Sunday, April 12, 2009

0 For Nats

The 2009 season has not got off to a good start for the Washington Nats. Almost a week has gone by and their W column is still empty. Maybe, grabbing a collection of former Cincinnati Reds wasn't the best direction for the team to go.

The Nats offense is better so far this season. But they haven't been able to get any timely hits. It seems that the more men are on base, the less likely a hit will be forthcoming. I can't tell you how many times the Nats have left the bases loaded without scoring a run. Well, I could, I just don't want to.

But the Nats bats are still young. Dukes, Milledge, Zimmerman, and Flores all have time on their side. Guzman, Dunn and Kearns aren't sitting in rocking chairs either. If a couple of the names on the first list truly flourish in future years, the Nats offense might actually be pretty good.

I'm not really sure what the Nats are trying to do on the mound. It seems like they pick up other teams' castoffs every year. One of them, Tim Redding, actually resurrected his career, and as soon as that happened, he was gone. Lannan, who is inconsistent, has shown a good bit of potential, but the rest of the Nats rotation is a combination of castoffs and young pitchers that the Nats don't stick it out with when they struggle.

I still like Manny Acta. This is only his third season. He has a young team and has never been given a pitching staff. Stability is the best route for the franchise. So, unless Acta does something really terrible, he should still be given a free pass this season.

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