Nats vs. Pirates, Series Preview

The last time the Washington Nationals (11-17) won three games in a row was the first week in April. In fact, it was the first three games of the season. The 17 games fallowing were ones Manny Acta’s club would likely wish to forget, winning only two in that span. The Nats now have a three game winning streak once again, and do not want history to repeat itself.

They will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (11-16) to Nats Park for the first time this week who will look to try and gain some consistency after a very inconsistent start. The Pirates have had many pleasant surprises in their line up, with a pair of 27 year olds finally making their stamp on the big leagues in Ryan Doumit and Nate Mclouth. But to the Pirates disappointment, their young starting pitching staff has not only not developed, but has regressed greatly.
These are two teams who both need to jumpstart their season. Neither are out of the playoff hunt this early, but with a four game sweep both have the potential to fall in a hole that is too deep to dig out of.

Pirates Last Series

The Pirates are coming off of a series with the New York Mets. The three game series included one rain out, a close loss, and a blowout over the orange and blue. Despite the disappointing loss, which included an 11th inning homer to the slumping David Wright, the Pirates pitching staff preformed well in the two game set. Aside from Ian Snell’s early woe’s the pitching staff clamped down after the fourth inning of game one and only allowed one more run the rest of the series.

The second game made up for the disappointing loss from the night before. The Pirates scorched their former teammate Oliver Perez for seven runs in the second; they never looked back. Equally important for Pittsburgh, the game saw last years first half standout, Tom Gorzelanny, return to form by allowing only one hit in five innings of work.

Who’s Hot: Freddy Sanchez- 4/11, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 R

Who’s Not: Jason Bay-1/8, 1 HR, 4 K’s, 1RBI

Probable Starters:

Zach Duke (0-2, 4.93 ERA) vs. Oliver Perez (0-3, 3.31 ERA)
Phil Dumatrait (0-1, 3.92 ERA) vs. Matt Chico (0-5, 6.68 ERA)
Paul Maholm (2-2, 3.26 ERA) vs. John Lannan (2-2, 2.64 ERA)
Ian Snell (2-1, 4.93 ERA) vs. Tim Redding (3-2, 3.55 ERA)

Get to them early

The Pirates pitching staff has been absolutely awful this season. Comprised of former prized prospects of Tom Gorzelanny, Zach Duke, as well as former staff ace Matt Morris, this should be collection of good arms can’t seem to record many wins much less make many outs. It’s really been a mystery for Pittsburgh with young starting pitching. Oliver Perez showed great promise his first two years in PA, but then completely lost all concept of the strike zone. Since his trade however he has been a very solid major league starter.
Pirates Starting Rotation”
Tom Gorzelanny (2-3, 6.91 ERA)
Zach Duke (0-2, 4.93 ERA)
Matt Morris (0-4, 9.67 ERA)
Paul Maholm (2-2, 3.26 ERA)
Ian Snell (2-1, 4.93 ERA)

Whatever the reason for the inability for Pittsburgh pitchers to develop, it leaves the team extremely vulnerable in the first several innings for teams to put up good numbers. If the Nats want to win this series, they will have to exploit the Pirates downright awful starting pitching. If they don’t get ahead early, they may get hit with the door as the Pirates surprising bullpen has a tendency to slam shut when they come in with the lead. While the bullpen on the whole has not been excellent, their top three relievers have been very lights out. John Grabow has pitched 13 scoreless innings in his 14 appearances; allowing only 8 hits, 2 walks, and recording 12 strikeouts. Pirates closer Matt Capps has been extremely solid as well recording 6 saves with an ERA of only 2.31.

Get them often

The Pirates two best hitters should be former batting champion Freddy Sanchez, and former Rookie of the Year Jason Bay. They are only hitting .232 and .253 respectively. The real story of this Pirates line up that recently scorched the Mets for 13 runs has been the unknowns and the unaccomplished. These players are carrying the Pittsburgh club and can put runs on the board in a hurry. It’s important for the Nats to get out early as mentioned, and make sure the bullpen has a big enough lead to close these guys out.

Lets me introduce you to:

Nate McLouth- Drafted in the 25th round of 2000, McLouth has never been more then a spot starter in the outfield for the Pirates. Last year he played 137 games, batted only .258 and hit only 13 homers. Fast forward to this season and the 27 year old is putting up great stats early on this season. Here’s his line:
.347 BA, .425 OBP, 1.083 OPS, 7 HR, 25 RBI

Ryan Doumit- Doumit had a strong start last year as well for the Pirates, bursting onto the scene batting .326 in April and May last season. He however tapered off and finished the season at .274 with 9 homers and a .341 OBP. Doumit is at it again this April, and the Pirates are hoping it keeps up as the young catcher has a full season already under his belt in the big. His Line:
.356 BA, .392 OBP, 4 HR, 9 RBI

Xavier Nady-30 year old Nady was a huge prospect coming out of the Padres system several years ago but never really put it together. After a string of unsuccessful seasons in Cali he moved to the Mets where he disappointed a little bit more. He was traded to the Pirates and since has actually played marginally better coming into this season. He has exploded so far this April however, and has really helped the Pirates lineup. His Line:
.337 BA, .380 OBP, 4 HR, 26 RBI

What to look for

Matt Chico has had several bad starts in a row, and opponents are hitting well over .300 against him. If he doesn’t improve this could be his last start for the lefty before he either gets moved to the bullpen or reassigned.

The Maholm vs. Lannan match up on Saturday should be a fun one to watch. Both are young starters that came to the bigs without much fanfare and both have earned the right to call themselves the staff ace this season. Mahom is coming off a complete game 2 hitter, where Lannan has pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings.