Suspension Predictions and Strasburg Surgery Day

It is a fateful day for NatsTown for several reasons today. First, it's Strasburg Tommy John surgery day. Good luck to Stephen in a long, stressful recovery. We all look forward to seeing you again soon... ish.

Also today, MLB is expected to lay down the suspensions for Wednesday's ugly Nationals/Marlins brawl. While I have no insight into the inner workings of the MLB disciplinary office, I thought I would take the time to predict some of the suspensions that would be handed down in bullet points, so here we go:

• Nyjer Morgan - Season - He's already facing a 7 game suspension for an incident in Philadelphia. The league says they won't weigh other incidents when considering Nyjer's discipline. That can't possibly be true. Nyjer has shown signs of disregard for the safety of other players and fans. He taunted fans on the way off the field after the brawl. The league is fed up with Nyjer Morgan stories in the playoff hunt, and they want it over with.

• Chris Volstad - 10 games - Volstad threw at Nyjer twice in one game. MLB doesn't look upon that kind of thing kindly, even if it may have been warranted. It's equivalent to two of Volstad's starts.

• Gaby Sanchez - 5 games - By now, everyone has seen Sanchez, a rookie, absolutely wreck Nyjer after he jumped and punched Volstad. Sanchez was the 3rd guy into the battle, and with the severity of the clotheslined hit, I think he'll get a work week off.

• Doug Slaten - 1 game - Slaten hit Gaby Sanchez to retaliate for his hit on Nyjer. You have to imagine that he gets some time to think about what he's done. No more than a game or two, though.

• Edwin Rodriguez - 1 game - Pitchers don't usually throw at guys without some encouragement from the manager. Volstad threw at Nyjer twice, so it will be a game off for Rodriguez. Maybe two.

• Jim Riggleman - 1 game - Same as Rodriguez, since Doug Slaten hit Sanchez.

• Pat Listach - 1 game - This is a stretch, and I'm not sure that he will actually get suspended, but I think with the image of Listach on top of Chris Volstad at the bottom of the pile is pretty damning. You never want to see a coach IN the pile. He'll probably get something.

I'm taking a leap here, and I look forward to seeing how accurate I am. I'd love to hear all of your predictions in the comments section and will try to respond to them throughout the day.

Danny Espinosa's First Game

Danny Espinosa's first game as a Washington Nationals infielder was going to be a boring affair. The Nationals were down 15-5 to the Florida Marlins. Adam Dunn had been pulled from the game to give Espinosa a chance. Well, then Nyjer batted.

For some background, in Tuesday nights game, Nyjer Morgan plowed into the Marlins catcher, separating his shoulder and ending his season. As expected, Chris Volstad hit Nyjer, and he ran to first. Everyone expected it, right? It's fine. But then Nyjer proceeded to steal second base on the next pitch. And then third. Not the classiest thing with the team down by double digits.

When Nyjer Morgan came back up to bat, Chris Volstad threw behind him. That was enough for Nyjer. He charged the mound, jumped at Volstead, benches cleared, bullpens cleared, blood was drawn. Morgan, Volstad, and bullpen guy Jose Veras got tossed from the game.

Nyjer Morgan is already facing a 7 game suspension for an incident in Philadelphia. Then he plowed over the St. Louis Cardinals catcher. Then the Marlins catcher. Now this. I'd have to imagine Morgan now faces a sizable suspension. Not that it will matter much, because Riggleman seems to have had it with Nyjer.

But to get back to the original point, Espinosa got a hit in his first MLB at bat, an RBI double. He also got into a benches clearing big league fight. And almost turned a double play. All in all, Espinosa saw a month's worth of excitement in just one half game. They're not all like this, kid.

Nyjer's Mean Streak

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Last year, Nyjer Morgan was an up and coming guy for the Nationals, despite the fact that he was closer to 30 years old than to 20. He hit .351 with the Nationals in 2009, and earned his spot as the solid lead off guy for 2010.

Well, things changed. Nyjer is hitting just .257 now, with a scant .317 OBP. His speed is still undeniable, but he has been caught stealing more than 30% of the time. As a result of an evolving lineup, an improving Roger Bernadina, and a declining confidence in Morgan, Jim Riggleman has had the man who calls himself T. Plush batting 8th. Ouch.

Nyjer is unhappy about this. And he's taken his frustration out on two catchers in the last 2 series. First was St. Louis Cardinals reserve catcher Bryan Anderson. He plowed into Anderson, who didn't even have the ball, and was not in the base path. He was rightly benched the next game. Lesson learned, right? Wrong.

On Tuesday, Nyjer was running home in the top of the 10th inning, a game hopelessly tied at zero. Sending Nyjer here was the right move, without a doubt. But again, Marlins catcher Brett Hayes was catching the ball on the first base side, not blocking the plate. Instead of Nyjer sliding in on the opposite side of the plate and attempting to touch with his hand, he once again bowled through a catcher. Nyjer was out. Hayes was hurt.

MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that Hayes will miss time as he has limited mobility in his shoulder after the collision. The Marlins will have Hayes undergo an MRI Wednesday. In response to Morgan's hit, Hayes said "Obviously, his track record doesn't help himself. Somebody who does that is looking to hurt somebody. But, you know, it's baseball."

Nyjer will have to make his case to MLB on September 7th as he appeals a suspension for throwing a ball into the stands, presumably at a fan in Philly. After the collision on Tuesday, Morgan was was clearly jawing with fans, saying some inappropriate things. It was not good natured. Considering that, the baseball throwing in Philly, the two collisions at home plate, his clear disdain for Riggleman batting him 8th, and a slew of other factors, including his temper tantrum earlier this year against the Orioles, he is in a world of hurt.

The full suspension very well may be upheld now, and the Nationals have a serious decision to make with active 40-man rosters beginning today. Does Nyjer get a shot again in center as a regular starter, or do you give him spot starts to give some minor leaguers a chance? The next few weeks will be very interesting.

T. Plush's Moment of Greed Costs Nats the Win (Game 18)

In today's overcast game, Craig Stammen was a star. After he gave up a 2-run home run to Casey Blake, Stammen relaxed and turned into a machine. He had commanding breaking pitches, and his fastball locations were sublime. His ERA was above 8 and it dropped below 7. He helped himself out of a few jams with 2 double plays. All very exciting stats. Until he gave up yet another home run to Casey Blake in the top of the 7th. This home run should only have tied the game. If it wasn't for another major mental mistake by the Nats.

Last night, I wrote about Willie Harris' big mistake in what was one of the weirdest baseball plays that I had ever seen. Well today's big faux pas wasn't weird as much as it was stupid. First, let me talk up our offensive minded pitchers, because they deserve it. The Washington Nationals' starters do not just go up to the plate to take 3 strikes and sit back down. They take big hacks out there, and it is yielding results. Livan Hernandez was already one of the best hitting pitchers in baseball. Atilano made Haeger work last night. And Stammen nearly killed Kershaw this afternoon. Stammen hit a solid grounder up the middle in the first that went of of Kershaw's foot, had a shot to left for a double, and a grounder up the middle in his final at bat that resulted in the game tying RBI. That put Stammen on 2nd with 2 outs and Nyjer Morgan up to bat. And that's when it got ugly.

Morgan crushed the ball to left center over the left fielder's head. A guaranteed run, right? So you would think. Stammen was trotting home, and Nyjer gets greedy and goes for yet another triple. He got thrown out trying to get there before the slow running Stammen could make it home. It took the lead out of the Nats hands, and the Dodgers hit a homer in the top of the 7th to regain the lead. This type of error is inexcusable. Nyjer Morgan is one of the fastest players in baseball, and the Nats are one of the fastest teams in baseball. But if Nyjer Morgan would have been standing on 2nd, with a 3-2 lead with the young slugger Ian Desmond up to bat, their attempted rally in the 7th wouldn't have been as crucial.

However, in the bottom of the 7th, a sustained rally is killed by Desmond trying to run home on a ground ball to 3rd base. The inning goes from 1 out with runners on 1st and 3rd to 2 outs with runners in 1st and 2nd. Then, Willie Harris grounds out to 2nd and ends the inning. If the Washington Nationals are going to become the better team that they have shown they can be, they absolutely must stop making these stupid errors.

Then, the game went for another 7 innings. That's right, a 14 inning affair. The Nats go down 4-3, due mostly to the running disaster by Nyjer Morgan in the 6th and a questionable call by the home plate umpire in the bottom of the 14th where it appeared that Pudge scored. But when your team makes that many running errors in one game, you're not likely to get the benefit of the doubt.