Early in the season the Nats played the Rockies and lost the series 2-1. They caught the Rockies during their first hot stretch being part of the initial 10-2 run. While bad play marred the start of the year for the Nats and not everything can be explained by bad timing, it didn't help that they caught the Pirates during part of a 11-3 stretch, or the Padres during a 9-5 run. The Nats were playing stumbling, but they were catching some bad breaks.
Now we see the opposite. A rolling Nats team has its offense sputter a bit, but in comes a Rockies team crashing and burning. A Rockies team that would go 3-29 with RISP during the first 3 games. A Rockies team that would give up solo homers and walk in a run accounting for 4 of the Nats 5 runs in the past two games. Winning constantly is not just being good. That's the base. Winning constantly is getting lucky too. Winngin constantly is catching a rain postponement breaking up an otherwise long stretch. The entire script has flipped and the Nats are 2 series from making this the season they thought they would have.
Of course no game is more pivotal than today's. If Max is not fine then the Nats can't hope to win the division, and the Wild Card will look precarious, despite what they've done without him. Long haul you can't replace a Max with a Fedde/Ross/Voth combo and expect things to work out. So let's see what we want today - it doesn't need to be a dominant Max, just one that looks fine - gives the Nats 6+ innings of strong pitching - right velocity, good command, and a clean bill of health tomorrow. Give us that and let us see what happens in the next two home series vs the Dodgers and Braves.
Almost there. 8 games away from the summit*
*which doesn't have to be on top the NL East. I'll take anything within 3 games of first at the end of that Braves series as getting all the way back to where they want to be
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
22 comments:
Also seems possible he’ll be rusty from being off for like 3 weeks now but perfectly healthy so we shouldn’t necessarily freak out if he’s not as dominant as usual or his command is meh. It could be either injury or rustiness.
a little wildness is fine. I don't want to see like 5 walks in 4.2 IP
There are three tactical things that I see Davey do from time to time that I don't remember MW doing:
1) Using the backup catcher as a pinch-hitter
2) Using the closer for a multi-inning save
3) Using a reliever twice in the same day for a doubleheader
None of these tactical moves are genius, or even all that innovative. Its just that there is more flexibility there. Plus, the clubhouse seems to be improving in Year 2, rather than getting worse. #KeepDavey
Max took extended BP during the rain delay last night; back didn't seem to be bothering him.
Win tonight! go Max!
GCX - 1) Davey only does this when he has three catchers on hand. Which is annoying
2) Yes.
3) Sure I guess
meh. We are in a very good spot going into the weekend. We need to get the win today given the Dodgers have the big guns going against us, but it's not like they are playing great baseball right now.
Interesting stat: the 'Website that shall not be named' has Suzuki at .2 WAR, and Gomes at .1 WAR. On the one hand, that is disappointing. On the other hand, maybe these two are more equal in overall value than what is perceived.
I never thought I'd be on the #KeepDavey train, but at this point I say you have to keep him around. He's getting better, and honestly who would you replace him with?
@GCX I think what you're seeing is the flaw in WAR. It is over-reliant on single season defensive metrics. Especially when you consider that pitch-framing metrics are still more "educated guess" than "exact science".
G Cracka X: the downgrading on Suzuki is just his framing is supposedly not great while Gomes is good. Look the difference between them isn’t crazy.... but the point is (unless Gomes suddenly starts hitting) the Nats need more help with run production than run prevention. So that’s why I favor the offense. Plus our pitchers are swing a miss guys mostly....we don’t have many control masters who work the corners.
So technically Suzuki is 2 times better than Gomes, huh? Sorry, I couldn't resist.
So, say the Nats make the playoffs and actually win a series...does managing an historic comeback and taking the Nats to the "next" level qualify Martinez for NL Manager of the Year?
@ other anon - please no. If you're handed the keys a BMW and spend the first 60% of your time destroying the clutch, you don't get rewarded for just getting back home.
On the thought of buyer / seller lines, I've been a strong advocate for getting BP help. I'm now flip-flopping here and wondering if should see what we can get for Rodney? Based on what people are looking to pay for a closer type, could we get a 50-100 prospect?
Here's a guy who might bring something in return: Joe Ross. He's an interesting prospect because he's had success at the big league level and could eat innings for a contender. He's pitched well in Fresno since moving back to being a starter. He could bring back a decent middle reliever and save us all from having to see Matt Grace come out of the bullpen again.
Voth going down makes it highly unlikely that fedde or ross will be traded.
Why is Rodney pitching for the 3rd time in 2 days? Like Rodney and Doo NEEDED to be unavailable today, I don't care if the Nats lose the 4th game after winning the first 3. You did your job
I was at the game. I was shocked when Rodney came out for the 9th. I thought Suero should have stayed in, but apparently Suero told Davey that he was done. Rodney said he was ready. I don't care what Rodney said. I would have gone with Javy Guerra. But Davey has a bit of MW (PBN) in him -- my closer is Doo, my back-up closer is Rodney, and that's that. It was an ugly ending.
@PotomacFan Yeah, how many leads can the bullpen blow in one game. The Nats need to make some kind of deal so that we never have to see Matt Grace pitch in a Nats uniform again. Running Rodney out there was crazy. Leaving Rodney in after the Desmond homer and the walk was just silly. I understand DM doesn't have a ton to work with, but come'on, the guy pitched TWICE the day before and there was an early afternoon start. that's like pitching 3 times in 27 hours.
I agree with PotomacFan and JW. Why do you all think DM is not using Guerra more often? He hasn't been a huge disaster (especially compared to Grace) and can sometimes give you 2 innings. I thought a few times this week he would come in and help "save" the bullpen. Instead, he did not pitch in the series at all...
Because Grace, and Sipp, are lefty specialists. I think that means they specialize in giving up home runs to left-handed batters.
Barraclaugh picks up right where he left off. Matt Grace should kiss his ass for saving him the embarrassment of giving up a grand slam. How in the bluejohnhell does Rizzo manage to collect these late-inning dinger servers year after year after year??? It's like Goggles never left.
Post a Comment