June 18, 2013

Washington Nationals select RHP Jake Johansen with 68th overall pick in MLB Draft

June 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

With their first pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, No. 68 overall, the Washington Nationals selected RHP Jake Johansen, a 6’6″, 235 pitcher from Dallas Baptist University. Johansen was a starter in college, but with his big fastball and currently fringe-average secondary pitches he profiles more as a reliever in professional baseball.

Johansen was ranked No. 182 by Baseball America heading into the draft. Keith Law of ESPN.com had Johansen at No. 66.

As a junior, Johansen went 7-6 with a 5.40 ERA in 88 1/3 innings this season.

Nationals scouting director Kris Kline described Johansen as being similar to Josh Beckett, and that the team believes he profiles as a No. 3 starter, with a top fastball and a good feel for his secondary pitches. Kline believes Johansen has a solid-average breaking ball and a strong slider that needs to have better consistency.

Nats Assistant GM for Player Personnel Roy Clark thinks there are a couple of “quick fixes” that could turn Johansen into a quality starter very quickly.

“We think this guy is a great second-round pick,” Clark said, “and we think Rafael Soriano was a great first-round pick.” The Nats surrendered their first round pick in this year’s draft after signing Soriano as a free agent last off-season.

From MLB.com’s draft profile:

Built like the prototypical Texas right-hander, Johansen is Dallas Baptist’s Friday night starter. His results have been inconsistent this year and he has occasionally shied away from attacking hitters.   Though he has a four-pitch arsenal, Johansen is still learning how to pitch. He is still more of a thrower and must improve his command of his low-90s fastball. Johansen also throws a curveball, changeup and slider, all of which need more development.   Johansen may fit best in the bullpen as a professional, where his fastball would play up and he could concentrate on one off-speed pitch.

From the Nats press release:

The 6-foot-6, 235 lbs. Johansen cemented his status as one of college baseball’s top power arms after striking out 75 in 88.1 innings as a junior. Johansen went 7-6 with a 5.40 ERA in 15 starts and posted strong strikeout-to-walk (2.9/1) and walks per 9.0 inning (2.6) ratios. Twice during his junior campaign, Johansen posted double-digit strikeout totals (10 on both April 26 vs. University of Texas-San Antonio and February 22 vs. Mississippi Valley State).

In three seasons at Dallas Baptist, Johansen finished 13-7 with one save and a 6.03 ERA (99 ER/147.2 IP) in 46 games/23 starts.

Johansen is a graduate of Allen (TX) High School and participated in the Texas Scout Association All-Star Game in the Spring of 2011.

 

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Washington Nationals MLB Draft Preview: Local Prospects and Hidden Gems

June 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

It’s draft day. For the Washington Nationals, that usually means that good things are in store.

In recent years, the Nats have turned losing records into top draft picks; and then those top draft picks into top prospects. Playing a lead role in their success over the past season-and-a-half, these top prospects have turned into all-world players.

After a half-decade’s worth of basement dwelling in the NL East, the franchise cleared out it’s once highly regarded front office, parting ways with GM Jim Bowden and president Stan Kasten. They replaced Bowden with his protegé Mike Rizzo, a guy that had spent his entire life in baseball–as a player, a scout, a coach and now a front office man. Since then, Rizzo has established himself as one of the wisest GM’s in the game, particularly in terms of the draft and player development.

Now, you might say that Rizzo’s success in the draft is largely a product of circumstance–his team earned first-round picks right when Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg were on the board. But as we’ve learned from teams like the Pirates–who took Dan Moskos over Matt Wieters, Madison Bumgarner, and Bryan Bullington over Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke– and the Padres–who selected Matt Bush over Justin Verlander and Bill Butler–over the years, part of the job is stepping up to the plate and coming through at the big moment, as well as working out a deal with a top prospect when your team’s track record puts you at the bottom of his list.

[Read more...]

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Washington Nationals injury updates: Harper to see Dr. Andrews; Strasburg to D.L.

June 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Before Thursday’s game against the New York Mets, manager Davey Johnson gave a few updates on the Washington Nationals walking wounded.

– Bryce Harper experienced swelling in his knee after running in a pool earlier in the day and is scheduled to see Dr. James Andrews to get a further opinion on Monday.

– Danny Espinosa received a cortisone shot in his broken right wrist and is expected to start baseball activities in five days or so.

– Ross Detwiler will pitch in a rehab game at Potomac on June 8. He’ll throw about 50 pitches and is on target to return on June 13.

– Stephen Strasburg was officially placed on the 15-day D.L. and LHP Xavier Cedeno was recalled from AAA-Syracuse. It’s expected that RHP Ross Ohlendorf will be called up to start in Strasburg’s place Saturday.

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Washington Nationals not “better than this” right now

June 6, 2013 by 2 Comments

“I’m frustrated,” Span said. “I can’t speak for everybody else, but we’re better than this.”

Denard Span said the above words to the assembled media in the Washington Nationals clubhouse Wednesday after their 10-1 loss to the New York Mets, a team currently nine games below .500. The loss dropped the Nats under .500 again, and also dropped them into third place in the N.L. East, 8 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the division and five games — and five teams – back of the wild card.

I don’t want to single out Mr. Span, as his opinion has been echoed everywhere in NatsTown, from the shortstop to the Face of the Franchise to the bearded guru to everyone else on the 25-man roster, including the manager and the general manager.

But the bottom line is that no, they are not better than this. Not right now. They are what their record says they are. In fact, they are quite fortunate to not be any worse off than they currently are.

The Nationals have scored 200 runs and allowed 225. Their Pythagorean record based on run differential should be 26-32, which would be one game better than the Mets, 12 games out of the division. So far, if you can believe this, the Nats have been lucky.

They are next to last in the National League in runs scored per game, ahead on only the Quad-A Marlins. They are fifth in the league in strikeouts. They are 13th in batting average and slugging. They are dead last in on-base percentage. As we’ve said many times in the past, how many runs a team scores is directly predicated upon how many runners they get on base.

The Nats are perfectly league average in percentage of total base runners driven in. They are dead last in total base runners. The Nats have over 100 fewer base runners than the Marlins.

The pitching staff has been okay, fifth in the league in fewest runs per game and fifth in ERA. But they are only 11th in the league in strikeouts and home runs per nine innings. They’ve been merely good, not spectacular, and certainly not good enough to make up for the complete and utter dearth of offense.

We’ve all read tales so far this season about long stretches of .500 play last season, how the schedule gets “easier” from here on out, and how, once all the injured Nats come back to full health, there’s plenty of time left in the season.

But as Yogi Berra once said, “It’s gets late early out there.”

The organization-wide attitude that the team is “better than this” is simply incorrect right now. They are fooling themselves to think that all they are missing is a couple of guys getting healthy and they’ll go on a hot streak. Just to get to 90 wins — which last year would not have qualified them for one of the two wildcard spots — the Nats will have to go 61-42, a .592 pace and 95 wins in a 162 game schedule. Currently three teams in the N.L. are playing that well. Last year, only two teams fared that well for the season, the Cincinnati Reds and… the Washington Nationals.

Are they capable of that again? It’s mostly the same team from last season, so, sure. But they first need health. Then, they have to play as well the rest of this season as well as they played last year. No more losing streaks. No more losing series to teams below .500.

Span also said, “It doesn’t matter whether we’re in second or third. If you’re not in first, it really doesn’t matter.”

They would be wise to forget about the playoffs or what place in the standings they are and concentrate on just playing good fundamental baseball.

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Washington Nationals Game 59 Review: Oh, mediocrity! Nats fall into third place with loss to Mets

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

All the good feelings from the Washington Nationals’ first walk-off win of the season didn’t even last 24 hours.

Nats starter Dan Haren was hit early and often, and lasted just four innings, as the New York Mets — ten games under .500 themselves – scored five runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-1 win as Washington’s moribund offense never mustered any type of attack whatsoever.

With the loss, the Nats drop below .500 again (29-30) and to add insult to injury, slid into third place in the N.L. East behind their arch-rival Philadelphia Phillies.

Haren actually got through the first inning unscathed, and the Nats gave him an early lead when Ian Desmond’s two-out single in the bottom of the first brought home Denard Span from third base.

That would be the end of the highlights for Nats fans.

Lucas Duda led off the second with a double to right, then Marlon Byrd clobbered an 84-MPH splitter from Haren that just hung in the middle of the plate.

The Mets went right back after Haren in the third. Daniel Murphy’s one-out single preceded David Wright’s eighth homer of the season. After Duda flew out to center, Byrd punished a cutter that didn’t cut, driving his eighth home run to left to make it 5-1.

The competitive portion of the contest was over.

The Nats had runners on base in every inning but one, but managed just the lone run in the first inning. Their best chance to score came in the fourth, down 5-1. With runners at second and third and one out, though, Span struck out swinging on three pitches, then Jayson Werth struck out looking on three pitches.

The Mets picked up two runs in the fifth off Craig Stammen and three off Erik Davis in the seventh inning adding to the embarrassing total.

It was that kind of night, in that kind of a season.

THE GOOD: The lone bright spot for the Nats was the Major League debut of reliever Ian Krol, who gave up a double to his first batter, but then struck out three straight to leave the runner stranded.

THE BAD: Steve Lombardozzi, Tuesday night’s “hero” for his walk-off sac fly, went 0-for-4 to drop his slash line for the season to .228/.241/.290.

THE UGLY: Dan Haren. I’ve been patient with the veteran starter, hoping that the glimpses we’ve seen here and there would become the norm and not the anomaly. But that’s just not the case. Five earned on seven hits, including three home runs. He’s tied for most home runs allowed now and he’s just not getting it done. Unfortunately, with Detwiler still on the D.L. and Strasburg joining him there, there really aren’t any other options unless Haren comes up lame again too.

THE STATS: 8 hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. 2-for-9 with RISP, 8 LOB. No errors, no DPs.

NEXT GAME: Thursday at 7:05 pm against the Mets. Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.64) hosts Shaun Marcum (0-6, 5.71)

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Will the Washington Nationals move Ryan Zimmerman to second base?

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

No.

There’s an increasingly popular idea floating around the internets, being pushed mainly from national internet baseball writing deep-thinkers, that the Washington Nationals could solve their second base problems by moving their current third baseman — and face of the franchise — Ryan Zimmerman from the hot corner to the keystone, allowing rookie third baseman Anthony Rendon to settle in at his normal position. It’s a position that the current GM of the team, who was the GM that drafted Rendon, once said the Rendon has “Gold Glove” talent at.

A more likely scenario is that after next season when Adam LaRoche’s contact expires, Zimmerman moves across the diamond to first base, keeping Rendon at third and Danny Espinosa at second. When healthy, Espinosa is a very valuable player, providing 20-20 power/speed and top of the league defense at the position.

The problem is that Zimmerman’s bat plays much better at third than at first. Same with Rendon. Neither would really provide the typical big bat you see at first base.

Therein lies the rub, as old William Shakespeare would have said.

But here’s the thing. Last season they won 98 games and Adam LaRoche, while having is career year, was fifth among first baseman in WAR at 3.4. Zimmerman returned 4.1 WAR in ’12. First base ain’t what it used to be.

An infield of Zimmerman at first, Espinosa at second, Ian Desmond at short and Rendon at third has a chance to be excellent defensively, with plus-range at every position, and at least league average or better offensively at each slot (given good health).

The problem, then, is what to do with Rendon until then.

For now, with Espinosa on the disabled list, Rendon will learn to play second base at the Major League level. We’ll all find out together; me, you, the beat writers, Mike Rizzo, Davey Johnson and Rendon himself.

But what happens if Rendon is playing well and handling the adjustment and Danny Espinosa decides he’s healthy? It’s a great question. Espinosa clearing his locker out Tuesday during the #RedPorchWedding is a bad omen, though. Normally, players on the D.L. don’t clear their lockers out, they are still part of the team. Do we read into it that the team knows more about his injuries than is letting on and they know he’s done for an extended period of time? Maybe we don’t have to answer the question until spring training.

But if Espinosa returns after a couple of weeks of resting his injured wrist and forgoes any long-term treatment of his shoulder, we could see even more roster fireworks later in the season.

The last thing to keep in mind is Rendon’s performance itself. Sure, he’s got a great pedigree and was tearing the minors up this season. But history is littered with “can’t miss” prospects. Heck, one needs to look no further than the Mariners’ Dustin Ackley to find a hitter that dominated in college and the minors, was switched to a position he’d never played before, and flamed out in the big leagues.

Nats fans hope Rendon is a savior. We’ll all find out together.

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Washington Nationals Game 58 Review: With changing tides, Nats win in walk-off fashion

June 5, 2013 by 1 Comment

Amidst an array of roster moves, the Washington Nationals (29-29) out-pitched the New York Mets (22-33) in their return to Nationals Park Tuesday night to record a much-needed 3-2 win.

It was anything but a quiet day for the Nats, who welcomed back Jayson Werth for his first game since May 2. Washington recalled – but sat – Anthony Rendon and also brought up left-handed pitcher Ian Krol.

With few signs of Zach Duke, Danny Espinosa or Henry Rodriguez lingering in the Nats’ clubhouse, Jordan Zimmermann (ND, 8-3) powered on for eight innings of top-notch baseball, providing the revised lineup with a shot at coming back in the later innings – something they haven’t done much of all season.

Considering some of the rocky outings Jeremy Hefner (ND, 1-5) has had thus far, the Mets’ fandom could applaud his effort as well. The 27-year-old right-hander held the struggling Nationals to just one run over four hits and one walk in seven innings.

As such, once more, a Nationals pitcher tossed a gem only to get cheated out of a win – but, at the very least, this battle was not one to be lost for all. It was almost as though a sense of urgency swept over the Nats – even if it has yet to take hold in the form of bat power. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals make roster changes before series with Mets

June 4, 2013 by

Sitting with a record below .500 after Memorial Day is no way for a World Series hopeful to conduct business.

Tuesday, before their game against the New York Mets, The Washington Nationals placed second baseman Danny Espinosa on the 15-day D.L. with a broken right wrist, recalled infielder Anthony Rendon, and designated Henry Rodriguez and Zach Duke for assignment. In addition, the team called up LHP Ian Krol, who was acquired in the off-season trade of Michael Morse.

Saying Espinosa has struggled this season is a gross understatement. The 26-year-old was hitting .158/.193/.272 at the time of his disabling with just three homers and 12 RBIs this season. He had struck out 47 times and walked just four times. He injured his left shoulder last August and later was diagnosed with a partially torn rotator cuff. In April of this year, he was hit with a Paul Maholm fastball and was later diagnoses with a fracture and bone chips in his right wrist.

According to reports in the clubhouse, Espinosa cleared his locker out. It’s not usual protocol for a player on the 15-day D.L. to clear out his locker.

Rendon starts his second stint with the team. He was recently promoted to AAA and got three games in for Syracuse before being recalled. He played all three games at second base. Rendon hit .307/.452/.575 between Harrisburg and Syracuse this season.

Rodriguez, the 100-MPH fireballing reliever, owned a 4.00 ERA and 1.667 WHIP at the time of his release. Always one to have trouble with his control, he was walking a whopping 8.0 per nine innings while his usually stellar K/9 was down to 5.5.

Duke was 1-1 with a 8.71 ERA and 1.887 WHIP in 12 games, including one start.

Krol. a 22-year-old left-handed reliever, had a 0.69 ERA, 0.8080 WHIP and 10.0 K/p in AA-Harrisburg and has never pitched above Double-A.

 

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Washington Nationals Game 57 Review: Middle relief culprit again in 6-3 loss to Braves

June 2, 2013 by

If the Washington Nationals want to consider their deficit in the N.L. East, they need to look no further than the team across the diamond from them Sunday. The Atlanta Braves took advantage of the Nats bullpen yet again, while Washington could muster nothing against the Braves’, falling in the series finale 6-3. With the loss, the Nats drop below .500 (28-29).

The Braves lead in the East stretched to a whopping 6 1/2 games — the largest in baseball currently. The Nats have a season series record against the Braves of 3-7, accounting for a large portion of that deficit.

As was the case Saturday night, the Nats bullpen could not handle their responsibility, as Zach Duke walked four and gave up two hits in his two-thirds of an inning, effectively digging the Nats hitters a hole they are incapable of rallying from these days.

Duke’s incapacity to throw strikes Sunday made a loser out of Nathan Karns (0-1, 6.00). Karns was not as strong as in his debut, but left two runners on base when he left the game, and Duke allowed both to score. The rookie, who made his second MLB start, gave up four runs — three earned — on seven hits and a walk, striking out six in 4 2/3 innings.

After the Nats went in order in the top of the first against Braves starter Paul Maholm (W, 7-4, 3.68), the Braves jumped right on Karns. Leadoff hitter Andrelton Simmons reached on a throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman, his tenth of the season. The next hitter, Ramiro Pena, clobbered a fastball into the stands in right for an early 2-0 lead for Atlanta.

The Nats got both runs back in the second. Adam LaRoche doubled to lead off and went to third on Ian Desmond’s bunt single. Tyler Moore followed with a run-scoring single to left to get the Nats on the board. Later in the inning, Maholm butchered Karns’ popped up bunt. All hands were safe, and Desmond scooted home with the then-tying run.

The tie didn’t last long, as B.J. Upton homered off Karns in the bottom half of the inning to re-take the lead.

Things stayed that way until the fateful fifth inning. Justin Upton started the Braves rally with a one-out single off Karns. After the Nats righty got Freddie Freeman to fly out, he lost Evan Gattis on a 3-2 fastball after having the slugger down 0-2. Manager Davey Johnson called on Duke at that point, and Duke did nothing but pour gasoline on the fire. On Duke’s ninth pitch to Brian McCann, the Braves catcher finally got one he could handle, slapping a single to left field to plate Upton. Duke got out of the inning without more damage, but he wasn’t done yet.

Desmond homered in the top of the sixth to cut the Braves lead to 4-3. In the bottom of the frame, Duke walked the first two batters he faced. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, Duke intentionally walked Justin Upton to face Freeman. The decision backfired, as Freeman doubled off the top of the wall in left field, plating two more runs. The play was reviewed as the Braves thought the hit was a home run, but the call on the field stood.

Not that it mattered.

The Nats went hitless in the last three innings, failing to muster any sort of comeback. Washington has yet to score on the Braves bullpen in their ten games this season. For the entire year, the Nats are hitting .194/.252/.286 in innings seven though nine.

THE GOOD: Right-hander Erik Davis, called up Saturday from Triple-A Syracuse, made a successful Major League debut, throwing 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief, recording two strikeouts.

THE BAD: The bottom third of the Nats order went 1-for-9 with five runners left stranded.

THE UGLY: Zach Duke. Whatever magic the lefty used last season to get his name back in good graces, he must have used all up. His ERA sits at 8.71 now and just continues to have poor performance after another, giving up multiple runs in four of his last five appearances.

THE STATS: 5 hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. 2-for-6 with RISP, 3 LOB. E: Zimmerman (10, throw). No DPs.

NEXT GAME: Tuesday at 7:05 against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Jordan Zimmermann (8-3, 2.37) hosts Jeremy Hefner (1-5, 4.74).

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Washington Nationals Game 56 Review: Nats fall back to .500 in 10th-inning loss to Braves

June 2, 2013 by

Gio Gonzalez (ND, 3-3) did essentially everything in his power to hand the Washington Nationals (28-28) their second win over the Atlanta Braves (33-22) this series, but once more, the run support never came.

In 7.0 innings pitched, Gonzalez allowed just one run over three hits and one walk and struck out seven. He was, however, matched by Tim Hudson (ND, 4-4), who achieved nearly an identical line in 7.1 innings pitched with just one unearned run on three hits, one walk and four strikeouts.

Atlanta had first crack at edging their National League East rivals in the bottom of the third after Dan Uggla walked and B. J. Upton singled before an out was recorded. Hudson held the go-ahead runner in place on his sacrifice bunt, but Andrelton Simmons’s grounder brought home Uggla to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. [Read more...]

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