Atila-no the Hun

Luis Atilano looks to command the mound tonight in his MLB debut like Attila led the Hunnic Empire in 440 AD: with brute force.

Atilano was drafted in 2003 by the Atlanta Braves , and has remained in the NL East ever since. Despite his propensity for injuries, the Braves before and the Nationals now, see major upside in this starting righty. And his start of the season in Syracuse, it's easy to see why. Atilano's 2-0 with an outstanding 1.64 ERA. Two runs in two starts ain't half bad, either.

That said, why am I not excited? I'll tell you why. It's Luis Atilano. He has looked great in the 'Cuse this year thus far, and was 2-0 in AAA last year, too. But we've seen time and time again that minor league success simply doesn't always translate to major league success. Now let me be clear, I am not saying that Atilano will be bad. It just is hard to gauge how good this kid guy will be until we see what he looks like against Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier, and Matt Kemp, not the minor league's equivalent of Pete Orr. I'm excited for his outing, and you should be, too. Let's just be happy it's not the "hi I'm not hurt, oh actually, nevermind, I have loose bodies in my elbows" Jason Marquis.

UPDATE: Here's today's lineup. I hope that the Nats can get some offense from it to help out in Atilano's debut.

1. Tony Plush, 8
2. Adam Kennedy, 4
3. Cristian Guzman, 6
4. Adam Dunn, 3
5. Josh Willingham, 7
6. Pudge, 2
7. Willie Harris, 5
8. J. Max, 9
9. Luis Atilano, 1