For the 3rd time in 9 games the Nats beat the Mets in Spring Training action; 9-3, 5-3, and 4-3. Although the team won in the end, it was in no way a stellar performance by the visitors, as the team picked up another 2 errors and failed miserably on a squeeze play. Lets give a quick recap of the highlights...
- Starter Jordan Zimmermann had another great start, going 3 innings and only allowing 1 hit (to Willie Harris). JZimm also had 4 strikeouts, but walked 2 batters. Looks like his recovery from Tommy John surgery is going pretty well, I'm definitely encouraged by these results.
- Rule 5 draftee Brian Broderick continued his solid Spring by pitching 3 innings of 1 run ball. Being a Rule 5 draft pick, Broderick needs to make the 25-man and stay on the team the entire year, or else he has to be given back to the Cardinals. Chances are much better than they were 2 weeks ago, but still slim.
- Adam Carr picked up his first win on the "season" with a 2 inning performance, only giving up 1 hit; his ERA still sits at 0.00 through 4 innings of work. He could very well appear on the Nats at some point this year...
- On the offensive side, Morse hit his 3rd HR of the Spring, all coming against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. After his 2 for 4 performance, he is now hitting .400 in a team-leading 20 at bats. Hairston and Bixler also added homers.
- Nats #8 overall prospect, Eury Perez, appeared in his first MLB game today. In his one at-bat singled, then stole second, and scored the game winning run. Not bad, kid.
- Wilson Ramos continues to kill it at the plate, going 2 for 3 to raise his average to .462.
- Don't look now but Laynce Nix is hitting .444, after hitting the game winning double in the 10th.
- Desmond and Ankiel both went 0 for 3 today, lowering their averages to .263 and .188 respectively.
- The #1 Star of the Day is Nyjer Morgan (*In no way has he been playing well this spring, yesterday was the lone exception so far). Morgan went 2 for 3, picked up his first bunt single, 2 steals, and walked twice. A stellar performance for today. The opposite-of-silver-lining to this is that after today he only has 3 hits and 2 walks in 21 plate appearances. Also a drag, the Artist Formerly Known As T. Plush was caught stealing twice, but to his credit one of them was on a failed squeeze attempt. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, not a once a month occurrence...
Also, should we read anything into the fact that the official MLB article on Morgan calls him the "center field hopeful". Has something changed that we haven't heard about? Is Bernie the new front runner???
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