tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post6588283313334686404..comments2024-03-28T10:50:33.234-07:00Comments on Nationals Baseball: Early season statsHarperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07738813756060133236noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-89303091784371135502016-04-10T13:17:52.195-07:002016-04-10T13:17:52.195-07:00^citation needed^citation neededRyan DCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-72348386231668535812016-04-09T07:12:51.791-07:002016-04-09T07:12:51.791-07:00Nationals are picking up where they've left of...Nationals are picking up where they've left off the last two seasons. 1 for 12 with men in scoring position in the home opener. We're darn lucky to not be 1-2 or 0-3. In game one we had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the ninth and got only one run....and that was a fluke. Werth should have been out 3 at the plate, game over, Braves win. For the second year in a row Max Scherzer pitches a seven inning gem on opening day and gets a ND because the Nationals can't put any runs on the board.<br /><br />I hate to keep posting the same thing year after year, but the same crap keeps happening year after year. And year after year Rizzo makes the same dumb personnel decisions and year after year we have a team that consistently cannot hit in a timely fashion and produce runs in crucial situations. Sometimes I really wish I didn't care so much. If Werth was a DH in the American League, the manager would let the pitcher hit. Unfortunately, to my surprise, Michael A. Taylor hasn't done much better at the plate. Taylor at least hasn't been a defensive liability like Werth has. I honestly don't know how Werth stays in the lineup. Well, yeah I do. $$$$$$$$$$$$ But right now I'd play Taylor in center and den Dekker in left until Revere comes back, then put Ben in left.<br /><br />That great spring training record proves once again, spring training pitching ain't regular season pitching. The Nats can hit average pitching ok. Except for Harper and (in streaks) Zimmerman, they have nobody that's capable of hitting even good pitching, much less great pitching.Sammy Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17286255593094532554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-73442691918343199372016-04-08T13:34:32.476-07:002016-04-08T13:34:32.476-07:00John C - given Werth's age and issues in the f...John C - given Werth's age and issues in the field I might shorten his leash a bit but that's still like a full month. If he's ok then he's a big boon and writing him off after a week would be beyond foolish. You have to see if you can squeeze out another .290+ season with moderate pop from him. That's even more true given the fact that MAT can't be relied upon (and you certainly can't bet on denDekker (sorry Josh!) or even Robinson everyday. Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738813756060133236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-10320177669068435462016-04-08T12:28:07.427-07:002016-04-08T12:28:07.427-07:00As I've said elsewhere, if you break down Wert...As I've said elsewhere, if you break down Werth's numbers from last season he was <i>terrible</i> when he was thrown cold against ready opposition. Both times he came off the DL, whether in April after no ST or offseason workouts or at the end of July after two and a half months out due to the fractured wrist, he was horrifically bad ... for about two weeks. Outside of those two "startup" times he varied somewhat, but OPS'd .808. Which tells you how dreadful those four+ weeks had to be for his overall numbers to be so bad.<br /><br />Now, any player pushing 37 is going to merit watching, and he doesn't get that excuse this season. He's not going to get six months leash to find out where he is. But three games? As Denard would say: C'mon, man!John C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-51913505540025452202016-04-08T11:13:17.110-07:002016-04-08T11:13:17.110-07:00I agree on the Werth worry. He wasn't hurt in ...I agree on the Werth worry. He wasn't hurt in ST, so there's no "Oh, wait for him to shake off the rust" argument. There were a couple of swings in yesterday's game that were cringe-worthy.<br /><br />Right now I'd take den Dekker in LF and batting 5th without hesitation, and I'm far from sold on him as an every day player.Josh Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00524273388243642450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-58072055151634724892016-04-08T10:30:33.415-07:002016-04-08T10:30:33.415-07:00JC - well on further review Werth did hit well fro...JC - well on further review Werth did hit well from mid August through mid Sept (bad runs out side of that made the months look eh). Wanted to be fair. Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738813756060133236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-18200713160432425722016-04-08T10:24:33.579-07:002016-04-08T10:24:33.579-07:00robot - he's baseballing as hard as he can. it...robot - he's baseballing as hard as he can. it is the hardest thing in the universe, remember.<br /> <br />GCX - Probably a fairly long leash given how he'll be used (pretty sparingly at least at first) you also need compelling evidence Gott will be better so he can't stumble in AAA<br /><br />Up to you really. I generally feel somewhere inbetween May 1 and June 1. A whole bad month isn't even compelling to me because I've seen that enough times (or really I've seen 2-3 bad weeks make a month look bad). So I go with a quarter of the season ~40/41 games <br /><br />Anon - I tend to be with the downers on MAT until he learns not to K all the time, but you are far from nuts. He's young and has one season under his belt. Nothing set yet. I doubt they bunt, it'd be wasting some undeniable power. <br /><br />Don't worry about Giolito - as much as we worry about the season coming down to a game or two (I even went ahead and predicted such) usually it's far more cut and dried. And if it's more than a game or two Giolito up or down wouldn't have been enough. <br /><br />JC - Werth bothers me the most too mainly bc he hasn't had an extended period of good hitting since 2014. Also bc he's getting 20+ million next year <br /><br />John C - Far too small to say anything with any confidence. Basically just markers to note where to look to possibly say something with a small measure of confidence 2 weeks from now. <br /><br />The walks bother me a little. Since he doesn't K guys he does have to watch the baserunners (and homers) more. But first start - bad weather...<br /><br />Mythra - I'll take a 50/50 pen. You can work with that in the games that matter. Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738813756060133236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-53405010386294532852016-04-08T09:20:43.614-07:002016-04-08T09:20:43.614-07:00MAT was robbed yesterday on a ball that would have...MAT was robbed yesterday on a ball that would have been an HR before the rain and 15 degree drop in temps. Also, I believe that he got robbed on a hot shot to SS behind Heisey's walk. That's 2 for 11 with a little luck or average defensive plays. That said, the strikeouts are still high and show lack of discipline or batter's eye.<br /><br />Werth does look a little stiff and fooled by some of the Ks looking. Maybe he needs to get Ramos' eye surgeon's number? <br /><br />Danny and the bench guys have been a pleasant surprise so far. I'd almost go as far as to compare this bench to the Goons. Almost. If they keep it up for a couple weeks of good ABs, it looks to have been a big jump over last year's bench.<br /><br />Bullpen is still 50/50. Rivero looks really special and has been very good. Kelley got to redeem himself and Petit didn't do spectacular, but average is still better than 2015's pen. Low bar here, but this was last year's major weak link.<br /><br />Mythrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12640334476376047192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-84806887185930583822016-04-08T08:39:18.492-07:002016-04-08T08:39:18.492-07:00Yeah, the important thing to note about the early ...Yeah, the important thing to note about the early data is that the fact that it's the "only data that we have" does not make it useful in any meaningful way. Both on the good side (Harper; Murphy; Zim; Ramos) and the bad (Werth; MAT).<br /><br />I was at the game yesterday, and I wasn't particularly concerned about Roark's start. He's never been a strikeout guy; he focuses on producing weak contact. With one or two exceptions yesterday (Ozuna's single in the first was blistered) Roark did exactly that - but boy, did he piss off the BABIP Gods. There were a lot of seeing eye grounders and popups that somehow landed exactly where people weren't. Roark also walked three guys in four innings, but part of that may well have been due to Barksdale having an uncharacteristically bad day behind the plate (the pitch f/x plots are pretty bad). So it's worth watching, but not yet concerning. Suffice it to say that the "Giolito should be in this starting rotation <i>right now</i>" crowd are incredibly premature - especially given that Giolito did not exactly set AA on fire last year in his eight starts there. John C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-59747257970604235832016-04-08T08:30:25.220-07:002016-04-08T08:30:25.220-07:00Roark - not a great performance but also had a num...Roark - not a great performance but also had a number of weakly hit balls that snuck out of the infield. I would expect him to improve just based on having better luck. <br /><br />Taylor - I agree with the concern from Anon about his early performance. That being said he had some hard hit balls that might have turned into hits if it wasn't so cold yesterday.<br /><br />Werth - Most concerning. Looked like he was completely fooled. At least in the past he could work counts. If he cannot do that anymore then I think his early struggles will persist throughout the season.<br /><br />JCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-18884436689337795442016-04-08T08:09:35.013-07:002016-04-08T08:09:35.013-07:00Some of my early thoughts:
If Murphy is nothing b...Some of my early thoughts:<br /><br />If Murphy is nothing but straight average the rest of the year, I've already gotten more enjoyment from him in just three games than I got from watching Ian Desmond all of last season. Speaking of the dopey one, he is off to his typical atrocious start with the Rangers. On the sort of plus side, at least he has fewer opportunities to commit errors in left field.<br /><br />I might be completely nuts here, but I still think Taylor has at least the potential to be special. But clearly he's not ready for prime time yet, and to have him batting leadoff is flat out insane. Have any of the coaches maybe considered encouraging him to try bunting for a base hit once in a while?<br /><br />Not only should Werth have one foot on the bench, but it couldn't be more abundantly clear that Giolito should be in this starting rotation right now. And he would on any team for which winning took priority over money and control. I can't adequately express how frustrating it is to me that we might very well throw away another season because of this kind of nonsense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-30276157242888534932016-04-08T07:36:25.513-07:002016-04-08T07:36:25.513-07:00How long of a leash will Belisle have before they ...How long of a leash will Belisle have before they decide to replace him with Gott? Obviously, we've only seen him for one game now, so along with the theme of the post, its a small sample size but perhaps not meaningless.<br /><br />How long do we have to get into the season before evidence for a given player (doing well or doing poorly) becomes 'compelling'? End of April? End of May?G Cracka Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16718297381010491862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9207681.post-38388124841709657472016-04-08T07:23:53.348-07:002016-04-08T07:23:53.348-07:00Werth needs to baseball harder!!!Werth needs to baseball harder!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com