Sometimes I make predictions and they come true (mere hours after its made), and other times, not so much. This is one of the times where, well, lets just say I was a wee bit wrong...
In my post on January 20th, I went through the entire 40-man roster and non-roster invitees to give my guesses on who was going to make the team out of Spring Training. Once finished I had taken a few chances on pitching staff members, basically trying to figure out what was going on with our rotation. We had just made the Tom Gorzelanny trade and it was widely assumed that he would be placed in the rotation. I wasn't so sure, so I took a chance and said that Chien-Ming Wang was going to be the 5th starter...
By now you probably have see the news posted by the beat writers about the drastic nature of his bullpen session. Recovering from an unheard of surgery for pitchers, Wang's velocity was distinctively slow compared to the others doing bullpen sessions. Now, its widely assumed that he will be starting the year in the Minor Leagues. Not what the Nationals hoped when re-signing him to a $1 million dollar MLB contract.
Here are a few of the words of our beat writers...
Zuckerman - "Now, I'm by no means a pitching expert, and my eye for these things isn't anywhere in the same area code as Steve McCatty and the rest of the coaching staff. But Wang sure wasn't throwing the ball with much oomph. He's got a very slow, deliberate motion, so that can make things look a little deceptive. But the ball wasn't coming out of his hand with nearly as much velocity as the other guys pitching alongside him."
Kilgore - "Today, he looked to be as far from away from a big league mound as he believes he is, not as close as the Nationals had hoped."
Goessling - "Most of the other pitchers looked fine, but Wang's arm strength just isn't there yet."
Sometimes you go out on a limb and it works. Sometimes you go out on a limb and Wang just never gets there... Wait... Thats not right...
Showing posts with label 40-Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 40-Man. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
And Then There Were Two...
Yesterday the Nats cut ties with 23 year-old Dutch-Antilles right-hander Shairon Martis, designating the starter for assignment; passing him through waivers to be released, traded or sent to Syracuse. Although I'm not sure what is going to happen to Martis, I believe that he has seen his last days in the Nationals Organization and that some other team will take a chance on the 2009 rotation member. The move was made to clear way for utilityman-extraordinaire, Jerry Hairston, who signed a $2 million dollar Major League contract a few days ago.
With that domino falling, the Nats have just a few more housekeeping moves to be made before Pitchers and Catchers report on February 16th. As of now, before the Gorzelanny and Coffey deals are accepted by MLB, the Nats have 42 men on their 40-man roster. That means 2 men are going to be unceremoniously booted to the curb.
On December 21st I wrote a post called 40-Man Maintenance that, among other things, attempted to weed out the moves that the Front Office needed to make in order to fit all the new players on the roster. In said post I predicted that Matt Chico, Justin Maxwell, and Luis Atilano would be cut; and to my credit, Chico was cut later that day. As of now, I believe that there are now 3 true candidates to be considered for removal from the 40-Man. Here is what I wrote about those 3 candidates in the previously alluded-to post.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Predictions: 25 year-old Atilano stays. 27 year-old Mock and Maxwell gone.
With that domino falling, the Nats have just a few more housekeeping moves to be made before Pitchers and Catchers report on February 16th. As of now, before the Gorzelanny and Coffey deals are accepted by MLB, the Nats have 42 men on their 40-man roster. That means 2 men are going to be unceremoniously booted to the curb.
On December 21st I wrote a post called 40-Man Maintenance that, among other things, attempted to weed out the moves that the Front Office needed to make in order to fit all the new players on the roster. In said post I predicted that Matt Chico, Justin Maxwell, and Luis Atilano would be cut; and to my credit, Chico was cut later that day. As of now, I believe that there are now 3 true candidates to be considered for removal from the 40-Man. Here is what I wrote about those 3 candidates in the previously alluded-to post.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Predictions: 25 year-old Atilano stays. 27 year-old Mock and Maxwell gone.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Spring Training Battles
The past several weeks have been very eventful in NatsTown. So far this Hot Stove season has seen the Nats find a first-baseman (via last man standing WWE-style), add several valuable bullpen arms, and stock our bench with several legitimate veterans. What this means for the 2011 club is simple, the most eventful portion of the season for this team might just be Spring Training. With that in mind, I want to take a quick look at our 40-man roster, and who might be settling in on the 25-man roster once the regular season begins.
Traditionally the 25-man roster is situated as such. 12 Pitchers (5 starters, 7 relievers). 2 Catchers. 1 each for the 7 remaining positions. 4 Bench Players (2 OF and 2 IF/Utility).
Here is a breakdown of what the Nats currently have (including Spring Training Invites), compared to what they will need to cut down come March 31st. And as a special treat, without looking at any statistics I am going to denote my guesses with a *.
Catchers (2 total):
Ivan Rodriguez*
Wilson Ramos*
Jesus Flores
Infielders (6 total):
Adam LaRoche*
Danny Espinosa*
Ian Desmond*
Ryan Zimmerman*
Alex Cora
Jerry Hairston Jr.*
Alberto Gonzalez*
Brian Bixler
Michael Aubrey
Chris Marrero
Outfield (5 total):
Jayson Werth*
Nyjer Morgan*
Roger Bernadina*
Rick Ankiel*
Michael Morse*
Corey Brown
Matt Stairs
Justin Maxwell
Jeff Frazier
Jonathan Van Every
Bryce Harper
One of the great details about our current roster design is that several of these players I have *'ed have the ability to play all around the field (Hairston, Gonzalez, and Morse) thereby increasing their chances of making the 25-man.
And now comes the most difficult of them all. Pitchers. I'm going to break them down between starters and relievers.
Starters (5 total):
John Lannan*
Livan Hernandez*
Yunesky Maya
Jordan Zimmermann*
Jason Marquis*
Tom Gorzelanny
Shairon Martis
Garrett Mock
Luis Atilano
Ross Detwiler
Chien-Ming Wang*
Brian Broderick
Relievers (7 total):
Collin Balester*
Sean Burnett*
Adam Carr
Tyler Clippard*
Cole Kimball
Elvin Ramirez
Henry Rodriguez
Atahualpa Severino
Doug Slaten*
Craig Stammen*
Drew Storen*
Joe Bisenius
Chad Gaudin
Ryan Mattheus
Todd Coffey*
Wow. That is an awful lot of players from which to choose. Now here are some of the battles we should expect to see solved this spring (analysis as we get closer to decision time).
Catchers - Wilson Ramos and Jesus Flores vs. Pudge Rodriguez
- Who starts on Opening Day? Will we see both of the young stud's replace the veteran HOFer? Will Flores finally be healthy?
Infield Bench - Alex Cora vs Alberto Gonzalez
- Does Gonzalez have a leg up because of his history on the club, or will it go to the more experienced Alex Cora?
Outfield - Left-Field - Rick Ankiel vs. Roger Bernadina vs. Michael Morse
- Will there be a straight lefty-righty platoon? Who will start Opening Day? Will all 3 make the roster?
Outfield Bench - Losers of Left-Field Starter battle vs. Matt Stairs
- Will the veteran's big left-handed bat and power potential keep him on the roster?
Starting Pitchers - Battle for the 5th Rotation Spot
- Will Gorzelanny win the 5th spot? Will he be handed the job even if he has a bad spring? What happens to those who don't win the 5th spot; minors or release? What will a healthy Chien-Ming Wang look like? Will Detwiler finally reach his potential? What will a dominant Venezuelan Winter Leagues performance mean for Yunesky Maya, has he turned the corner?
Bullpen - Battle for the Bullpen
- Who will be given a spot based on last year's performance? Will Storen be sent to the minors? Will Todd Coffey and Chad Gaudin be given spots regardless of performance? What will Henry Rodriguez do? Will Balester control the ball enough to earn a spot? Will Chad Gaudin earn a spot?
I hope you enjoyed our quick look at all the possible battles that will take place this year down in windy Viera!
Any other battles that you are looking forward to? Sound off in the comments.
Traditionally the 25-man roster is situated as such. 12 Pitchers (5 starters, 7 relievers). 2 Catchers. 1 each for the 7 remaining positions. 4 Bench Players (2 OF and 2 IF/Utility).
Here is a breakdown of what the Nats currently have (including Spring Training Invites), compared to what they will need to cut down come March 31st. And as a special treat, without looking at any statistics I am going to denote my guesses with a *.
Catchers (2 total):
Ivan Rodriguez*
Wilson Ramos*
Jesus Flores
Infielders (6 total):
Adam LaRoche*
Danny Espinosa*
Ian Desmond*
Ryan Zimmerman*
Alex Cora
Jerry Hairston Jr.*
Alberto Gonzalez*
Brian Bixler
Michael Aubrey
Chris Marrero
Outfield (5 total):
Jayson Werth*
Nyjer Morgan*
Roger Bernadina*
Rick Ankiel*
Michael Morse*
Corey Brown
Matt Stairs
Justin Maxwell
Jeff Frazier
Jonathan Van Every
Bryce Harper
One of the great details about our current roster design is that several of these players I have *'ed have the ability to play all around the field (Hairston, Gonzalez, and Morse) thereby increasing their chances of making the 25-man.
And now comes the most difficult of them all. Pitchers. I'm going to break them down between starters and relievers.
Starters (5 total):
John Lannan*
Livan Hernandez*
Yunesky Maya
Jordan Zimmermann*
Jason Marquis*
Tom Gorzelanny
Shairon Martis
Garrett Mock
Luis Atilano
Ross Detwiler
Chien-Ming Wang*
Brian Broderick
Relievers (7 total):
Collin Balester*
Sean Burnett*
Adam Carr
Tyler Clippard*
Cole Kimball
Elvin Ramirez
Henry Rodriguez
Atahualpa Severino
Doug Slaten*
Craig Stammen*
Drew Storen*
Joe Bisenius
Chad Gaudin
Ryan Mattheus
Todd Coffey*
Wow. That is an awful lot of players from which to choose. Now here are some of the battles we should expect to see solved this spring (analysis as we get closer to decision time).
Catchers - Wilson Ramos and Jesus Flores vs. Pudge Rodriguez
- Who starts on Opening Day? Will we see both of the young stud's replace the veteran HOFer? Will Flores finally be healthy?
Infield Bench - Alex Cora vs Alberto Gonzalez
- Does Gonzalez have a leg up because of his history on the club, or will it go to the more experienced Alex Cora?
Outfield - Left-Field - Rick Ankiel vs. Roger Bernadina vs. Michael Morse
- Will there be a straight lefty-righty platoon? Who will start Opening Day? Will all 3 make the roster?
Outfield Bench - Losers of Left-Field Starter battle vs. Matt Stairs
- Will the veteran's big left-handed bat and power potential keep him on the roster?
Starting Pitchers - Battle for the 5th Rotation Spot
- Will Gorzelanny win the 5th spot? Will he be handed the job even if he has a bad spring? What happens to those who don't win the 5th spot; minors or release? What will a healthy Chien-Ming Wang look like? Will Detwiler finally reach his potential? What will a dominant Venezuelan Winter Leagues performance mean for Yunesky Maya, has he turned the corner?
Bullpen - Battle for the Bullpen
- Who will be given a spot based on last year's performance? Will Storen be sent to the minors? Will Todd Coffey and Chad Gaudin be given spots regardless of performance? What will Henry Rodriguez do? Will Balester control the ball enough to earn a spot? Will Chad Gaudin earn a spot?
I hope you enjoyed our quick look at all the possible battles that will take place this year down in windy Viera!
Any other battles that you are looking forward to? Sound off in the comments.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Aaron Thompson Gone
Today the Pittsburgh Pirates (Nationals North?) claimed LHP Aaron Thompson on waivers. Clearly the Nationals DFA'ed him several days ago, a la Chico, and it was only found out because the Pirates claimed him. Initially this looks like a great move for the Pirates and a not smart move for the Nats, as the home-team has given up a top 23 year-old lefty whose as recently as last year was listed a #8 in the FanGraphs Nationals Top 10 Prospects.
Thompson had an interesting history with the Nationals organization, having come over here during the 2009 season in the Nick Johnson trade to the Fish. At the time he was a 22 year-old lefty from Florida, making his was through the Marlins Farm System. He came out of High School and was drafted 22nd overall in the 2005 First Year Player Draft.
Over the years his stats have been very back and forth, but one main problem has been evident; he has struggled with the higher levels of the minors. In 2008 Thompson had a 5.62 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP in AA Jacksonville. Held back another year by the Fish, Thompson stayed with the Jacksonville Suns and improved to a 4.11 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in limited action before he was traded at the deadline. For the rest of the year he pitched for the Nationals at AA Harrisburg where he put up a respectable 3.31 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 6 games.
2010, however, turned out to be a different story. He pitched the entire year with the Senators save 1 mid-April start at AAA Syracuse) and his stats took a nose-dive. In 26 starts he had a dreadful 4-13 record with a 5.80 ERA and 1.58 WHIP, while his BB/9 ratio ballooned to a career high 5.40 walks per 9 innings. Some other bad stats are a career high HR allowed (16), career high walks (53), and a career high runs allowed by 34 more runs (88 vs previous high 54).
Last year could prove to be an aberration in the young career of Aaron Thompson, or it could be a sign of things to come. The Nats obviously believe it was the latter. For now, Thompson goes to the Pirates, joining Joel Hanrahan and Scott Olsen, in the city where careers go to die.
Thompson had an interesting history with the Nationals organization, having come over here during the 2009 season in the Nick Johnson trade to the Fish. At the time he was a 22 year-old lefty from Florida, making his was through the Marlins Farm System. He came out of High School and was drafted 22nd overall in the 2005 First Year Player Draft.
Over the years his stats have been very back and forth, but one main problem has been evident; he has struggled with the higher levels of the minors. In 2008 Thompson had a 5.62 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP in AA Jacksonville. Held back another year by the Fish, Thompson stayed with the Jacksonville Suns and improved to a 4.11 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in limited action before he was traded at the deadline. For the rest of the year he pitched for the Nationals at AA Harrisburg where he put up a respectable 3.31 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 6 games.
2010, however, turned out to be a different story. He pitched the entire year with the Senators save 1 mid-April start at AAA Syracuse) and his stats took a nose-dive. In 26 starts he had a dreadful 4-13 record with a 5.80 ERA and 1.58 WHIP, while his BB/9 ratio ballooned to a career high 5.40 walks per 9 innings. Some other bad stats are a career high HR allowed (16), career high walks (53), and a career high runs allowed by 34 more runs (88 vs previous high 54).
Last year could prove to be an aberration in the young career of Aaron Thompson, or it could be a sign of things to come. The Nats obviously believe it was the latter. For now, Thompson goes to the Pirates, joining Joel Hanrahan and Scott Olsen, in the city where careers go to die.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Now that Chico's gone...
.... is he really gone? Mere hours after Mac posted about 40-man roster maintenance yesterday and predicted he would be one of the pitchers to go, the Nationals designated Matt Chico for assignment. It was a good decision for the Nats, given Chico's age and the tough decisions that the front office will have to make in the next few days to free up two more spots.
But because Chico was DFA'd and not outright released, is there a chance he passes through waivers and ends up in Syracuse? It seems incredibly unlikely. Even if he makes it through the 7 days and no MLB team claims him, I don't think he goes back to pitch in AAA without being on the 40-man roster. The only reason Chico was happy to stay there in the first place was the off chance that a bomb goes off in the Nats starting rotation, giving him an opportunity to pitch in DC again.
But without that opportunity, I have to imagine he'll take his chances with a Spring Training invite from another team. He's bound to get a little bit of interest there. Though that raises another issue. If you can't make the Washington Nationals starting rotation, what rotation can you make? It really puts Chico in a tough spot. Chico's injury history also doesn't help with his advancing age.
Whatever happens, good luck to Matt. With the Nationals in a true rebuilding stage with very young arms and very experienced veterans, he never really stood a chance.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
40-Man Maintenance
The Nationals have made many moves over the past few days that may or may not have a drastic impact on the big-league club in 2011. First, they re-signed Chien-Ming Wang to a 1 year major-league deal. Second, they signed former pitching hot shot-turned OF wonder Rick Ankiel to a 1 year major-league deal. And in a slew of Monday moves the Nationals signed several minor league players (some free agents from within the organization, some from without) to different types of deals; minor league, minor league/spring training invite, major league). Only one of those players is reserved a spot on the 40-Man roster, right-handed sinkerballer Ryan Mattheus.
You know the stories of Wang and Ankiel, but you may not know anything about Mattheus, a 19th round pick for Colorado in the 2003 First Year Player Draft. He first came to the Nationals farm system in the trade that sent Joe Beimel to the Rockies. Just 3 weeks prior to the trade, Mattheus went under the knife for the all-too-familiar Tommy John Surgery. Fast-forward to this year, he was healthy enough to get in 10 games in, spread across the GCL Nationals and Vermont Lake Monsters. His stats: 10 games, 11.1 IP, 0.79 ERA, 3 R, 1ER, 11K, 3BB, .971 WHIP.
Mattheus will most likely start the season in the Nationals Bullpen.
These moves lead us to several decisions. We have 43 people for the 40-Man Roster. Who stays? Who goes?
Pitchers:
Atilano, Balester, Broderick, Burnett, Carr, Chico, Clippard, Detwiler, Hernandez, Kimball, Lannan, Marquis, Martin, Martis, Maya, Mock, (Edwin) Ramirez, (Henry) Rodriguez, Severino, Slaten, Stammen, Storen, Strasburg, Thompson, Zimmermann
Catchers:
Flores, Ramos, Rodriguez
Infielders:
Desmond, Espinosa, Gonzalez, Marrero, Zimmerman
Outfielders:
Bernadina, Brown, Harper, Maxwell, Morgan, Morse, Werth
We need space for Ankiel, Mattheus, and Wang. Lets look at the candidates.
Matt Chico: Career Totals: 7-15 Record. 4.95 ERA. 5.15 FIP. 1.56 WHIP. -0.3 WAR
Matt Chico was one of the stars of the 2007 Rotation Cattle Call, ending up as our #2 starter in 2008 before his career was sidetracked by Tommy John surgery. Never more than a placeholder, Chico holds value in that he throws a baseball with his left hand. At 27, he is running out of chances.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Shairon Martis: Career Totals: 6-6 Record. 5.33 ERA. 5.54 FIP. 1.43 WHIP. -0.2 WAR
The career of Shairon Martis was the precursor to Atilano's. Earned a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training in '09, won 5 of his first 7 starts (including an amazing complete game victory over St. Louis), and then never won another start. This was over a year ago. Martis didn't even scratch the Majors last year as he put up pedestrian numbers in AAA; 4.09 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. The plus side is that Martis is just 23 years old, so he still has some time to develop.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Atahualpa Severino: Career Totals (Minors): 26-9 Record. 2.77 ERA. 1.155 WHIP.
Severino is a 26 year old left-handed reliever, meaning he has yet to really find his niche as a pitcher. He has dabbled a bit with closing while in Potomac in 2009, but has been relegated to regular bullpen duty otherwise. His minor league numbers are pretty solid, but he is 26 years old and has yet to make the majors. Will the Nationals have a need for another lefty arm out of the pen?
Craig Stammen: Career Totals: 8-11 Record. 5.12 ERA. 4.34 FIP. 1.40 WHIP. 2.1 WAR.
Stammen seemed to reinvent himself over the 2nd half of last season; around August when he was demoted to the bullpen. In 16 appearances out of the 'pen, Stammen had 2 appearances where he gave up 1ER, 3 where he gave up 2ER, and 1 when he gave up more than 2ER. All of the rest of his appearances were of the 0 ER variety. The Nats are going to have a need for a solid long-reliever, and sinkerballer Craig Stammen has proven that he at least deserves a shot.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Prediction: Martis, Mock, Severino, Stammen stay. Maxwell, Chico, and Atilano go.
You know the stories of Wang and Ankiel, but you may not know anything about Mattheus, a 19th round pick for Colorado in the 2003 First Year Player Draft. He first came to the Nationals farm system in the trade that sent Joe Beimel to the Rockies. Just 3 weeks prior to the trade, Mattheus went under the knife for the all-too-familiar Tommy John Surgery. Fast-forward to this year, he was healthy enough to get in 10 games in, spread across the GCL Nationals and Vermont Lake Monsters. His stats: 10 games, 11.1 IP, 0.79 ERA, 3 R, 1ER, 11K, 3BB, .971 WHIP.
Mattheus will most likely start the season in the Nationals Bullpen.
These moves lead us to several decisions. We have 43 people for the 40-Man Roster. Who stays? Who goes?
Pitchers:
Atilano, Balester, Broderick, Burnett, Carr, Chico, Clippard, Detwiler, Hernandez, Kimball, Lannan, Marquis, Martin, Martis, Maya, Mock, (Edwin) Ramirez, (Henry) Rodriguez, Severino, Slaten, Stammen, Storen, Strasburg, Thompson, Zimmermann
Catchers:
Flores, Ramos, Rodriguez
Infielders:
Desmond, Espinosa, Gonzalez, Marrero, Zimmerman
Outfielders:
Bernadina, Brown, Harper, Maxwell, Morgan, Morse, Werth
We need space for Ankiel, Mattheus, and Wang. Lets look at the candidates.
Matt Chico: Career Totals: 7-15 Record. 4.95 ERA. 5.15 FIP. 1.56 WHIP. -0.3 WAR
Matt Chico was one of the stars of the 2007 Rotation Cattle Call, ending up as our #2 starter in 2008 before his career was sidetracked by Tommy John surgery. Never more than a placeholder, Chico holds value in that he throws a baseball with his left hand. At 27, he is running out of chances.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Shairon Martis: Career Totals: 6-6 Record. 5.33 ERA. 5.54 FIP. 1.43 WHIP. -0.2 WAR
The career of Shairon Martis was the precursor to Atilano's. Earned a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training in '09, won 5 of his first 7 starts (including an amazing complete game victory over St. Louis), and then never won another start. This was over a year ago. Martis didn't even scratch the Majors last year as he put up pedestrian numbers in AAA; 4.09 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. The plus side is that Martis is just 23 years old, so he still has some time to develop.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Atahualpa Severino: Career Totals (Minors): 26-9 Record. 2.77 ERA. 1.155 WHIP.
Severino is a 26 year old left-handed reliever, meaning he has yet to really find his niche as a pitcher. He has dabbled a bit with closing while in Potomac in 2009, but has been relegated to regular bullpen duty otherwise. His minor league numbers are pretty solid, but he is 26 years old and has yet to make the majors. Will the Nationals have a need for another lefty arm out of the pen?
Craig Stammen: Career Totals: 8-11 Record. 5.12 ERA. 4.34 FIP. 1.40 WHIP. 2.1 WAR.
Stammen seemed to reinvent himself over the 2nd half of last season; around August when he was demoted to the bullpen. In 16 appearances out of the 'pen, Stammen had 2 appearances where he gave up 1ER, 3 where he gave up 2ER, and 1 when he gave up more than 2ER. All of the rest of his appearances were of the 0 ER variety. The Nats are going to have a need for a solid long-reliever, and sinkerballer Craig Stammen has proven that he at least deserves a shot.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Prediction: Martis, Mock, Severino, Stammen stay. Maxwell, Chico, and Atilano go.
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