The Nationals Enquirer

Heartbreaker

Hot town, summer in the city...and the Nationals continue to tumble, dropping three of four to the Astros. It appeared that the Nats had hit bottom and there was nowhere to go but up after being outclassed by Roger Clemens and nearly pounded back to Montreal 14-1 on Friday night, especially after a 4-2 win and superb performance by Tony Armas (7IP, 1H, 2ER) on Saturday evening. But apparently there was a little more bottom left to go. In spite of a sterling performance by John Patterson (8IP, 6H, 1ER, 10K), the Nats lost a 14 inning heartbreaker yesterday on a 3-run homerun by Eric Bruntlett off Hector Carrasco to drop the series to the Astros and finish their latest homestand at 2-5.

In the four game series, the Nationals and Astros played 41 innings of baseball; the Nats came to bat in 40 of those innings, and managed to score in only four of them. Yesterday, the Nats blew their best chance to take command of a 1-1 game with runners on first and third and nobody out the eighth inning, but Brian Schneider, Ryan Church, and Brad Wilkerson (ground out, ground out and strike out, respectively) couldn't get the job done. The only good news on this day was that Jose Guillen's wrist was bruised, not broken, after being hit by a Dan Wheeler pitch in the ninth inning which forced him to leave the game and be carted off to the hospital for X-rays. Patterson was handed his twelfth no-decision of the year by his offensively-challenged teammates.

Since returning from the All Star break, the Nats are 3-8. 8-13 for July. 3-7 in their last 10. But as bad as things have been going, despite their well-documented offensive woes, they're still tied for first place (55-44) in the NL East with the Braves, who lost 3-2 yesterday and dropped two of three to the Diamondbacks over the weekend. And wouldn't you know it? After an off day today, the Nats head to Atlanta for a three game series, staring down the barrel of a John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Mike Hampton trifecta. The trip to Atlanta becomes that much more daunting with news that Guillen might miss the entire series because of his ailing wrist. Nick Johnson is set to return from a rehab stint with AAA New Orleans for the start of the series, but it remains to be seen what he'll bring to the table since he hasn't played since injuring his heel on June 26th.

With three games this week against the Braves and three games on tap for weekend in Florida against the Marlins, the Nats are about to face as important a stretch of games as they've faced all season.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 7/25/2005 at DCist.com)

Cruel Summer

There are 1001 baseball clichés that can be used to describe the Nationals' recent skid and 7-11 record in July, and even though last night's loss marked the inevitable return of the Atlanta Braves to the top of the NL East heap (Nats and Braves own identical 54-41 records), maybe it's time to dust off a tried-and-true cliché that should act as a Band-Aid and a mantra for the DC baseball fan's soul: "It's a marathon, not a sprint."

As bad as things have gone this month, there would be greater reason to be concerned if the problems were rooted in the pitching, which they're not. It's not as if the Nats' offensive woes are anything new -they've been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball all season long, even back in the glory days when the Nats lead in the NL East was a comfortable 5 1/2 games, and they'd never met a one-run lead they didn't like.

What must be most frustrating to everyone involved: players, manager, coaching staff, front-office, peanut vendors, fans, is that they're not getting blown out. They're losing the kind of game that they won routinely before the All-Star break. Last night's 3-2 loss, with the exception of Preston Wilson's 2-run homer in the 9th, was another exercise in offensive futility: blown chances, three double plays, and boatloads of men left on base. Timely hitting is a thing of the past. Lucky breaks just aren't materializing. Frank Robinson has tried slicing, dicing, and shuffling the lineup, but so far it hasn't made a difference. But there are 66 games left to go in this marathon, and while there are sure to be a lot of slumps, bumps, and bruises along the way, there is still plenty of time to get things back on track.

>Esteban Loaiza wasn't very good last night, giving up 11 hits and three runs in seven innings, but he might have been good enough to win, if not for the aforementioned offensive hibernation. A couple of no-hit, scoreless innings by Joey Eischen and Hector Carrasco were positives for the Nats.

>After getting stifled by the dreadful Rockies, at least last night the Nats had an excuse, facing one of the NL's best in Roy Oswalt, who pitched 8 innings of shutout ball. It doesn't get any easier tonight, when Roger Clemens takes the hill for the Astros. It's up to Ryan Drese to stop the bleeding for the Nats.

>Nats fans, as well as everybody in the organization can breathe a sigh of relief: Livan Hernandez won't be shutting it down and going under the knife after all, following his cryptic comments in the wake of Wednesday night's 3-2 loss to Colorado. He explained his tirade to MLB.com's Bill Ladson yesterday: "The thing I was angry about was my knee...I said I would tell you after the year was over. I was going to have it operated on after the season was over. People have misunderstood that. I didn't feel well last night. I didn't think I was going to walk today. The way I pitched yesterday, I thought my knee was going to explode. The pain hit me hard. I needed to know how I was going to pitch every five days." Not sure what to make of the Livan's "profanity laced tirade" against the assembled Washington media earlier yesterday.

>Jim Bowden explains what it took to seal the deal that brought Preston Wilson to Washington in yesterday's DC Examiner. If you ask SI.com's John Donovan, even if the Nats add another arm and another bat before the trading deadline, it might not be enough: "The problem is, even with more pitching, even if the Nationals take care of some of the holes in that lineup, it still might not be enough for them to hold on to their slim lead in the NL East." So the question remains - will Jim Bowden make another move? Or is Nick Johnson's return to the lineup the final 'upgrade' the team will see before the trading deadline? Could 41 year old Barry Larkin really help?

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 7/22/2005 at DCist.com)

Nats Scuffle Home

After dropping three of four in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Nationals hit the reset button and return home for a seven game homestand, welcoming NL West bottom-feeder Colorado to DC for a three game series that begins tonight. The Nats lead the NL East by 1.5 games over the Atlanta Braves, who split a four game series with the NY Mets over the weekend. The good news is that the Nats have played lights-out at home (best home record in baseball). The bad news is that the Nats' offense continues to sputter. The good news is that the Rockies have lost four in a row and share the dubious distinction of owning the lowest win total in the majors (31) with the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays; mere percentage points separate the Rockies from the worst record in baseball. The bad news, again, is that the Nats' offense continues to sputter. In theory, the series against Colorado should be a good opportunity for the Nats to beat up on a bad team.

However, the Nats just scuffled through four close games against the sub-.500 Brewers: another waste of a no-nonsense performance by John Patterson Thursday afternoon (6IP, 2ER, 7H, 9K); Friday's bizarre "Balk-Off" loss; Saturday's 5-3 win highlighted by achy-breaky Jose Guillen’s clutch hitting; and finally yesterday's 5-3 loss, which saw the Nats get schooled by old friend Tomo Ohka. Tony Armas Jr. (4-4 4.97 ERA) takes the hill for the Nats tonight against Byung-Hyung Kim (2-7 5.46 ERA).

Should Frank Robinson do something to shake things up? Is benching Cristian Guzman in favor of Jamey Carroll the best place to start? The arrival of Preston Wilson was supposed to inject some life into the offense, and he has been fairly productive in four games since joining the team last Thursday (4-15, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB), but top-to-bottom, the lineup just isn't getting it done. Every day that passes without Nick Johnson in the lineup seems to amplify his importance to the club. There's still no return date in sight for Johnson, but according the Post, he’ll be reexamined today. So the best solution to the Nats' offensive woes might be to just wait it out. Besides the questions about when Nick Johnson will return and when the Nats will break out offensively, the biggest question now for the Nats is whether or not Jim Bowden is done wheeling and dealing after the flurry of activity last week.

>You couldn’t have written a more disastrous start to Mike Stanton’s Nationals career when he balked in the winning run on Friday night without throwing a pitch. But the Yankee castoff fared much, much better when he finally got around to throwing the ball: a five pitch, 1-2-3 8th inning on Saturday night.

A couple of other questions:

>In the wake of the Preston Wilson-for-Zach Day & J.J. Davis trade, could there have been a worse destination for Day to land than Colorado? Getting shipped out to Coors Field, a.k.a. "Where Borderline Major League Pitchers Go to Die", is the baseball equivalent of being exiled to Siberia.

>Am I the only one who thinks the Nats marketing slogan “Let Yourself Go!” sounds better suited for Exlax than baseball?

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 7/18/2005 at DCist.com)

Nats Limp Into All Star Break

So it's a fact that the banged-up Nationals need a breather, after playing .500 ball over their last 10 games leading up to the all-star break and losing 2 in a row. And it's a fact that at 52-36, tied for the 3rd best record in the majors, the Nationals are the best story of the 2005 season (so far), improbably leading the NL East by 2.5 games over the Braves. And it's a fact that on Thursday, the Nats will head to Milwaukee for a four game series with the Brewers to begin the 2nd half of the season.

But the facts get a little harder to discern from there when you consider Jose Guillen's comments in the aftermath of the Nats 5-4 loss to the Phillies on Sunday. Guillen's comments are open to interpretation; one interpretation has him completely throwing Nick Johnson, Ryan Church, and Cristian Guzman under the bus: "You know we need Nick. We need some of those guys to learn how to play in pain. They need to step it up and have to understand, right now, in the second half, there's no baby-sitting anyone." On the heels of Guillen’s comments, the Post reports that Johnson suffered a setback and won't be back right away after the All-Star break.

Rumor has it that Guillen will spend his All Star break categorizing a list of bumps, bruises, injuries, and ailments that have plagued the Nats thus far to determine which ones his teammates should be playing through: sore knees, broken arms, strained hamstrings, tendonitis, back spasms, torn right labrums, right radius fractures, inflamed elbows, ligament strains (ribcage), deep bone bruises (right heel), vertigo, bronchitis, etc. Guillen would do well to take a cue from Livan Hernandez, who has quietly pitched through the pain in his knee without calling out his teammates; it's called leading by example.

Guillen deserved to be an All Star this season. He deserves to be in Detroit with Livan and Chad Cordero based on his numbers alone (.310 AVG, 18 HR, 51 RBI). When you consider his offensive production along with his gritty play in the field and the fact that he's played in 84 of 88 games (yes, he has played hurt), one could make a strong argument that he's the team's first half MVP. But his comments on Sunday can do no good, and only add to a growing list of reasons to worry about the Nats' enigmatic right fielder.

Must read: USA Today's David Skretta
on the adjustment to the minors and quick rise of Nationals' prospect, Ryan Zimmerman.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 7/12/2005 at DCist.com)

Nats Lose Series to the Mets, Head to Philly

The Nationals head up I-95 to Philly for a 3-game tilt before they hit the All-Star break, following yesterday's 3-2, 11 inning loss and a 3-1 series loss against the Mets (first home series loss since April). Nats blew a chance to win it in the 9th yesterday with two men on and one out, but neither Jose Guillen nor Brad Wilkerson could get the job done. For the second day in a row, the Nats left 9 men on base, which is probably the place to start if you're looking to play the blame game. Starting first baseman (and cleanup hitter?!), Carlos Baerga, went 0-5 and left 4 men on base. Needless to say, the Nats are missing Nick Johnson badly, who along with the injured Ryan Church will hopefully be healthy and ready to go after the break after rehabbing with AA Harrisburg.

If there's a silver lining to yesterday's loss, it would have to be the performance of Tony Armas, Jr. who tossed 7 innings of 4-hit, 2-run ball (walking 1 and striking out 3). With their recent 2-game stumble and a 5-game winning streak by the Braves, who swept a doubleheader against the Cubs yesterday, the Nats' lead in the NL East stands at a precarious 2.5 games. Ryan Drese takes the hill tonight, hoping to maintain the brilliant form of his last two starts (15IP, 9H, 1 ER 0BB, 5 K).

>While Livan Hernandez & Chad Cordero will represent Washington at the All Star game next week in Detroit, struggling Nat Christian Guzman earned the honor of being named to Sports Illustrated’s All Bust Team All Bust Team last week. SI's Tom Verducci offers this glowing assessment of Guzman's performance: 'The worst offensive player in baseball, period.'

>Happy returns: In the 3 games since his return from the DL, Jose Vidro is 3-12 with 2 walks and 3 RBI, which adds up to a .250 average and a .357 OBP. Meanwhile, Joey Eischen has been lightly used, but quietly effective since returning from the DL. In three appearances, Eischen has pitched 2.1 innings, giving up 0 runs, 2 hits, and a walk. As the only lefty currently in the pen, the Nats will need big things out of Eischen on the other side of the All-Star break. Look for Frank Robinson to run him into the ground by the end of August.

>This week in his weekly column for the DC Examiner, Jim Bowden blasts the omission of Jose Guillen from the NL All-Star team. While it remains to be seen if Bowden will pull the trigger on a big deal before the trading deadline, there's no doubt he'll make a move of some sort, offering this little nugget in this week’s column: “As we head to the All-Star break, we've been very active in discussions. Right now, if we're healthy we have enough talent to win. But if we can add a pitcher and a bat before July 31, this team will prove the first half was for real.” Bowden's column from last week is also worth a peek, offering a look at which prospects in the Nationals’ system have other teams interested.

>Anybody else concerned about Jose Guillen after Tuesday's confrontation with Esteban Loaiza & Brian Schneider? As you’ve probably heard by now, Guillen felt that Loaiza should have retaliated after being plunked by a Pedro Martinez fastball in the first inning of Tuesday night’s game. Not a good sign; there’s a reason Jose has played for 7 teams in 9 seasons, after all.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 7/8/2005 at DCist.com)