Extension Talk

At this point in time baseball talk is at a bit of a calm before the storm - Fielder hasn't signed yet, the trade market is at a stand still, and players are into their last month of the off-season. And over the past few weeks there have been several extension discussions (both local and national media) about some of the Nats upper-caliber players. Let's dig into a few of these and see if they make sense for the ballclub.

Michael Morse: MLB Trade Rumors
- Morse is a unique candidate with no real comps in recent memory, MLBTR makes this point more than anything because it would be extremely difficult for both agent and team to see what exactly the player is worth. His 2010 and 2011 campaigns are well documented, but what he lacks is a long track record of success - working into the teams' favor. The fact remains that Morse will be 30 in March and is still under team control for another two seasons. Tim Dierkes of MLBTR suggests a 3-year/$18.5 Million deal, with the Nats trying to get a $10 Million option for the next year. Morse is pretty much at the tail of his peak, but looking at his value the past two years (tied to WAR) this would be a very team-friendly deal.

John Lannan: Adam Kilgore - Washington Post
- This is kind of awkward... John Lannan has been the Nats Opening Day starter in both 2009 and 2010 - only to get the yips and need a little time at Harrisburg to work out some kinks. Coming into the 2012 season however, Lannan is going into Spring Training in competition for the 5th spot against fellow lefty Ross Detwiler. Kilgore argues that Lannan's durability is just a valuable to the club as his numbers; he isn't necessarily wrong. It should be noted that Lannan has two more years of club control before reaching free agency. Adam Kilgore suggests that something around 3-years/$20 Million to be an appropriate deal. I can't see a player that might be the odd man out come Opening Day (love the options game) getting a $20 Million dollar extension.

Tyler Clippard: MLB Trade Rumors
- Like Michael Morse, Tyler Clippard poses a very rare case in terms of potential future earnings due to a variety of factors. Working in the teams' favor, Clippard isn't a closer and therefore he doesn't have saves to pad his resume in an arbitration hearing - saving the ballclub money. Although he has been one of the top relievers in all of baseball, closer or not, the market doesn't really reward non-closer relievers top dollar or multi-year deals. We have written in this space several times about how Tyler Clippard is not human; citing durability and freakish stats. Rizzo and company usually don't do multi-year deals for relievers, but Dierkes writes that Clippard's numbers have only improved - and that he is only 27 years-old. Based on his projected 2012 Arbitration amount, MLBTR suggests a 2-year/$4.5 Million or 3-year/8$ Million deal for the bespectacled reliever.

For the record - I would take the Clippard and Morse deals and hold off on Lannan.

Which of these deals would you take? Who else would you extend on the Nats (be more creative than Zimmerman(n))?

A Few Good Men: 1 - Morse

Today is Part 1 of our 44 part series examining each player that suited up in a Curly W this year. Yes, this is probably a fool's errand and the worst CapBall move since Joe asked us to take over this blog - but it's also fun.

So sit back, relax, grab a nice cup of (Irish) coffee and enjoy the ride.

Michael "The Beast" Morse
How he became a Nat: A June 2009 trade from the Seattle Mariners - for Ryan Langerhans.
The Raw Numbers:
AVG - .303
OPS - .910
RBI - 95
HR - 31
wOBA - .387
WAR - 3.4

Key Stat:
As 1B - .336/.401/.601. 318 ABs. 53 R. 107 H. 27 2B. 19 HR. 62 RBI.
As OF - .254/.293/.482. 193 ABs. 23 R. 49 H. 8 2B. 12 HR. 23 RBI.
This is something that all Nats fans need to be aware of when thinking about next year - it could always be a coincidence, if you want to take that chance. I wrote about this very issue over at The Nats Blog.

Best Game: So many choices here, I'm going to go with June 15th - a Nats 10-0 win against the Cardinals. Michael Morse went 3 for 4 with 2 HR, a 2B, and 3 RBI.

Worst Game: September 5th against the LA Dodgers. Morse went 0 for 5 while racking up the ole Golden Sombrero (4K). The lone non-strikeout was a foul-out. Morse couldn't even put the ball in play.

CapBall Grade: A. This shouldn't come as a surprise to you. Michael Morse was an absolute powerhouse this year - not just on the Nats but in the National League. Morse finished in the top 10 in AVG, OPS, SLUG%, 2B, HR, RBI, and AB/HR. With any luck, he will finish in the top 10 of the MVP voting.

2012 Nats Status: Morse is a lock to return to the Nats for next year - there would be a sheer revolt if that's not the case. The only thing that is in question is which position he plays - 1B or OF.

Quick Rain Delay Wrap Up

We're live from Nationals Park and blogging from the iPhone in the midst of a psudo-treacherous rain delay. 

The Nats lineup tonight is fairly standard, though Ian Desmond gets his 2nd straight day in the lead off spot. It hasn't been a successful experiment in the lead off spot for Desmond, who's sported a .167/.196/.278 slash line there this season. 

The player that continues to fly under the radar across baseball, because he plays in our Nation's Capital, is Michael Morse. He's currently hitting .322 and sporting a .934 OPS. If he's still competing for the batting title in a few weeks, the national baseball media will start paying attention. 

We'll sign off for now but will be back with stuff from tonight's game tomorrow. Enjoy the matchup between Bronson Arroyo and Jordan Zimmermann in one of JZimm's last starts of the 2011 season due to his organizationally-imposed pitch limit. 

Morse is Going Back to the Outfield. We Don't Like It.

After Mike Morse's 21st ridiculously long home run of the season on Tuesday night, NatsTown was officially informed that Davey Johnson has little intention of playing Morse at 1st base after the September 1st expanded rosters. To make matters more interesting, Adam LaRoche has been all but guaranteed the starting 1B job once he's healthy.

I'm not quire sure how Beast Mode has taken this news, and he may have already known it from the start. But it doesn't sit well with us for a couple reasons.

1. Morse is hitting .334/.389/.607 in his career as a first baseman. Granted, it's on a fairly small sample size limited mostly to this season, but it's hard to argue with results. If Jose Reyes continues being hurt, there's a real chance that Morse could win the NL Batting Title.
2. As a left fielder, his numbers aren't so pretty: .248/.292/.339. Again, this is with an even smaller sample size, and lots of those numbers came from the disastrous start to this 2011 season when Adam LaRoche was (relatively) healthy and playing daily.

In all reality, the Nats didn't have a whole lot of options for Morse in yet another non-playoff season for the team. Eventually, the organization has to see what Chris Marrero can do against MLB pitching, so he'll get that chance this September.

The future will be interesting though, because as far as we know, Adam LaRoche will make a full recovery from shoulder surgery and return next season. Morse doesn't look natural in the outfield and has been outstanding at first base, but LaRoche has never played a day in the outfield in his MLB career. You certainly can't force him there now, and you have to play him when he's healthy. He's set to earn $8 million in 2012.

Luckily for the Nats, and all of us, Morse is under team control until the end of the 2013 season. With Bryce Harper set to make the trip to DC before then, another big free agency coming up, and a relatively hot middle of the order (Werth is still going to figure it out, right?), the Nats have certainly seemed to figure out their offensive problems of the 1st half. Now if they can avoid changing too many players' daily routines, it'll make the situation a lot more fluid into next year.

Can Michael Morse Win a Batting Title This Year?

As the end of the 2011 season creeps up on us far too quickly, it's certainly not too early to think about end-of-season awards and where the Nats might fit into the equation. We've talked extensively about Danny Espinosa's chances at winning Rookie of the Year, though his recent cold spell has significantly damaged his chances.

One thing we haven't talked about yet, though, is the NL Batting Title. Why can we even discuss it? Michael Morse. The only two players in the National League with better averages than Morse's .323 are Jose Reyes (.336; on the DL yet again) and Ryan Braun (.326). Pretty good company for a player who hasn't had a full-time starter's role in the majors until this season.

Let's go into a few reasons why we think there's a real chance that Morse will compete for the title all the way to the end.

1. Ryan Zimmerman - Not too many players have had the luxury of hitting behind All-Star, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glover Ryan Zimmerman, but Morse is one of them. We won't say that Zimm is the entire reason that Morse is here at this point of the season, because the Nats lineup was Zimm-less for the first few months of the season. But we will say that he's the reason that Morse will stay there. In the last 18 games, Zimm has seen his average go from .240 up to .298. An incredible jump indeed, and it will only help Morse get good pitches.
2. Opportunity - Morse won't be a bench player this season. With LaRoche done for the year, Mike will spend most of the rest of 2011 at 1st base. We're sure he'll get a few off days in September to give prospect Chris Marrero a chance after the roster expands to 40-men, but it won't be when Morse is hot, that's for sure.
3. History - This may surprise many of you, because it surprised me. Michael Morse's career batting average is .303. I couldn't believe it, but it's true (at least according to the wonderful folks at baseball-reference.com). Most of that may have been in a part-time role, and this year's astronomical numbers certainly haven't hurt, but you can't fake a .303 average over the course of 7 Major League seasons.

When the season ends, Mike Rizzo and Co. will have some really difficult decisions to make about the 1st base position. Do you trade Morse when his value is sky high? Do you make a push for Prince Fielder in free agency? What do you do with the returning (and expensive) Adam LaRoche? Is it time to see Chris Marrero's MLB potential?

But in the mean time, we get to enjoy having one of the best offensive first baseman in the National League this season, and one that can definitely win the batting title. It's one of those great stories in baseball. Enjoy it, NatsTown.

Nats at the Break: First-Half Surprises

Not many expected the Nats to be at .500 (46-46) at the All-Star Break this year, especially after how the season started. But a few winning streaks here and there, and some fundamentally sound baseball to boot, has the Nats flirting with .500 this late in the year for the first time in 6 years. So what were the surprises that helped (and hindered) the Nats progress to this point? Let's go over our top 5.

Jordan Zimmermann - Most everyone expected JZimm to be a great pitcher, but we're not sure anyone expected him to be this good, this quickly. He's already thrown more than 115 innings and posted a 2.66 ERA so far. In his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, he's earned a 3.3 WAR and is striking out 6.42 batters per 9 innings. JZimm is back and ready to dominate as a #2 starter in the Nats rotation. Maybe one day, he'll actually get some run support. Too bad he's got an innings limit to deal with this year, unless Davey Johnson has any say in the matter.

Jayson Werth - Werth has to be high on this list and not for fun reasons. He's been so bad, it's actually scary. The $18 million man is hitting just .215 with 10 homers and 31 RBI. He looks lost at the plate, and no moment was worse than when he grounded into a double play with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out in the 9th inning on Saturday night against the Rockies. The boo's were never louder; that was Werth's low point. Let's just hope he figures out over the 3-day break, because NatsTown patience is running very thin.

Michael Morse - Coming out of spring training, everyone expected big things from Morse, and at first, he disappointed. But after a rough April, he broke out in a huge way in May, June, and July. Now, he's hitting .306 with 15 jacks and has turned into a well-above average 1st baseman in Adam LaRoche's absence. Here's hope he can continue after the break.

Roger Bernadina - The Shark has developed a cult following like none other in the Nats organization. He's solidifying himself as an extremely solid lead off hitter by having an extremely high BABIP (.315) due to his extreme speed and numerous infield hits. Bernie is coming into his own before our very eyes, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

Danny Espinosa - It might seem crazy that the NL's #1 Rookie of the Year candidate would be #5 on our list here, but that's because we're talking about surprises here. Those of us that got to watch Espi at the end of 2010 aren't surprised to see him competing for the RoY honors. That said, Espinosa has been a team leader both offensively and defensively, and is going to make a significant push toward 2nd base Gold Glove honors as well. He and Morse have, without a doubt, been the strongest all-around players on the Nats roster this season, and we hope that's just the beginning.

Those are our top 5 first-half surprises. What are yours, CapBallers?

Are these Nats for real?

Last night during the Nats contest against the Angels, I simply mentioned how the Nats good play makes me nervous from time to time, as I await an implosion in quality of play. Well, said tweet brought a flurry of responses, from the logical, to the pessimistic, to the ludicrous.

It really got us thinking beyond, "wow, this team is fun to watch," because they are certainly that. It made us wonder just how sustainable this team actually is. When you look at the Nats offense, there is still much left to be desired. Besides Danny "ROY" Espinosa and Michael "Beast Mode" Morse, there hasn't been any sort of consistency at the plate. Jayson "$126 million" Werth has been simply abhorrent, and Zimmerman has struggled since his return, though he looked to be getting his swing back yesterday.

The folks over at We Love DC Sports may have said it best, though. They responded, "I know, right? I can see the bell curve's broken here, but damn if it's not fun to watch." That's exactly how we feel. The Nationals clearly are a much improved baseball team, not just since last season, but since last month. The defensive talent is there and realized; the pitching has far exceeded expectations. We all know how lackluster the offense has been overall, but between clutch hits and a new air of confidence in a small ball style with power, they've some how made it work.

But let's be real here, folks. We still don't believe this team is playoff bound this year, and quite frankly, there's no way that this current pace is sustainable. Once the Nats reached .500 though, the season starts over. You just have to win more games than you lose from here on out, and you're in contention to be relevant in September, something this team hasn't seen in nearly 6 years. And who here wouldn't just be thrilled with that after 5 straight years of disappointment? The Nats don't have to keep the same pace, a simply ludicrous 17-8 in June, to be continue to impress. They just have to continue playing .500 ball. It seems like this team is actually capable of doing just that.

What do you think CapBallers? Are these Nats for real?

More Morse

Seriously, how good has Michael Morse been? You are going to hear a lot of talk about him in the MSM in the next few weeks leading up to the All-Star Game, deservedly so. You see, Morse just garnered enough Plate Appearances to qualify for all of the MLB Leaderboards, and boy did he show up. Lets check out his season in comparison with other NL Players.

.309 Batting Average - 8th in NL
.564 Slugging % - 4th in NL
.921 OPS - 6th in NL
15.7 AB/HR - 6th in NL
.255 ISO - 5th in NL
.391 wOBA - 9th in NL
43 RBI - 15th in NL

After starting the season mired in a dreadful slump, hitting just .211 in April, he more than made up for it by hitting .403 in May and .328 in June. It seemed to all come alive when Morse moved to the infield as well, hitting .355 as a first-baseman. It would be great to see Morse be rewarded with an All-Star birth, but I expect we will be seeing him watching the game from home.

Either way, we are witnessing a player having a career year, enjoy it.

Michael Morse and his Surreal Streak

Because of the way the All-Star Game is selected (don't get me started), it's unlikely that a position player will end up a representative for the Nats in the Mid-Summer Classic. But one hefty argument could be made that Michael Morse would be the absolute best player to represent the Nats in Arizona in July.

The man they call Michael couldn't have started the season any worse after an incredible spring training. In March and April, Morse hit .211 with just 1 HR in 71 at-bats. People around NatsTown, including us, just figured it was the difference between hitting against guys working on stuff in Florida versus pitchers trying to get a win. But since May 1, Morse has proven just how wrong we were.

Since May began, Morse has logged 70 at-bats (compared to the 71 in March/April) and is hitting an awesome .429 with 6 HR. He's made great contact in at-bats and his strikeout rate has plummeted. On top of all that, Morse has put together a nice 11-game hit-streak that is still going, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Michael's successes seem to be lifting the Nats' bats out of their terrible slump.

As icing on the cake, his defense at first base has been impeccable since he replaced Adam LaRoche. He's committed no errors in over 110 chances at first base and continues to make great picks on throws in the dirt. It's easy to forget that this 6'5", 230 lb. monster used to play the middle infield in Seattle. He's got some real skills with the glove, and you'd never know it by watching him try to track a ball down in the outfield.

If Morse keeps up his offense and defense at first base, Nats GM Mike Rizzo is going to have a difficult decision to make for 2012. The Nats have LaRoche under contract next season, and it could be a matter of money and long-term career success, but you better believe it's a good problem to have.

But that's for another day. If you ask me, there's no doubt that, today, Michael Morse should be the Nationals All-Star representative in the 2011 Mid-Summer Classic.

Nationals Pending Contracts

Today, MLB Trade Rumors posted the contract issues the Nats face in 2012. We're going to go over the issues we think loom largest for the Nats in the next off-season. We know it's a ways off, but it's always fun to get worried really, really early.

1. 11 Pending Free Agents

• If they don't offer any contract extensions this season, the Nats are slated to have 11 players on the open market this coming off-season. Most are veteran journeymen that will either go by the wayside or sign low cost contract extensions late this season. However, there are some of note: Jason Marquis, Ivan Rodriguez, Chien-Ming Wang, and Livan Hernandez.
• The Nats have to decide if Marquis is worth re-signing. They may do so before the trading deadline, because according to MLBTR, the team would save $2.5 million if they unloaded him before the deadline. The Nats record in July may have a lot to do with that.
• Pudge is a Hall of Fame catcher that may no longer be extremely valuable to the club with Ramos, Flores, and Norris in the wings. I understand the player/coach mantra, but a spot on the 25-man roster is a valuable commodity.
• Wang may make the team's decision easy if he doesn't appear this season. He's cheap for his potential, but the Nats can only wait on him so long.
• Livo will be the truly interesting case. He's slowly become the recurring face of the pitching staff. First ever Nats Opening Day pitcher, back again to do it in 2011, and he's certainly a fan favorite. With the way the Nats pitching staff is evolving, Strasburg's return, Detwiler's improvement, and Maya's progression, the team may just run out of rotation spots for the old, reliable starter.

2. Arbitration Eligible Players

• Four players stick out on this list, too: Tyler Clippard, Jordan Zimmermann, Michael Morse, and John Lannan.
• Tyler Clippard is going to command a massive arbitration payday. He's currently only making $443,000 and is arguably the best reliever the Nats have. I'm not an arbitration expert, but I think Clipp will get the biggest pay bump, whether done before or during arbitration.
• JZimm is marked for $415,000 in 2011, and so he'll see a huge jump, too. Considering he's widely touted as the Nats #2 for the foreseeable future, it's worth the money, but it'll be expensive.
• Michael Morse is another beast in itself. Morse makes just over $1 million this season, and if you count 2010 and spring 2011, he was due for a big raise. But he's cooled off, almost staggeringly during the regular season. The Nats may find that Morse isn't worth what he may get in arbitration and might jettison that ship before we get there. Stay tuned to Morse's stats for the rest of this season. This will be a huge development.
• John Lannan, the Nats 2-time Opening Day starter, is another one of those who knows. Lannan's inconsistencies over the last 2 seasons are staggering, but he's a fine left hander to have at the bottom of the rotation. We're big Lannan fans here at Capitol Baseball, but with Lannan currently making $2.75 million, his net worth might exceed his asset to the club. Stay tuned here, too.

What do you think about the pending free agents and arbitration eligible Nats for this coming off-season? We'd love to hear from you. Sound off in the comments.

A Tale of Two Morses

The sample size in the 2011 regular season is still small, but there is cause for concern in NatsTown about Michael Morse's plate appearances. Morse was hoisted into the starting left fielders role to start this season to the sounds of celebratory cheers from nearly everyone, including us. But since the Nats came north from Viera, it hasn't been pretty.

Morse had a breakout year as a utility/platooning player in right field in 2010. He posted a .289/.352/.519 line with 15 homers in a respectable 293 plate appearances. Things were looking up for the prospects of a good outfield, and that's before Jayson Werth was (publicly) on the Nats radar. The good news continued through an absolutely absurd spring, where he hit 9 home runs in just 21 games and went .364/.421/.818 in another admittedly small sample size.

Through the first two weeks of the season as a starter, Morse looks like a completely different player. So different, in fact, that Laynce Nix is seeing quite a bit of time against right handed pitching. And that move makes sense. Morse is hitting .174 while Nix is hitting .313. But to make matters worse, Morse is looking slow to the ball against lefties and righties and is struggling to hit for any power at all. He has 6 hits in 33 at bats for a dismal, below-the-Mendoza line .182. He has 7 total bases (meaning only one extra base hit) and hasn't hit a home run yet.

Not only his stats are concerning, but the feel when Morse is in the lineup is different. When Morse comes up to bat, it feels like an out before he takes his bat off the shoulder. When he's in the field, he take unsure paths to the ball. Here at Capitol Baseball, we advocated for Michael Morse as much as anyone when he was going well. And just because he's not, we're not calling for his head, yet. But it's a point of concern in a Nats lineup that has struggled to do anything at all offensively and has stranded runner after runner.

All of this shows just how meaningless Spring Training really is. It's mainly to help guys work on stuff they may not otherwise work on during the season, whether that's a new pitch or a new stance in the batter's box. And Morse seems to have reaped the benefits of "spring stuff." But he's struggling now, and Nats fans watching a Zimmerman-less lineup have to hope that he can come out of his slump soon.

25 in 25: Michael Morse (#12)

In 14 days, all the Nationals diehards will be preparing to head to Nationals Park on Opening Day. Until then, we're going to predict the 25 man roster. With one catch. We're going to do it one day at a time. This way, we can provide more in depth thoughts on who we think is going to make the roster, why we think so, and what to expect from them in 2011. On the morning of Opening Day, we'll post the real 25-man compared with what we predicted.

Today's entry is the new starting LF for the ballclub, deservedly so.

Why? His entire career, Michael Morse has hit the baseball. In Seattle, he hit. When he came over in that glorious trade that sent Ryan Langerhans to the pacific northwest, he hit. And with the Nationals last year, in replacement duty, all he did was hit the ball. For some unknown reason though, he sat as well. Someone must've had dirty pictures of the slugger because as soon as he got hot, he sat the bench for 3 days.

Aside from all that, when he was in the lineup he was able to perform admirably. Last year in just 98 games (a crime btw), he hit .289 with 41 RBI and 15 HR. Spread out to 162 games thats about 75 RBI and 28 HR, which is more than we were getting with Josh Willingham for what its worth. His OPS was .890 and his OPS+ was 133 (over 100 is good).

What should we expect? Over his 6 year MLB career, Morse has a 162-game average of 91 RBI, 21 HR, with a .291 AVG and an .810 OPS. All of his potential rests with the opportunity given to him, IE will he be given a fair shake. If Morse has the chance to stay in the position for any extended period of time, he should be able to throw up some great numbers.

Morse's most-likely spot will be in the 6 hole, after LaRoche, and he should have plenty of opportunities to knock in runs. I see him hitting somewhere between .290-.300 with 22-25 HR and 85+ RBIs. We are witness to the second-coming of Jayson Werth.

Nats beat Yankees 6-5 in walk-off style

As Capitol Baseball leaves Space Coast Stadium for the last time this spring, there's a lot of stuff to glean from the Nats 6-5 victory over the Yankees on Saturday. Let's look into the highlights and lowlights.

-As expected, the Space Coast was run over by Yankees fans that came and were as obnoxious as you'd expect. There seemed to be mass confusion by the lack of Derek Jeter in the line up, as there were several "look at that throw by Jeter" comments in our section.

-John Lannan looked pretty Lannan-esque. He went 4 1/3 innings, walked 3, struck out 3, and gave up 4 earned runs. Today, we saw the Lannan we saw to start 2010, not to end it. With some really successful springs from guys like Ross Detwiler, one has to wonder about about how guaranteed Lannan's spot is in the Opening Day rotation.

-Roger Bernadina has seen better days, and that's the understatement of the century. Bernie earned the silver sombrero (3 strikeouts in one game) and had a nasty fielding error on a fly ball to center field that appeared to just miss his glove. If he was looking to put himself in front of Nyjer for the CF job, he didn't do himself any favors.

-Yunesky Maya pitched 4 average innings. He gave up 2 hits but walked 3. He gave up just 2 runs. He continues to make a push for the rotation, but it still seems unlikely he'd be in the rotation on Opening Day.

-Derek Norris ended the game with a walk-off single to deep left center with the bases loaded and one out. Norris continues to make huge strides this spring offensively, and it's been easy to see why he's the #2 prospect in the Nats organization as ranked by Baseball America.

-It was a big bomb sort of day at Space Coast. The Nats hit 3 homers (Morse, Nix, Ankiel).

-Bryce Harper got hit by a pitch up and in during his only at-bat of the game. He took it in what looked to be the shoulder, and he was hurting on the way to first.

(Edit: - We almost forgot. Justin Maxwell was in the line up for the Yankees today in left. He went 0 for 2 with two walks and helped the Nats greatly in the 8th by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. Thanks Justin!)

-The number #1 star of the game was, without a doubt, Michael Morse. Morse continued to be the catalyst for the Nationals offense, going 2 for 3 with a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning. Earlier in the day, both Manager Jim Riggleman and GM Mike Rizzo said Morse is the front runner for the left field job. Now that Morse is 14 for 28 (.500) on the Spring, with 5 home runs, you have to wonder if that's become a guarantee.

Comeback Falls Short Against 'Stros

Capitol Baseball spent the day in Viera running around, eating at the Barry Svrluga Memorial Panera, and playing Wiffleball in the parking lot (pictures to follow). Then the game finally began. In a chilly night at Space Coast where the temps dropped into the mid-40s, the home team fell after a valiant comeback attempt against an Astros team that started a #95 and #93. The deets are as follows...

- Starting Pitcher Livan Hernandez threw 77 pitches in just 3 innings of work, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs. At times Livan seemed to be having trouble controlling the ball, getting to several 3 ball counts. As has been the case in the past few days, Livan was no exception to the struggles of putting guys away. 3-2 counts would lead to hard hit balls.

- After all was said and done, Houston's batters had notched up 17 hits against the combo of Livan, Wood, Detwiler, and Barthmaier.

- Hat tip to Jesus Flores who got his first hit of the Spring in dramatic fashion, crushing a ball over the wall in Right-Center for a 2-run Homer. Good to seem him starting to find his stroke.

- The phenom had another youthful effort tonight, going 1 for 2 with a first-pitch RBI single and making an impressive catch on the run in the field. Harper ran into some issues when he came in to run for Jayson Werth though, as he committed one of baseball's cardinal sins - making the last out of the inning at 3rd base.

- The Nationals defense was particularly brutal tonight, with Nyjer Morgan being the ring-leader yet again. In one inning Nyjer had a ball drop in front of him that went off of his glove, and then got burned badly on a ball that he just flat out missed; not very impressive. Ian Desmond added his 4th error of the spring as well... Not a good sign for my prediction that he would reduce his error count by 15....

- Lefty Ross Detwiler continued to show why he should be considered for the 5th spot in the rotation. Giving up 6 hits in 4 innings (4 of which were 12 hoppers into the gap/seeing eye singles), Detwiler showed impressive command; striking out 2 and walking none. Detwiler is going to have a great year, no matter where he ends up.

- The #1 Star of the Day once again goes to Michael Morse, who went 2 for 2 with a monster home run to deep Right Center. Morse needs to be our starting LF, he has earned that much this spring. In his 25 ABs, he has 12 hits; 4 of which are home runs. He needs to be playing every day, providing power and size while hitting for a high average.

- Big shout out to Dave and Cheryl Nichols of Nats News Network, Tom from We Love DC, Drew from Nats NQ, Bill Ladson, Phil Wood, Bob Carpenter and Capitol Baseball reader F.P. Santangelo for taking the time to talk baseball with both Joe and I. Thanks Everyone!

Nats are now 8-5 on the Spring, what are you looking forward to in the next 3 weeks til Opening Day? Sound off in the comments.

Nats on Pace for Perfect Spring

Play Ball was echoed on a baseball diamond and the world finally shifted back into normalcy. In other words, "real" games started yesterday drawing focus away from the slower than normal NHL Trade Deadline. We can once again analyze actual events instead of simulated bullpens and "live BP". Today's season opener was a good one as the Nationals put their first Curly W in the books, something that took until game 12 last year...

Let's spotlight a few of the notable events from yesterdays game:

- Yes, Bryce Harper went 0 for 2 in his professional debut, striking out twice on a grand total of 7 pitches. Obviously we need to read a ton into this, labeling him as a bust...

- Not at all lost in the mix is the fact that Jesus Flores saw his first action since 2009, going 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. Stats aside, congrats go out to him on coming back from a serious injury.

- Without question the #1 star of the day goes to Michael "Don't Call Me Mike" Morse. Morse, yearning for an everyday job, went 3 for 5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. A nice opening statement for the 1B/OF who saw some time at 3B today (and, according to Kilgore, made a nice backhanded play at said hot corner).

- Ian Desmond started with a bang as well, going 2 for 3 with a triple, double, and 2 runs scored.

- Roger Bernadina, feeling the fire of Rick Ankiel on his behind, hit 2 singles, stole a base, but got caught stealing.

- The Attorney General got a single up the middle in his only AB, and proceed to steal 2nd base. It looks like Bo Porter is really trying to make an impression on these young speedsters.

- Super Utility man, Jerry Hairston, had the Nats only error on the day, an errant throw.

- My favorite stat of the day is this: Nats pitchers threw the last 4 innings while only allowing 1 base runner. Bullpen probable Doug Slaton, combined with hopefuls Broderick, Coffey, and Carr pitched the final 4 innings of the 9-3 win, striking out 4 and only allowing 1 hit (none in the last 3 innings). Hats off to Steve McCatty for a job well done.

Most Improved/Impressive Nats: 2010 Edition

While national and local media will start covering the MLB Postseason and the start of the Caps season (is this finally the year for Lord Stanley's Cup?), we don't have to be done with the Nats 2010 quite yet. I think it's time to give credit where credit is due on the 3 (and a half) most improved and impressive Nationals this season. Disagree? Yell at me in the comments.

1. Sean Burnett - I think that this is hard to argue against. There's a real argument to be made that Burnett was the best pitcher for the Nationals. Period. (Besides SS, of course.) Now look at him in terms of improvement over the course of the season. Compared to the first half, his strikeout to walk ratio shot up, batting average, on base %, and slugging % against all plummeted after the All-Star Break.

2. Michael Morse - After months of coming off of the bench and still managing to hit close to .400, the new Michael Morse proved that he could still hit on a full-time basis. Although he struggled at first with the every day role, he came into it well as the season progressed. He finished the season with 293 plate appearances, a .289 batting average, a .352 OBP, and 15 homers. While his fielding and range are less than stellar, he's certainly not bad. And a lot can be learned in the field in the spring if he has in fact earned the right fielder's, or maybe first baseman's, starting job.

3. Ian Desmond - As much as I destroyed Desi before the All Star Break for his terrible fielding and his low average, I have admitted on a few occasions already that I was wrong. Let me do so again. I was w-r-o-n-g wrong. Let's just go over these stats between first and second half quickly for Ian.

• Batting average: 1st half - .255; 2nd half - .283
• On base percentage: 1st half - .297; 2nd half - .320 (although that still needs improvement)
• Errors: 1st half - 21; 2nd half - 13.

While 13 errors in the 2nd half is still more than the top 6 MLB shortstops committed all season long, he cut the errors after the ASB by over 1/3. And Desmond is still a rookie! Have you seen him throw across the diamond? It's like a bullet.

And finally, I think an Honorable Mention is due: Matt Capps - The Capper is where he belongs now, in the playoffs for the first time in his career with the Minnesota Twins. Capps was the Nats lone All-Star representative (although Zimmerman was screwed, don't even get me started), and he was certainly the Nationals most consistent player, earning 26 saves in 30 opportunities. He's done the same in Minnesota, earning 16 saves in 18 opportunities. I hope Jon Rauch (another former Nat) can get himself healthy to set up Capps in the playoffs. They'll be hard to beat in the playoffs.

So that ends this summary of 2010. Stay tuned for another post featuring the most disappointing players of 2010 in the near future.