Unlucky nights for the nats

The nats lost another unlucky game against the fish today, losing 3-2 in the 10th inning. John Lannan had a great game, striking out 8 in 6.1 innings and giving up 1 run. The nats got their offense going in the bottom of the 1st, with Nick Johnson singling to right field for Ryan Zimmerman. Zim hit one that looked like a 2B at first, and it was slicing away from Cameron Maybin in CF. He then dove out full extension and somehow caught the ball, saving at least a 3B and a run. The fish took the lead in the 4th on a solo HR by C John Baker. Then the nats took the lead in the bottom of the 4th by RBI singles by Jesus Flores and Alberto Gonzalez. That is when the fish started to become really lucky. The home plate umpire Tim Timmons was very inconsistent today- of course only to the Nationals. Even Manny got ejected on a heck of a pathetic called 3rd to Elijah Dukes. Jim Rigglman then became the manager for the rest of the game. The nats really got Rick Nolasco and started crushing baseball after baseball- later to become outs at the warning track. There were something like 3 innings where the nats had a runner on 3rd, and failed to score. In the top of the 9th, up 2-1, Hanrahan gave up a solo shot to Cody Ross, and the game was into extras. Nick Johnson crushed a line drive, caught by 1B Jorge Cantu, and then Zim hit a fly ball to right field which looked like a walk-off HR at first- only to be caught at the warning track. Then Jim Rigglman really made a bad call, bringing in Saul Rivera in the 10th, even though he wasn't that bad at all. He gave up a harmless ground ball and 2 little blop shots- which turned into a run somehow. Elijah Dukes lead off the ninth with a long fly ball almost a game-tying homer which turned into a double that hit in between 2 advertisment signs in left field. Then the nats went harmlessly in the rest of the inning.

The next day the nats also lost the next game 9-6 in another extra-inning-marathon. I didn't see the game but Austin Kearns had a grand slam in the 1st inning and the nats were up 6-0 early. Scott Olsen had a great performance, going 7 innings and giving up 3 runs, 2 earned. With the nats up 6-3 going into the 9th, Hanrahan faltered AGAIN. He blew another save, giving up a game tying 2 run shot by Jeremy Hermida to tie the game at 6. Then in the top of the 11th Jeremy Hermida hit another 3 run HR, this time giving the fish a 9-6 lead. For the 2nd night in a row, a great starting performance, a good offensive show, and a late breakdown by Joel Hanrahan occured.

In other news, SS Cristian Guzman has been placed on the 15 day DL, and IF Alex Cintron will be called up to replace him. Also Roger Bernadina is now on the DL. The injuries although haven't been as bad as last year, as long as starters are fine, and Alberto Gonzalez has done a great job replacing Cristian Guzman at SS. There is no recent news on Ryan Zimmerman and his long term deal.

Tomorrow there will be another day game, Daniel Cabrera VS Chris Volstad.

Hill might miss beginning of the season

Nats righty Shawn Hill might miss the beginning of the '09 season, feeling pain in his right arm during a bullpen session, before his scheduled start against the Tigers today. He was a late scratch, and Gustavo Chacin got the call. Hill, who pitched one inning Friday against the Astros, started to feel pain Sunday when he threw a bullpen session, but he didn't inform the team until the last minute. Hill wanted to pitch against the Tigers, but the Nats know what has happened in the past when they have been even the slightest risky when it comes to Hill. "Shawn was willing to throw, but we decided to send him over to see Dr. Andrews, who will give us an indication on what to do from now on," Manny said. "The good thing about it is it's early in camp. We still have four weeks to go. If it's not serious, Shawn will be ready to go for us." Even though Acta believes that Hill will be ready before April sixth, I wouldn't that surprised if he's gone for the year. "Obviously, I feel bad for the kid (37 games played in the last four years), because he has gone through it for a while now. Hopefully, he will come back with good news from Dr. Andrews," Acta said.

Even if he is healthy, Hill is not a candidate to make the rotation. Hill who has never been in the bullpen (37 G, 37 GS), I have always thought that he would be a good closer with his nasty slider, and possibly make a Kerry Wood-type transition. Manny also said if Hanrahan can't handle the closer's role or gets traded (good thing Bowden's not GM), they might look to Hill.

So far, the Nats are 3-4 in preseason play. The first game was an exhibition against Italy, in which they won a thriller, 9-6. I thought it wouldn't even be close, Italy only has a few players on its roster that are in the big leagues. Before the game, Elijah Dukes saw Roger Bernadina taking batting practice. Dukes noticed that outfielder Roger Bernadina was gripping the bat too tight and his elbows were too close to his body. Dukes wanted Bernadina to keep his hands back. The way Bernadina was holding the bat in the past had given him trouble hitting inside pitches. Then lator Dukes and Bernadina were in the starting lineup against Italy. In the game, Dukes had a 2-run triple, and a crushed solo homer to left. With two on and two outs in the ninth inning, the game tied at six, Bernadina, keeping his hands back, crushed a walk-off 3 run bomb. Bernadina went 3-5 in the game.

The nats then beat the Mets, 6-4. The nats had a couple of three run innings, and Johnson hit his second of the spring. The highlight of the day was Jordan Zimmermannnnnnnn, who threw three scoreless innings, and he has yet to give up a baserunner. Batters against him are 0-15 with 6 strikeouts and no walks. What happened to Bally-Star??? (3 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, BB)

The nats also lost that game against the Tigers, 10-2. Both Washington runs came in a three-batter stretch during the second inning, capped by a two-run single by Anderson Hernandez which scored Javier Valentin and Joel Guzman. Valentin and Elijah Dukes both had a hit and a walk.None of the people who pitched are going to make the 25-man roster anyway, except for Terrel Young who pitched a scoreless inning and has a ERA of 1.80.

The Nats will play the Orioles tomorrow, and Daniel Cabrera will start against his former club, at Camden Yards. The game will be televised on MASN, where new vision analyst Rob Dibble will make his Nats debut, I think... I'm not sure if the regular Nats-O's announcers will be broadcasting it.

There is no news on who the new GM will be, although Stan Kasten said that the Nats would be in good hands with Mike Rizzo, who will take over most of the GM job until a replacement is found. Getting rid of Bowden looks like Cordero will consider going back to Washington. Cordero was upset that Bowden announced last May that he would be non-tendered. Such an announcement is not made until the offseason. Cordero vowed not to come back to Washington if Bowden was the GM.

Last year at around this time I made a prediction of what the Nat's record would be. last year I said it was going to be 86-76, but I also said if all of their key players stay healthy. This year I think the nats are going to be 83-79, third/fourth in NL East.

Acta: '08 is history

Today the Nats had their first workout session for the pitchers and catchers who reported friday. All of them showed up except for Daniel Cabrera, who will stay in the Dominican Republic for about another week because he is having his first child, Jorge Sosa, who the Nats signed as a non-roster invitee, and Odalis Perez, who signed a minor league deal with them. Sosa and Perez have until sunday until they are considered late. Early today, before their first workout session, the nats had a team meeting. It was addressed by Acta and Bowdon, and Acta told them to forget about 2008, and he expects them to play .500 baseball. Acta is excited to get the '09 season to a start, and he says this years Nats are the best team he's seen since he joined in 2007 as manager (Getting Dunn means it's going to be the best if your record as manager is 132-191). "This is the first time we have a legitimate cleanup, power guy in our lineup," Acta said referring to Dunn. "This is the best team we have had in the three years I've been here. ... I try to win with what I have. I'm not going in here thinking abut 2010. This is a good bunch of guys. Baseball has shown you the last few years that if you do things right, you never know what might happen."Acta still think one of the Nats only weakness is the bullpen. The nats must get one more really good relief pitcher other than Saul Rivera.

The nats will also add a bullpen member, 26 year old right hander Jason Bergmann. Last year he really stunk as a starter, going 2-11 with a ERA of 5.11. Even though he struggled last year, he showed glimpses of brilliance, and he still has very good movement on his pitches, especially his slider. Today he came up to Manny Acta, and asked him what his job will be during the 2009 season, and Manny said he will be a middle reliever. Bergmann was not available for comment at the time.

Along with the first workout, the nats had their first bullpen sessions, with Randy St. Clare watching each and every pitch carefully, and he was impressed with all of them. "I was pleased with everybody," St Claire said. "Everybody threw the ball very well. The deliveries look very solid out of this first group that threw today. I was impressed with a lot of the guys." Although all of them were pretty good, the one who shined today was 22-year old Jordan Zimmermannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. "I love his arm stroke," St. Claire said. "He has that really quick arm action. It's out of the glove and it's short and it's on top of the ball. He is a strong kid, he has a good body. His lines are very good. His delivery is very solid for a young kid." I wasn't really a fan of Zimmermannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn before, because I thought anyone who hasn't pitched above AA is unproven. Although after hearing about how much everyone has been raving about him, I have big expectations for him.