Strasburg to Syracuse

UPDATE AT 6:17 P.M. -- The updated story, with quotes from Mike Rizzo, is now up on CSNwashington.com.

The Nationals have promoted Stephen Strasburg to Class AAA Syracuse, and the prize right-hander will make his debut for the Chiefs Friday night against Gwinnett (the Braves' top affiliate).

Here's the story on CSNwashington.com, which will be updated later this afternoon with quotes and more details.

Still too early

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Is Ivan Rodriguez going to maintain a .431 on-base percentage all season? Doubtful.

Every season, we hear the same refrain throughout April and May, from players and managers on both good and bad clubs.

"It's still early."

The baseball season truly is a marathon, and while everyone loves to either jump on or off the bandwagon after only one month, there's plenty of evidence that suggests you'd be wise not to draw any real conclusions yet.

Is Ivan Rodriguez going to hit .400 for the season? Is Livan Hernandez going to go 18-6 with an 0.87 ERA? Is Josh Willingham going to lead the Nationals with 78 RBI? Is Matt Capps going to go 60-for-60 in save situations?

Of course not. The sample size after 25 games remains too small to extrapolate those kinds of things out.

Likewise, it's not fair to predict the Nationals will finish 84-78 right now, even though their current .520 winning percentage suggests they will. Far too much can happen between now and October -- both good and bad -- to dramatically alter this team's course.

As much fun as it is to get excited about ballclubs after one month, history shows us April records don't mean much over the long haul. For example, take a look at the MLB standings on this date one year

Lamenting Lannan's labors

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

This has been perhaps the roughest stretch of John Lannan's career.

There is much angst this morning in NatsTown over the de facto ace of the pitching staff, who has pitched nothing like an ace so far this season.

John Lannan may not have ace stuff, but he entered the season as the Nationals' best starter, and his track record over the last 2 1/2 years suggested he'd established himself as a solid big-league pitcher.

The left-hander's numbers through six outings -- 1-2, 6.34 ERA, a staggering 1.93 WHIP -- suggest he's anything but solid. And yesterday's ragged outing in Miami, in which he was roughed up for six runs on nine hits in five innings, suggests this may be more than a blip on the radar screen.

So what's going on here? Is Lannan merely going through a rough patch, or is he finally regressing into the sub-par major leaguer many stathounds have been saying he would become?

For those unaware with the sabermetrics argument against Lannan, it basically boils down to this: He's the least-effective pitcher in baseball at making hitters swing and miss. Batters make more contact against him than any other pitcher in the game. For the last 2 1/2 years, Lannan has merely been lucky that all those balls put into play have been hit right at fielders, especially groundballs. Eventually, the law of averages was going to start turning those outs into base hits.

Indeed, it is really tough to be a successful pitcher when only 24 of the 561 pitches you've thrown this season have been swinging strikes. So that may in part explain Lannan's struggles.

Here, though, is another explanation: Lannan has had no command of his pitches whatsoever.

I just re-watched the first three innings of yesterday's game, paying particular attention to catcher Wil Nieves' positioning as Lannan begins his windup. I'd say Lannan missed the target at least 80

Game 25: Nats at Marlins

Photo courtesy Florida Marlins

A win today would ensure the Nats' third straight series victory.

How many times last season did the Nationals find themselves staring at a series finale, coming off two straight losses and desperately needing one win to avoid getting swept? Seemed like that happened at least once a week, if not twice.

Well, it's happened only twice this season so far (both times against the Phillies, with the Nats winning the finale both times to salvage something). Instead, the Nationals have put themselves in position to win most series by winning game one, as was the case Friday night in Miami.

So even though they played a stinker last night at Sun Life Stadium, they still have a chance to leave town with a series victory. This would actually be their third straight winning series, their fifth straight non-losing series (four wins and a tie).

John Lannan takes the mound this afternoon, looking to put together only his second quality start in six tries this season. Josh Johnson (career 5-0 vs. Washington) starts for the Marlins.

And unlike the last two nights, I'll actually be watching this one on TV and will share some thoughts along the way. So check back all afternoon...

NATIONALS AT MARLINS
Where: Sun Life Stadium
Gametime: 1:10 p.m.
TV: MASN2-HD
Radio: WFED-1500 AM, WWFD-820 AM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 87 degrees, Wind 13 mph RF to LF

STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS (13-11)
CF Nyjer Morgan
2B Adam Kennedy
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam Dunn

Game 24: Nats at Marlins

Photo courtesy Florida Marlins

The Nats go for their fourth straight win tonight at Sun Life Stadium.

The Nationals left town on Sunday, staring at a somewhat-daunting, six-game road trip to Chicago and Florida. Well, four games into that trip, they're 3-1. And the only loss was a 4-3, 10-inning setback at Wrigley Field Monday night that easily could have been a curly W instead.

There's a different expectation level with this club now. The Nats could drop the next two to the Marlins and still come home 3-3 on the trip, a perfectly acceptable record on the road. But that won't suffice, not for this team.

Thus, the Nationals shoot for their fourth straight win tonight, not to mention a potential tie for first place in the NL East. Yep, if the Phillies beat the Mets and the Nats beat the Marlins, New York and Washington will share the top spot in the division.

I, of course, am not at Sun Life Stadium to cover this one person. So I'll leave it to all of you to discuss among yourselves as you enjoy tonight's proceedings...

NATIONALS AT MARLINS
Where: Sun Life Stadium
Gametime: 7:10 p.m.
TV: MASN2-HD
Radio: WFED-1500 AM, WWFD-820 AM
Weather: Clear, 82 degrees, Wind 11 mph RF to LF

STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS (13-10)
CF Nyjer Morgan
2B Adam Kennedy
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam Dunn