Various notes of relative encouragement for your Saturday
First, the game itself. Plenty worked just right for the Nationals last night. Wily Mo Pena hit a home run. Manny Acta used another itemized list of bullpen arms to hold a lead. Somehow, the Nats exchanged three hits for five runs. (I believe "opportunistic" is the apt word.) Oh, and did I mention that Wily Mo Pena hit a home run?
A few other items that might also lift your spirits.
SHAWN HILL: Said his arm feels well enough to start Tuesday in San Diego. Counting the skipped start last week and the extra off days, that would be his first outing since May 16.
PAUL LO DUCA: Said his rehab is right on track. He plans to resume throwing Monday and maybe pick up a bat a week after that. Within two weeks, he guessed, he'll be ready for a rehab assignment. On account of his hand injury, Lo Duca hasn't played since the first week of May; his replacement, Jesus Flores, had another clutch double last night. Noting Flores's success, I asked Lo Duca if he thought he deserved to return to the lineup when healthy again. To his credit, he didn't say he SHOULD. "Good question. I don't know," he said. "I'll just get healthy, and wherever Manny wants to put me he puts me. But I still need to get healthy, get back in playing shape first."
RYAN ZIMMERMAN: Said after the game last night that his sixth inning double was particularly encouraging because it felt like something he'd been doing in earlier seasons. For one thing, it came with runners on base. For another, Zimmerman took the ball to the opposite field. Those are encouraging signs for a guy batting .176 with runners in scoring position and for a guy whose batting charts suggest less opposite-field hitting than in 2006 and 2007. Acta believes, though, that Zimmerman is pretty much out of the slump that consumed his first month. Slowly, Zimmerman's stats are catching up to expectation -- and that's with almost no protection behind him in the lineup.
By Chico Harlan |
May 24, 2008; 11:26 AM ET
Previous: Another injury; enter Rob Mackowiak |
Next: An interview with your Class AA manager
Posted by: SC Nats Fan | May 24, 2008 11:34 AM
Thanks for the relatively encouraging words. ;-)
Posted by: natsfan1a | May 24, 2008 11:41 AM
Forgot to say that, after reading about Perez' bleeding thumb in the gamer for yesterday's game and being mindful of his previous incident of hurling before he even entered the game, I would like to move that his new moniker be "Blood and Guts."
Posted by: natsfan1a | May 24, 2008 11:51 AM
Lets just give a thumbs up to OP
Posted by: SC Nats Fan | May 24, 2008 11:53 AM
Chico (the writer, not the pitcher) - Thanks for doing your thing. I'm finding myself enjoying your style more and more - keep up the great work.
One thing I'm quite curious about - Ryan Wagner!! I see that they moved him from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list, mixed in among the latest call-ups and send-downs. I don't remember hearing much about him lately - what is his status? Is the guy ever going to pitch again? I assume the team sees some light at the end of this tunnel - else why would they keep him on the roster and shuffling between DL stints for the last 13+ months??
Posted by: AJ | May 24, 2008 12:08 PM
Let's see if performance on the field outweighs big salaries when LoDuca and then Estrada come back. Will the Lerners be willing to eat those contracts? Can't see that either of them will have much trade value. If Flores keeps showing us he's the man and Nieves keeps doing his good work with Lannan, it's obvious which way the Nats should go.
Posted by: Natsfan24 | May 24, 2008 12:45 PM
"SHAWN HILL: Said his arm feels well enough to start Tuesday in San Diego. Counting the skipped start last week and the extra off days, that would be his first outing since May 16."
To be fair, it would be his first start since May 16 whether you count them or not.
Posted by: Sec. 3, sofa | May 24, 2008 1:18 PM
So you keep pitching Shawn Hill even though you know something is wrong. Can anyone explain this logic? So he might win one more game and is then injured for life. Normally, you find out what the problem is and fix it so you don't adversely affect the player's long term future. I still am in the thinking that Shawn has rushed himself back and has never been fully recovered. If he ends up hurting himself and ending his career I blame the FO, Manager and pitching coach. Hiding behind doctors is not good judgment. Someone has to be an adult and act responsibly.
Posted by: Player's Rep | May 24, 2008 1:28 PM
Sangre y Etrañas! a good balance for Snow and Flowers
***********
Forgot to say that, after reading about Perez' bleeding thumb in the gamer for yesterday's game and being mindful of his previous incident of hurling before he even entered the game, I would like to move that his new moniker be "Blood and Guts."
Posted by: natsfan1a | May 24, 2008 11:51 AM
Posted by: Anonymous | May 24, 2008 1:31 PM
speaking of Blood and Guts...
I was wondering myself about this, reading of the FO and Hill saying "the doctor said it was ok to pitch." These are the same doctors, presumably, who made it worse by operating on it, and the same ones who said they have no clue what's really wrong, so why would you take their word for it? Patterson was excoriated in here for not pitching under similar circumstances, and in fact is basically out of baseball now, last I heard, since trying to pitch.
So one has to wonder.
This didn't happen when Weimi Douoguih was the O.S.
****************
So you keep pitching Shawn Hill even though you know something is wrong. Can anyone explain this logic? So he might win one more game and is then injured for life. Normally, you find out what the problem is and fix it so you don't adversely affect the player's long term future. I still am in the thinking that Shawn has rushed himself back and has never been fully recovered. If he ends up hurting himself and ending his career I blame the FO, Manager and pitching coach. Hiding behind doctors is not good judgment. Someone has to be an adult and act responsibly.
Posted by: Player's Rep | May 24, 2008 1:28 PM
Posted by: CEvans | May 24, 2008 1:39 PM
Estrada and Lo Duca have been millionaire temps from the start of the season, right? They're not part of the long term plan and they're not particularly good. They are just there to fill in until Flores is ready to take over (and he sure looks ready).
Posted by: ab | May 24, 2008 2:02 PM
LoDuca returning is not necessarily encouraging, like everyone else posting here I'm in Flores camp completely. I think sending him down is doing more to damage his morale than anything, and he's proven to be the best catcher RIGHT NOW in the organization.
Does LoDuca have any trade value? Any chance we could unload the salary for something?
Posted by: Ray | May 24, 2008 2:34 PM
come check me out please.
Posted by: new post | May 24, 2008 2:34 PM
My rehab would be going quicker if I had some steroids. Anyone know where I can find some?
Posted by: P. Lo Duca | May 24, 2008 2:35 PM
Sounds to me like SH is somewhat of a hypochondriac. He says he can pitch, but he's not 100%. His doctors say they don't know what's wrong. Is he hurt or not? If he has chronic pain then he has to decide if he plans to continue pitching or not.
He seems headed down the same path as JP.
--------------------------------
speaking of Blood and Guts...
I was wondering myself about this, reading of the FO and Hill saying "the doctor said it was ok to pitch." These are the same doctors, presumably, who made it worse by operating on it, and the same ones who said they have no clue what's really wrong, so why would you take their word for it? Patterson was excoriated in here for not pitching under similar circumstances, and in fact is basically out of baseball now, last I heard, since trying to pitch.
So one has to wonder.
This didn't happen when Weimi Douoguih was the O.S.
****************
So you keep pitching Shawn Hill even though you know something is wrong. Can anyone explain this logic? So he might win one more game and is then injured for life. Normally, you find out what the problem is and fix it so you don't adversely affect the player's long term future. I still am in the thinking that Shawn has rushed himself back and has never been fully recovered. If he ends up hurting himself and ending his career I blame the FO, Manager and pitching coach. Hiding behind doctors is not good judgment. Someone has to be an adult and act responsibly.
Posted by: Player's Rep | May 24, 2008 1:28 PM
Posted by: CEvans | May 24, 2008 1:39 PM
Posted by: Ed | May 24, 2008 3:01 PM
pick me! pick me!
Posted by: new post | May 24, 2008 3:56 PM
I'm not sure what you're getting at, Ed. It sure looks and sounds like he intends to pitch, and that his arm does have some undiagnosed problem, which is not all that unusual. Doctors miss stuff all the time, even expensive ones.
He may well be following Patterson, though, which would be a shame.
*******************
Sounds to me like SH is somewhat of a hypochondriac. He says he can pitch, but he's not 100%. His doctors say they don't know what's wrong. Is he hurt or not? If he has chronic pain then he has to decide if he plans to continue pitching or not.
He seems headed down the same path as JP.
Posted by: Ed | May 24, 2008 3:01 PM
Posted by: CE | May 24, 2008 4:10 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Flores in no way should take a back seat to LoDuca, at least not at this point. He seems to be the future and a current bright spot. PLO is on the downside of his career and thats just the way it is.