Tim Redding to the Mets?

The Nationals non-tendered Tim Redding this offseason allowing him to become a free agent. According to the New York Daily News the Mets have reported they're interested in signing him.

Redding at many points of the season was the best pitcher for Washington. In the first half Redding went 7-3 with a 3.85 ERA and 75 K's, however in the second half he couldn't quite produce at the same level, posting a 3-8 record with a 6.82 ERA.

While Redding certainly wasn't a part of the Nationals future, it would have been nice to see him stick around and eat up some innings for another year or two. New York will be a good place for him however, as he will have a chance to be a 4^th or 5^th starter on a potential playoff team.

Mets vs. Nats series preview

The New York Mets (10-9) will travel to the new Nats Park for the first time to take on the Washington Nationals (6-15) in another short 2 game series. The Mets come into the series needing to capture a win having dropped three in a row, including one to Philly and two at Chicago. The Nats will continue their home stand also in desperate need of a victory, because…well they’re the Nationals.
The struggling hitting won’t catch a break after an Atlanta series that saw the Nats face Hudson and Smoltz, as the they will have to face a pair of lefty’s in the Mets ace Johan Santana, and arguably the most effective starter for them so far, Oliver Perez. Look for another heated series between these two intertwined National League East teams who both have something to prove as both see themselves currently underachieving.

Mets Last Series

The Mets last series resulted in them being the victim of a two game sweep against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley. The Mets combined to only score two runs and give up fifteen as both the bullpen and the starting pitchers could not stay away from the big inning

Hot: actually…no one
Not: David Wright- 0-6, 2 BB, 1 K 0 RBI
Jose Reyes- 1-8, 0 BB, 1 K

The Starters/Losers
John Maine- 6IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Nelson Figueroa- 5IP, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2K

Probable Starters:

Tim Redding (3-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. Johan Santana (2-2, 3.25 ERA)
Shawn Hill (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Oliver Perez (2-0, 2.49 ERA)

The Hefty Lefties

The Nats will have to go against two of the games best left handed pitchers in back to back nights in this series. Neither Santana nor Perez are prototypical lefties either, they both are power pitchers with lefty type movement which means when they are on…they are two of the harder pitchers to hit around. This is not a good sign as the team as a whole has done very poorly against lefties so far this season.

Good Nats vs. Lefties
Cristian Guzman- .462 BA, .464 OBP, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1/1 BB/K
Lastings Milledge-.370 BA, .414 OBP, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 2/3 BB/K

Bad Nats vs. Lefties
Ryan Zimmerman- .192 BA, .222 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1/0 BB/K
Nick Johnson- .150 BA, .308 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 4/7 BB/K
Austin Kearns- .105 BA, .292 OBP, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5/3 BB/K

Overall vs. Lefties- .227 BA, .299 OBP, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 20/33 BB/K

What to look for:

The Nationals got outscored 14-4 in the last series against the Mets, but there have been some slight signs that their bats are starting to wake up. If the Nats can weather the storm against Santana and Perez and get to the bullpen, they may be able to match the Mets bats.

Tonight will Tim Redding (of the Redding Railroad express) will be going for his fourth win of the season. So far as long as he keeps his pitch count down he has been very effective regardless of whom he has pitched against. Shawn Hill will make his second start of the season Thursday as well. Look for Hill to improve upon his last outing in which he showed signs of fatigue after a great start. The bottom line is the Nats have the starting pitchers to win both games this series, but they will need to match the Mets great bats.

One big inning is all it takes; Nats drop second game to the Mets

Everything started off well for the Nats in the game tonight. Matt Chico came out and dealt strikes and kept the Mets relatively off balance through the first four innings. Batters like Kearns and Zimmerman were able to produce for the team for the first time in what has seemed like too long. Through four and a half the Nats played playoff level baseball showing that maybe this season could take a turn in the right direction.

However it’s the little things in baseball that will kill you. Little mistakes like a young starting pitcher not constantly hitting his spots causing is pitch count to reach 90 before the 5th inning. Little things like letting that runner on with 2 outs, because even though he doesn’t score, it’s one more batter you have to face and therefore a few more pitches. The fatigue of Matt Chico is what lead to the big inning for the Mets, and after the 5th inning rally, it was all she wrote…the Mets bullpen took over.

Beware of the Big Inning

In most ball games the winning team will have one big inning that clinches it for them. For the Mets today it was the 5th. A leadoff homer by their sparkplug Jose Reyes led way. Base hits by Ryan Church and then David Wright led way to another bomb by Carlos Beltran, scoring three more before the Nats had recorded an out. It was a four run inning, and that’s all the Mets needed to turn it around.
The responsibility for avoiding the big inning often lies in the hands of the manager. You can argue that after Reyes jacked the solo shot to left, Acta should have taken Chico and his high pitch count off the mound. Some may argue that he had only pitched 4 full innings, but it was clear that he was fatigued. If the homer wasn’t indication enough, maybe the back to back singles should have been…it’s rather surprising he was still in to give a bomb to Beltran.
Big inning stat: Take away the 5th inning from the Mets and instead of 5 runs on 9 hits they would have had 1 run on 5 hits….

When the Nationals play their best baseball they use their great bullpen and strong defense to avoid the big innings. The Nats just don’t have the bats to get in a slugfest, or generally even play behind. Speaking of which….

Where’d the Bats go?

In the 9 game losing streak the Nationals were scoring runs:

7, 4, 4, 0, 7, 4, 3, 0, 2 runs to be exact.

The problem was their pitching, not the run support. Now it appears the pitching for the most part has returned, but the hitting has disappeared. Don’t let the two runs the Nats scored tonight fool you either, they only managed five hits and four walks. I know many of the hitters are coming off injuries, but lets get it together before its too late Nats.

Christian Guzman must read The Nats Blog

After we called for him to be stricken from the leadoff spot for his lack of ability to walk, Guzman tripled his overall season walk total today by walking twice. He now has three walks in 66 plate appearances.

Chad Cordero is clearly not healthy

Yes, Cordero came on in a meaningless situation and retired three of the four batters he faced pitching a scoreless eighth. However, he only threw one pitch that topped 80 mph, a fastball that went to 81. This can not be a good sign for the Nats closer who usually throws in the low 90’s to high 80s with his fastball. A changeup is only effective if it actually is a change in speed.

Another indication of Cordero’s health problems was that he was pitching from more of a three quarters to side arm position, as opposed to his usual over the top. This is a clear indication that his arm and his motion do not feel all right. I watched the game tonight on MLB.TV which means I watched the Mets broadcast not the Nationals(the Mets were home) and Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling were shocked that Acta would even let Cordero on the mound in his condition.

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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.

TheNatsBlog.com
Home of the Washington Nationals

Mets vs. Nats, an intertwined series preview

The Nationals will travel up north to take on the strong New York Mets club after finally stopping their losing skid at home on Sunday. The Mets (5-6) and the Nats (4-9) are two teams struggling to find their identies early in the season. Both teams suffered injuries at the end of Spring Training, and both teams are now just finally getting healthy. What will make this series interesting is two things; first both teams are coming off of disappointing starts to the season and desperate to beat up on the other team to make up for lost ground, and second is the amount of personnel that have belonged to both teams in the last several years.

Mixed Loyalties or Deep Grudges?

Former Mets on the Nationals:
-Manny Acta as third base coach
-Paul Lo Duca
-Johnny Estrada (Kinda)
-Lastings Milledge

Former Nationals on the Mets
-Brian Schneider
-Marlon Anderson
-Ryan Church
-Endy Chavez
Reach: Pedro Martinez and Mousis Alou used to be Expos

Relationships:
-Omar Minaya was a terrible general manager for the Expoes before he became an ok general manager for the Mets.
-Ryan Zimmerman and David Wright played on the same summer team together in Highschool

Series History:
The Mets lead the series as the Nationals are 23-32 against their neighbors to the north since coming to Washington. The Nats however have won three in a row against the Mets including a crushing series sweep over them last September which contributed to the Mets losing the division and missing out of the playoffs. While Washington themselves has not been much of a power in the NL East since moving to D.C, their contributions to disrupting the powers at be has earned them the nickname through much of the league as, “Those Pesky Nats.”

Probable Starters:
Game 1: Odalis Perez (0-2, 4.91 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfrey (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
Game 2: Matt Chico (0-2, 3.72ERA) vs. John Maine (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Game 3: John Lannan (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Nelson Figeuroa (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

What to look for:
Jose Reyes, arguably the Mets best all around player and starting shortstop, has been sidelined the last several games due to a hamstring injury. Reyes is a player who relies on his speed and explosiveness to make great plays in the field and on the base path. Much of the success of the Mets against the Nats this week will determine on the health of his left hammy.

Lastings Milledge will be going up against the New York City crowd for the first time as an enemy and not the future of the franchise. In general while Mets fans liked Milledge, his lack of ability to fit in and become the phenom for the blue and orange that so many wanted has left them bitter. On top of this the young Milledge has not made it better for himself by actively speaking out about his time in the Big Apple. They way Lastings is able to handle this crowd will not only show if he has gained a level of maturity since the trade, but also his ability to play against a hostile crowd.

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Home of the Washington Nationals