60 wins or bust - the 2010 Washington Nationals

they just signed Adam Kennedy to play 2B/SS I guess, after playing chicken with o-dog for a few weeks and losing

The Nationals have agreed to sign Chien-Ming Wang to a one-year $2MM deal that includes up to $3MM in performance bonuses. The team hasn't confirmed the agreement, but they have a press conference scheduled for Friday.

Goldman poo-poos all over this move on the Pinstriped Bble

I hope they get Kris Benson.

Can we just call him Mr. Anna Benson pls?

and now livan...he's like an expos/nats homing pigeon.

still...pretty fired up for opening day. the moonshots of adam dunn! the stunning mediocrity of john lannan!

The entire staff's copious amount of high-and-outside fastballs when there are runners on base (at least when Pudge is making the calls)!

maybe jesus flores will stay healthy this year?

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d179/IdahoBert/3392140451_3b39800e11_b-1.jpg

lol

washingnats #Nats stat of the day. The #Nats pitchers have allowed 76 runs on 105 hits in seven games.

*awe struck*

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/nationals-release-elijah-dukes.html

Just noticed he stole three bases last year in 13 attempts.

that's weird as hell, what did he do

CHONE has him projected for a .262./.364/.446 line, not sure how they're gonna replace that

Read a rumor yesterday about Dye. Don't know if that has progressed at all.

where will Dukes end up? (ie, what is Oakland's RF sitch? are they still waiting on another *hot* RF prospect to break through this spring lol)

Friars? Cubbies?

The North Side would love him.

sounds like a future Met

not if his best days are ahead of him

In three starts this spring, Strasburg posted a 2.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts in nine innings, making him the starter who put up the best results this spring. As such, he was optioned to AA today.

there's no way he's still in the minors after like june 1

otm. whenever the nats get their free arb year he comes up

LOL you're hitting seventh for the NATINALS.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/touchingbase/300_ivan_rodriguez.JPG

obama juuuuust a bit outside

First pitch: N Morgan reached on infield single to shortstop
Second pitch: Strike (looking), N Morgan stole second

:-D

Dibble interviewing Obama was quite the opposite.

D-:

natinal nightmare.

Q: Obama what was one of your favourite players from the sox growing up?
A: You know.uhhh..I...I...thought a lot of the cubs were good....wasn't a fan of the sox until i moved there....i was an a's fan.....WHAT I LOVE IS SOX IS REAL BLUE-COLLAR BASEBALL

Shades of George W right there

i love u nats

but you're bringing me down

Pudge went 3 for 4 yesterday. If he continues at that pace he will break the record for batting average in a season.

Q: Obama what was one of your favourite players from the sox growing up in Hawai'i and Indonesia?

was interviewer a birther/teapartier? Yeah, lots of Sox fans in Honolulu and Jakarta, right?

Hawai'i defaults to SF/OAK on TV fwiw.

From Shasta's mouth to god's ears:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWQnBWRkFNc

LIVAN > Johan

Adam Dunn: .111/.448/.111

(Looks like the numbers from my first year of Little League.)

looks like Nick Johnson tbh

HOU 0-7
WASH 3-4

Dibble on Jackie Robinson: "He didn't like the whole uh... segregation deal."

marquis off to an ugly start this year

7 ER in 0.0 innings does not help the era iirc

haha someone just picked up livan hernandez in my other fantasy league

nats doing some sort of voodoo magic this year

1/5 the way to thread title goal

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Answer-Man-Nyjer-Morgan-talks-alter-egos-hocke?urn=mlb,237924

DB: Isn't "Ian Desmond" almost a good gentleman's name already?

NM: Naw, that's young Hee-Sop's Fables (laughs). That guy's full of stories, man. We don't know if to believe them or if they're fables. That's young Hee-Sop!

DB: Is this why the Pirates traded you, because they'd have to pay, like, two different guys?

NM: I think so, man. Basically the Buccos are a minor-league team for the major leagues — hah, hah, hah! It's one of those things, where, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

DB: You've moved on with your life, but were you the least bit sympathetic about the Bucs being outscored about a billion to one?

NM: Not really because I'm in Nats Nation, I'm a Nat Boy, so I'm definitely part of the SWAT Team. I enjoy being here, I love being here. The Buccos gave me a way into the game, but now I'm here and I'm ready to make a little bit of noise with my man Hee-Sop.

(Desmond and Morgan bump fists)

^_^

I will say it again, becuz of poor lols response last time: Who dat Nyjer?

Also, Nats are over .500 and tied with the NYM so good on them.

get at your boy young Hee-Sop

okay yeah they've got a pythagorean deficit despite having the 5th best record in the NL (@tm), but add some Strasburg in less than 4 weeks and then Wang shortly afterwards and they could make a run at the WC?

(pls revive this in July for lolz.)

We all make a run at the WC at some point, I guess.

As a DC resident I'm happy to see them not completely suck ass this year, but I still expect them to drop below .500 at some point. Still, a vast improvement over last year.

that would still prob take, like, way-over-their-head years scott olsen, livan & john lannan (or craig stammen)

jordan zimmermann might be back by august too. he looked pretty good last year (92K in 91.1 IP)

plus they have the Jason Marquis Effect to bank on if all else fails

lol

Tyler Clippard picked up his major league-leading seventh victory following a perfect eighth inning against the Mets on Wednesday.

I bet his agent is excited about his piling up of wins..

So are the Nats leading the NL in wins and saves now? Awesome.

plus they have the Jason Marquis Effect to bank on if all else fails

― ciderpress, Monday, May 10, 2010 9:31 PM (2 days ago)

going under the knife soon if my sources are correct

Marquis has never missed the playoffs in his career, is the joke that everyone pointed out when they signed him

not sure if that works from the bench though !

"I've never seen blood gush that fast out of someone," said one Nationals player.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/05/mark_lerners_batting_practice.html

cant wait for the nyjer.gif

kevin millar rightly referenced ted lilly & also said "i love the glove throw @ the major league level" lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtt7y2K6SVA

That's getting towards Leon Lett territory.

I went to a Nationals/Mets game last week, and the same thing happened, basically! Deep fly to center field, Nyjer almost catches it but misses it, the ball bounces around for a minute, Willingham runs over and throws it in, inside the park homer.

yeah it's not good. clearly he thought it had gone out but u gotta be sure before u spazz out

wow what the shit -- always thought nyjer was as chill of a dude as they come

that some "apologize to your teammates" level stupidity right there.

taking sides: not caring about winning enough and costing your team two runs, or caring about winning too much and costing your team two runs

RIP SS

damn you AK47

wow, John Lannan to AA

his strikeout rate was below average to begin with and then it somehow cratered from that still

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond may be a rookie, but one thing is certain: He doesn't let mistakes bother him. He proved it during a 6-5 victory over the Padres on Tuesday night at Nationals Park.

Take the eighth inning: With the bases loaded and one out, left-hander Sean Burnett induced Oscar Salazar to hit what looked like a perfect double-play ball to second baseman Cristian Guzman, who threw the ball to Desmond for the force. But Desmond threw the ball past first baseman Adam Dunn, allowing Chase Headley to score the fifth run of the game. It was Desmond's 21st error of the season.

"That's just me. I hate to say it, but I'm aggressive," Desmond said. "It's really hard for me to say, 'No, don't make the play.' That's something I have to learn up here. I have to make better decisions, I guess. I handled the feed perfectly fine. The throw was wrong."

But Desmond made up for it in the top of the ninth inning. With a runner on first and closer Matt Capps on the mound, Scott Hairston doubled to left field. Outfielder Josh Willingham threw the ball to Desmond, who then threw a perfect strike to catcher Ivan Rodriguez to nail Jerry Hairston at the plate.

Ask what he will be thinking about the rest of the night -- the error or the great throw he made to the plate -- Desmond said he will remember the home run he hit in the fifth inning to give the Nationals a 5-2 lead.

"I really don't worry about the error. It was an aggressive play," Desmond said.

NL leaders in errors:

1. Ian Desmond 21
2. Alcides Escobar 14

Don't worry. Just be aggressive.

(Desmond has walked 15 times in 294 PAs, btw.)

according to the fielding metrics his range makes up for all the errors

he's gonna have to improve his hitting though, for sure

Stark:
Adam Dunn has hit 20+ HR by the break 8 straight yrs - & no ASGs!

Hadn't realized he hit exactly 40 HRs five consecutive years.

who is calling this game and doing pbp. they seem like agreeable assholes.

It's Rob Dibble and...some other old pitcher, can't remember his name.

Or at least, those are the local guys. I'm not watching the game right now, so I'm not sure what broadcast you're watching.

wiki says Bob Carpenter

ESPN

Manager Jim Riggleman said the team spoke to Adam Dunn about going up to the press box to see broadcaster Bob Uecker in full uniform during Saturday's game against the Brewers.

Dunn, who had the day off that day, went to the radio booth to see Uecker, who returned to work this past weekend after undergoing heart surgery on April 30. The meeting took place in the second inning.

Dunn and Uecker have been great friends since Dunn played for the Reds.

"We have addressed that issue. That's about all I'm going to say about it," Riggleman said. "It's unfortunate."

A baseball source said Dunn was not fined for leaving the dugout during the game, but was scolded by Riggleman and general manager Mike Rizzo. Dunn was basically told not to go to the broadcast booth during a game.

WASHINGTON -- Dressed in a custom-made "Miss Iowa" jersey and a silver sash, Katherine Connors threw out the first pitch of Friday's Washington Nationals game. Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista caught the pitch, which reached home plate in the air but would have been a little bit inside on a right-handed hitter.

The ceremonial first pitch came just four days after Batista compared Miss Iowa to Miss Universe, a parallel to how fans view him and phenom Stephen Strasburg. Connors said a lot of Iowa natives took offense to Batista's comments.

Connors said she found out what Batista said when friends contacted her while she was getting hair extensions.

"I was like, 'What is going on?' " Connors said. "But once I heard the entire story, I thought it was hilarious. I love it. You have to admit, Iowa is a small state. We don't get a lot of credit."

Connors agreed to throw the first pitch Friday night to show that she had no hard feelings about Batista's comparison. In return, he said she posed a challenge to Batista -- that he walk in her bikini and heels. He has declined to do that.

Connors also said that the directors of the Miss Iowa pageant have extended an invitation to Batista to judge October's competition.

Before her big pitch, Connors said she wasn't nervous but that baseball wasn't one of the sports she played growing up. One thing she had going for her, though, was that she got to pitch in flats -- not the heels she wore when she first arrived at the park.

"They wanted me to throw in heels, but I was like, 'Ooh, I'm going to break my neck or my ankle or something,' " Connors said with a laugh.

"My No. 1 request was to put my Miss USA bikini back on and throw the pitch, but that would have been another whole news story."

"My No. 1 request was to put my Miss USA bikini back on and throw the pitch, but that would have been another whole news story."

Why didn't this happen

Fangraphs has Zimm as NL's MVP:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=nl&qual=y&type=6&season=2010&month=0

Chase Headley is ranked pretty highly for a corner infielder with a .734 OPS.

+10 fielding will do that

also .734 is pretty good for a SD player, NL average is lower than that this year and petco park depresses hitting stats by like 10%

He only has a .750 OPS away from Petco. That +10 fielding must mean a lot.

Is Torres really the best defensive player in the NL? His lead on Placido Polanco (!) is pretty large.

'best defensive player' is pretty subjective

he's objectively the 'best defensive player as measured by the UZR formula' but you can't say more than that really

or rather, the best defensive player as compared to his peers at his position. a shortstop with a -5 UZR is probably gonna be a better defensive player than a 1B with a +10 UZR.

positional scarcity

btw Adamn Dunn is on Top Chef right now.. FIGURES

okay nyjer needs to GO TO JAIL

GO TO JAIL, NYJER, YOU ARE PSYCHOTIC

What happened?

he attempted to truck bryan anderson tonight at the plate even tho there wasn't even a play at home and anderson was standing a foot and a half off the plate

he clearly went out of his way and lowered his shoulder into him

there hadn't been any hit batsmen or anything in the game either

That didn't look good.

Meanwhile:

Major league baseball has suspended Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan seven games for throwing a ball into the stands that struck a fan in the head.

The incident occurred Saturday in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Ballpark. Morgan said he had an "ongoing dialogue," according to the Washington Post, with one particular fan in the center field stands that escalated with Morgan throwing a ball into the stands, striking a different fan in the head.

The suspension was set to start with Wednesday's game, but Morgan is appealing the punishment. He was also fined an undisclosed amount of money.

this guy seriously crazy

now i understand why he played hockey

ayo zimmermann's back

what the fuck is wrong with nyjer morgan

fter barreling into Marlins catcher Brett Hayes Tuesday night and being called out on a play at the plate, Morgan returned to his spot in the outfield and got into it with a fan at Sun Life Stadium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRFae-fo7Y&feature=player_embedded

Dibble gone... yes!

"Don't retreat...reload!"

Manny_Navarro Benches clearing brawl by the #Marlins and #Nationals after Nyjer Morgan gets plunked for a 2nd time

this is after they threw at his head but did not him in the first inning

Manny_Navarro #Nationals Nyjer Morgan walked off the field cussing at the crowd, arms raised.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=11615635

many lols at flying clothesline

wauuuuuuuu

Pat Listach is going to the principal's office.

those stolen bases were the big punkass move

this guy is seriously insane

should've thrown at his head

seriously like, you know mike rizzo has to be sitting there like "i thought we got rid of elijah dukes......"

nyjer hasn't hit well since last year anyway, and the fielding metrics suggest that he's having a shitty year at that too

he's got -1.4 WAR by bbref

basically there's no reason why they shouldn't just cut him right now

my guess is he's gone by the end of the week

Eh, I'm not buying all the "oh my goodness" on this board (looking at you Jordan). It was Florida's FOURTH hit batter of the night in as many innings and the 2nd time for Nyjer.

I just wish he would have connected on Volstad's jaw a little more solidly, looked like it glanced off a little before he got clotheslined by Gaby.

But yeah this is part of the game. Throw at a team 4 times in 4 innings and tempers flare. Throw at a guy 2x in 4 innings and he just might ~react~. If he doesn't maybe he would be better suited for tennis or golf.

BASEBALL. BRAWL. TRADITION.

DEAL WITH IT.gif

plaschke.doc

Wes Tackleberry Helms:

"I know he's stealing bases out of his own doing, he's trying to get back at us. We had to show him that we weren't going to put up with the way he was treating us after last night but also trying to take the bases being (down) 10 runs. . . . He gets under everybody's skin. Especially mine."

"Learn how to score when your team is losing and you are put on base THE RIGHT WAY."

Morgan was trying to get back by SCORING A FUCKING RUN. And he scored a fucking run, on a sac fly, down 11 in the FOURTH inning. At one point, the Nationals were within five.

It's really annoying when you put a runner on base and, instead of staying put -- or scoring ONLY after the bases are emptied by a HR -- he advances on his own.

Helms would have had something closer to a point if the Nationals, not the Marlins, had been up 11.

If you put someone on base they damn well should try to run on you, epecially if you managed it by committing ABH! Is it some lame tradition that says you don't?

now i understand why he played hockey

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 29, 2010 2:20 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark

sure, just trot out the tired old hockey player = black guy euphemism

guys, stealing third when yer ten runs down is a bad percentage play, Nyjer wasn't thinking about the score

a few things

a. i'm not defending the marlins throwing at him again -- i thought it was hilarious of course, but prob unnecessary but who really knows with these unwritten baseball rules things

b. when nyjer was stealing the bases, he was sliding over the base and hard. when he slid into third, he made an obvious attempt to take out wes helms' legs even tho there wasn't even a throw to the plate.

c. i was talking more about how he reacted after the fight, walking off the field literally like he was a WEE wrestler. that did not look like a mentally stable man.

d. they didn't even HIT him a second time. it missed him by at least half a foot. volstad is no greg maddux, but i'm pretty sure he could've tagged him if he wanted to.

a wee wrestler

I'm just surprised that he didn't bring his bat with him

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/534282/morganmound_medium.gif
http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/534285/morganwalk_medium.gif

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/PITTSBURGH-PA/WPGB-FM/EXINN%20Nyjer%20041509.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=PITTSBURGH-PA&NG_FORMAT=newstalk&SITE_ID=1945&STATION_ID=WPGB-FM&PCAST_AUTHOR=FM_Newstalk_104.7&PCAST_CAT=Sports&PCAST_TITLE=Extra_Innings

ffw to 2:20

So nyjer got 8 games on top of the 7 he is appealing

Okay, Englisher here who loves baseball but probably will never understand the nuance or 'unwritten rules' etc. I just fucking hate teams whining about people stealing bases when they're up or down by a large number of runs. WTF! It would be disrespectful NOT to steal a base just 'cos you're up by 6 or 7. Like it's saying we've already won and there's no way your shitty team can come back from this deficit. If you don't want teams to steal then try not to let 'em steal FFS.

rolling it's hard out there for a nyjer thread:

"Man, they threw the book at me. What did I do? I feel I haven't done anything. I knocked over a catcher ... they threw the ball at me. Come on, what am I supposed to do? I have to take this and try to keep playing. I feel I haven't done anything wrong except for playing the game hard and play the game like it supposed to be played. Wow. I don't know what else to say. I don't think you should be suspended for hitting a catcher. ... I don't understand what I did wrong to get an eight-game suspension."
—Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan on the brawl when he charged Marlins starter Chris Volstad after the right-hander threw behind him.

hooray they did it

dunn up to 38

last game of the season. 14th inning. 1-1. so pointless. you go for it, boys.