a Chase Hughes with that Twitter from Bryce!
Good one! BTW, did anyone find him a good donut shop?
It looks like the NIDO "Who's going?" tab is filling up nicely. (Thanks to Candide for setting it up.) Stop by there if you have plans to attend one of the games in the upcoming homestand or beyond. And just add your name on the left side if it's not there already. We might also use that spot to indicate if we have an extra ticket(s) to give away or sell.
While it's great to know where people are sitting, I don't know about others, but I'm not likely to move much during the game, even to go in search of virtual friends. On the other hand, I'm definitely willing to make the effort to meet up for a few minutes before the game. The picnic tables behind section 312 were a good spot for that during the playoffs and Mark Z was able to drop down from the press box to say hello. But that might not be a convenient spot for folks with seats on the lower level. So feel free to suggest another location. We can make the standard meeting time 35 minutes before game time (6:30 for a 7:05 game), and stipulate, that folks will stick around only until 6:55 pm at the latest.
As for identifying each other, that's tricky. I headed to the meeting spot on Opening Day and didn't see anyone, but then heard that a few others dropped by. Maybe turn our baseball caps backward as the NI identifier?
Thoughts welcome.
Nice feature, Chase.
We need NI buttons for the caps. Secret handshakes, too.
From Byron Kerr on Twitter: #Harrisburg 1B Matt Skole hairline fracture left wrist, out 3-4 weeks, acc to team source #Nats details forthcoming
I like this feature a lot! Thanks for posting :)
In future installments, can you include a "Web Gem of the Week" as well? I'm hoping that with this team there will be a lot of great GIF-able moments to share...
And if he asks again ... the Safeway at 5th/L NW is open all night. They'd have donuts.
Good Stuff Chase. Thanks for putting this up.
I'd feel better if we were contemplating "where we are."
Only James Bond should end sentences with propositions. :)
Det, Stras, and Gio, for the Barves.... Me Likey!!
Unkyd, there are not as much left-handed heavy as they were last season. besides Freeman is out for few days and Upton brothers are swinging well. It should be an interesting match-up.
And Safeway's donuts are outstanding! (Wish I could still eat six at a clip, instead of 1-2/week...:(
Faraz, let's not forget that the Uptons have been facing the Phillies (who look a lot older) and the Cubs (they are the Cubs)
Just looking at three Strong Pitchers, FS... I like our chances with those three against just about anybody... :)
True Michele. They did beat up an injured Halladay and uncharacteristically bad start Hamels. They faced a good pitcher (Lee) and could not score on him all that much. But with our pitchers' tendency to give up HRs, I worry a little.
Unkyd, no doubt that those are good pitchers. I will take our pitchers over theirs.
Has anyone used pitch-fx data from brooksbaseball.net and compared Henry's good outings against bad outings? I want to do it but do not want to repeat if someone has looked at it.
222, for some of the postseason gatherings, we had a sign that was placed on a picnic table (once we'd located an empty picnic table). Or just look for a group of oddball folks (in which I include myself). ;-)
That said, and regarding seat locations, I also don't tend to move around or visit once I'm settled in my seat, and I like to be there at least a few minutes before first pitch. I would think locations might vary for partial plan holders, folks who picked up extra games and couldn't get their usual seats, and so forth.
On the donut front (when I saw that in the previous post, I thought it related to shut-outs): no love for Krispy Kreme?
FP is on 106.7!
natsfan1a said...
On the donut front (when I saw that in the previous post, I thought it related to shut-outs): no love for Krispy Kreme?
Krispy Kreme is good for non-gourmet donuts. Bryce's favorite donut shop has spoiled him. Someone needs to open up a gourmet place like Friendly Donuts which Bryce loves!
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/friendly-donut-house-henderson?select=Na3glB3iXfixzd2IkjX71w#Na3glB3iXfixzd2IkjX71w
Lets all remember this time last year. We were so giddy after the first 6 games of last year.
Guess what the Nats record was....
....come on.. .keeep guessing...
YUP, it was 4-2
I just can not type
NatsJack... your point in the last thread is well taken. Remember, I am only throwing out possible ideas down the road in 2014 and beyond. I know Desi's skills are probably best at short, I think I am just finding ways to get Lombo more time because I think he is a terrific young player. I know T Moore is going to be great and he will be a long term player.
Way to go Michele! 4-2 is perfect for this point. Take 2 out of 3 in every series on average is the goal.
Ghost, thanks for the update on 106.7, I wonder FP knows that last week my boys on 1067.7 had a famous porn queen on. he is in good company, lol
on that note, I better get back to work, back at you all tonight
mick, you have to love FP! Mr. 5.5 hole! Did you see his interview with RZim on words to describe his teammates.
Jayson Werth = Gluten Free
Not a great nickname but very funny that Zim said that!
Stammen and JZim are both Bulldogs. Sorry, JZim is the Bulldog as Davey calls him that. Stammen is Staymen.
Bad news on Matt Skole as he fractured his wrist. The good news is that the fracture was small and won't require surgery.
Oh Matt! Mend well and fast. I loved Zimm's one-word associations. Gluten free sounds less icky to me now that it's associated with Jayson. Good luck with gluten free at the ballpark though!
Sarah Kogod on the Sports Bog posted these RZim words for his teammates:
Bryce Harper: “Freak.”
Jayson Werth: “Gluten-free.”
Danny Espinosa: “Intense.”
Stephen Strasburg: “Phenom.”
Adam LaRoche: “As much as you don’t think so, focused.”
Chad Tracy: “Clydesdale.”
Tyler Clippard: “Goggles.”
Ian Desmond: “Most athletic guy on the team.”
Kurt Suzuki: “Clutch.”
Tyler Moore: “All-American guy. Heartthrob. We’ll go heartthrob.”
Roger Bernadina: “He likes to dance.”
Craig Stammen: “Bulldog.”
Drew Storen: “Stanford.”
Jordan Zimmermann: “Him and Craig are bulldog. Midwest, kinda all-American. Go out and do their job.”
Gio Gonzalez: “Smile. Laugh. Charismatic.”
Ross Detwiler: “Huh, Ross. Uh…he loves hockey. NHL.”
A couple of randon thoughts. Clearly Davey played with Haren spot in the rotation, maybe so he doesn't face the Braves on Friday. But maybe he should have open the season with Haren in the third spot (Stras, Zimm, Haren , Gio then Det) and have his two lefty pitchers face the Reds and Braves two times each as their first starts, since both play worse vs. lefty pitchers. Just a thioough (I know this is strange, but it was a schedeuling oppirtunity and getting Haren an easier first start based on his spring could have been smart).
As noted by others, Stras should have pitch hit for in the 6th, no doubt. I first guess it at the time and second guess it here too.
Can't wait 'til my next game Saturday. Gio booblehead and Stras on the bump.
I think Davey will want JC on this team before May 1st!
Ghost Of Steve M. said... Bad news on Matt Skole as he fractured his wrist.
You know how you momentarily see chunks of a sentence before you actually read it? Okay, well I do, anyway...
I saw "Skole" and "fractured" and momentarily thought, "fractured skull? huh?"
Glad it's just the wrist. Recommend a gluten-free diet until it heals.
One other thing. Davey does this a lot and don't like it. When an ALR (or another player) is out; Davey seems to just drop the replacement in that hitter spot rather than resetting his lineup, I assume so everyone else is hitting his regular batting order. Well, no way on earth dhould Tracy being hitting in front of Desi, in situations like this you have to move Desi up in the order. I'm just saying...
Good feature- terrible grammar. Heard FP on the radio, he just loves this team but can be critical without being nasty. I love listening to him. One thing I have hated over the last week or so is the haphazard schedule. One game, 2 off, one more game, one off, 2 games, then away, then back home, one o'clock, four o 'clock, seven o'clock. Hope things settle in soon. Also wish Chase had addressed something other than offense when discussing the catchers.
BTW, I'm making more updates to the Who's Going link (can't leave bad enough alone...). I'm putting promotion info into comments for each game. Games with a promo have a little black triangle in the upper right corner of the day field; hover over the day field for that game's promo. (Only up to June 9 right now, and I have some other work to do...).
Candide, WaPo a few minutes ago just wrote up their full story on Skole:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2013/04/08/prospect-matt-skole-on-disabled-list-with-microfracture-in-left-wrist/
The Nationals hope Skole will miss at least three to four weeks because of the microfracture.
Not sure what to make of that sentence as I would think "hope Skole will miss not more than 3 to 4 weeks".
Braves get the Marlins this series. That's like everyone in the AL West getting the Astros. Sadly, I think the Astros are way worse and could contend for 120 losses.
It's just excerpts from one Q&A out of 25 (so clearly "fair use", right?), but I had to copy this from Boz's chat:
A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON
For those worried about the Nats' performance this weekend, go check out the 1978 Orioles. First three games of the year, against the hard-hitting Brewers: all losses, by the scores of 11-3,16-3, 13-5. That team went on to win 90 games that year and went to the World Series the next year....
– April 8, 2013 12:37 PMPermalink
A.
THOMAS BOSWELL :
I remember those three games well. Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez and Scott McGregor, who went on to win about 550 games, lost to Augustine, Sorensen and Haas....
Earl Weaver spent the first six weeks of the season mocking all of us for saying "bad start." Earl kept saying, "What is a start? Define 'a start.' You can't do it. " So, the O's were 22-25, then they went 17-1 to get to .600!
Earl said, "So, you second-guessing so-and-sos, I guess we're off to a pretty &^%$*$# good START, ain't we?"
See, to me, donut and gourmet do not go together, and don't even get me started on $3 gourmet cupcakes. Then again, I'm old school, and I bake. :-)
Ghost Of Steve M. said...
Krispy Kreme is good for non-gourmet donuts. Bryce's favorite donut shop has spoiled him. Someone needs to open up a gourmet place like Friendly Donuts which Bryce loves!
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/friendly-donut-house-henderson?select=Na3glB3iXfixzd2IkjX71w#Na3glB3iXfixzd2IkjX71w
April 08, 2013 1:41 PM
Thanks for that Eddie, Earl was awesome...
From what I understand, Weaver used to make a big show of his objections on purpose to make umpires forget whatever player they were annoyed at and toss him from the game instead, as he reasoned that he was less valuable than any of the players. Very ahead of his time on strategy.
In ex-Nats news, EJax seems to be having one of those bad-first-inning games all remember so well.
How great for Stras that many aces had horrible games yesterday. And he was the least bad of them all- Cain gave up nine? Normally his start would have been under the microscope- today, not so much. Perspective.
Swami-Still not sure why everybody calls Strasburg an ace. He has not earned that recognition yet (not even close really). You are putting him in a category with Cain, Verlander, Price, Kershaw, Felix, et. al. Strasburg has like 20 something CAREER wins. He is not in that category until he proves it. Hell, Gio should be considered the ace of this staff due to his past 3 seasons, not Strasburg. He has never even pitched past the 7th inning. That is not an ace.
I think it's much more fun to follow a team that goes from bad to great in two years vs. following a great team who has to be great again or the season will be seen as a disappointment.
The Nationals started the season 4-2--on pace to win 108 games--and yet the team has a weird feel to it.
When Strasburg loses, his losses all look the same. Lots of bouncing singles up the middle, flares into the gap, etc.
And his fastball seems to be in the 95-96 mph range. What happened to the 98 mph? Has he decided he doesn't need to throw it and is saving some strength for later? Did the surgery take away 2-3 mph from him?
But really, I shouldn't be worried about any of this. They will soon enough win eight out of nine and cruise to another 90+ win season
So, never mind.
It's raining here in Idaho. Makes me blue.
Farid
I haven't had a chance to read comments, so I'm sure I missed it....but is anybody else happy that Haren is missing the Braves?
I am actually not putting him in that category at all. As a matter of fact, I agree with you. But, like it or not, the Nats have put him there, it 's not just the media- the organization put him there and so that is the category he will be judged in. Gio has years, lots of starts, 21 wins, WBC, and he is number two and still struggles at times. But then, I also think Det should be four. Stras IS being talked about in that group. Just glad he blended in yesterday.
Harold Reynolds supported Espi's play on Saturday when he threw home. Said where he was positioned indicated that play. All Star 2b. Maybe not so clearly a gaffe after all?
Thank you, Swami.
Clairvoyants don't see the future, they see things that are happening at the time, but at a distance.
Just mesing with you.
Swami-Agree with you on Detwiler. I think he is the #4, and they just want him and Strasburg back to back. I think we all agree that Strasburg has the stuff to be an ace, but guys like Verlander and Randy Johnson illustrate that it often takes a few years to get there. Hopefully it won't take him that long, but my expectations are certainly starting to get a little lower.
Haha. As usual, we are tougher on our gys than the outsiders. Go nats!!
It was a gaffe. Espi's manager had called the play before the pitch. Infield not drawn in to go home to cut off the run, infield at DP depth. If Espi was positioned wrong, it was his fault.
Don't go by what Davey may or may not have said to the media about the play. Davey does not throw his players under the bus. You can bet that Espi heard about that play afterward, either from Davey or from the infield coach, whoever that is.
Ray Knight spent a good five minutes on the postgame show dissecting that play and pointing out why Espi was wrong to throw home.
Erik,
You are dead wrong about this. There is a reason the Nats started Stras on opening day 2 years in a row. He is far and away the Nats most talented pitcher and has no hot potential on any give day. You are just being impatient:
Stas 1st full year year:
15 - 6 3.16
Verlander:
17 - 9 3.63
Kershaw:
8 - 8 2.79
Lincecum:
7 - 5 4.00
Halladay:
8 - 7 3.92
Seaver:
16 - 13 2.76
Gibson:
13 - 13 3.24
Pretty good company. no?
I thing Gio and JZimm are exceptional pitchers but Stras is the one superstar on deck.
My apologies Peric. I stand corrected.
3on2out,
You don't need to apologize. quoting batting averages after 4 games is asinine at any level. Kobernus is such a hot prospect the Tigers sent him back to us for nothing. Kobernus is right up there with Eric Komatsu and Ryan Tatusko as up and coming superstars.
No game today. It's getting a little testy. We need a new controversy.
A couple of things pointed out by Ray Knight that Harold Reynolds clearly did not consider.
(1) Getting the DP there leaves you one run down, none on and two out. Virtually no chance of a big inning there, whereas even if the runner had been out at home there would have been two on with only one out and dangerous batters ahead.
(2) It was the sixth inning, not the ninth. A one run deficit after six is easier to overcome than a three run deficit. In the all-or-nothing ninth inning, you play it different.
These are the things managers consider when they decide how to position the infield. It's strategy, and it's communicated to the players. If a player goes against that strategy, it's the player's mistake.
Because a new controversy is a sure-fire cure for things getting testy. ;-)
baseballswami said...
No game today. It's getting a little testy. We need a new controversy.
April 08, 2013 3:54 PM
Haren worries me. He hasn't pitched well for more than a year. Seems like Tyler Moore should get more playing time. Why not use him at first base, especially with LaRoche aching. The Nationals as a team have been reading too much about their "greatness." In the meantime they are not getting clutch hits and their pitching is shaky. Our new closer should not be blowing saves. Harper and Espinosa have misjudged throwing situations. They all need to get serious and play like pros.
gail,
You are incorrect about Haren. His post all star game stats from last year are actually very good.
6 - 5 3.58
73 inning 68 hits 56 K's and 14 BB's.
not really correct Gail. he had quality starts last Aug/Sept with some very good.
gail, the Nats are 4-2.
JD/3on2out -- Agreed. The only thing that is less predictive of regular season performance than spring training stats is minor league stats. Harper was hitting .243/.325/.365 in Syracuse before he was brought up and proceeded to win rookie of the year. Corey Brown hit .285/.365/.523 with 25 HRs at Syracuse last year. His OPS this year after 4 games is 1.000. So what?
Unless someone gets injured, none of these superstars, including Rendon, are going to be in DC until September. Get over it.
Sec 222,
Now you've done it. Peric is coming after you with fire and brimstone and in bold lettering.
Relax gail, its six freaking games...once they get to ten games, that will still only be 6.2% of the season. One football game is 6.2% of a season. Should we judge last year's Redskins team on any one particular game during the season? How about the Steelers game? Clearly they were better than that.
So people relax, they are on pace for 108 wins right now. With the track record of this pitching staff, the fact that they had two bad starts in three games, means they will probably go on a run of dominance soon. This team also is legitimately one of the best in the league defensively, and they lead the league in errors. Do you really think that will continue all year?
Subtract a few errors, or take away one bad start and we are 5-1, the best record in baseball. The Braves are 5-1, but they have played two teams unlikely to make the playoffs. We played very well the 2nd best team in baseball at their place, and had a chance to take the series if one or two balls had bounced differently. Good gracious people, learn baseball, its a long season.
Burns15 - I hope you are right!
While Peric is a big boy and will defend himself, I question why people would be upset about following stats in both the majors and minors. I mean, that is one of the things that is great about baseball - the numbers.
It is early and way too early to jump to any conclusions but I enjoy hearing from those that do follow the lads below our 25 in Washington and if someone is hitting well or pitching well it sure beats them not doing well.
I love box scores and try and go over to National Prospects at least two or three times a week just to look at all our teams.
I am obviously happy with 4-2 but just a little worried about what I perceive as a lack of focus on defense with our infield. 7 errors is just way too many and there have been at least 7 other plays where it was not an error but the play could have been made. No panic from this old fan who usually sees the glass way more than 1/2 full but I need to see a certain sharpness that is not there yet.
Go Nats!!
ps: Shenandoah Mts were fabulous and The Inn at Little Washington is all we heard it was! Dinner in about an hour Whooooo Hoooooo
NatsJack, I was just coming on to say the same. Is that the same team? Buster Olney may want to rethink his Power Rankings.
I also like this feature. As well, looking at the standings, one can only imagine what fan comments read like on Marlins, or even Phillies blogs right now (Yes, it's only the first week but we are talking fan blogs now. :-))
The Reds spent every single bit of their BABIP luck on the weekend against us. I know the Nats did not play their best, but there were seeing eye singles, " hit" batters, ball boys interfering and all sorts of weird things going on. Seemed like anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Those things have a way of balancing out.
Edwin Jackson lost his control today. Walked 5 over 6 innings with 5 earned runs.
NJ.. Cubs are Cubs, but I give Theo until 2015/2016 to turn it around. That was one Craptastic franchise. All the money in the world an run by a bunch of idiots! In the mean time. sleeper team = they are in a coma for this year.
Gonat- EJax. "Lost" his control??? When, exactly did he have it?
NJ.. Garza, depends on his health. Soriano, depends on where his head is at and where the Cubs can ship him....
Ejax gave up 4 runs in the first inning and 1 in the 2nd inning (where have we seen that before?) The other 2 runs were given up by a reliever.
Milwaukee's bullpen is really shaky again this year. They went into the 9th inning 7-2, and luckily the 2nd pitcher of the inning got the final out with the bases loaded. A hit might have tied it and a HR would have won it for the Cubbies. (Gorzy pitched a scoreless 8th inning, not sure why they didn't leave him in for the 9th, if it was a "mop-up situation).
baseballswami said...
Gonat- EJax. "Lost" his control??? When, exactly did he have it?
April 08, 2013 6:49 PM
______________________________
It's like a distant memory, although that start in the playoffs unfortunately is a not too distant nightmare.
Oh, and it's 13-4 REDS, after the Cards were leading 3-1. Cincinnati is on a tear. But remember that hot May the Fish had last year? Ress are a good team... still...they are not going to win 150 games...(and if they do, who cares, they are not in our Division).
NJ.. Garza, depends on his health. Soriano, depends on where his head is at and where the Cubs can ship him....
No takers for Soriano ... they are my 'sleeper" team and I don't expect them to be in a coma in the 2nd half. Soriano makes a good veteran presence and he still can put up some offense. Garza? They might just deal EJax if he doesn't perform. He's still under 30 they might get the Dodgers to take him.
The Braves are 5-1, but they have played two teams unlikely to make the playoffs.
And the Braves improved dramatically over the past season. And they have some decent talent down on the farm. Their only weakness is the starting rotation but their stellar bullpen can effectively mask that weakness.
The bad news? They are definitely in the same division and should not be discounted ... even with a platoon at third replacing their FoF ... BJ Upton will end up being a lot better than many judge him to be now that he is away from Tampa.
NJ. I like Doc when he his not playing the Nats. Just weird what has happened to him. I am curious if he is hurt.
Crazy injury in Cleveland game. The catcher Santana got crossed up and had his glove open for a low pitch and got a center cut fastball full speed on the inside of his wrist. OUCH
NatsJack, that's how Angelos counts them too. Opening Day was Friday and Saturday was discount "Family Day"
NJ. I like Doc when he his not playing the Nats. Just weird what has happened to him. I am curious if he is hurt.
Given his age and mileage ... probably 98% probability you hit the nail squarely on the head. Brad Lidge.
Doc Halladay is getting smoked again. He has pitched 78 pitches in the 3rd inning and given up 4 earned.
NJ, you missed 2 pitches! 78 pitches.
Awww, that's why! I'm loving watching the Phillies struggle and reading their blogs. Hamels and Halladay both struggling is most excellent! They are ready to jump from the Philly bridge!
All my Philly fan relatives are stuck back in the glory days of maybe five years ago. They really believe Howard, Utley, Halladay are going to be all stars forever. They like Young better than any of their young guys, they would happily sign Rollins long, long term. They remind me of Yankee fans.
Halladay threw 9 pitches to the opposing pitcher before he flew out. Crazy.
Crazy, but kind of sad, too. Unrelated, but does anyone know why Freddie Freeman is on the DL? Not to wish something serious on anyone, but.....
How can I save the NIDO link so I can go there when others don't post the link?
NL -- read the play-by-play on that 9-run Reds 9th inning (tied 4-4 coming in). Nothing overpowering, and as much as anything it was Mitchell Boggs doing himself. BB, P4, WP, IBB (Votto, who else?), 2B, IBB (Bruce), BB, 1B (to 6), E6 (Kozma must have choked), 1B, 2B, 4-3, 1B. That's all the scoring. (Then a BB and an infield single loaded the bases but Frazier K'd to end the frame.)
That's 4 walks (2 intentional), 1 WP, 1 E, 3 singles, two doubles. Five free runners, one free extra base, and 5 hits, only two for extra bases -- and no dingers. Some skillful, timely hitting, and a couple of pro at bats (to get the walks, unless Boggs was crazy wild) , sure, but nine runs out of seven total bases in hits? The Reds must know how to put effective spells on pitchers.
Swami.. Freeman - Oblique
You should be able to bookmark it in your browser.
SonnyG10 said...
How can I save the NIDO link so I can go there when others don't post the link?
April 08, 2013 8:19 PM
SonnyG10 said...
How can I save the NIDO link so I can go there when others don't post the link?
Bookmark it (Firefox) or save it as a Favorite (IE).
This will get you to the NIDO "Why We (Don't) Fight" tab: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArHMZg5A8wSXdGViSG8xUGQxUlZzaUVxekJFNHFRcEE#gid=7
Michele - what Desi had, right? Not career threatening but can take a while to clear up as I recall. That is a shame. No, really. It is. I sincerely mean that.
Halladay pulled in the 5th with no outs and 99 pitches.
baseballswami, Freeman was very upset that Wren put him on the DL. He felt he only needed a few days as he thought it wasn't severe.
Desi played through his oblique injury for months until he went on the DL after the All Star break.
Justin Upton with HR 6
Halladay's final line:
Halladay
4.0 innings pitched, 7 earned runs, 14.73 ERA
Love that Halladay pitching line, somehow I'm not finding any sympathy for the Philly fans...
And on the plus side, the Philly woes are distracting us from the Barves torrid start to the season. Just think about the fact that John Lannan started out better than Hamels or Halladay. Or Haren :(
Thanks 1a and Candide on how to save the NIDO link. I have it bookmarked now and have posted my games for April and May.
Excuse the interruption. GO BLUE!!
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Interesting stat that just caught my eye, and it's somewhat discouraging - Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth have a combined 50 plate appearances and not a walk between them. Early season anxiety to swing the bat, or just overly aggressive?
Hope Doc can get it back. Not against us of course.
A helluva pitcher. Followed him with the Bluejays.
NatsJim, good stat on the walks. Bryce definitely has expanded his zone and it's cost him walks at the expense of outs.
Man, the Syracuse club looks tremendous.
Walters clubbed his fourth homer. Kobernus lined three more hits -- including a double and a triple. Old friend Danny Rosenbaum threw five scoreless innings for the win.
222 -- Didn't know you were also a UM grad!
I share your pain.
Eye on Baseball @EyeOnBaseball 1h
Wow RT @DCameronFG: Rick Ankiel's 14 plate appearances this year, in order. HR, K, K, K, line out, K, K, K, K, K, K, K, K, K.
I'm no fan of Halladay, but watching him pitch today was a little sad, because just looking at him you could tell he had nothing going. He looked in pain and exhausted, and even when he had to try to bat he looked like he might pass out. Amazing how fast a dominant pitcher can fall off a cliff.
For the Braves, their handling of injuries/roster management seems really weird right now. They benched Simmons for a game for a sore thumb and sent Freeman to the DL for a sprain over his very angry public objection, without letting him sit for a few days to see if his condition improved. To me that indicates a lack of faith in their bench and poor communication with players, and maybe encourages them to hide injuries from management to keep themselves on the field. Odd stuff.
Man, the Syracuse club looks tremendous.
Kind of like I've been saying ... they're pretty close to major league caliber this season ... they're demolishing the opposition in the International League so far.
Eventually they get Chris Young and Rendon ... possibly Goodwin as well. But, the way the Chiefs are playing those two might just put in a full year in Harrisburg. They really do not need Chris Young at all right now.
Wow, NatsLady, those are incredibly sobering stats on Rick Ankiel.12 strikeouts in 14 AB's. Has Matt Stairs been coaching him?
Speaking of continuing to struggle at the plate, Anthony Rendon went 0-3 last night. Now batting .167
Can't wait for him to come alive.
Thanks for the early morning bright spot. This is not always the smartest thing for me to do while I wait for the caffeine to brew. Sometimes I want to crawl back in bed after scrolling through the overnight comments! Slowey, huh? So now we have another pitcher to worry about?!
And Matt Harvey of the Mets, too.
Wait, we're rooting for umps, now? :-)
Section 222 said...
Excuse the interruption. GO BLUE!!
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
April 08, 2013 10:12 PM
I wonder if Dunn plays tonight?
I doubt they'd start him against Gio.That lefty-lefty matchup would likely strongly benefit Gio.
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