Despite Walk-Off Win, Nats Offense Still Struggling

The Brewers try the 5-man infield on the Nats before the walk of sacrifice by Adam LaRoche.
(Photo - Joe Drugan/Capitol Baseball 2011)

The Nats took down the Brewers in exciting walk-off fashion on Friday evening. The story could be that Sean Burnett blew his first save of the season, but it's not. It could also be that Tom Gorzelanny threw just 85 pitches in 6 innings and looked sharp all night, but that's not it either. The story is that the Nats won a 4-3 game by managing just 5 hits

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a walk-off win and forget how ugly it was that it even happened, though. The 3 Nats runs that scored in the 2nd inning were not generated as much by clutch hits; it was because Chris Narveson walked in 2 of them, and the bases were still loaded when Danny Espinosa sacrificed Michael Morse home with just 1 out. The only reason Morse wasn't gunned out at home was because Braun's throw from left field was up the 1st base line. Then, the game winning run was only scored because of an errant throw on a Jayson Werth grounder in the 10th by SS Yuniesky Betancourt that allowed Werth to get to 2nd on what would have been the 2nd out of the inning.

Sure, there are positives to glean from the Nats offense. There were hitters patient enough to draw walks to get runs. Even more than that, Jayson Werth stealing 3rd after getting to 2nd on Betancourt's error sealed the game for the Nats. It's smart baserunning and smart plate presence. But the Nats still have been incapable of putting together hits with any consistency. This win is an anomaly for the Nats, as they never strung together more than 2 hits in an inning, yet still managed to score 4 runs.

I'm confident that when Zimmerman returns and Werth settles in at the dish, there will be more exciting offensive times ahead, but the Nats must continue to rely on pitching and defense until then.

From Tony Plush to Angry Nyjer: The Confusing Journey of Nyjer Morgan

(Inside Pitch photo Courtesy natstown.mlblogs.com)

When the Nats acquired Nyjer Morgan from the the Pittsburgh Pirates, many were impressed with Mike Rizzo's trade that brought the center fielder and Sean Burnett to the team for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan. Rizzo simultaneously unloaded a chronic underachiever and bad attitude guy in Milledge and got another speedster with a seemingly jovial personality and above average fielding skills in Morgan. What could go wrong?

Well in 2009, nothing did. Morgan, or Tony Plush as he was known back then, put together stellar numbers in the final 49 games of the 2009 season: a .351 batting average, a .396 on base percentage, and a .435 slugging percentage. The Nats thought they had finally found the cure to what had been ailing them since 2005: a center fielder and lead off man.

On top of his on-the-field successes, Nyjer was a fun interview. At several points throughout the season, he did funny, witty, interesting interviews with members of the DC media. It showed an interesting side of the quirky, yet passionate Nationals center fielder.

But 2010 was the year of Angry Nyjer. Morgan's batting average peaked at .293 on April 26th, and it was all downhill from there. As Nyjer struggled to keep his batting average above .250 or to do the only thing that kept him valuable, steal bases, his friendliness and quirkiness became anger and frustration. He was no longer the life of the clubhouse, he was the guy you treaded lightly around.

(Photo Courtesy Nationals Enquirer)

It started on May 22nd when the Nationals were facing the Orioles in the "Battle of the Beltways." In the 4th inning, Morgan jumped at the wall, and he thought the Adam Jones hit had become a traditional outside-the-park home run. So, he threw is glove down in anger. Meanwhile, as you see above, the ball was sitting on the warning track. Then-LF Josh Willingham came over to retrieve the ball and throw it in, but it was too late. Adam Jones had notched one of the most embarassing inside-the-park home runs in baseball history.

Next came the August 21st incident where Nyjer threw a ball into the stands, reportedly at a fan, in Philadelphia. A week later on August 28th, Morgan plowed into St. Louis Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson in the 8th inning, which resulted in Morgan being removed from the lineup by Manager Jim Riggleman the next game.

Finally came the incident that very well may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. It came in the 6th inning of the September 1st game between the Nats and the Marlins. Morgan was hit by a pitch in the 4th frame with the Marlins up 14-3. Then, he stole 2nd and 3rd before scoring. The Marlins didn't take kindly to that, so Volstad threw behind Morgan in his next at bat. For those of you who want to reminisce and hear the Marlins broadcasters take on the brawl, the sequence can be seen here at MLB.com.

As Nyjer left the field from the brawl, he was seen taunting Marlins fans and yelling obscenities. After serving his suspension, Morgan was back in the Nats lineup to end the 2010 season.

Entering camp in 2011, I was among those shocked to see Nyjer still competing for the center field job. He had put his teammates in a precarious situation multiple times in 2010. Baseball is a game of retribution. When Nyjer shows up other pitchers, his teammates get thrown at. It's just part of the sport, whether you agree with it or not.

But the Nats acquisition of Rick Ankiel in the offseason was, to me, the ultimate signal that Nyjer may be on his way out. Despite Riggleman saying that Nyjer would be the team's CF on Opening Day, we just couldn't believe that was true. Nyjer would have to have insane spring numbers for him to compete, and well, he didn't. He struggled at the plate and in the field.

Last in the long list of atrocities that led to Morgan's demise was when he told reporters he didn't expect to be with the team come Opening Day. Well, Nyjer and Nats fans got their wish. He's now an outfielder in the Milwaukee Brewers organization (a team that Commissioner Selig is closely associated with and owned before becoming Commissioner).

That marks the end of this interesting, confusing, and disappointing history of Nyjer Morgan's history with the Washington Nationals organization.

We hope this has been an interesting look back at the Tale of Two Nyjers. Have you made it this far? Do you have any great (or terrible) Tony Plush/Nyjer Morgan stories that you'd like to share? Leave them in the comments.

Farewell Wil Nieves

In one of the most underwhelming moves of the MLB Winter Meetings, former Nationals C Wil Nieves signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. After being non-tendered along with Chien-Ming Wang and Joel Peralta (still don't get that one) just before the meetings began, Wil gets an opportunity to be a back up in another struggling baseball city. But I'm going to be honest with you folks, I'm really going to miss Wil Nieves.

The thing that I'll miss about Wil Nieves certainly isn't his .227 batting average, or his 5 career home runs in more than 700 career at-bats. Actually, it's not even his above average defensive ability behind the plate or the way he called games. It's his personality and his genuine ability to light up a room and give a great interview.

Nieves was one of the rare cases where everyone knew his baseball ability wasn't quite up to par for a team that desperately needed a great catcher to help a young rotation, but the players, and many fans, just loved him anyway. Sure, his at-bats would be frustrating when you have runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, and he'd inevitably strike out. Or when there was a runner on 1st with 1 out and he'd ground into that double play. But again, this isn't why the Nationals kept him around.

It was for the times when he hit the towering home run at Sun Life Stadium in 2010 that would have gone for miles if the upper-deck seats didn't get in the way. It was about the joy on Wil's face; it was about the dugout jabs for still being able to count an entire career worth of home runs on one hand; it was about his enthusiasm for the game he loves so much.

At this point, I know some of you are probabably thinking, "wow, Capitol Baseball has really gone overboard with their praise for Wil Nieves here." But I assure you, we haven't. When you're listening to Charlie and Dave this season and you don't get to hear Wil's walkup song once or twice a week, you'll notice it missing. When you're hanging out at Nationals Park, you won't be able to look up into the press box and see Charlie and Dave dancing. And most importantly, you won't get the joy of leaping up when he gets that 6th career home run so he can stop counting them on just one hand.

So good luck Wil. I wish you nothing but the best in Milwaukee. Hopefully you can get Bob Uecker to give you an honorary dance. We'll see you in DC in April. I leave you with this, our farewell moment of zen:

A Pitcher's Dual for One and An Epic Shutout for Another (rant included)

Yesterday did not disappoint for those who were looking for that pitcher's dual between Livan and Ubaldo. The Nationals (now 8-8; 4th in NL East) lost the game 2-0, and once again were unable to make the surge to 2 games over .500. With the loss last night, the Nats were hit with their first loss of the season when the starting pitcher pitched more than 5 innings (Hernandez went 8). That said, that means they're still 7-1 when the starter goes more than 5, so I'll take those odds.

As for the overall game and the starters, the Rockies never got a sustained rally in this last game of the series. Livan gave up two big flies to Miguel Olivo and the hot-hitting Ian Stewart, but there were no strong back-to-back hit RBI situations. Hernandez actually only gave up 2 hits other than the home runs. In any other game with this year's Nats offense, that would have been enough. It just so happens that Ubaldo Jimenez was on the mound for the other guys, and he looked remarkable once again.

Hernandez (with a still incredible 0.75 ERA) more than exceeded my expectations in a follow up to 2 spectacular games; he had as many K's as Jimenez did (5), and had more in last nights game than in his two other starts combined (4). But Jimenez, now 4-0 on the year and tied for the best in the NL with Roy Halladay, got the results. 7 1/3 innings of shutout, 5-hit baseball in the outing immediately after his no-hitter against Atlanta. My hat is off to Jimenez, who is now, statistically, among the best pitchers in baseball.

In other remarkable baseball news, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 20-0 in their day game yesterday at PNC Park. Yes, that's right: 20-0. This is the 5th largest shut out margin since 1900 and the worst loss in the Pirates 124 year history. This game was total annihilation by a Brewers team that lost its series with the Washington Nationals. While everyone has a bad day (see first inning of Nats/Brewers game on April 18), this is just the continuation of a depressing streak for the Pittsburgh faithful. It was bad enough that it has been 17, count em, 17 seasons since the Bucs have had a winning season. Now you have to add this to the pitiful display.

These stories of baseball incompetence have to make you wonder if at some point the league needs to intervene to correct the gross mismanagement of that ball club. Sorry Brewers fans, but the destruction of the Pirates last night had less to do with your talent, and more to do with the Pirates status as the bottom-feeders of the league for almost two decades.

Come back later tonight for a preview of Luis Atilano's MLB debut and game one of the Dodgers series with Nats tonight. As always, comments below are welcome!