You know, when looking back into training camp and looking at the roster that was put together, one thing became pretty clear to us, as Nats fans, and to them, the baseball pundits, the Nats pitching would doom this club. With a respective look to how the Nats have compiled a 9-25 record, that assumption is true in some respects, but not as strong in others.
The Nationals do not have the strongest pitching staff around, in fact, I think they have one of the worst. BUT, and this is an important distinction, pitching has not led to as dismal 9-25 record. Many times this season, Nationals starters have put this club in positions to win ball games. The Nationals actually have gotten strong starting pitching from two unexpected strengths, P Shawn Hill and P Jason Bergmann. Meanwhile, the one pitcher we thought would compile our fews wins we get a month, and put the Nationals in a strong position to win a few games, and be the nmost consistent pitcher on staff, John Patterson, is hurt, pitching poorly, is less than immpressive, and has been a weakness.
Combine that with the performance, or shall I say, lack of performance, from closer Chad Cordero this season, well it is a recipe for a losing record. Cordero, the Chief, the save monster, has converted just 4 of 8 save opportunities. Closing out a game is way less than a sure thing for the Nats, the rare times were in that opportunity in the ninth, Cordero has made us lose the confidence that we can win out close one. So basically, we have been able to rely on two pitchers many of us never even heard of or believed would have any kind of impact, and the one we thoughts would lead, Patterson and Cordero have simply bombed.
Bergmann did it again last night, pitching 6 strong innings, giving up a single run and scattering 2 hits. Good enough to win. BUT, hey, the Nats just simply know how to lose. That brings me to my main point. Put aside strong performances of Hill and Bergmann, and even the collapse of Patterson and Cordero, the reason the Nationals are stuck in a 8 game slump and a pitiful 9-25 record goes way beyond the pitching, it turns to the lack of offense. This offense just plain STINKS! Isn't any other way to put it. The rare offensive power that is displayed, is indeed rare and far in between. There is no real bat on this team and counting on young Ryan Zimmerman to carry an inept offense is just not fair.
Take a look ...
Batting Average: Nats are 31st in MLB hitting a whopping .227
Slugging: Nats are dead last with a .327 slugging percentage
Runs Batted In: Nast are dead last with just 94 RBI's, pretty pathetic
Home Runs: So the Nats are 34 games into the season and are dead last with 15 total home runs. Need I say more? --- No, but I will.
Runs Scored: Again, last place with just 99 runs in 34 games.
Total Bases: Wow, Nats aren't last, they are third to last in total offensive bases with 382
Proof is in the eye of the beholder. Before blasting off on the pitching, look at these numbers and look at the pathetic offense assembled in DC. I put this problem over pitching. It is bad, real bad. Remember we talked about now wanting to beat out the all time loss record.....ummmm....
Looking at Blog Chatter ...
from our friends at Distinguished Senator
The game was apparently the Citizen Kane of terrible managing, and I urge you to stay tuned to Channel Needham (as if you weren't already) for some grade A excoriation. I can feel it coming in the air tonight. Somebody -- somebody whose name rhymes with Anny Macta -- is about to get his ass kicked.
and over at
Federal Baseball ...
Lest I leave the impression all has gone wrong, allow me to express some admiration to the pitching staff -- especially the starters, who have on the whole proven surprisingly resilient. Generally speaking, the starters have been more efficient even as the team's fortunes have turned for the (even) worse.
Read above. We agree. Pitching has actually bumped up a bit, some sterling performances from unknown starters, but the bats, well, they don't even make it tot he park.
and finally, how about
Boswell's article, alluding to what we have been saying all along, the Lerner/Kasten risk of growing a fan base with a horrifically bad team is suspect at best.
If we're candid, we'll probably conclude that the Nats were doomed to a period as the NL's worst team before they could rebuild. Such a conclusion, however, only partially soothes the aggravation of waiting 33 years to endure a 9-25 team.
Endure is a optimistic word to say the least.
"I know you don't understand the concept that 'Money once spent is gone forever,' " Kasten said, "but it is true, nonetheless. If you waste millions now then you don't have it later when it can help win a pennant."
Interesting comment Stan. BUT, you're missing the point. This franchise is NEW to DC. You still have to build a fan base. You still have to develop fan craze. These are precious times for an infant club. You can spend millions later, but what is your guarantee you will fill the Park? How can you fill the Park if you never put a product on the field to gain a fan base? What if fans are disinterested, revert to former teams they used to like, etc...so your banking on spending later and that a new Ballpark will generate the revenues. Temporarily, possibly, but what about permanence? It's an awful big risk to take put up, not a mediorce team, but a horrible team.
But what if Kasten is wrong? What if he, Bowden and their scouts blow the draft selections that are crucial to The Plan? What if the first few crucial free agent signings blow out their arms or get old in a hurry? Can you say "Carl Pavano"? What if, in five years, Washington still has a losing team, a ballpark that's no longer brand-spanking new and Kasten is simply a smart guy who couldn't make magic happen twice?
In that scenario, he still has his Braves memories. But what happens to baseball in Washington? The Nats' local support may have shallower roots than the stunning attendance of '05 would indicate. Generations grew up here without the sport and the local media, through nobody's fault, still knows far more about icing, goaltending and pass interference than the infield fly rule.
A summary of
THE RISK. Very well put.
In one sense, this season is a lark for the Nats, a 162-game tryout camp. Yet watching such a precarious team, which may battle its way to being merely bad, but could collapse completely, is a gnawing worry. Kasten, Bowden and principal owner Mark Lerner work lunatic hours and seek nothing less than a jewel franchise. The sport, including Bud Selig, now assumes Washington is like any other top-dozen rich mega-market. Build a flashy new ballpark, promise to field a contender soon and 3 million fans a season will stampede the turnstiles to watch.
But none of these people, regardless of good intentions, knows this town. Or how alien, remote and forgotten baseball became for millions here during the third-of-a-century the game was gone. "They'll love us when we win," is the mantra. We'll see. If The Plan, so ideal in theory, fizzles in practice, will baseball regret squandering the glorious goodwill in the summer of '05 when the box seats bounced at RFK? Whatever the cost in wasted cash, I'd never have taken such a chance.
