What was slated to be a pitchers duel between two of the best young arms in the National League developed quickly into a one-sided disaster on Sunday.
It was just another day at the office for Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw, while Jordan Zimmermann turned in the worst start of his major league career. Zimmermann lasted just two innings for the first time in his five MLB seasons, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks.
The Dodgers completed the sweep in their 9-2 victory, sending the Nats to an unfortunate start to the season’s second half. Even in relative good health and with a new-look lineup, the Nats still couldn’t move the needle on offense. They have now scored two runs or less in 11 of their last 12 losses.
“The bottom line is all of us, myself included, haven’t been producing like we should,” Ryan Zimmerman said. “There’s nobody to blame besides us, no coaches or anything like that.”
With Kershaw on the mound, the Nats went with a bit of a different lineup in hopes to break their recent scoring slump. Bryce Harper played center field and batted leadoff for just the second time in his career, and Scott Hairston started in left. Kershaw, however, saw no trouble with the Nationals for the most part.
Jayson Werth did manage two solo home runs off the former Cy Young winner, but those were the team’s only strikes against him on the day. Kershaw pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, striking out nine and allowing no walks.
With a lineup already on the ropes, Kershaw took advantage.
“He’s good,” Kurt Suzuki said. “To me he didn’t throw the ball over the middle of the plate, just on the corners. He keeps the ball down. He had a really good curveball, really good slider today. What are you going to do?”
In facing Kershaw, the Nats knew they would need a crisp start of their own from Zimmermann to hang around. Unfortunately Zimmermann was not his usual self, matching a season-worst seven earned runs with two homers and two walks through the two innings.
Early on it was clear his command wasn’t there, despite the fact Zimmermann felt as good physically as he has in a long time. Zimmermann missed the All-Star game due to stiffness in his neck and thinks taking the time off really helped.
“It’s weird, sometimes it’s like that,” Zimmermann said. “Neck felt fine, everything felt good, it just, I hung a few sliders -- the two home runs were hanging sliders -- and when I did make some quality pitches, they had good swings on it. They’re hot right now. It’s just one of those days.”
Both of the homers Zimmermann allowed came in what was an overall ugly second inning. The Dodgers batted around their lineup and forced Zimmermann to throw 40 pitches to get the three outs.
Matt Kemp led off with a monster home run to left field, a solo shot that bounced high off a seat and onto the concourse. A.J. and Mark Ellis then got hits to put two men in scoring position. Kershaw was able to bring home the second run on a groundout to second base.
Carl Crawford singled to bring home the third run and then stole second. He was joined on base by Nick Punto who walked, and both runners were then sent home by a Hanley Ramirez high flying homer to the left field bullpen.
An Ethier walk and a Kemp double later and Zimmermann had allowed seven runs on just 58 total pitches.
“It’s just one of those days where nothing was working,” Zimmermann said.
The Nats replaced Zimmermann with Ross Ohlendorf in the third and, despite a two-run fourth inning, finally saw some success against the Dodgers’ lineup. Ohlendorf finished with 88 pitches through six innings of work, allowing two earned on six hits and a walk. The veteran will have four days rest before taking a start in Friday’s doubleheader.
The Nationals now welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to town for a four-game series. The Pirates are one of the best teams in the National League at 57-39 and will not make matters any easier.
The Nats have made changes lately and seen players come off the disabled list, but are still getting the same results. What’s next, would a team meeting work?
Zimmerman doesn’t think so.
“Pep talks don’t work for grownups,” he said. “If you have a meeting and you win then it’s the best meeting in the world and the truth is you go out and play the game the same way you do every night.”
Whatever the Nats try next, the move will likely come from manager Davey Johnson, and the skipper is growing more and more frustrated with his now 48-50 club.
“Nobody hates losing more than me,” he said. “Sometimes though it’s tough to have patience.”
109 comments:
There is not one elite hitter on the club. Add to that iffy D, bull pen and base running and you have our club. Becoming an also ran one day at a time.
Astros designate Carlos Pena and Ronny Cedeno for assignment
What’s next, would a team meeting work?
Zimmerman doesn’t think so.
“Pep talks don’t work for grownups,” he said.
=====================
I respect and appreciate Ryan Zimmerman, but I think he's dead wrong here. 'Grown ups' have -- and need -- 'pep talks' just as much as anyone else. Whether you work in government or private industry or academia, whether your 'team' is an embassy or an office or a department or a military unit, and whether you're young, middle-aged, or a grey beard, there are times when you end up in a slump and a good manager -- of whatever variety -- can use a 'team meeting' to help get things back on the right track. That manager might be an ambassador or colonel or a shift supervisor, but if s/he knows the players and understands a bit about psychology and group dynamics, they can help the staff snap out of said slump.
Some reporter (whose voice I didn't recognize) asked Davey why, if the Nats' morale is okay, why are they making fundamental baseball errors, like Bernadina's and Werth's baserunning mistakes--I missed that one, maybe someone will refresh me on that--after 100 games?
I don't remember Davey being called on the carpet like that before. Davey hemmed and hawed, tried to make a joke (said, Bernadina had apologized for his mistake and said he was lookiing around because he "wasn't used to being on the basepaths," i.e., like a tourist seeing unusual sights). The joke fell pretty flat. Then he said he looks at each case individually, mumble mumble.
Now, this is kind of obvious, but in D you have your mental and your physical errors.
By mental, I mean the kind of stuff the Brewers (and to some extent the Padres, Marlins and Phillies) did--wrong decisions on plays, not backing up other players, not setting up in position (Michael Young was guilty of that a LOT when the was playing 3B), forgetting how many outs there are and the like. By physical, I mean things like RZ shoulder affecting his throw--basically things players KNOW how to do and are ready to do, but something is holding them back from top performance.
I think the reporter was getting at "mental" errors, and those seem to come from what--bad morale (not hustling? Not being on high alert for every play) OR bad coaching (bad shifts, bad reads, bad send, bad positioning due to poor scouting or poor communication of scouting).
For example, was Tracy mentally and physically prepared to come in and play third base on short notice? If he wasn't (and it sure seemed like he wasn't) is that on the player or is that on the coaches--the coaches who should instill in players, "be ready for anything, get loose, take some infield reps, etc.)?
When we played the Rays last year, for all of Madden's supposed brilliance, I saw a poorly coached team that lacked fundamentals and made many mental errors.
In the Nats' case, two things stand out to me as things that SHOULD be correctable mid-season: bunting and holding/catching runners. Davey talks about the "work ethic" on this team, but does that mean they sit in the air-conditioning and watch video for hours, or are they out there in the heat laying down bunts and improving pick-off moves?
I don't think pep talks work either. I think NL was spot on. They wern't prepared in Spting Training. They didn't learn from game 5. The Cardinals and the rest of the really good teams in baseball have them scouted and figured out. Can't hold runners, can't bunt, and defense is sometimes shaky. These are things that can be fixed but shouldn't have to be done during the regular season. Additionally some of their players played hurt early and it had an effect on their play early on.
The above was a little rambling, but what I was getting at is you CAN'T just look at individual players, you have to look at overall trends and issues.
Pitcher after pitcher can't hold runners--and Suzuki was not that bad in Oakland. So if it's on the pitchers, why isn't it improved? We don't have such a great offense that we can afford to give away second base.
Other than Lombo (and maybe Desi), there doesn't seem to be ANY position player that can reliably lay down a sac bunt. Again, this is a skill that every major league player should possess. Period. While we are waiting for the offense to break through, how about working on those two items?
“The bottom line is all of us, myself included, haven’t been producing like we should,” Ryan Zimmerman said. “There’s nobody to blame besides us, no coaches or anything like that.”
In the 2nd inning, the 2nd batter Mark Ellis hits a ball over Zimmerman's glove. Zimmerman is playing where he usually plays which is almost up on the grass and if he was back at normal depth he ball goes right into his glove.
They call 3rd base the "Hot Corner". The closer you play to the batter the hotter it gets as your reaction time is shorter.
It's been theorized that Zimmerman plays in so close so he doesn't have to make a longer throw. I don't know if that is true or not but his fielding is a daily drama.
If you want his bat in the lineup, then move him to 1st base. I think Rizzo should look to trade LaRoche and move Zimmerman over sooner than later to get him some reps at 1st base this year.
nats guy, I agree they shouldn't have to be done in mid-season, but they CAN be corrected mid-season if the coaching staff attends to it and if players are open to it. Never mind what did or didn't happen in March, this is NOW. Fix it!
I worked for 35 years and can't recall a single team meeting that wasn't a total waste of time. Even the ones when they had donuts.
The strange reporter at Davey's presser was probably Boswell. He tends to show up on Sunday and ask esoteric questions to get quotes for his Monday column.
Last night someone (Faraz?) asked the point of booing.
While I don't think it should be gratuitous, I think it is certainly legitimate for Saturday's 40,000 paying customers to convey their dissatisfaction.
In my business I take calls from irked customers from time to time. I hear them out respectfully.
The Nats are big boys. They can take a message, too.
I stayed through the whole game. So did a surprising number of other people, mostly Nats fans (Dodger fans seem to have strange hairdo's and short attention spans). I thought it was sort of cool that the crowed booed when Abad walked Brandon League, who has never had a single major-league at-bat. So at the end of a 9-2 blowout, with lightening and thunder in the sky, fans had enough baseball "awareness" to recognize the absurdity of the walk.
I also thought Werth's two homeruns were cool. It's as if he said, well, we aren't winning this one, so I'm gonna relax and take it like batting practice/home run derby, see what I can get off the Cy Young pitcher.
The Kid should have done the same, he was all knotted up. After JZ dug that big hole, you are going to have 2-3 more at-bats against one of the best in the game--here is your chance to work on hitting vs. lefties.
Remember when the 2009 Orioles sucked? Buck Showalter sent them packing and they are now wearing Norfolk Tides uniforms. Say hello to the 2014 Syracuse Chiefs:
CF: Denard Span, RF: Roger Bernadina, LF: Tyler Moore, 2B: Danny Espinosa, 1B: Chad Tracy, C: Kurt Suzuki, P: Dan Haren, P: Ross Detwiller.
Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me these guys shouldn't be playing big time minor league baseball.
Who is going to trade for Laroche with $18 million remaining on his contract? No one. .250 hitting first baseman are a dime a dozen.
Remember when Span was finally going to be our "Lead Off" Guy? lol haha
As for team meetings--I always HATED that stuff. And those "team building" exercises that were in fashion for a few years, where everyone goes to Colorado and folks lead each other around blind to build "trust"--YUCK!!! I don't get the feeling there are problems in the clubhouse, or 25 guys taking 25 cabs to the hotel after games. There are baseball problems, and that's what should be addressed.
John, You are at least partially wrong wrong because Tracy and Haren are on one year contracts and will be gone at the end of the season.
What are the odds of Davey resigning due to being burned out or any of the assistant coaches getting canned or quit in the near future?
If we are not going to sell anyone, what can and should happen to get something going now or for the future?
phil, of course Rizzo is going to have to eat a big chunk of that but to move forward with the status quo is a mistake as RZim needs to move across the diamond.
I still think the outfield with BHarp, Span, and Werth works for next year but you need a good RH outfielder to add as a 4th outfielder and I don't see Hairston as that person. Span needs to sit vs LH pitching. BHarp would benefit from sitting some games also.
Desi is your shortstop and RZim and Rendon will have one of them playing 3rd base which leaves 1 open spot for the infield if ALR can be traded.
Ramos is your catcher.
Your bench is wide open with the 4th outfielder needed as 1 of them.
I think the starting rotation is set for next year too. Stras, Gio, JZim, Det, TJord
The bullepn should be set also.
Rizzo will need to find the 4th outfielder and decide if he keeps his infield "as is" with LaRoche at 1st and leave RZim at 3rd. I still believe this a good team that is under-achieving but needs to improve on the infield corners.
GoSM, spend your dough on Robinson Cano and you get Rendon 3rd, Desi SS, Cano 2B, RZ 1st
No thanks to Cano....
Here is my disappointment with Davey--this situation should be getting his juices flowing. He should be excited by the challenge, eager to prove that he can (again!) bring a team with many challenges from .500 to contention. He should be identifying problems, making lists of issues, tag-teaming vets with younger guys to address them.
We know Rizzo has scouts out there, there are opportunities for trades and the Lerners might be persuaded to eat salary)--are Rizzo and Davey on the same wavelength about what is needed, or will we go through the "we don't need lefties in the bullpen" and only find out after the fact that Davey supposedly never like that configuration.
Maybe he is doing that behind the scenes, making wish lists for Rizzo task lists for the on-field problems--but I don't get that feeling.
Instead, I see a guy who looks tired, speaks incoherently, admits he's out of ideas.
I was hoping T Moore can get himself together and he would be out 1st baseman... But alas...
I still am weary about sending Adam packing ESP since he has saved us so many times this year....
But if we are giving up hope in 2013... Then nothing is guaranteed...
Coolhand--there was a poster a while back (maybe a month ago or more) who said, "Davey doesn't do losing," and he'll resign when he sees a team that can't contend. That's pretty harsh. He's "done losing" in the past and turned teams around. But see above--I just don't see energy and creativity from him. "Shaking up the line-up" is not my idea of creativity.
I think anyone who is waiting for Cano needs to keep waiting. The Yankees aren't going to let him walk.
DJ looks like he is at wits end.... Seriously,he does... I'm not sure if he has packed it in but a lot of his decisions are just a day late and a dollar short and unacceptable.
NatsLady at 8:59. Post of the evening.
If Riggleman hadn't suddenly quit in the middle of the 2011 season we would not be stuck with Davey as manager. He was a convenient replacement to fill a sudden void. If Riggleman had stayed, his contract would not have been renewed for 2012. Then, Rizzo would have had time to find a more suitable replacement; possibly Terry Francona. Davey is not going to resign and he has absolutely no plan to turn this team around.
Mrs B., he has almost seemed disoriented at times on the post-game and the pre-game press conferences. Stress will do that to you, but I wonder what the heck Randy Knorr is doing while the game is going on?
How can so many strategic mistakes been made as they were on Friday and Saturday?
Positives - Ross O deserves a shot to stay... When Matthues comes back, I hope neither of the LHP leave... Both have value....
I actually like everyone in the BP... Just DJ doesn't use them effectively enough.... The times of leaving pitchers in for full innings, well sometimes you have to go away from that...
Ghost - I honestly hope only 2 coaches are kept when DJ leaves... Knorr and McCatty... I haven't decided about Terasco yet...
Yeah DJ just doesn't seem like himself... It's like he is tired and doesn't have answers and just all over the place... I've never seen/heard DJ like this...
Granted, I'm young but from what I know, even when DJ was fired from his past jobs, I'm not sure he was that bad...
There are at least 10 games we have lost this year becuz of ineffective managing...
And the only reason I want Knorr to stay is becuz he has worked with the core for so long... I certainly hope he isn't the next manager...
We need someone who isn't scared to get in anyone's face and call it like it is...
If laroche can pick it up and break out of his recent slump, the nats won't have to eat much if any of his salary. If he is hitting 260 and on pace for 25 homers with his defense, he is worth 13 million a year. And it's only one year after this.
Ghost, the idea of third basemen, and sometimes shortstops, playing in close was pretty much started, and popularized by Cal Ripken. His reasoning was that he saw his territory as a radius, and by playing in closer, his radius, or arch, was minimized.Cal really felt that it allowed him to get to a higher percentage of balls.
Every position player on this team, even Werth, has been inconsistent offensively when there have been runners on base. Other than (maybe) Desmond, and Span, every position player has been very inconsistent defensively. Span has not lived up to what anybody had hoped at the plate, or on the bases.Ramos and Suzuki have left a lot to be desired at catcher.Not one pitcher on our staff can hold runners. Our bench has been generally abysmal.Other than Clip our bullpen has been a crapshoot in any given game. Our third base coach is bordering on incompetent. Our hitting coach is suspect from many fans' perspective. Our manager has been responsible for several losses in many people's minds. Our GM has had a few moves backfire.Any disagreement, so far? In other words, this team has performed under expectations from the last guy on the bench, all the way up to, and including the GM. It's not just Davey's fault,or RZimm's, ALR's, Span's, Strasburg's, etc. But every single guy on this team has had really good moments, too. I really love seeing Adam LaRoche make a game saving play to end a game, or make another pick to save Desi an error. Or to see Ryan Z make the charging scoop and throw, or watch Werth stall before going into the box to upset Cliff Lee's rhythm. Or to see Harper hit two homers on opening day. I could go on about every guy on the team, but my point is,in spite of everything, I still love watching the game.And I really do believe that the gist of this team is still very good, but somehow just continues to not be able to get it together.
NatsLady--Davey is now like a dead battery that can't start a car. He's a totally spent elderly man and far different from the Davey Johnson of 15-20 years ago. He has had serious health problems, personal tragedy and he's an old man, much older than his 70 years. There's no tread left on his tires.
Ghost at 9:08. Maybe Randy is so happy to be in the Bigs that he's not about to rock the boat.
JoeS - I think most of us love the team/game... Just a lot of disappointment that after the fabulous/great year and the inconsistent and underwhelming play by EVERYONE, it's just a lot of disappointment...
Nats fans are also trying to learn/understand success... I mean we have to remember that before last year, we endured all losing seasons... And I understand a lot of fans are transplant fans but when you are seeing one of your teams with this potential fail, frustrations come out...
What makes it worst, is that if we would just play better, we could have at least our division won...
Davey never should have been hired in the first place. Not because he is a bad manger but because he was a short term hire because of his age. Why hire a short timer for a young team about to go on a five year run?
Every employer I worked for in my career would agree with you Eugene and not Ryan.
The fact he believes tgat is a red flag to me.
As to leadoff, do you keep Harper there? With Denard's struggles I would have Werth leading off against LHP and Span against RHP. Just my opinion as to the way to get the most out of what there is to work with right now. As to Scott Hairston? Personally I see Scott as an occasional PH and as an occasional double switch piece. I see him as "5" on a 1-10 scale in the OF. When he is playing LF, with Harper in CF, you effectively weaken not one, but two positions defensively. Scott's arm was never great. Ramirez scored from 2B on a pretty shallow single to left today, not that it mattered much at that point, but still...
Sabathia getting knocked around big-time. Cautionary tale there, about big, long-term contracts for pitchers, even the best, seemingly most durable pitchers.
TexNat said...
Davey never should have been hired in the first place. Not because he is a bad manger but because he was a short term hire because of his age. Why hire a short timer for a young team about to go on a five year run?
July 21, 2013 9:27 PM
Because Riggleman quit in mid-season. Kinda hard to find a replacement on short notice.
Seamhead, yeah, I was not in favor of today's lineup, but if you are giving Span a day off, that's what you get. Harper is inexperienced in CF and it showed. Bottom line, Span needs to fix his offense, bring it up to acceptable level.
Joe, I hope we've seen the last of Harper leading off. Maybe Werth if you need to change, but that is not ideal imo. If Span can't do it, then we just don't have a good solution.
We need all 25 to buy into fixing the problem.
The solution is easy : Do what ever it takes."
For me a waste, but for some not.
Agreed
NL, all we can hope for is that Span is having an off year, maybe just due to the change of leagues, and organizations. Hopefully his story will be similar to Jayson's in that he just gets more comfortable. I really enjoy watching him play CF.I also think that he gets an unfair amount of time on here as the whipping boy. Early in the year it was Ryan, and to some extent ALR. Then Espy, and then Soriano. As I said in my long post earlier here, every single player is sucking wind on any given night.
Boy, Farell interviewed in-game for 60 seconds and it's obvious why he's so much better than Valentine.
Manassas, you hit it @9:48 PM
Operational meeting. Like football players going over the game plan. Hitters get together and go over the game plan. To me that shoukd happen 20 minutes at a time before every series.
Alex Rios of the chiSox
I also hate Harper leading off... Yes Span needs to improve his offensive production..
Both he and Harp need to fix their times at the plate against LHPs, though..
I would be shocked if Cano was not a Yank next year.
Also, call it dumb, but I think it's way past time to deep six the "Take On Me" song. It's bad ju-ju to keep throwing the departed Beast's song up there.
True
Seamhead, agreed. Werth is hot as fire, then goes 0-5, then hits two HRs off the next Cy Young winner. A lot of posts are "what have you done/not done" lately, with a sprinkling of stats thrown in. Watch Haren have a couple more good starts and suddenly that Rizzo move is brilliant--especially if Lannan gets bombed simultaneously... Span is here until Goodwin (or some other project) develops. Haren is here for a year at most.
Too premature to tell on Soriano. Many factors: whether or not we contend in 2013, whether we trade Storen, whether Krol has closer stuff/mentality, what a trading partner would give, how much salary you have to eat (or not eat if the the other team is desparate).
Jonny Gomes just hit a MOONSHOT off Sabathia! Wow.
If Knorr or McCatty (and I believe one of the two is) is responsible for holding runners coaching and he can go when we clean out coaches.
We need a Bobby Valentine light. Real light. But a little BV
I see no chance of us making a longterm commitment for the likes of Cano, especially at his age. That would be just as stupid of a move imaginable, in my opinion.
Seamhead, I don't mind the song. It's way better than "Sweet Caroline." The more they play it, the less people associate it with Morse, especially with the words on-screen.
Lol NL, you may be pushing it with Rizzo being a genuis if Haren has a couple of good starts... I am hoping he has a 2nd half like he had in 2012... But I'm not kidding myself and will be fine with him being off the team..
But I wish we cold see better baseball like everyone else...
MNF---yuck, no on BV! Egotistical showboater, not even that smart. Werth tolerates the old man. He would chew up BV and spit him out. You would have worse problems than with Riggleman.
Didnt someone recommend 'Bustin Loose' or some fast paced song like that...
Norman vincent Peel said keep it simple.
This team is making it all complicated.
CC's last couple of starts haven't been so good, no?
I'm hoping the Yanks tank and Girardi gets the walking papers...
Would love him as a manager...
If you were going to do it offer a lot more, but no more than 5 years.
I miss "boogie shoes." Loved that. Seems like they could find something more in DC's musical tradition if they hunted around but I'm sure they want something bland and "singable."
Well, look at that. Dempster is 30-33 (91%) on stolen bases. Guess it's not just us!!!
I said a little taste I said very little tase. I dont want a passive manager like DJ. An occasionally in your face doesnt hurt.
The song is not a major problem.
As for Werth leading off.... Obviously he can do it, but I like him in the 5/6 spot... He is such a smart batter (most of the time)... Amazing how wel he was seeing Kershaw today...
When Span first started this season, he seemed to always be on base... I guess during that time he (or others) decided to change his swing/plate approach... He needs to go back to the original..
slidell2 said...
Ghost at 9:08. Maybe Randy is so happy to be in the Bigs that he's not about to rock the boat.
That's a valid point. Knorr spoke up after Game 5 and said he questioned one of Davey's moves. I can't recall what it was and too lazy to Google it but I did know he was in Davey's ear.
OK, MNF. Unfortunately, with BV, there is not such thing as a "little taste." Everything is about him. But I get your point.
My goodness please no. DC tradition not my bag at all.
I do a good job of ignoring most of the walk up music. It's my old fsrtness rearing its ugly head.
We are worse than most by a lot. Not alone.
Glad this game was so early today... I went to bed at 4 this morning I was so pissed... Tonight, I was over this game after the 2nd inning...
At least Miami has been doing well, so we don't have to be ashamed to lose to a team like that....
You are not understanding me it seems.
I HATE Bobby Valentine. I loved him managing the BoSix as I hate the Sox.
But we need some who on occassiin when needed get in there and kick a little ass. Then get back to leading the team.
Games like this dont piss me off. There are 20-30 a year we will play poorly. It ones with a little desire not given that causes us to lose that piss me iff. Last 3 losses were lije tgat
MNF, I understood your point. I just don't agree with it.
Just "kicking a**" is pointless, it alienates the veterans and do you think someone like Anthony Rendon needs his *** kicked? You have to identify issues and have a concrete plan for solving them.
Werth is the only hitter with passion the rest make me sick these guys need a kick in the ass period...this notion that it wont work on this team is bull.
Rizzo is not going to fix this...he has done enough to destroy 2 teams! Hairston and Haren and span says it all about this stooges ability.
Ortiz stolen base!!!!! LOL!
how does Span not steal 2nd last night???? ot wh
I agree with MNF that there are 20-30 games like today, BUT....not after you just lost 2 extra inning games at HOME... Good teams would have won 9-2 after that, not lose 9-2 and quit
this is a team of quitters and losers
Just start planning for 2014. Don't blow the team up at the trade deadline, but ship out a few people who really don't figure into next year's plans in return for a few guys who can bolster the farm system. Then hope Rizzo makes the right hire for a manager, because more than anything else, that will determine whether the Nationals can return to contention for several more years. Remember, the nucleus (Gonzalez, Strasburg, Zimmermann, Harper, Rendon) is still young.
Rizzo will screw it up...i have no doubt. I have no faith in that jack ass
The Lerners may have seen their last sellout weekend for years unless they change course NOW. Ted and Mark should boot Rizzo, Davey and eckstein out the door
Re the "Take on Me" vs. "Sweet Caroline" et al argument:
I think a more appropriate tune for this season is "Taps."
Sunshine lol
to be positive, maybe "Always look on the bright side of life" monte python with the players hanging from a cross singing, lol
Ray Knight will be the next coach. He knows the team better than any outsider out there.
The radio guys let it slip out today that opposing base stealers have swiped 63 out of 70 bases on Nats pitching this year.
That is 1962 Mets-style bad.
I used to think that was because Davey/McCatty et al used to think the staff was so good they didn't have to keep runners on close. Then I thought it was Ramos/Zook's fault. Now, I realize the real reason: Nobody cares.
That came across in Zim's answer today about a team meeting: "Grown-ups don't need pep talks."
Not with that attitude, anyway.
We went from 70 to 80 to 98 wins in three years. We're ticketed for 80-82 this year.
Now, you tell me: Which season was the outlier?
Zim like his team need to be kicked in the ass
Sunshine...it may be back to 70-75 this season and God only knows what in 2014
To me, Rizzo is two people: the smart gm with an eye for talent, and the dark side: the gm who goes trade mad and damages his team.
The only question is which Rizzo will be in charge from now until the end of the season. He's got to either be in complete shock or in total denial.
Some dont. Davey is never on anyone's case. So when they are screwing up there is no one to straighten it up.
They all need a kick obce in a while.
Not kicking sure has done nothing.
Good kick when needed never hurt any of us.
"Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...
We went from 70 to 80 to 98 wins in three years. We're ticketed for 80-82 this year.
Now, you tell me: Which season was the outlier?"
Tampa Bay Rays went from 61 in 2006 to 66 in 2007 to 97 (with a WS appearance) in 2008, then dropped to 84 in 2009. By your logic 2008 was the outlier, but they followed up with 96, 91 and 90 and are on pace for 94-95 this year.
This is what Rizzo is trying to do, to be playing meaningful games in Sept-Oct for many years in a row. That's what Tampa Bay has done, but they had a sophomore slump in 2009. This year is the Nats' sophomore slump.
Mick we dont agree, but when we do we do.
Standing at that. 4Th of the season.
This is the kind of loss -- and this weekend was the type of collective embarrassment -- that usually results in quality, well-run organizations making some significant changes. And I'm not talking about calling up a 26th player to pitch Friday's doubleheader.
I would not be shocked if Rizzo pulls the trigger on some move Monday. I don't know who's available, but the priorities have to be adding a hitter who can get on base. I know this goes against Davey's three-run-homer-Earl-Weaver mentality, but we have to manufacture more runs. I'll be shocked if the same 25 starting this week will be the same 25 by Friday. Something's got to give. Even Old Man Lerner must realize it.
Ray Kinsella: Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... y-you came this close. It would kill some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy.
Dr. Graham: "Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy."
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