{"id":1213,"date":"2011-05-04T12:54:39","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T16:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2011-05-04T12:54:39","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T16:54:39","slug":"nats-rotation-cycle-6-goodbadinconclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1213","title":{"rendered":"Nats Rotation Cycle #6: good\/bad\/inconclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1237\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/marquis-jason-APsilive.com_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1237\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1237\" title=\"marquis-jason-APsilive.com\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/marquis-jason-APsilive.com_-300x229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/marquis-jason-APsilive.com_-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/marquis-jason-APsilive.com_.jpg 432w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1237\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marquis&#39; 5-hit shutout is the best outing we&#39;ve seen since Strasburg.  Photo: Ap via silive.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The team is rocked by the news that star <strong>Ryan Zimmerman<\/strong> will miss another 6 weeks, on top of the last 17 games he&#8217;s already missed, due to a <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20110430&amp;content_id=18443438&amp;vkey=news_was&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">torn abdominal muscle<\/a>.\u00a0 To add insult to injury, the team is in a very <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/schedule\/index.jsp?c_id=was#m=5&amp;y=2011\">difficult part<\/a> of the schedule (SF at home, then away to Philadelphia, Florida and Atlanta 3 series in a row) that could very well see them plummet to the basement of the division.\u00a0 Can their rotation help keep them near .500?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Good<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As he tends to do, <strong>Livan Hernandez<\/strong> followed up a sub-par outing with an excellent one, going 8 complete innings (Washington&#8217;s longest starter outing of the year), giving up 3 runs (2 earned) and spelling the burned-out bullpen in a 4-3 win over the Mets in the 4\/28 series finale (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_04_28_nynmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 Livan gave up 7 hits and a walk to go with 5 strikeouts on the night.\u00a0 He&#8217;s now averaging 6.5 IP per start (best on the staff) and though his Fip\/Xfip are slightly worst than MLB median he&#8217;s holding steady for the team.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jason Marquis<\/strong> put in easily the best start of the season, and his best start for this team, pitching a 5-hit shutout on 4\/29 (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_04_29_sfnmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 He struck out 7, walked none, and needed just 96 pitches to finish off the light-hitting Giants.\u00a0 The defeat of the Giants and ace <strong>Tim Lincecum<\/strong> continued an interesting pattern for the team of competing well against the opposing team&#8217;s ace (they&#8217;re 4-2 against the nominal &#8220;ace&#8221; of opposing rotations, beating Lincecum, <strong>Josh Johnson<\/strong>, <strong>Yovanni Gallardo<\/strong>, and <strong>Kevin Correia<\/strong> while falling to <strong>Derek Lowe<\/strong> and <strong>Roy Halladay<\/strong>).\u00a0 If Marquis continues to pitch this well, the Nats could face a difficult decision later on in the season (trade or re-sign?).<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Lannan<\/strong> pitched 6 very efficient innings before fading in the 7th long enough to give up a 2nd run, which proved to be enough to get him the loss on Saturday 4\/30&#8217;s day game (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_04_30_sfnmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 Final line: 6 2\/3, 6 hits, 3 walks (one intentional) and 2 runs.\u00a0 But he had given up just 4 hits and zero walks through 6 complete, a very dominant performance.\u00a0 The 7th came apart on him very quickly, and he managed to load the bases and walk in the go-ahead run before <strong>Clippard<\/strong> could take the mound and escape the jam.\u00a0 Riggleman called for a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/blog\/nationals-watch\/2011\/apr\/30\/about-intentional-walk-seventh\/\">somewhat questionable intentional walk<\/a> before Lannan managed to walk in the winning run.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jordan Zimmerman<\/strong>&#8216;s line wasn&#8217;t that dominant for Sunday 5\/1&#8217;s game (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_05_01_sfnmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>); 6ip, 6hits, 2 walks, 4ks and 2 runs.\u00a0 However watching the game you got a different story.\u00a0 Both runs scored by virtue of a fluke-y bloop double that hit the left field line from a weak-hitting left-handed hitter.\u00a0 One of the walks was intentional.\u00a0 And 3 of the 6 hits he gave up were either infield singles or weakly hit balls.\u00a0 So Jordan gets a quality start and his 2nd best <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/gl.cgi?id=zimmejo02&amp;t=p&amp;year=2011\">game score<\/a> of the season.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tom Gorzelanny<\/strong> nearly matched Marquis&#8217; gem with his 8-inning, 3-hit and no walk performance on Military night, 5\/1 (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_05_02_sfnmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 The game took his season ERA down a full run (from 3.97 to 2.93).\u00a0 I had to quibble a bit with the in-game management though from Riggleman; see this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1261\">op-ed piece<\/a> for my thoughts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Trends<\/p>\n<p>MLB Trends (through 5\/2)<br \/>\nLhernandez\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,bad,good,good,bad,good<br \/>\nLannan\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,soso,soso,bad,soso,good<br \/>\nZimmermann \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,good,good,bad,bad,good<br \/>\nMarquis\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,good,good,soso,great<br \/>\nGorzelanny\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0soso,good,soso,good,great<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thoughts on the offense<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Laynce Nix<\/strong> is starting to make a statement for this team, putting up a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nixla01.shtml\">150 OPS+<\/a> through part time action thus far.\u00a0 He made his biggest statement yet in Friday&#8217;s start against Lincecum, punishing an 0-2 mistake from the young San Francisco Ace for an early 2-run homer.\u00a0 However it was a foul-ball blast later in the game that everyone is talking about; Nix absolutely crushed an inside fastball about 10-feet foul, but it glanced off the THIRD deck of the Nats stadium.\u00a0 Estimates put it at 450 feet or so, an incredible distance at a stadium that has seen scant balls hit in that area.\u00a0 WP beat writer <strong>Adam Kilgore <\/strong>discussed this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/post\/2011\/04\/29\/AFJVqSIF_blog.html?wprss=nationals-journal\">same point<\/a> in the NatsJournal blog friday.\u00a0 Nix gets so few at bats versus lefties that it is difficult to ascertain how his splits look, but with <strong>Mike Morse<\/strong> continuing to struggle (he&#8217;s not even slugging .300 from the left fielder spot) it may behoove the team to roll the dice and give Nix some full time opportunities.<\/li>\n<li>Can someone explain the role that <strong>Matt Stairs<\/strong> so excellently fulfills that he deserves a 25-man roster spot and $850k?\u00a0 He gets 4 at bats a week, has yet to get a hit, and has more strikeouts than walks.\u00a0 Wouldn&#8217;t there be more value in putting a player on the roster in his place who could actually *help* the team?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall Summary<\/p>\n<p>All 5 starters threw what i&#8217;d call &#8220;good&#8221; or &#8220;great&#8221; starts, and the team went 4-1 in those starts.\u00a0 That&#8217;s great news.\u00a0 The hitters continue to struggle, with 6 of our 8 regulars hitting .233 or below.\u00a0 These guys need to snap out of it soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The team is rocked by the news that star Ryan Zimmerman will miss another 6 weeks, on top of the last 17 games he&#8217;s already missed, due to a torn abdominal muscle.\u00a0 To add insult to injury, the team is in a very difficult part of the schedule (SF at home, then away to Philadelphia, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-natsrotationreview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1267,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions\/1267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}