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.

5 Players to Watch

With Pitcher's and Catcher's now firmly situated in Viera, running through flip drills and bullpen sessions, the dust is finally being kicked up on the 2011 season. We have gone over some of the spring training battles in the past, focusing on different positions and roles that are up in the air. Now it's time to turn our attention to some more specifics, who exactly are we watching and what for? Lets' single out 5 players who we've got our eyes on in Spring Training.

Jesus Flores - Catcher
Is he finally healthy? Flores has spent his career as a long-shot, signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets, the 17 year-old Flores worked his way up through the system. By 2006, Flores was busy hitting .266 with an OPS of .822, in 120 games in High-A Port St. Lucie (also 21 HR and 70 RBI). The Mets decided to leave him off their 40-man roster at the end of the season and the Nats picked him in the Rule 5 draft, hoping to keep him on the big league team for the rest of the year. Flores proved to be a very serviceable backup, providing mediocre numbers with solid defense while giving fans hope for the future. He would spend much of the next 3 years on the DL with a variety of injuries ranging from a sprained ankle to broken shoulder to a torn labrum. Is this the time where Flores is finally healthy and ready to build on his amazing start to the 2009 season (.301 AVG and .877 OPS)?

Ross Detwiler - LHP
Is he finally healthy? This blurb will appear very similar to the previous one, with all the same stories being told. Tons of untapped potential. The only difference here is that Ross Detwiler was taken as the 6th overall selection in the 2007 Draft. Detwiler had the distinction of falling into the same boat as Justin Maxwell, called up to the Majors just a few months after signing with the club, starting his arbitration clock way too early. Early on it became evident that Ross was going to run into lots of problems due to the fact that his delivery crossed his body, creating unnecessary pressure on his left hip. True enough, he has had 2 separate trips to the DL with a chronic hip injury. In his limited time in the Majors, Ross has put up a 2-9 record with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP, not very solid for a first-round selection. If Ross can't put it together this year, it's time to starting using the word "bust".

Nyjer Morgan - CF
Nyjer's problems have been well-documented. Coming over from the Pirates in 2009, Morgan solidified a position as a future Nats star when he hit .351 and stole 24 out of 31 bags in just 49 games. Then 2010 rolled around, and it became apparent that Morgan was a loose cannon. His batting average dropped to a career low and he led baseball in Caught Stealing, hopefully new Nats 3B coach Bo Porter can work his magic in that department... Stats aside, there were tantrums in the outfield and brawls in Florida, Morgan lost a lot of goodwill with the fans. Normally this would be forgiven with solid play (See: Manny Ramirez's entire career), but Morgan struggled in every place he succeeded just one year prior; at the plate, on the basepaths, and in the field. I am already on the record as saying that I believe Morgan will lose his job by July, its now up to him whether or not that happens.

Jason Marquis - RHP
Marquis was last years "big name pitcher" the Nats acquired after failing to get someone better. Signed for a 2 year/$15 million dollar contract, Marquis dazzled opposing team's fans in his first three starts, giving up 19 ER in his first 8 IP in a Nationals uniform. The lowest of low points came on the Nats first Sunday Home game of the year, when Marquis failed to record an out despite giving up 7 ER en route to a 10 run first innning. Immediately going on the DL with a "right elbow injury" (read: case of the can't-pitch-itis), Marquis was out for most of the year. He came back in August and proceeded to pitch in a bi-polar nature; couple good starts, then a bad one, couple good starts, really bad one. The only impressive thing from his 2010 season is that he was able to lower his ERA from 20.52 all the way down to 6.60 by the end of the year. Going into Spring Training, he is almost guaranteed a spot on the rotation due to the large financial commitment ($7.5 million) the team has already made. Marquis needs to have a quick recovery from his worst year as a professional, if it doesn't happen by the end of Spring Training I could see Marquis getting a pink-slip before the ball club heads north to Washington.

Bryce Harper - OF
The wunderkind himself. No player will get as much buzz as the 18 year old phenom come March 1st. In all reality Bryce Harper has no real shot at making the big league ball club, but that won't matter to baseball pundits or fans. Fresh out of a stellar performance at the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .343 with a 1.039 OPS, this will only be Harper's second experience with Major League pitching. The only real markers that Nats fans should be looking for out of Bryce will be his adjustment to the outfield and how he can hit a Big League curveball. I, for one, hope that when Capitol Baseball makes our trek down to Viera that Bryce Harper is still in Big League Camp.

Bryce Harper to Play Center Field; Nyjer Shakes in Boots

The Nats first drafted Bryce Harper in 2010 to be a distant solution to a current problem in right field. But a few days ago, CBSSports.com posted a story that Bryce Harper might end up moving to center field in the minors this year. This doesn't seem unreasonable, as they've recently signed this guy Jayson Werth, who is a right fielder, to a long-term deal. Maybe you've heard of him?

But the one person that gets lost in the shuffle is Nyjer Morgan, the Nationals current center fielder. After exploding in 2009 to outstanding numbers, he limped out of 2010 with lackluster numbers. So should Nyjer be worried that Nats have moved their best prospect to his position all of a sudden? Absolutely he should, though maybe not this season.

These two players have extremely different playing styles. Morgan is small and fast. (So small in fact that he regularly looks like he's swimming in his jersey, but I digress.) He is supposed to be the walk a lot, steal a lot player. The problem there? He doesn't walk enough and he was a less effective base stealer in 2010. Harper, on the other hand, is big and hits for power. His job will be less to be the perfect defenseman than to hit the ball as hard as he can.

It is still extremely unlikely that Harper would make the bigs before the Super Two deadline in 2012, similar to Stephen Strasburg in 2010. That's at the absolute earliest. It's entirely possible it doesn't happen until September callups 2012. So Nyjer might be safe for a little while, though the quality of at-bats that Roger Bernadina and Michael Morse put together while platooning in left field could light a fire under Morgan to have a more successful 2011.

For more on several of these Nats in Spring Training, check out Capitol Baseball all week. You might just see one or two of these guys make a post to come...

Most Disappointing Nats: 2010 Edition

I figured since people always love lists, I'd do some more. The postseason starts today at 1:37 PM EDT on TBS. It's a match up between the Rays and the Rangers, and even more exciting, between David Price and Cliff Lee.

To help address the off-season depression of no baseball in DC, I've already started the pitchers and catchers spring training countdown in the right column. Only 127 days.... Until then, let's keep talking about the 2010 season. Yesterday, we talked about the most improved and impressive players of the year. Today, we'll hit the most disappointing Nats of 2010.

1. Jason Marquis - The Nats aquired Jason Marquis in the off-season from the Colorado Rockies for a $15 million contract over 2 years. He showed up. And that's about the last good thing he did until August. He failed to retire a runner against the Brewers in April, had surgery, and disappeared for 2/3 of the season. When he came back, he showed signs of brilliance, but on September 17th against the Phillies, Marquis didn't make it out of the 1st inning for the 2nd time this season. Not the stuff of a $15 million man. Marquis was a huge bust this year, and hopefully he can hang on to the few brilliant moments in the off-season to prepare for 2011.

2. Nyjer Morgan - Man, I don't even know where to start. Between 2009 and 2010, his average dropped from .307 to .253, his on base % from .369 to .319, his stolen bases plummeted from 42 to 34, and all of this happened with more plate appearances. Then there's the multiple mental breakdowns (see: throwing ball at fan, temper tantrum resulting in inside the park home run vs. Orioles, charging the mound vs. Volstad and taunting Marlins fans) and his inability to get on base as a lead of man. All of these things point to Nyjer playing somewhere else next year... maybe Japan... or nowhere.

3. Scott Olsen - Scott Olsen showed signs of brilliance in 2010, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Braves May, shutting out the Dodgers through 7 innings in April, and... nope, that's it. Other than that, Olsen had some okay games, but nothing great as his ERA crept towards 6.00 in September, ultimately ending his starting career for the Nationals. He developed Oliver Perez syndrome, spouting anger about being thrown into the bullpen, but then got hurt yet again, effectively ending his tenure as a Washington Nationals pitcher. Scott Olsen was supposed to be a workhorse pitcher for the Nats, and instead he couldn't stay healthy or pitch well for long stretches in either of his 2 years with the organization. Olsen turned out to be a huge disappointment.

(Dis)honorable Mentions: Adam Kennedy, Willie Harris

Note, that these weren't the worst players on the team this year. You'd have to look to Kevin Mench and Justin Maxwell for those honors. But I'm convinced that Marquis, Morgan, and Olsen were absolutely the most disappointing players of 2010. Think I'm wrong? Tell me! Enjoy the first Division Series games today!