The Nats have a path to being good sooner rather than later. They need Soto to stay. They need Ruiz and Gray to work out. They need someone SP wise to develop real soon into a 1-2 (Henry might be a better bet than Cavalli at the moment though that .117 BABIP isn't sustainable unless he's throwing bowling balls out there) They need a young player to develop real soon into a star or close to it (House? de la Rosa)? and they need Strasburg to be health and close to STRASBURG and Garcia to be good.*
Strasburg pitched last night. He had a couple A ball rehab starts and looked dominant. Wild but dominant. Which isn't good because he should be but sometimes you have to take "not bad" as the victory it is. In his first start in the majors you wanted to see him pitch, not get hurt, and not be terrible. Mission accomplished. For the most part he looked like a guy returning from rehab probably would. Rocky start, settled in, got tired quicker than usual and got hit harder. I take this and run away and see what happens NEXT start as a big deal as well. He faced major league hitters (well sort of) and he had to try on every at bat. How does he do coming back 5 days after that? I don't need him to be any better than he was last night. I just need him to not be worse. Well, his fastball was slow (you want to see it closer to the mid 90s, it was around 90) so I guess I need that to pick up as well.
Stras' injury is similar to ones that end careers or at the very least make guys soft tossers. While I think he's enough of a pitcher to make that transition it's better if he doesn't. He didn't alter how he pitched from a pitch type distribution level so that's good. It was Strasburg trying to be STRASBURG. But it's a lost season, take it easy, ramp up slow, and give us classic Stras sometime after the All-Star Break so 2023 doesn't seem as grim.
Garcia has been in the majors a week now and started slow, had a good run, and slowed down again. All in all though he's hitting .300 with 3 XBH (half as many as Escobar had in 4x the plate appearances). He hasn't walked - and don't expect him to. He was 88 walks in 1660 minor league plate appearances. But he isn't striking out too much. He shouldn't do that either 260Ks in the same PAs shows a big contact hitter. But you never know getting to the majors if I guy has reached his limit. 7Ks in his first 32 PAs - that's low 20% K rate which is high for him but I bet it's lower at the end of the year.
If you are great at the plate you do three things - hit for power, walk a ton, don't K too much. This is Juan Soto. If you can do any two though, assuming the third isn't absolutely dreadful, you can be good. Garcia, can hit for some power and can not K too much at 22. That bodes well going forward.
Side note - the Nats don't strike out. Only the Indians strike out fewer times per game. I think that makes the team a little bit more watchable than a typical garbage team. At least at the plate.
*Yes this is a lot but it takes a lot! That's why teams aren't good all the time unless they are constantly spending money. Except the Rays who have figured out how to churn talent consistently - but who wants to root for guys who'll never spend more than 5 years on the team?
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Anyway, it was less depressing than Charlie Lea's comeback start against the Mets in 1987...
but what about Dondrei?
Unrelated, but here is a funny Ray Ratto piece complaining that Adon to the minors means we won't get a 20-game loser this year: https://defector.com/let-joan-adon-chase-immortality-you-cowards/
Very happy for Stras and I'm sure it was a relief for him.
Yes! There is a path to being good again even with the diminished farm system. Most worrisome is the team being sold and how that will affect any moves to being good again.
The only worrisome thing about last night for me was Stras's velocity. 90-91 is not a good spot to be sitting without it being "heavy" and inducing a lot of GBs. But really should only be a concern after like 2 more starts if we don't see an uptick towards like 94.
I think the Nats need not only for a player currently in the system to break out, but they need to make a good draft pick or two to really dig out of this hole for the long term. Kumar Rocker would be the gamble pick I'd go for, personally, since it seems like nobody knows what the heck the Mets saw, and he's been lights out in Indy ball. But you'd definitely be picking him above where he deserves, so try and leverage that into a trade or something
Did Martinez leave Strass in too long? He was gassed after 70 pitches and it was clear that he was fading. He had done what was needed. As a players coach, Davey likes to leave them in so that they can get a W or finish the inning. For me, Strass should have been pulled earlier rather than later. Too much riding on the guy.
Harper----I have been watching Cruz and Bell have a good weekend AND heard Rizzo say that everyone on an expiring contract with be traded (if they can be). Maybe he will also trade some older players (like Yadiel and Espino) because they are not the future. Can you do a column on the expected major league line-up on August 3 when we presumably will get real young, real fast?
@Nattydread: Davey Martinez have poor judgment about when to take a pitcher out of a game? Surely you jest!
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