Knuckle Curve » nationals

So, Was It Good For You?

Geoff Young — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:50:31 +0000

Ah, Opening Day. I hope you had as much fun as we did (full report at Ducksnorts). Beyond the thrill of a packed house at Petco Park watching Jake Peavy spin a shutout, here are a few items from Monday that caught my eye:

The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs in the bottom half and hanging on for a 12-11 victory. Xavier Nady, whom I’ve been following since he took home Cal League MVP honors in 2001 while playing for a great Lake Elsinore Storm club (Peavy and Mets left-hander Oliver Perez also played on that team, which went 91-49), knocked two homers, including the game winner.
The Giants really stink. Good thing they’re paying Barry Zito all that money.
The Brewers and Cubs ran a clinic on how not to close a game. Locked in a scoreless tie headed to the ninth, Milwaukee plated three runs in the top half off “closer” Kerry Wood, then watched “closer” Eric Gagne cough up three of his own in the bottom half. The Brewers scored in the top of the 10th and hung on to win, 4-3. Who got credit for the victory? The least deserving guy in the ballpark, of course: Gagne. The next time someone tries to tell you that a pitcher is good because of his won-loss record, remind them that the rules dictating how a win is “earned” don’t necessarily correlate with actually contributing to victory.
Break up the Nationals. With Monday’s 11-6 drubbing of Philadelphia, they’re assured of finishing no worse than 2-160 this year.
Livan Hernandez pitched well in his Twins debut. Actually, for all the grief Minnesota took in signing him, he matched Johan Santana’s line — two runs in seven innings — and got the win. Not that he’ll keep pace with Santana beyond, oh, right about now, but still…
The White Sox seem to be a sexy dark horse candidate this season, but I just don’t see it. By my count, they’ve got about three or four good pitchers, depending on whether you believe Octavio Dotel can stay of the disabled list. One of them (Mark Buehrle) got absolutely pounded at Cleveland. Granted, the Indians will do that to a pitcher, but if the White Sox can’t win behind Buehrle, then what are they going to do when, say, Gavin Floyd toes the slab?

Good times, my friends. Good times…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Let’s Play Fourteen

Geoff Young — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:06:25 +0000

Fourteen games are on tap for Opening Day 2008. Sure, the Red Sox and A’s played some games in Japan, but nobody on this side of the pond watched, and the Nationals opened their new ballpark in the made-for-ESPN Sunday night game, but today is when the season really begins.

Ordinarily in this space I would tell you which games are most worth watching, but on Opening Day, they’re all worth watching. The first games (Blue Jays at Yankees, Royals at Tigers) start at 10:05 a.m. PT, while the last (Astros at Padres; of course, I’ll be there!) gets going at 7:05 p.m. PT.

I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that baseball is back. Enjoy the games!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Catching Up on Transactions

Geoff Young — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:54:24 +0000

While we’re waiting for Kosuke Fukudome to decide what he wants to do with his life, we may as well catch up on some recent transactions, haiku style:

Nats and Yankees trade –
Clippard, Albaladejo,
anonymous arms

Cincy trades Buck Coats
to Blue Jays for Justin James –
who are these people?

Cards drop Taguchi –
they are So over that guy,
you wouldn’t believe

Padres sell Terrmel
to Japan’s Pacific League,
where he will fight ham

(Yes, I know, but don’t ruin the joke.)

Brewers sign Riske
to a big three-year contract –
seems kind of risky

(Ugh, they’re getting worse.)

Cincy waives Cantu –
I sure can understand why
they did that, can’t you?

(Seriously, this is terrible.)

Nationals sign Boone –
Aaron, the old third baseman,
is still in the league!

Bucs drop Castillo –
if Pittsburgh releases you,
try a new career

Cleveland gets Carroll
from Colorado Rockies –
I’m out of bad puns

Nats sign LoDuca –
he was real good in ‘01,
as was Kevin Brown

Pads sign Randy Wolf
to incentive-laden deal –
good for 15 starts?

Brewers sign Gagne –
now that he’s in Milwaukee,
are they beer goggles?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

MLB Draft 2007: Nationals Nab Detwiler with Sixth Pick

Geoff Young — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:43:04 +0000

Vitals
Name: Ross Detwiler	Throws: Left
Pos: LHP	Bats: Right
Height: 6′4″	DOB: 6 Mar 86
Weight: 175 lbs	School: Missouri State

With the sixth pick in the 2007 draft, the Washington Nationals have selected Missouri State left-hander Ross Detwiler. Although there are concerns about Detwiler’s small frame, many observers considered him to be the second best southpaw in the draft, behind only Vanderbilt’s David Price.

2007 Stats
IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	ERA	BAA
Stats are through May 25, 2007, and are courtesy of Missouri State University.
89.0	6.47	0.61	3.84	11.12	2.22	.198

What they’re saying:

He showed the ability to command the ball better this year than in the past to go along with raw stuff better than the average pitchability southpaw.

–MiLB.com

Additional reading:

Player Bio (Missouri State)
2007 Draft Report (MiLB.com) — includes scouting video
Ross Detwiler (Minor League Ball)
Talent is hard to scout (Kansas City Star)
Through the hype (Springfield News-Leader)
Missouri State’s ace lefty has scouts flocking to Springfield (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Post from: Knuckle Curve