Young Mike Pelfrey helps blank the Nats

The Mets have been waiting since they drafted Pelfrey 9th overall in 2005 to come around and be a consistent starter in the Majors. It seems as if their wait may be over as the 25 year old blanked the Nats on 5 hits through 7 innings tonight. Washington could not get anything going offensively as a combination of bad baseball decisions and untimely hitting left them scoreless in Shea.
While the loss itself is disheartening, there is one good thing can be taken from this game. The players that beat the Nats weren’t the result of the 100 million dollar payroll of the Mets, in fact the prime producers in this game for New York were Wright, Reyes, and Pelfrey…all home grown talent. Why should this make the Nats feel good? Because it proves that it can work, it proves that the Nats efforts in solidifying their farm system over the last 3 years can finally pay off after some patience. It may not be this year or the next, but the promise is there.


Stupid Baseball:

Milledge answered the booing crowd in his return to Shea with a double to left. With one out he attempted to steal third on Schneider, who has one of the best arms in baseball. The result wasn’t exactly positive; he was gunned down at third. While that is a bad thing in its own right, what really is confusing is why he would steal while already in scoring position and the number three and four hitters due up. There was only one out, a base hit from either Zimmerman or Johnson would have scored him, getting thrown out at third gives him a 0% chance to score.

In the top of the third there was a chance for redemption. Lastings Milledge walked with one out to load the bases for the heart of the Nats order. Zimmerman came to the plate and on the first pitch popped the ball up to the infield allowing no runners to advance. When the bases are loaded with only one out the only really negative things you can do is either strike out or pop out. The basic rule is that with runners in scoring position you only swing at the first pitch if it is one you know you can handle; and by handle I mean…do anything but pop up to the infield. If Zimmerman had drove the ball to the outfield Guzman could have tagged up, even a hard ground ball could have scored the runner with the infield in double play position. Johnson struck out the next at bat, leaving the bases stranded.

The Nats stranded 18 baserunners tonight.

The Batting Order:

No one except Milledge or Guzman are really hitting very well right now. With that said Acta’s use of Guzman in the leadoff spot is confusing me. Acta is a fan of Moneyball, he knows how to get the most out of his low market team and understand the importance of things like when to stay away from small ball, on base percentage, and the importance of good defense. Guzman however while hitting a great .333 on the season is only getting on base .335 percent of the time. That’s not just a poor on base percentage but also an alarmingly low walk rate for any player much less a leadoff. Why not switch Lastings and Christian in the order? Lastings is getting on base 20 points higher then Christian, and Christians ability to put the ball in play makes him the ideal number 2 hitter to smack in Milledge.

Wright and Reyes:


Well I wrote in the preview that a lot of the Mets success would lie in the legs of Jose Reyes. He proved he was healthy, going 4 for 5, only a homer shy of the cycle. Wright had himself a day too, 3 for 4 with two doubles and a bomb, 5 RBI’s. This just shows the example of the types of premium players the Nats will need to become an elite team in the league. Can Milledge and Zimmerman fill those shoes? It’s possible, but keep in mind they’re only a year younger then the dynamic duo from NYC.


Side Note:

Paul Lo Duca did not get the start tonight, probably a result of the injured hand from Sunday. For whatever the reason he did not get a chance to face the hostile crowd in Shea. In his stead started Johnny Estrada who mets announcers Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez had a field day with while making fun of his weight.

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Estrada, Wily Mo, and The Chief rejoin the club as Bergman and Flores are sent to Columbus

Johnny Estrada, Wily Mo Pena and Chad Cordero were all absent during the Nats 9 game losing streak. Bowden and Acta are hoping these now healthy veterans can help turn things around. Whether this is supposed to serve as a motivator or a legitimate baseball move isn’t clear, but it seems to be helping a little considering the Nats are up right now 5-0 in the 6th…scratch that….as I type this it is now 5-2 in the 6th with a Chipper homer.

Wily Mo Pena- Wily Mo will bring tremendous power to a line up that has been missing it so far this season. It will also keep the players cool with how often he will fan. Regardless of whose spot he may be taking, Wily Mo is young, talented, and a full season should be interesting to watch.

Chad Cordero- Having Cordero back on the club will obviously be a positive for the team. Of course if he pitches well the trade rumors will come out again, I know the Tigers have expressed interest with him. Whether or not to trade him we will deal with when the time comes, but for now its good to have the Chief back at the end of the bullpen totem poll.

Johnny Estrada- I’m still confused why he’s anywhere in the Nats system. The Nationals picked him up with worries of losing Lo Duca in the Mitchell Report fall out, which we now know wont happen. As a result we have three catchers in our system; former but over the hill all stars Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada, and the young, possibly future all star Jesus Flores. I got a chance to watch Estrada at a Columbus Clippers game earlier this week, he is overweight and unproductive, and right now he is blocking major league playing time for a future major player in our franchise.

The Dearly Demoted- As evident in his last outing against the Braves Bergman was struggling. He started the season in the rotation, and was thrown into an almost surprise relief appearance yesterday afternoon. Whether Bergman is deserving of this demotion so early in the season or if he is simply a scapegoat for Bowden is up to interpretation, the bottom line however is Cordero is much more valuable coming out of the pen then Bergman.
Jesus Flores going down is frustrating. It was a gamble last year taking a young catcher and putting him in the big leagues for a whole season in order to keep him with accordance to Rule 5. It paid off though as Flores exceeded expectations and played very competently where many felt he was in over his head. For Flores this season it is really an argument in philosophy. Some feel giving him an entire year to get experience playing every day in Columbus will be more valuable to him then sitting in the majors. Others believe letting him start 30% of the games behind Lo Duca in Washington with the possibility to move into the starting role with an inevitable injury may help him become more acclimated to the major league game. It looks however that the Nats are putting their chips on the first philosophy, we’ll see how he does in Columbus.

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