Lo Duca returns, the Nats will carry 3 catchers

Paul Lo Duca will be recalled from his minor league rehab today and rejoin the big league club against Pittsburgh. Lo Duca originally hurt his hand after being hit by a pitch against Atlanta April 13th. With Cordero being placed on the DL yesterday, it perfectly cleared room on the major league club for Lo Duca to return. This is good for Wil not Will Nieves as he will get to stay in the bigs for a few more weeks as the team’s third catcher. Its not often teams carry three catchers, however for the Nats there aren’t really any other options until Elijah Dukes returns in a few weeks.

"Wil Nieves has done a phenomenal job catching," Bowden said. "He's done a phenomenal job with the bat. So yeah, I think we have three quality catchers and certainly we have guys that can hit, and guys that can catch and throw, and it's a good combination.
"As long as we can carry it, I think it's a good thing to have. It allows Manny to pinch-hit for the catcher. It allows him to double-switch, put a defensive catcher in if he decides. ... Normally I'm not a three-catcher GM, but the way we're structured, I think it will work out well." Bill Ladson-MLB.com

Injury Report

Paul Lo Duca- Lo Duca got hit in the hand on an inside pitch earlier this year and has been out ever since. Some at the time viewed his absence as a way to avoid playing in Shea for the first time since his bitter departure, but a few weeks later it has become obvious that he was seriously hurt. He is however set to start rehabbing in single A Potomac early next week, and if successful should be up shortly.


Elijah Dukes- Dukes will start his rehab from a hamstring injury in single A Potomac today (Saturday). Dukes went down on opening night and hasn’t seen a baseball diamond since. While he has great talent, he is still a young, raw player who may need to spend a week or two in the minors before he is ready to be called up. Look for Dukes to be back with the big league club in early to mid may.

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.

TheNatsBlog.com
Home of the Washington Nationals

"Folks you can all exhale, the losing streak is over"

You said it Don. Finally on Sunday at home, the Nats busted their 9 game losing streak by sneaking one past the Atlanta Braves. It wasn’t pretty though; the Nats got some luck with Glavine leaving after only 17 pitches in the first inning, they nearly blew a 5 run lead and were only a few feet away from loss number 10.


The Game:
The Nats bats, or at least their eyes came out early today. With Glavine’s early control problems and early departure the Nats got on the board quickly. Guzman started the game with a ripped double off the wall, fallowed by a beautiful bunt for a hit by Milledge giving the Nats a first and third situation with no outs. An infield single by Zimmerman scored Guzman and so the least exciting rally in baseballs young season started. Several walked in runs, or runs scored from bases loaded double plays found the Nats up 5-0.
Tim Redding came out dealing today (5IP 6H 3ER). Through the first five innings he was basically unhittable allowing only three hits. His 12-6 curveball at times seemed dominant, he worked the count well and didn’t make any mistakes until the 6th. The 6th inning however was Redding’s undoing, after only 99 pitches he had to come out of the ball game fallowing a single to Escobar, a homer to Chipper and a double off the very top of the wall to Teixeira. The game quickly went from a 5-0 easy win to a 5-4 nail biter.
Ray King(the only lefty in the Nats pen), came on to retire Kotsay to stop the bleeding. A combination of Rivera, Ayala, Cordero and Rauch led to the ultimate victory for the Nats.

Pleasant Returns (Kinda):
Today’s game saw a rough return to Wily Mo Pena in right. Pena struck out three times, made a costly error in right, and the only contribution he gave to the team was grounding into a double play with the bases loaded that happened to drive in a run.
The Chief Chad Cordero returned for a tough save situation in his first day back as well. It was originally proposed that Chad wouldn’t return immediately as the closer but instead would come back in set-up situations until he could complete his rehabilitation. However he was thrown onto the mound at Nats Park to face the 9-1-2 hitters with a one run lead to try and end a 9 game skid. It started well enough, retiring the first two batters but he quickly walked the bases loaded and was replaced by Rauch who came on and got the final out.

Who Let Lastings Out?
Lastings Milledge had himself a day. Three for three with a walk, bunt single, base hit, a double and a stolen base. It’s days like these for the young outfielder that show promise to the future of this franchise. Does every dog have his day? Sure. Does one good day mean anything for the future of any player? No. But the fact that Milledge came out and had himself a big day in a game when his team needed to snap a 9 game losing streak showed for the first time that he could save the day for this city. Here’s to hoping there are many many more instances of Lasting saving the day.

Injuries:
Glavine's Injury is interesting. In his 22 year career Glavine has never gone on the disabled list. He has only twice left the game before recording an out, one was this afternoon, and the other 19 years ago. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back and how quickly he returns.

Paul Lo Duca injured his hand after being hit by a pitch and will be day to day fallowing some tests.

Box Score

TheNatsBlog.com

Home of the Washington Nationals