Apparently some are kvetching about the bait and switch the Nats did with the 6/4 date, getting a sellout on a game that otherwise would've seen 18,000 miserable souls. Really... what the hell are these people thinking? They've got no reason to complain. The team (almost to the point of absurdity) didn't say a damn thing about when he'd start, and they went out of their way to say that they WEREN'T going to announce it.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Capitol Punishment: Getting Creative With Strasburg--A Washington Nationals Blog
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Joe Posnanski � Blog Archive � Diary of a Losing Team, 5/17
Monday, May 17, 2010
A bullpen audit reveals some problems for Mets, Nats and others - Buster Olney - MLB blog - ESPN
The feeling among rival executives is that they are apt to be aggressive before the trade deadline, the kind of team willing to take on a contract -- like Oswalt's -- that might appear oversized to other teams. The Nats' window of opportunity is opening, and Storen's promotion so early in the season tells us that they will work like crazy this summer to climb through (in spite of their three-game slide in Colorado)
This is the money quote from Buster's column this morning. One, if these "rival executives" believe the cheap ass owners of the Nats are going to open the vaults for any reason, they are seriously mistaken. (I note but don't link to, the fact that the Cincinnati Reds signed ANOTHER Cuban defector. The Reds. With their puny media market. They could afford to spend money on a lottery ticket for the future and the Nats wouldn't. That tell you all you need to know about the willingness of this team to spend)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
cybercritics
Friday, May 7, 2010
Who do YOU trust?
Rob Dibble: "Is it frustrating sometimes to watch Adam Dunn be so patient? Because he had three walks early in the game and then he took some pitches in the extra innings that, if he was a DH in the American League, you'd want him to hack at those, but sometimes Adam's looking walk and he's got a certain thought process, have you discussed maybe him expanding his zone from time to time?"
Jim Riggleman: "I tell you what, Dib. You hit it right on the head. You know, that's been discussed many times, people in the organization have had a lot of history with him, like Tim Foli from the Cincinnati days and so forth, and [Hitting Coach Rick] Eckstein and myself and others have mentioned to him how much damage he could do by not taking as much, and you know, I can't explain it, but there's just something about these guys, I mean you can go back to the history of Ted Williams in the game who they say they used to try to get him to go out of the zone a little more and swing at some pitches, and he just either couldn't do it, wouldn't do it, wasn't comfortable with it, it messed up his game or whatever, but, I know what you're alluding to, you know, I felt the same way in the last inning, if he airs one out there, who knows what happens. But, he's selective up there, his OBP is usually up around .400, it's been a successful style of play for him, but I hear what you're saying, every now and then you'd like to see him go out of the zone and hit one even if it's the other way."
Hmmmm. So do I side with a big mouth relief pitcher and a manager who is a baseball lifer but hasn't won anything of note or do I side with THE GREATEST HITTER OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!
Ted Williams didn't swing at pitches out of the strike zone and he should have. Ole Teddy Ballgame, Hub Bids Kid Adieu subject was just dead wrong in his approach to hitting.
First, avoid outs. News flash: out are bad ummkay. Second, if he starts swinging at pitches that aren't strikes he will make MORE outs. Now once in a while he'll get a hit on one of those pitches but the pitches out of the strike zone are KIND OF HARD TO HIT ANYWAY! Swinging at pitches off the plate means YOU GET LESS STRIKES THROWN OR LESS PITCHES IN AREAS WHERE YOU CAN HIT THEM HARD. IOW, you trade a couple of extra hits for a whole bushel basket full of outs. Not a good trade.
Noodle this through: if a pitcher could get a batter out without throwing him a strike, would he do so? OF COURSE HE WOULD. So expanding the zone is an open invitation to get fewer pitches to hit in an at bat.
Now the argument would be: Well not in ALL circumstance should Dunn expand his strike zone. Just key ones. Hmmm. So I have to throw Dunn a strike with 2 outs no one on in the 1st but two on two outs in the 9th and I can toss any old slop up there and he'll be hacking away? It's MORE important to be selective in key situations . . . . put the pressure on the pitcher to throw strikes. Sometimes the pitcher wins. It happens. Turning Dunn into a Christian Guzman clone is a bad idea from start to finish.
Nationals Journal - Scott Olsen has been a keeper
- Scott Olsen has been a keeper
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Nationals Journal - John Lannan to miss next start
- John Lannan to miss next start