25 men - who will they be?
Werth - Revere- Bryce - Rendon - Espinosa - Murphy - Zimmerman - Ramos - Taylor
Scherzer - Strasburg - Gonzalez - Ross
Papelbon
That's the 100% take it to the bank, starter-type Opening Day guys. 14. 11 spots left.
Lobaton
Roark
Rivero - Petit - Perez - Kelley
That's the OMG. He didn't make the cut? But he's getting paid and we need that guy there guys 20. 5 spots left.
Offensively this leaves 3 spots (assuming they take 13 hitters). It seems hard to imagine Clint Robinson not making the team given how he performed last year and his general 1B-OF abilities. That leaves 4 spots open.
Another MI is a must and the Nats have three choices. Turner is an easy call to be sent down because he can be and it may be advantageous to the Nats bottom line to do so. That leaves Drew or Ryan for that spot. Ryan is the better fielder and had the better Spring but has never hit in the big leagues. His last season ever approaching average was in 2009. Drew hasn't had quite the Spring Ryan has but he's been good more recently 2013, is a threat to go deep, and is no slouch in the field. His lefty bat is helpful but far less important in 2016 now that the Nats added two lefties to the starting lineup. Still it seems like Drew's spot to lose.
This leaves one spot open. The bench would be
Robinson - L, decent all around hitter, not great in field, not a runner
Taylor - R, pop, D, speed, issues making contact
Drew - L, pop, D, no speed, can't hit for average
Lobaton - S, bad hitter, can't run
There is an opening I guess for a contact guy that can run the bases, so Taylor doesn't have to be the first PR in at all times. Probably a righty bat. There isn't anyone on the Nats that really fits the "contact" bill, so if you go just for righty that has speed... Chris Heisey or Tony Campana wins out. Given Dusty's likely favoritism and Heisey actually playing in the majors recently... I give him the upper hand.
In the pen there are 2 spots left.
Rivero - L, Perez - L
Petit - R, Kelley - R, Papelbon
Pretty good balance, so far. Given that Petit is likely a sometimes innings eater and Papelbon is the closer, the first thing you'd probably want is another R to use. It's a tough call between Treinen, Martin and Gott. I feel like situationally Martin is the odd man out here. Hmmm. I'm going to say Gott makes the team and Treinen is sent down to the minors as a closer in training. Then again it's possible that Matt Belisle will make the team, given that he didn't exercise his rumored opt out clause this weekend. Ladson is reporting it but haven't seen it elsewhere. If it's true, it's true. Still I'll go Gott as of posting time.
For the last spot? It's hard to argue for anyone but Burnett who has looked good this Spring, has been good before injury, and specifically has been good in DC. The lefty arm maintains balance in the pen. If Belisle makes it... I don't think it changes this. Burnett is too proven to not start the season with for a team looking for bullpen stability.
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9 comments:
Heisey over den Dekker? I sort of thought it would be den Dekker given the way he ended the season last year and he does have some speed.
MLBTR says Belisle has been added to 25 man roster
Took a minute trying to figure out how to got down to 20.5 roster spots. Maybe when the next sentence starts off with a number like that... shows why it was good to have TWO spaces after a period.
Petit, Perez, Kelley, Gott, Who the F^&% are these guys???
Guy in Bar: [as the baseball season begins]
[Looking in the newspaper at the Indians' starting lineup]
Guy in Bar: Ricky Vaughn? Willie Hays? I haven't heard most of them. Mitchell Freidman?
Construction Worker: Who are these fookin' guys?
Groundskeeper #1: [In Japanese] They're sh1tty.
Board Member 1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.
Charlie Donovan: Most of these guys never had a prime.
Rachel Phelps: The fact is we lost our two best players to free agency. We haven't won a pennant in over thirty-five years, we haven't placed higher than fourth in the last fifteen. Obviously it's time for some changes.
Board Member 2: This guy here is dead!
Rachel Phelps: Cross him off, then!
Let's sign Nick Swisher. That'll work out great.
I think given the uncertainty around starting pitching depth, they may likely stash Treinen in the minors as a 6th starter.
No love for Sizemore??? Given their performance in ST, I would think the 5th bench spot would be down to Upper Dekker and Sizemore.
"There is an opening I guess for a contact guy that can run the bases"
- when he's brought up, presumably Turner will fit this need perfectly, either himself or by allowing Dusty to start Taylor and have Revere be the speed/contact guy of the bench.
Harvey scratched and questionable for opening day.
De Grom velocity is way down all spring.
Let's go Nats!
@WahoowaDC:
Harvey confirmed for Opening Day (was never arm-related). DeGrom velocity back up (velocity meaningless during Spring Training).
I can agree: Let's go Nats!
Things I can't recall after a winter away from baseball, and having been stuck at work during most of Spring Training:
Didn't deGrom have a mini-holdout to start ST? If so, that explains the velocity.
Is Harvey on an innings limit, or did they blow through that with the playoffs last season? If so, I would worry about him this year. The limit worked for Jordan Z and Strasburg. It's cherry picking, I know, but the Braves are a prime example of not burning TJ arms too quickly.
Sending Turner down and seeing if 2-3 months of Danny is passable (Improved D vs Desi, no offense loss vs 2015 Desi) and maybe helps a bit with Murphy's D
Adding contact bats on the left side in Revere and Murphy should pay off. Balls put in play are one infield pebble or sun monster away from runs and extended innings. I am really thinking Rizzo added some good pieces here.
Can Clint continue his 2015 success? I'd love to see him be a force off the bench. Same goes for MAT.
Can the bullpen be better than the 2015 hot mess? I actually liked Martin for that last spot, but I doubt an unproven arm slots in there with Dusty. For those that don't make the cut, go to Syracuse and make Rizzo call you.
I think Giolito will be ready and called up before the deadline, if Ross or Roark struggle. Same with Turner if Drew/Danny struggle.
Can't wait for Opening Day.
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