Coming into Aug 26th (or 127 games into the season), the Nats had 18 games where they scored 8 runs or more. In the past two weeks (or 11 games) the Nats have 7. Where did this offensive juggernaut come from. Danny Espinosa.
Ok it's not just Danny Espinosa - pretty much everyone not named Nyjer or Kennedy is doing at least ok and several guys are smoking hot. Espinosa is leading the pack hitting (.563 / .563 / 1.313), however and looks great. Desmond is also hot (.400 / .408 / .533) and has had a fantastic 2nd half. Makes one want to go back and re-evaluate their "best-case scenarios". Turning two average bats into two above-average ones would make a huge difference to a lineup. I'm getting ahead of myself here. It's only been two weeks. Hot streaks, even extended ones, can happen for rookies. The Baby Bomber taught me that. Still, it's nice to have something to get excited about so soon after the world ended for Nats fans in a hospital room in LA.
Now if the Nats would only free Wilson Ramos... Sweet!
I feel Espinosa/Desmond and Ramos will be awesome this month just to get us excited about next year. And then they'll suck and we'll wonder why we're again 20 under .50 and then Mike Burgess comes up to blast 6 homers in 15 games. Bah, humbug.
ReplyDeleteNats will get very exciting if the infield is Z-D-E-D for the rest of the year with Ramos at the plate. Throw in Maya and you're looking at the 2011 starting pitching staff barring Detweiler's resurgence. And hopefully Morgan's suspension takes effect soon....
At this pt, I roll the dice with Espinosa at 2nd as a starter and spend my FA money either on Dunn or the best corner OF I can find. I'm guessing the Nats will have a quite FA period since the SP is locked down and there's only 2 full-time open spots in the field: 1st, and an OF spot.
What a great game yesterday. It almost made me regret that I was griping to my wife during the first inning that Kennedy and Harris were starting instead of Desmond and Morse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hoo on Morgan's suspension, especially if that is what it takes to prevent Morse from being left out of the starting lineup the rest of this year. Now if only Kennedy would do something stupid...
Hoo - could happen but eventually this team has to have another "good luck" year right? And why not FA money for Dunn AND the best COF you can find? Dream big.
ReplyDeletebdrube - I'm hoping Kennedy will just be spot starting here and there so the youngsters get a game off. So far it looks more like a 3-way rotation but it's only been a week with Espinosa up, so it's early to tell.
Adam Kennedy getting another start for reason other than injury is a waste. His BA is the worst of the 2nd basemen with his level of Abs or more. Go with the future, Danny or Gonzo who could make the team as a utility again if Gonzo wins that much anticipated battle against Pete Orr. I don't get Kennedy other than the left-handed bat approach.
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