Morgan's No Show?

Tuesday night was supposed to be Nyjer Morgan's 3rd rehab start down on the farm.  He played in Potomac on Monday and Hagerstown on Tuesday, going for a combined 0 for 6 with 1 walk in those games.  Morgan was slated to lead off on Tuesday, according to Harrisburg Manager Randy Knorr's line up card, but he was a very late scratch. 

Perhaps on the news that Willingham will likely be done for the season, the team wanted him to report to Atlanta sooner.  However, he wasn't able to get to Atlanta for Tuesday's game and he was already slated to rejoin the Nats on Wednesday, so the fact that Morgan didn't show for the game certainly seems curious.

I'll do my best to track down any information on this as it develops...

Morgan Has Career Game, but Nats Flounder in Frustrating Fashion

(Picture Captured from MASN-HD)

Nyjer Morgan had one of the best games of his career on Friday night in Baltimore in game one of the Battle of the Beltways. Morgan went 4 for 5, with 3 runs and an RBI. He reached base safely in his first 4 at bats. Nyjer was agressive and was just reading every Orioles pitcher as perfectly as you possibly could.

He was also lighting it up in the field, with one of the most amazing catches that I have ever seen, pictured above. T. Plush reached a ball that was easily 4 feet over the center field wall, which would have been a home run for Corey Patterson. After the remarkable catch, Patterson tipped his cap in recognition of the catch as a fellow center fielder. Nats starting pitcher J.D. Martin Miguel Tejada was less grateful when Nyjer stole extra bases from him a few innings later with a running catch.

The Nats were up 6-0 in the 5th and looked to be the dominant team. J.D. Martin pitched a decent game, one that was good enough to earn him a win, even if it was only 4 1/3 innings. And then, for reasons passing understanding, Jim Riggleman decided to use 6 of the 8 guys in the bullpen. Maybe just because he could? But after several great innings from the 'pen, Tyler Clippard came in and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 1 1/3 innings in the 8th and 9th innings. Matt Capps came in to try to just keep the Nats in it with 2 runners on base and gave up an inherited run to his first batter in the bottom of the 9th for a walk off, earning Tyler Clippard his 4th loss on the season.

That's right folks. The Washington Nationals, after the remarkable start to the game, blew a 6-0 lead to lose to the worst team in all of baseball.

At the end, batters were over-swinging. They were frustrated. Maybe with themselves, maybe with the pitching disaster by Clippard. There is no excuse for giving up a 6 run lead to the team with the worst record in baseball and the 2nd worst RBI count. But Clippard did just that, and the Nats lost another game that should have been an easy win.

At this point in the season, you have to wonder, where has the confidence gone? Where is the swagger of this once passably decent ball club? If you find it, call Jim Riggleman. He needs your help.

This is (not) Birdland

Well, interleague play has begun in Major League Baseball. The Baltimore Orioles come to town to take on the Nats for a 3 game weekend series in this epic rivalry. HA! Ok, I almost kept a straight face there... It's fun to have a pretend-rival though, eh? God, do I hate Peter Angelos though.

I'll be attending the Sunday game, where the Nats have yet to release a starter. Which is curious, because that's Lannan's scheduled start day. Color me concerned.

When the National Anthem is performed at Nationals Park this 3 day weekend, Nats fans should expect a lot more "OH's" at the end of the Anthem, and a lot of Halloween colors in the crowd with the park right up I-95, but other than that, they certainly shouldn't expect much competition.

Baltimore comes to town with a 2009 Nats-like record of 13-29 (the Nats were 12-28 a year ago today) and are cruising along as the worst team in baseball so far this season. The Orioles have had almost incomprehensibly low attendance numbers, some games not even breaking 10,000, for what is among the most beautiful parks in all of baseball. The Nats need to take at least 2 of these games, if not all 3, because they're going on a very difficult road trip to the left coast to face two NL West contenders and some really great pitching.

Look no further than yesterday's Capitol Baseball post, where I talked about my concerns with Nyjer Morgan. Jim Riggleman obviously agreed, because Morgan has the day off today with Bernadina getting CF responsibilities and Willie Harris in the lead off spot. O's RHP David Hernandez will start with his 5.84 ERA and 0-5 record. Gross indeed. In his 7 appearances, Hernandez has failed to go longer than 6 innings and he gives up lots of walks in those short outings, averaging more than 3 a game.

The Nats will have no excuse for not handling the O's in every aspect of the game with Scott Olsen's 3.15 and 2-1 record on the mound. They need to get the momentum back, and they need to do it soon if they want to still be in any sort of contention when Jesus comes up in just two weeks. They can't afford another extended losing streak, or they will quickly find themselves disappointed, once again, at the All-Star break. If they can keep it going, we might start hearing much more 2005 Nats team talk, which would be a welcome change of pace for many Nats fans.

Who do we get today? Tony Plush or Nyjer Morgan.

Yesterday's two remarkable situations in the Nationals game both involved Nyjer Morgan:

• The first inside-the-park home run at Nats Park


• An unusual (and questionable) triple play

The inside-the-park home run was certainly a result of shotty fielding. When a player is at his home park, he should know how far he is from the wall at all times. Nyjer should have known that the hit by Angel Pagan wasn't going over the wall and relayed it in to keep Pagan to a triple. But he didn't.

This is only the most recent of mistakes by Nyjer in the field. He has overthrown cutoff men. He has as many errors this year (3) as he had all of last season with the Pirates and the Nats. That's tied for worst among enter fielders in the NL with Andrew McCutchen (PIT). He's also 25th out of 26 in fielding percentage among NL center fielders. Both dismal stats, indeed.

Then, there is the baserunning. And those of us that watch the team on a daily basis know, it's been pretty awful so far. Morgan started out hot, stealing his way from 1st to 2nd and then 2nd to 3rd in the same at bat. And then the other team figured him out. I don't know if they're reading signs or just know when he runs, but they know at least half the time.

In 16 attempts this year, Nyjer has only successfully stolen a base 8 times. That's a wasted baserunner more often than not. I know that Nyjer is probably the fastest guy the Nats have (maybe Bernadina?), but he hasn't figured out how to make that speed into smart decisionmaking. I'd like to say it looks like Riggleman has put up the stop sign for now, but Morgan has attempted stealing 4 times in the last 10 games, and was caught twice. These are not quality numbers for your fastest player.

His at bats have been so-so lately, but certainly better than his fielding and baserunning numbers. Morgan is swinging a bat of ice, batting just .162 in his last 10 games. Not exactly the numbers you're looking for from a leadoff guy. To give him his due credit, he has a respectable .351 OBP in that same 10 game span. So he's getting on base, but getting thrown out in too many chances to advance on his speed.

In a conversation with my very good friend Craig at Jim Bowden's Segway, I complained about Nyjer's regular attempts to bunt for hits. I am regularly frustrated by his lack of willingness to swing the bat, while Craig supports the efforts if it will get Nyjer on base and turned into Tony Plush once again. What are your thoughts, blogosphere?

Rest for the weary confident

Today is the Washington Nationals first day off in 15 days. Since their last day off, the club has gone 9-6. In this time, the Nats have gotten quality start after quality start from their pitchers, and as you will see in the right column of this blog, 5 of the 8 Silver Elvis Wig winners have been starting pitchers, including 2 for Livan Hernandez already and one for the rookie starter Luis Atilano (2-0 with a 2.25 ERA).

Twenty-two games, or just over 1/10th of the way, into this marathon of a baseball season, your Washington Nationals are 12-10. The current starting rotation has a combined 4.31 ERA, and it is still dropping (Olsen cut his ERA nearly in half in his last outing, although it is still not quite in respectable territory at 6.14). Their combined on base percentage is .317, and that includes all bench players that have played for the Nats this season, excluding pitchers. While that's a bit lower than you'd like, it's not really representative of the quality of baseball this team is playing this season. Let's look at some on the field guys that have contributed most to the club this season. We'll save the pitchers for another off-day.

• Ivan Rodriguez: Pudge has had one of the best years a 38 year old catcher who was, by all accounts, "past his prime" could ask for. He's still batting .400, has a .422 OBP, and is perhaps the main reason for the quality of this young (minus Livan) pitching staff.

• Josh Willingham: The Hammer has worked on a lot of things this off-season, not the least of which are his defense and his batting eye. Willingham has moved himself into the territory of an above acceptable (assonance for the win!) left-fielder. He has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage this season and even has a double play from left. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, he has started every single game this season. He has had a few circus catches: one against the Cubs and one against the Dodgers at home to basically save the game. As for his batting eye, his OBP is .446 while is batting average is only .286. The man his more accurate at calling balls and strikes than the computer-generated pitch track on MASN.

• Ian Desmond: Ian is a marked fielding upgrade at shortstop from last season. He has 3 throwing errors in 86 opportunities, but all 3 of them were in the first series of the year when he was still working out his nerves. He has exponentially better range than Cristian Guzman had last year and has a gun for an arm. It's amazing to watch him play the position, and he gets better and more confident every single game. (See two diving plays against the Cubs that would have been double plays if it weren't for Guzman's inexperience at 2nd). He has a .710 OPS, and his hitting is getting better as the season goes on. He does need to work at taking more pitches by swinging less at first pitches. This will help get his OBP up from .310.

• Nyjer Morgan: T. Plush has picked up where he left off from last year. He has moved back to sliding head first into 2nd base on steals and is already visibly more comfortable on the bases. His OBP is a solid .372 and has stolen 6 bases on 10 attempts. That percentage will get better as the season goes, as going back to head first slides will certainly increase his efficiency (as long as he doesn't end up hurt because of it). As always, it's just great to have a guy this fast in center field.

• Willie Harris: Willie hasn't been the leading producer at the plate, no doubt about it. His BA is a measly .167, although he does have a passable .311 OBP. Willie's contribution is mostly in the field. He has saved games on multiple occasions with acrobatics on the field. And we're not talking situations where he misplayed the ball and then had to make it up with a crazy catch (see Marlon Byrd: April 28th game. Still a crazy catch by Byrd, however). Harris has caught some line drives that no human being should have been able to make a play on. This type of contribution is keeping the Nats in games late.

• Alberto Gonzalez: Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, the Attorney General is hitting .300 with a .364 OBP after 30 at-bats. I swear, none of those stats were typos. He is hitting and getting on base far more than Adam Kennedy and has proven to be a perfect replacement for Zim while he recovers from his hamstring problems. He has made some routine plays at 3rd, but has also made some Zimmerman like throws and picked some line drives that could have easily been singles to the outfield. He's made a couple errors, but is still sporting a .926 fielding percentage. The AG is having a great year, and is a major reason that the Nats can still compete with injuries to Zimmerman and Harris.

This ballclub, because of the guys I just listed, plus the starting pitching, Clippard, and Capps, are 3rd in the NL East, one game out of 1st, and 3.5 ahead of the last place Braves. The great thing about this season's Nats is that you know they're going to compete in every game, and that, with this kind of start, it is almost impossible to have another 100 loss season. The pitching, fielding, and batting have all come together for perhaps the best season the Nats have had since their remarkable run in 2005. I'm excited to see how it turns out, so stick with me here on Capitol Baseball all season to see how it shakes out.

Nats Travel to Play Inside the Brick Walls of Ivy

I hope to have a funny, and hopefully inappropriate Harry Caray reference for the series soon, but until then, use this to hold you over (complete with Portuguese subtitles, thanks YouTube).

After the extremely disappointing base running and stealing display over the last few games, Jim Riggleman has decided to put some good speed on the bookends of the lineup for his Nats today in Game 20 and for the first in a 3 game series vs. the Cubbies:

1. Nyjer Morgan, 8
2. Adam Kennedy, 5
3. Cristian Guzman, 4
4. Adam Dunn, 3
5. Hammer, 7
6. Pudge, 2
7. Ian Desmond, 6
8. Willy Taveras, 9
9. John Lannan, 1

Lannan is coming in to try and get a win after two consecutive no decisions, and Pudge is trying to keep up the best batting average in all of baseball hitting at the bottom of the batting order. Meanwhile, Nyjer Morgan looks to stay cocky and keep trying to steal more bases. While that statement probably sounds smug and like I'm mad at T. Plush, that couldn't be further from the truth. Nyjer's sheer presence on-base messes with pitchers, and if he all of a sudden gets cold on base and stops even attempting a steal, he becomes far less effective. So I say, Run, Nyjer, Run.

Lannan is going to have to pitch better than the 2-0 Carlos Silva and his almost-as-good-as-Livan 0.95 ERA. But there is plenty left to be desired in the people surrounding the Cubs. While it's early in the season, the Nationals are tied for 2nd in the NL East with a 10-9 record, while the Cubs are in 2nd in the NL Central with a less happy 9-10 record. If the Nats can keep moving with this above .500 baseball throughout this brief roadtrip, it would be a huge win for the clubhouse and for the fans that pay close attention. As May arrives, summer will be knocking and the sports fans in DC will be less caught up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Caps, and they will be more interested in the next sports season: baseball.

There's been a lot of concern about the low attendance considering the Nats' relative competence thus far in 2010. As I said, the Caps have taken over this city, and until they are knocked out or win Lord Stanley's Cup, the sports fans of this city will be caught up in that story. And once the NFL draft coverage is clubbed to death (I mean, it is the NFL, so give ESPN another 6 weeks or so to cover the draft stories), baseball will be the only sport people care about. If the Nationals are still flirting with .500 around that time, expect people to take notice. Fans and national media alike.