Bye Gorzelanny!
Ok it's not September, it's 15 day retroactively (which is read as "miss 2 starts maybe") but like it probably will be September right?
I guess those waiting for Maya's chance get their wish without Lannan (or Marquis) being the one out fo the rotation. Yay Lannan! In your faces Lannan haters.
And hey the Nats get to celebrate for once! Even at 22-28 a game winning HR is still worth a celebration.
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Another brilliant decision by the franchise, taken from Natl Journal)
Rick Ankiel is back in the starting lineup today, playing center field, largely because Manager Jim Riggleman is adhering to a baseball axiom: you can’t lose your starting position to injury.
“I’m not,” Riggleman said, “going to abandon Rick Ankiel at this point.”
When Rick Ankiel dove for a ball in center field May 2, he sprained his wrist and missed the next three weeks, during which time Roger Bernadina came up from Class AAA Syracuse and assumed the center field and leadoff role, hitting .247/.307/.333 while alternatively making great catches and questionable plays in center.
The Nationals, though, do not want Bernadina sitting on the bench and not developing. Meanwhile, Laynce Nix has been perhaps the Nationals’ most consistent hitter – he’s hitting cleanup today. All three are left-handed, too, so there’s not really a platoon opportunity.
You'd like Riggs to be tougher and make the call to pull Ankiel himself , but it's a hard call for a manager. For the clubhouse, especially in a losing one, Riggs needs to show the veterans he'll stick by them no matter what. It's hard for me to blame him (especially with Roger not forcing the issue)
It'd be nice if Rizzo took the decision out of his hands somehow.
If being a veteran exceeds results, then maybe that's part of the organization's problem. Ankiel isn't producing and I don't like the trade-off. Roger hasn't been good the past few weeks but he's still been the best lead-off man this season. Where do you bat Ankiel? He has no pop and no average? Does the team force Espi back into lead-off and bat Ankiel 7th? Bad decision around.
If you want to say you can't lose your job due to injury, given Ankiel a week to get hot and then bench him if he's not producing. But a Nix, Ankiel, Bernandina platoon is nonsense. Nix is one of the team's hottest hitters right now. Ankiel has no future while Roger still has a hope of one. Ankiel can be a defensive replacement/PH after Zim returns and Stairs is cut
I'm a bit amused that the other hot Nats hitter would be on the bench if not due to LaRoche's injury. The Morse bandwagon had a rough ride but it's on right now!
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