Watching the Braves telecast on FSN south, Hanrahan was absolutely in complete command of his stuff tonight with his fastball hitting 95 consistently on the radar gun. According to Braves announcers, in the top of the 9th now, just informed that Zimmerman just left game with a hip flexor and is day to day. What a bummer that is if its true...: > (

Wow. I forgot the game was on (dummy!) and just clicked on the box score. I took 3 or 4 looks at Hanrahan's numbers thinking I must've been missing something. Good stuff, Joel, good stuff!

You should at least get out on your balcony Saturday AM at 2:15 to watch the Delta 2 launch. I lived 2 blocks from the beach on Patrick AFB for 3 years and I tried to NEVER miss a launch of ANY kind of rocket. The Deltas are especially cool when the solid rockets fall off about a minute into flight.

2 outs, bottom ninth and bingo...braves tie the game with runners on 2nd & 3rd Ayala gives up single to Orchard to score both runners...: > ((

2-2 after 9, extra baseball on the way.

Langer with a bullet throw to the plate to nail a runner trying to score from 2nd on a single.
Very nice throw.

Hanrahan only played in the ML in 2007 with the Nats. He should have 2 more options left.

If you take a look at Hanrahan's numbers over the years he always does better his second year after a call up, maybe he just takes time to get his feet wet. If he was indeed hitting 96-98 with 87 slider that is closer type stuff.

"RBI from Bret Boone (double off Glavine) and Jusus Flores) in the bottom of the eighth. "

We didn't score in the bottom of the 8th. We didn't even hit in the bottom of the 8th.

Give hanrahan the opening day nod. he has earned it so far.

"Nobody ever said Langerhans didn't field well."

oh so true, natsnut. if only the guy could hit his weight. and if only his weight was more like dmitri than his 195lbs.

that would be top of sixth. Barry must be reading upside down.

Yikes. Braves on 2nd and 3rd. 2 outs. Ayala's still in with a full count.

That did it. Game tied. ayala's still in.

Ayala can't finish, gives up a 2-out 2-run hit to Borchard to tie it.

now, about getting thrown out at 3rd to lead off an inning ...

i just made a post that got eaten. *sigh*

it was really pithy and amusing, too!

I know, I know, CE.

But, but, but....he's so cute.

Is Zimmerman's injury going to hurt his chances of going .300/40/120 this year?

Nobody ever said Langerhans didn't field well. He just threw the winning run out at home from right field.

With one less pitcher = a space for NJ and DY to battle it out a bit longer and Jimbo to dangle them out there. Rule V's that do not make the team have to offered back or can they be purchased from their previous team? Would they have to clear waivers from the league also?

Chris, if everyone who believes will applaud, he can do it.
*******************
Is Zimmerman's injury going to hurt his chances of going .300/40/120 this year?

Posted by: Chris | March 11, 2008 11:14 PM

Don't Patterson's comments sound just like last year? I remember him talking about how the arm strength would come ... we know the rest of the story. My opinion he's not tough enough for the Opening Night start. Could be ugly just like last year's opener.

Sweet, just a hip flexor problem. They're easy to come back from. Just ask Caron Butler!

And Bret Boone saves the day too. Bases loaded, he makes a diving stop for the 3rd out at first. Still tied at bottom of the 10th. Are they going to keep going? Nobody has anyone else to put in the game.

Langerhans follows sparkling throw to home with 1 out single in 11th.

Langerhans gets a base hit then steals second.

Rejected rejected rejected. No Comment. Illegal submission. The Post Hates Me.

PTBNL, glad to have you on board, particularly when you post things like "Lastings should be firstings." I am by no means the arbiter of what is appropriate or appreciated here, as others precede me (I was bottled and corked in July 2007). But I think there is a consensus as to what this blog is and/or should be about, and your participation, in my view, has been well considered thus far.

The four starters/seven relievers revelation is inspired I think, at least to start the season. And I do think it means that Hanrahan (who, upon further review, may well be out of options given his years on the LAD 40-man, thanks to those that had this correct when I did not) makes the OD roster.

We still need to make a deal. Here's a thought: some BP/2B/4-5th OF glut in exchange for the right to keep the Rule V guys? Makes sense right? We need depth in the upper minors to bridge the gap to drafted prospects, and who knows, maybe somebody surprises. Who wouldn't love to see Little Papi make that kind of jump? Big Papi himself spent quite a while honing his craft before exploding onto the scene. Bottom line: Minor league depth is good, because you can trade it or use it, and those are assets this team has not had in the past five years.

I bet all the rejections/error messages are from Wash Post's clock problem. Some posters' time stamps are correct and hitting above those of us whose time stamps were an hour ahead.

I was wondering how 231 knew at 10:58 exactly what I was going to say at 11:17.

my guesses, barring injuries for next 2 weeks and straight-line projecting progress from here (two dubious assumptions, but not inherently more dubious than any other assumptions): patterson opens, hanrahan makes the club.

natsinthe valley may be joking about giving Hanrahan the opening day nod, but I fear he's being overlooked as a contender for the starting rotation. Sure, he was inconsistent, but he's got really good stuff. He was a pretty good four or five inning pitcher. He could extend that to six innings, and we'd really have something...

ah, no wonder i couldn't find some of my posts. err... i mean i knew *exactly* what natsnut was gonna say!

Things to consider with Hanrahan.

He has always been a prospect. Look at his development over the years, he seems to do really well, get moved up, struggle, then do really well the next year. Last year at Columbus he did really well then struggled with the call up. History would tell us he is do for a good year. I hope they give him the chance, if not we could be wondering 'what if'.

Los Doce Ocho-enjoyed your last post. Yeah, Barry, at least make up some trade rumors. The rest of us do.

You were right, 231, your comment was pithy and very amusing. Ha ha.

Also lost was an incredibly insightful, Best-Reader-Post-worthy effort by moi regarding what our Nats need to do to go all the way in 2008. (As if! ;-) )

---

You were right, 231, your comment was pithy and very amusing. Ha ha.

Barry-

Are you hearing any trade speculation to maybe open up a couple active roster spots?

If not, could you make some up?

Bob L - I'm actually an old poster with a different name. Used to obsess about AL roster trivia /prospects and footnote my posts to the annoyance of others.

Sorry for the trade speculation that follows. I agree it is usually fruitless and lacks realism.

With that admission - this may be a bit off the wall, but, if we did want to keep Whitney, perhaps we could make a big deal with the Indians. Say Kearns and Belliard for Asdrubal Cabrera and the rights to Whitney. We could play AC for a year at 2d then either move him to SS or acquire one in the off-season. It looks like there are a lot of potential middle infield FAs next year. Right now, the Indians I believe are planning on a Jason Michaels / Dave Delluci platoon in left. Guttierez could move to left, and a Guttierez /Sizemore / Kearns outfield would be terrific defensively. Downside is that they have a bit of talent in AAA / AA (Ben Fransisco, Brad Snyder, Trevor Crowe), so they might be content to go with what they have. Moving Kearns does expose us a bit to the vagaries of Dukes, but with Maxwell, room for Guzman, even Dubois, perhaps we have enough depth to do this.

If we wanted to keep GGuzman and send him to AAA, the Twins look easier to deal with. Their bullpen looks a bit thinner, especially if they don't have Nathan resigned, and they don't have much quality in the middle infield.

A few things:

1) I figured out how to extend my desktop from my computer monitor to my television and now I can watch MLB TV on the TV while using my computer. Too bad only out of market games will be available live after the season starts.

2) Anybody gotten their parking tickets yet?

3) Any 20 gameers gotten their 3/29 Exhibition tickets yet?

4) Any Verizon Fios subscribers heard if MLB Extra Innings will be offered in our area?

5) Anybody have confirmation on the microbrew to be available at the stadium?

I'm I obsessing too much about the time stamp thing? It's kind of stressing me out. :)

ACK! I posted AFTER 506's Hanrahan comment. Make it stop.....

Trade Cordero already. The bullpen will be fine without him. Wagner is too good to sit in the minors.

I think Hanrahan is not a major-league starter. But let him slam on the gas pedal for an inning or two and I bet he's great.

Something has be believing the same scenario as last night will reappear on 3/30. JP will start, be somewhat successful, tire after 4 or 5, Hanrahan will come in and earn the victory as Chad (Stanhouse) Cordero gives up a home run in the 9th but still earns the save. Well, it's off to Viera for 4 days. : < ))

testing

"3) Any 20 gameers gotten their 3/29 Exhibition tickets yet?"

I haven't gotten mine yet, and now that I think of it it's been at least 10 days since the ticket office told me the tickets would be mailed "within the next 10 days". Time to fire off another e-mail to them so they can give me the standard "within the next 10 days" answer again, I guess.

Dang, all that work to reason out and type a Post post-posting post and I get rejected. :)

At any rate, did the Post spring forward by 2 hours or what? My 9:21 posting shows as 10:21. See you online (if this gets through).

My psychic senses feel a post from natsfan1a coming on. Tuning in, tuning in.

I think she's going to write about her post getting rejected. Something's not clear, though because she seems to be saying "post" a lot.

Dang. Didn't work. Still posted AFTER her. Oh well.

I have not received mine, either. If they're not here today, I think I'll make a call into my ticket rep.
---------------
"3) Any 20 gameers gotten their 3/29 Exhibition tickets yet?"

"I haven't gotten mine yet"

This is a case for Miss Cleo. :)

John in Mpls wins above
with a Haiku he sneaked in
(read Mpls as one beat)

This time stamp thing is starting to make my head spin.

I like your take on trades to keep the Rule V guys as depth in the minors, Bob L. Head.

Aside from Johnson/Young, I have to think releivers play a part in any trade Jim may make in the coming weeks. However, the argument that Wagner is too good to be in the minors assumes he is healthy, which he currently is not. They're taking their time with the guy, and I don't even consider him as part of the bullpen at this time.

good one, John in Mpls...

Hey -- is McGeary still coming into camp from Stanford's spring break? Or is he going to minor league camp?

we essentially have four places to trade from depth on the major league roster.

bullpen (big strength)
1B (but probably won't happen in ST)
2B (depth)
utility (harris/mackowiak probably won't both make the roster)

jimbo will have to move someone, or else attempt to move them thru waivers or cut them.

Correct, Hanrahan is out of options. This from Brian at NFA:
"Joel Hanrahan has used up his options. He was down for all of 2004 so he gets the extra option year. He then used them up in 2005, 2006 and 2007."
Hanrahan has been lights out this spring, and with only one walk, far better than his performance last year. Give him the 2-3 inning relief appearances?
------------------
And I do think it means that Hanrahan (who, upon further review, may well be out of options given his years on the LAD 40-man

Posted by: Bob L. Head | March 11, 2008 11:44 PM

Darn. That was my Hanrahan post above. And now MY timestamps are getting screwed up.
:::sigh:::

Error. Post denied.
"Rejected due to content."
Why? What did I say?

Barry, I'm not usually one to request posts, but I think an update of the contract status of the remaining players would be appreciated as we try to sort out the Opening Day roster.

Will they have to pay a part or all of a player's salary if he signed a major-league deal, or are there provisions in his contract that state he must first crack the roster?

Which players appear eligible for the DL at this time?

I think, in order for us to look at this the way Bowden does, we need to know these details.

Oh, and failure to do so would simply reaffirm the Post's implicit desire to detroy the Nationals, raze the new stadium, and rename the District "Baltimore, Jr."

SC Nats Fan sez: Chad (Stanhouse) Cordero gives up a home run in the 9th but still earns the save.

glad to see a reference to "full pack" stanhouse. you been watchin' baseball a while now, ain't ye? i think the deal was, earl weaver would stand in the tunnel and have time to smoke a full pack of cigarettes while stanhouse got three outs (and gave up a couple baserunners)...

It was a good one! But I'm even more confused re. the timing of posts. Speaking of which, a new one is up. (I have no idea at what time it was posted. ;))

---

Error. Post denied.
"Rejected due to content."
Why? What did I say?

Posted by: John in Mpls | March 12, 2008 12:14 PM

John in Mpls wins above
Due to a Haiku sneaked in
(Read Mpls as one beat)

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.