After being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, the much hyped Nationals, picked by a majority of sports pundits as World Series favorites, have sputtered and gasped to an unfortunate 10-11 record to start the 2013 season. Issues abound with this team. The vaunted starting rotation has been shelled on a fairly regular basis, and the bullpen, once the real strength of this team, has been horrid. The defense until recently has been very sloppy; compiling a league leading 19 errors. And the offense? Well, the team has scored a measly 4 runs in the past 30 or so innings. Punchless doesn't even come close to describing the misery at the plate these days.
We are 21 games into the season. While it is still early - there are 141 games still to be played - there is reason to be worried. The Nats next two series are against the Reds and Braves who are both playing great baseball at the moment. Those are 8 games that, if the Nats don't get their act together, could start a death spiral from which the team may not be able to recover.
I'm not willing to throw in the towel just yet. Baseball is a finicky sport. Teams get hot and cold. Often it's not the best team, but the hottest team, at the end of the season that wins the championship. As Tommy Lasorda once said, “No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you're going to win one third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference."
GO NATS!!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
NATITUDE, BABY!! NATIONALS 2 - MIAMI 0
Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg led the Washington Nationals with stellar performances in an opening day victory over the Miami Marlins. Harper blasted two home runs in his first two at bats of the season and assisted in a double play started by his rocket throw home from left field. Strasburg, meanwhile, gave up only three hits over seven shut-out innings that included a stretch where he retired nineteen batters in a row.
It's only one game, but if this is any indication of how the Nats are going to play this season, boy oh boy, we are in for a really fun ride.
GO NATS!! GO NUTS!!
On a side note, the Houston Astros, helped by the additions of former Nats players Rick Ankiel and Justin Maxwell, got first time manager and former Nats third base coach Bo Porter, his first ever Major League win by stomping the Texas Rangers 8-2. Maxwell had two triples and Ankiel smashed a three-run homer in the victory. The Astros, whose current payroll stands at a miniscule 18.7 million (there are currently 20 some odd MLB players whose individual salaries are more than the Astros entire payroll), are not expected to do much better than they did last year (55-107), but it's nice that Bo Porter got the victory.
It's only one game, but if this is any indication of how the Nats are going to play this season, boy oh boy, we are in for a really fun ride.
GO NATS!! GO NUTS!!
On a side note, the Houston Astros, helped by the additions of former Nats players Rick Ankiel and Justin Maxwell, got first time manager and former Nats third base coach Bo Porter, his first ever Major League win by stomping the Texas Rangers 8-2. Maxwell had two triples and Ankiel smashed a three-run homer in the victory. The Astros, whose current payroll stands at a miniscule 18.7 million (there are currently 20 some odd MLB players whose individual salaries are more than the Astros entire payroll), are not expected to do much better than they did last year (55-107), but it's nice that Bo Porter got the victory.
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