Convenient, to say the least, that Detwiler has just been put on the 15-day DL with a hip strain. This now makes three underperforming Nats pitchers who have suddenly taken ill just as they were set to be replaced/demoted (Atilano, Martin and now Detwiler). In fairness, Martin has since had back surgery and moved to the 60-day DL and obviously had a serious injury. But Detwiler? Seems like coincident timing.
I guess I shouldn’t be complaining, since it makes a tough decision the Nats were possibly to face a bit easier. Marquis comes off the DL and goes today for the first time since april.
Current Rotation: Livan, Marquis, Strasburg, Olsen and Lannan.
on the DL: Mock, Martin, Detwiler and Atilano
in the minors and coming soon: Zimmermann and Maya.
I’ll guess the next thing to happen will be Olsen and Lannan making way for the Zimmermann and Maya (or perhaps Strasburg reaching an innings limit and Lannan staying in the rotation). Olsen gets significant bonuses right now for each additional start (to the tune of $250k for his next couple starts, then $100k there after for the rest of the season). Not that I think the Nats are cheap, but i’m sure they’ll find some justification for limiting his starts and their payroll outlay.
As it stands, they’re getting closer to the 2011 rotation they’d probably like to see out on the field (Strasburg, Zimmermann, Marquis, Maya and Lannan). And we all think this would be a pretty good rotation. Spring training 2011 can’t come soon enough!