{"id":774,"date":"2011-03-13T09:52:58","date_gmt":"2011-03-13T13:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=774"},"modified":"2011-03-13T11:00:01","modified_gmt":"2011-03-13T15:00:01","slug":"spring-training-games-week-2-nats-pitcher-goodbadinconclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=774","title":{"rendered":"Spring Training Games Week 2: Nats Pitcher good\/bad\/inconclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_809\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/marquis-jason-nationalsjpg-0752f50362f1342c_large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-809\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-809\" title=\"marquis-jason-nationalsjpg-0752f50362f1342c_large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/marquis-jason-nationalsjpg-0752f50362f1342c_large-300x229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/marquis-jason-nationalsjpg-0752f50362f1342c_large-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/marquis-jason-nationalsjpg-0752f50362f1342c_large.jpg 432w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-809\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marquis has looked arguably the best of any starter this spring.  Photo: AP\/silive.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After the 2nd week of games and the official halfway point of Spring Training, here&#8217;s some quick comments on how some various pitchers have looked in the second week of Spring Training Games.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve been keeping running commentary all week as each game happens.\u00a0 The link to my week one&#8217;s thoughts\/observations is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=750\">here<\/a>, posted on 3\/6.<\/p>\n<p>Also, here&#8217;s perma- links to the <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/\">NatsJournal blog<\/a>&#8216;s running game comments as well as box scores (when I could find them).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3\/6: vs Braves, <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_06_atlmlb_wasmlb_1\">box score<\/a><\/li>\n<li>3\/7: <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/live_blog_astros_at_nationals.html\">vs Astros<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_07_houmlb_wasmlb_1\">box score<\/a><\/li>\n<li>3\/8: <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/live_blog_nationals_at_mets_po_1.html\">at the Mets<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_08_wasmlb_nynmlb_1\">box score<\/a><\/li>\n<li>3\/9: <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/nationals_spring_training_live_4.html\">at the Marlins<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_09_wasmlb_flomlb_1\">box score<\/a><\/li>\n<li>3\/10: split squad <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/nationals_spring_training_live_5.html\">vs the Mets<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_10_nynmlb_wasmlb_1\">box score<\/a>), and <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/spring_training_sort_of_live-b.html\">at Astros<\/a> (box score)<\/li>\n<li>3\/11: <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/nationals_spring_training_live_6.html?wprss=nationalsjournal\">vs Astros<\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_11_houmlb_wasmlb_1\">box score<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>3\/12: vs Yankees (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/news\/boxscore.jsp?gid=2011_03_12_nyamlb_wasmlb_1\">box score<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Good<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Jason Marquis<\/strong>: 4 ip, 2 hits and a walk against Atlanta on 3\/9 to continue his scoreless inning streak further into spring training.\u00a0 Lots of ground balls, meaning he has his sinker back.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adam Carr<\/strong>: 6 up and 6 down on 3\/8.\u00a0 This didn&#8217;t stop him from being <a href=\"http:\/\/therocket.mlblogs.com\/archives\/2011\/03\/nationals_make_roster_cuts.html\">cut from the major league squad<\/a>, but a bright future awaits this fellow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brian Broderick<\/strong>: continues to pitch well, but his Rule5 status complicates his ability to make this team (see my whole missive on Gorzelanny and his<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=758\"> job-by-option-status post here<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cole Kimball<\/strong>: big time right handed power pitcher showing his worth by continuing to punch guys out with regularity.\u00a0 Could be first in line to replace a bullpen member who goes down with injury or non-performance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ross Detwiler<\/strong>: Struck out 5 in 3 innings against a strong Braves lineup on 3\/6.\u00a0 Stretched out to 4 innings on 3\/11 and added a few more K&#8217;s (along with a couple runs) but reportedly looked decent.\u00a0 I agree with a couple other bloggers on this point; we talk about how Detwiler is competing for the 5th spot, but is it really Lannan that is in trouble?\u00a0 (see further down for Lannan comments).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Todd Coffey<\/strong>: Struck out the side on 3\/9, had 2 more K&#8217;s in a 1-2-3 inning on 3\/7.\u00a0 Looks like he may be a decent replacement for Batista\/Peralta from last year&#8217;s bullpen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chad Gaudin<\/strong>: looked good against a very weak Mets team 3\/10, pitching 5 shutout innings scattering a few hits and walks\u00a0 (final numbers: 5ip, 6K, allows 4 hits with a walk.  78 pitches 52 strikes, thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/cheist\">Craig Heist<\/a>).\u00a0 Despite this he has no chance at the MLB rotation.\u00a0 I presume he&#8217;ll be in the AAA rotation to start the season and seems to be putting himself above other AAA starters such as Chico and Martis in the pecking order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Atahualpa Severino<\/strong>: bombed on 3\/8, he&#8217;s looking like he&#8217;s gonna be 2nd best in the Loogy race to Slaten.\u00a0 He&#8217;s already been<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20110312&amp;content_id=16925044&amp;notebook_id=16925416&amp;vkey=notebook_was&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\"> optioned to AAA<\/a> and may be vulnerable to being removed from the 40-man roster.\u00a0 That being said&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Doug Slaten<\/strong> got rocked himself on 3\/9.\u00a0 He&#8217;ll be given some room since he was so successful last year, but we need one of these two guys to own that Loogy role.\u00a0 We don&#8217;t want to waste Burnett on man-to-man matchups.\u00a0 In other news, the Nats signed <strong>Ron Villone<\/strong> to a <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/nationalsjournal\/2011\/03\/nationals_sign_ron_villone.html\">minor league deal<\/a> this week, which i&#8217;m predicting is partly (as Kilgore says) because they like him and part Loogy insurance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Garrett Mock<\/strong>: didn&#8217; t help his cause by giving up a bomb against the Astros.\u00a0 He&#8217;s now given up 4 hits and 5 walks in 2ip.\u00a0 He&#8217;s looking like AAA bullpen fodder and possibly not long for the 40-man.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t care how good his &#8220;stuff&#8221; is; if he can&#8217;t compete against fringy roster guys in the middle innings of a spring training game, then he cannot be counted on in real games come April.\u00a0 <strong>Update<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/therocket.mlblogs.com\/archives\/2011\/03\/nationals_make_roster_cuts.html\">cut from the major league squad<\/a> and will get into the AAA rotation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Lannan<\/strong>:\u00a0 Did not look good in his 3\/12 start; too many walks and too many hard hit balls.\u00a0 For the spring he&#8217;s sporting nearly a 9.00 ERA.\u00a0 With Detwiler looking so strong, is Lannan in peril of starting the season in the minors?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Iffy or Possibly Concerning.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Jordan Zimmerman<\/strong>&#8216;s 3\/8 start &#8220;looked&#8221; good but those on hand used words like &#8220;shaky&#8221; and &#8220;hit hard.&#8221;\u00a0 His fastball was 92-94 though.\u00a0 For Zimmermann, the velocity is the key.\u00a0 We know he has good stuff; we just need to know his fastball is recovered from TJ surgery.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yunesky Maya<\/strong>&#8216;s 3\/7 start was shaky at best.\u00a0 5\u00a0 hits and a walk in 2 2\/3s innings versus a weaker Astro&#8217;s lineup.\u00a0 He threw again on 3\/12, gave up an unearned run and seemed to struggle with his fastball locations (the unearned run was on a 3-base error that Cano smoked but Bernadina dropped).\u00a0 He pitched 4 complete, gave up 2 hits, walked 3 and struck out 3 (some with his loopy 12-6 curve ball).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Drew Storen<\/strong> got lit up again on 3\/7 but we had word that the coaches told him to spot his fastball.\u00a0 Well, that may explain why.\u00a0 Hey McCatty; tell us when he&#8217;s really trying out there so we know what is going on.\u00a0 He recovered for a decent outing on 3\/10, punctuated with 3 straight Ks against AAA competition.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tom Gorzelanny<\/strong>: my post <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=758\">questioning his acquisition<\/a> garnered quite a spirited response.\u00a0 The comments i&#8217;m about to make probably will too.\u00a0 His first outing in the spring did not exactly vindicate his nearly-guaranteed active roster spot.\u00a0 His line: 2.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 K against a weakened Astros split squad.\u00a0\u00a0 He only managed 23 strikes in 47 pitches.\u00a0 Nobody seems to have mph readings but he was clocked only in the upper 80s earlier this week.\u00a0 For him to stick and be successful we need to see a return to 92-93.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Livan Hernandez<\/strong>: his 3\/11 start did not garner confidence, apparently getting hit all around the park.\u00a0 Bad defense behind him (and some generous scoring) made his line (3ip, 7hits, 1bb, 1k, 3ER) look worse than it was.\u00a0 We know that Livan will put up a stinker every once in a while; just can&#8217;t make it a habit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the 2nd week of games and the official halfway point of Spring Training, here&#8217;s some quick comments on how some various pitchers have looked in the second week of Spring Training Games.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve been keeping running commentary all week as each game happens.\u00a0 The link to my week one&#8217;s thoughts\/observations is here, posted on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-minorspitching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774","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=774"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":808,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774\/revisions\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}