Ramos has started hot; how long will he platoon w/ Suzuki? Photo Al Bello/Getty Images via federalbaseball.com
One week down, one serious over-reaction to a series loss against Cincinnati, and we have our next installment of Bill Ladson‘s inbox, dated 4/8/13. Lets see what Nats fans have on their mind this early in the season. Hopefully it isn’t “they sky is falling” because we lost 2 of 3 to a very good Cincinnati team.
As always, I answer here before reading his response and sometimes edit “questions” for clarity/levity.
Q: Even though catchers Wilson Ramos and Kurt Suzuki are in the lineup every other day, it seems to me like Gio Gonzalez’s personal catcher is Suzuki. Does that play into Johnson’s decision making?
A: Is Kurt Suzuki Gio Gonzalez‘s personal catcher? I never noted that. Gonzalez was caught by every catcher on the roster last year but had Suzuki 10 times. Based on when Suzuki came over, that seems an awful lot. But last night 4/9/13 Gonzalez was caught by Ramos. So who knows. If Gonzalez has asked for Suzuki to be his catcher, then yes absolutely this factors into lineup decisions. Luckily both Suzuki and Wilson Ramos are right handers, so there’s no matchup considerations right now.
Coincidentally, I was really surprised to see Ramos sit the day after he hit two bombs over the weekend. I know Suzuki is the vet, Ramos is theoretically on the mend and they’ve said they’re splitting time … but I want my hot bats in the lineup, not sitting on the bench because of some even-odd playing time split that’s been promised.
Ladson doesn’t think there’s a personal catcher situation going on.
Q: Is Johnson letting Harper’s throwing mistakes slide?
A: I doubt it. But i’m glad its being handled in private and not in the press. Ironically the Sports Junkies asked Johnson about this very topic this morning 4/10/13 and Johnson definitely seemed to indicate that he believes Harper is just over-excited, needs to keep his game emotions in control, and that the coaching staff is constantly talking to him to fix mental errors like these. Ladson doesn’t think Johnson is letting it slide either but says we’ll have to see “how it goes.”
Q: If one of the current five starters goes down with an injury, who will get the callup to start for the Nationals?
A: A week ago I would have said Zach Duke, but he looked pretty awful in his one appearance so far. I would bet that if someone went down tomorrow the team would call up Ross Ohlendorf. But in a couple of weeks time the #1 replacement would have to be Chris Young. Ladson says Young.
Q: Do you see the Nats releasing reliever Henry Rodriguez if he is ineffective after a month or so?
A: I don’t think they’ll release him; i’m sure they’d try to DFA him and sneak him through waivers to AAA so they could keep him. Mike Rizzo loves his arm. But he’s been short on results and long on frustration for a lot of his tenure here. Every once in a while you see players who the manager/GM just won’t give up on despite results (Austin Kearns and Manny Acta/Jim Bowden being one good example); I wonder if we’re getting to that point with H-Rod. Ladson says no way.
Q: After 2013, would general manager Mike Rizzo consider Jayson Werth as a player-manager?
A: No way. Werth needs to focus on hitting and not being a player manager. The team will get a professional manager to guide the team going forward. Ladsons says Werth may be a Team Captain but never the manager. He also names Joe Girardi as his guess for the next manager. Interesting.
Q: What plans do the Nats have when it comes to incorporating the designated hitter into their roster this season? Would they consider having Anthony Rendon added to the roster and DHing Ryan Zimmerman?
A: Interesting question. I’d guess that initially they’d go with a platoon DH split of Tyler Moore and Chad Tracy for any interleague games in the AL park. Rendon is staying in the minors until needed to keep his service time down. Ladson writes almost exactly what I wrote.