Who is Kevin Mench?

With Nyjer Morgan being placed on the 15-day DL, the Nationals needed to bring another position player into the organization to take outfield time away from Michael Morse.  The Nats farm system is pretty sparce on outfielders on the 40-man roster, especially with Justin Maxwell already with the big club.  But on Thursday night, J.D. Martin went on the 60-day DL.  This opens up a 40-man roster spot for a player.  So why Kevin Mench?

Well simply because Martin is likely gone for the season, that didn't automatically mean a pitcher would replace him.  Especially considering Martin was already out of the rotation with his injury on the 15-day DL.  The Nats have a number of pitchers trying to make their way back, and the first of them will be Jason Marquis on Sunday against the Dodgers.

Kevin Mench was drafted in 1999 by the Texas Rangers and made his MLB debut in 2002 with that organization at 24 years old.  In his rookie year, Mench hit .260 with a .327 OBP.  He managed to crush 15 HR and plate 60 RBI.  He ended up in the top 10 for Rookie of the Year voting that year.

In 2003, Mench only appeared in 38 games due to injury.  Over his next two and a half seasons with the Rangers, Mench hit .274 and clubbed 63 home runs.  He never hit above .270 again in the majors.  He spent the 2nd half of 2006 and the 2007 season in Milwaukee, and was then released.  After a brief stint in the minors back in Texas, he was traded to Toronto in 2008.  He made 51 appearances that year batting a mere .243 and no home runs.  He played 2009's season in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers.

In February this year, the Nationals picked up Mench and signed him to a minor league contract.  This week, Mench will get his chance. 

I said in jest to start the post that he was called up to steal Michael Morse's much needed playing time.  However, it seems unlikely that Mench will see much starting time at all.  Justin Maxwell is still probably ahead of him in chances for starts as the Nationals still think Maxwell will break out one day.  Not sure that day will ever come, but I digress.  Furthermore, Morse, Maxwell, and Mench are all righties... and all inexplicably have names that start with M.  Still, with Jim Riggleman managing the club, it's impossible to know what he's thinking on a given day when filling out the lineup card.

Pudge Hits 300; Dunn Ties Pujols; Blown Ump Call Doesn't Affect Outcome

The Nationals took on the Diamondbacks and won the game with barely a hitch on Monday night in the heavily protested State of Arizona.  As a matter of fact, in the bottom of the 1st inning, there was a large sign displayed in left field protesting Arizona's immigration law that is currently in limbo pending further court action.  It was only a brief delay.  But on to the actual game.

Ivan Rodriguez became only the 5th catcher in MLB history to hit 300 home runs in a career.  He joins the likes of Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench, and Yogi Berra.  That's some elite company for the future Hall of Famer.  Congrats to Pudge, and it's nice that the milestone was reached in a Nats uniform.

Adam Dunn crushed his 26th home run to right-center field off of Rodrigo Lopez.  That ties him for 2nd place in home runs in the NL with Cardinals' 1st baseman Albert Pujols.  Dunn is just 1 behind league leader Joey Votto, who is day-to-day with a "tweaked" wrist.

Finally, for this series with the D-Backs, the Nats get to enjoy the umpiring of Joe West, Angel Hernandez, and their simply dreadful staff.  (Read my previous post on the crew from earlier this season here.)  It shouldn't surprise anyone that there was a blown call at 1st base on a Willingham infield single.  The 1st base umpire (anyone have a name, was it Schrieber?) blew a call where the Hammer was safe by more than half a step.  It wasn't close in fast motion, let alone in slo-mo.  Riggleman argued the call, to no avail.

Luckily for the Nats, the blown call didn't affect the income despite the fact that they were unable to score a run after the 3rd inning for the millionth time this season.  Livan had a great start, throwing only 91 pitches in 7 1/3 innings.  Sean Burnett was on the rubber for the last 5 outs, earning him his 1st save in 2010 and only his 2nd career save.  He did it in 19 pitches, and didn't allow a runner on base, while striking out 2. 

All in all, it was one of those games that you watch and say, "Hey, this is a real baseball team."  The Nats hope to continue to be a real baseball team on this 7 game road trip visiting the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers after taking 4 of 6 at home against the best teams in the NL East, the Phillies and the Braves.  Continuing the success will be up to Scott Olsen on Tuesday as he faces a new D-back, Joe Saunders, who was acquired from the Angels in the Dan Haren trade.  It should be an exciting matchup.

Riggleman Returning for 2011

After the Nationals infurating 7-5 loss to Milwaukee on Friday after being ahead 5-1, I imagine that the folks in Natstown are not particularly thrilled that Rizzo just announced that Riggleman will be back to manage the Nats in 2011.  After all, Riggleman is 75-97 as the Nats skipper.

But really, how much difference does a manager make?  Sure, the decisions to insert Willie Harris over Michael Morse are infuriating.  Or Adam Kennedy over Guzman or Gonzalez.  I understand the logic of wanting to flip out over it, because I've done so regularly on this very blog.  Just check the archives.  And I'll probably continue to do so in the future.

Let's be real, though, before performing some immature rant about how Jim Riggleman is the worst manager in the history of baseball.  He was given a pitching rotation this season where John Lannan was your "ace" to start the season.  And without even considering Lannan's meltdown, Lannan should never be an Opening Day starter for any MLB team.  But what else did he have to put out there?  Jason Marquis: The former All-Star that ended up having a 20+ ERA and ended up hurt for most of the season?  Garrett Mock: The guy who got hurt the first week of the season, and most people were shocked that he even made the rotation?  Craig Stammen: The guy who has already been sent down to the minors once this year, and I imagine it will happen again before 2010 is over? 

The bullpen started out strong, but now it seems like Clippard gives up as many runs as he gets in outs in each appearance.  Burnett has been terrible.  Batista has proven to be an ineffective long reliever.  Brian Bruney got fired after a month on the job.  Tyler Walker can't get it done and is on the DL.  Jason Bergmann got DFA'd, and because no one else in baseball wanted him, he got reassigned to the minors.

This is the cast of characters that Jim Riggleman has had to deal with in 2010.  Sure, he has guys like Strasburg, Zimmerman, Dunn, Willingham, and Capps (at least for now).  But he had almost nothing to start the year, and he has made remarkable strides.  Last 2 years the Nats ended the season with more than 100 losses.  Recovery from that type of terrible baseball takes time, and the Nationals have decided that Riggleman is the guy to do it.  He's already miles ahead of the last 2 years, and next year will be better.  But until then, it's Riggleman's team.

Lannan's Struggles Continue; Team Moves On

It is still remarkable to consider that a pitcher for a Major League Baseball team could go from Opening Day starter to struggling in AA in one season, but that's exactly what John Lannan has done in the course of 4 short months.

Manager Jim Riggleman listed John Lannan, Matt Chico, and Ross Detwiler as possible starters in place of Luis Atilano this Sunday after he was placed on the DL with bone chips in his elbow. Lannan started on Thursday in Harrisburg, so that basically eliminates a Sunday start for him. However, even if it wouldn't be short rest, Lannan hasn't made a case for himself since he left DC.

When Lannan was sent down, he showed no signs of being a top of the rotation starter. His ERA was 5.76, he had walked 35 batters in just 14 starts. Considering in his last two seasons, his ERA was below 4.00, something was obviously wrong. At first, the Nats thought he was hurt. He missed a start, came back, and nothing. So the organization did the unthinkable. They demoted their Opening Day starter. (Aside: The Nats starting rotation on Opening Day included Lannan, Mock, Stammen, and Marquis. Of those 4, none of them have spent the entire season in the majors, and Stammen is the only one in the rotation today. And that's probably temporary.)

But since Lannan trekked up Route 15 to Harrisburg, PA, there hasn't been much improvement. His ERA is down to 4.29, but he's facing merely adequate major league talent. He is 1-3, and while you can't learn everything by wins and losses, in his most recent outing, Lannan gave up 4 runs on 9 hits in just 5 innings. In Lannan's last start on July 17th, he went just 4 2/3 innings and gave up 4 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits.

So while Lannan tries to figure it out in Double-A, Ross Detwiler and Jordan Zimmerman are getting closer to MLB-ready. Strasburg has solidified himself as the Nats ace for years to come (Please don't be like Mark Prior, Please don't be like Mark Prior...). Livan has shown that he can still be a middle to bottom of the rotation innings eater. Scott Olsen and Jason Marquis could both be on their way back to the rotation soon. So all of a sudden, even with Strasburg being shut down in a few weeks, it looks like there may be no room for the Nats 2010 Opening Day starter on the expanded September roster.

It is a meteoric decline by a guy that many considered a 3rd or 4th spot starter (after Strasburg and Zimmermann) for many years to come. Lannan is an upstanding player, one that works tirelessly to be a better pitcher and an off-the-field presence in the community. I speak for many when I say I hope that he can figure it out and have a comeback very soon.

Capitol Baseball will continue to update all ye dedicated readers on Lannan's progress.

Lannan Heads North; Detwiler Ready?; Zimmermann Ahead of Schedule

John Lannan's season wasn't quite what everyone expectedfrom the guy who was the Opening Day starter in 2010. No one expected a 10-0 start and a 0.73 ERA, but they expected a stable start every 5 days. In the end, Lannan went through some sort of elbow issues in the first half of the season, but all in all, he just was unable to locate his pitches. He simply couldn't get it done. It's something you just hate to see from a guy like Lannan, who showed lots of promise both on and off the field.

Unfortunately, Lannan's 2-5 record and 5.76 ERA just wasn't enough, and he was demoted to AA Harrisburg today. A move that 2 weeks ago, I would have told you would never ever happen. But failing to make it 5 innings in 2 consecutive starts and sporting almost a 6.00 ERA wouldn't have saved anyone in baseball halfway through the season. Joining the Nats will be RHP Joel Peralta, who has been a reliever for his entire career in Kansas City, Anaheim, and Colorado.

One last thing to encourage Nats fans, though, is that LHP Ross Detwiler has been taken from the 60-Day DL and is now in the rotation down in Harrisburg. With Peralta's promotion, that leaves the Nationals with two options as I can see it for the rotation.

1. Go with a 4 man rotation for a little while. They have a day off on Thursday, so it's possible.
2. Pull Miguel Batista from the bullpen and give him a spot start or two until you figure out who the 5th man is.
   

More than likely, option 1 is the answer in this situation. Detwiler's addition to the Harrisburg rotation probably means he'll be ready for the big soon, and after another start or two down there, he will probably join the rotation in DC. With Lannan in the minors, it'll be replacing a lefty with a lefty. Now is the time to see if Detwiler is the real deal, as he was the 6th overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft.

I was surprised that Peralta was promoted, considering Manager Jim Riggleman said this past week that Craig Stammen had a shot at making the bullpen in DC. But it wasn't to be, yet at least. There are still many huge decision to be made in DC over the next few weeks with one big pitcher coming off of the DL and 3 big starters (Wang, Zimmermann, Marquis) schedule to come off before the season ends.

Detwiler will be ready very soon, and so will Jordan Zimmermann. The question with Zimmermann will be whether he comes out of the bullpen or if he joins the rotation, and when. Even by Mike Rizzo's account, J. Zimm is way ahead of schedule, and by all accounts he will NOT be rushed back. It is encouraging, though that Zimmermann was in uniform throughout the weekend series with the White Sox and threw a simulated game of 35 pitches on Friday before the game. Maybe the organization knows something we don't.

The games haven't been very exciting lately, but one thing is for sure. The promotions and demotions will be fast and furious over the next few months, and with only about 40 days until the trade deadline, the Nationals front office may be more interesting to watch than the team over the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

Questioning Riggleman's Lineup Card and Episode II: The Stras-pire Strikes Back

This weekend has been full of World Cup talk and game watching my house, like hundreds of millions of homes across the world. It's an exciting time every 4 years when June comes around, even for those that aren't huge soccer fans. It's very exciting to watch players compete for their countries in the most popular sport on earth. But I digress; back to America's Pastime.

Jim Riggleman came into the series against the Cleveland Indians hoping to capitalize on the Nationals sweep against the Pirates, the excitement over Stephen Strasburg, and the offensive weakness of the Indians.

Well, none of that has happened so far. The Nats have given up 7 runs in each of the first 2 games against the Indians. The pitching has been abysmal, and one former Nationals player that the team dismissed and ate his $8 million contract came back to bite them. Austin Kearns, yes, the Nats player that hit the Mendoza Line in 2009 and was injured for most of the last 2 years of his Nationals career is healthy in Cleveland, hitting .307. He hit 2 home runs against Atilano on Friday. Personally, I'm happy to see Austin healthy and successful.

However, Riggleman did give himself much offensive assistance with his Friday and Saturday lineups. Most questionable of all of those calls was Willy Harris as a DH on Saturday. The Nationals wanted to get Harris some consistent playing time to get his confidence up. However, the offensive expense was great. Harris is now hitting .163 and went 0 for 7 against Cleveland. He is not in the lineup today.

Meanwhile, Michael "Don't Call Me Mike" Morse is hitting .417 and was coming off of a 3 for 3 night against Pittsburgh to end that series with a sweep. To me, it defies logic how a team that is competitive in the NL East well into June can take the bat out of a kid's hands who is hitting over .400 to put it in someone's hand that is hitting well below .200 and is a liability with the bat. Making a lefty batter against a righty pitcher in favor of Harris is irrelevant as well. Harris is hitting just .165 against righties, while Morse is hitting .556; even better than he is against lefties.

Morse has taken it all in stride. He knows his role as a utility guy, and has embraced it. However, when you have a player that is as dominant as Morse is, I question Riggleman's managerial decisions putting Willie Harris in the game.

Today's lineup looks a little more like the Nats want to compete to win, but the Indians certainly are going for the sweep with theirs. Oh, and some good young kid is pitching for the Nats for his 2nd start. Maybe you've heard of him...

Nationals
1. Guzman, 2B
2. Nyjer, CF
3. Zim, DH
4. Adam Dunn, 1B
5. Hammer, LF
6. Pudge, C
7. Morse, RF
8. Ian Desmond, SS
9. The Attorney General (Gonzalez), 3B
SP: Stephen Strasburg

Indians
1. Trevor Crowe, CF
2. Shin-Soo Choo, RF
3. Carlos Santana, C
4. Travis Hafner, DH
5. Austin Kearns, LF
6. Russell Branyan, 1B
7. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
9. Luis Valbuena, 2B
9. Anderson Hernandez, SS
SP: David Huff

Cristian Guzman: An Everyday Player

When the season began, Ian Desmond was on a tear coming out of spring training. He was batting .279 with an OBP of .338 and had a slugging rating of .463. According to Manager Jim Riggleman, that was enough to earn him the starting shortstop job. And with good reason. The Nats were looking ahead to the future of the ball club when 2010 began. They wanted to throw out the old and bring in the new. Speaking of the old: At the start of 2010, there was only 1 player left from the Opening Day 2005 roster. His name was Cristian Guzman. That alone probably did not help his cause for the starting spot.

Instead, Guzman started the season as a utility guy, making some appearances at 2nd base and right field, with a few starts at shortstop for Desmond to get a day's rest. The results have been staggering for Cristian. He's batting .327 with a .412 slugging %. His OBP is only .026 above his batting average, but that's what we've come to expect from Guzzie. He's going to swing a lot, but he's going to make contact enough to satisfy. He is on base 1 out of every 3 at bats because of contact alone. He's a threat as a switch hitter, too: batting .400 from the right and a very respectable .279 from the left. People have made the argument that Guzman has lost range and is a liability in the field. At the end of 2009, I'd probably agree with you, but in 176 chances at 3 separate positions this season, Guzman has made only 2 errors for a .989 fielding percentage.

Meanwhile, Adam Kennedy still holds the role as the official starting 2nd baseman. He enters today with a meagre .250 batting average and a .352 slugging %. Both significantly lower numbers than Guzman. Kennedy often enters the game as a defensive upgrade, but with only a few more chances than Guzman (196) he's made more than double the number of errors (5) for a disappointing .974 fielding percentage. Kennedy is a lefty batting .250, and when Guzman bats lefty he is hitting .279. What this means, exactly? Even as a spot starter against righties Kennedy, no longer makes sense.

Guzman should be playing every single day for the Nats to continue competing. It makes no sense to have a guy that can compete at this level day in and day out to be sitting on the bench. Guzman is commanding $8 million this season, and he's earning it so far. I'm the last guy to say "well they're paying him so much, so he might as well play," but in this case it's true. Production earns playing time, and there is no good reason to not play Guzman every day.

Game 27: Frustration and a Riggleman Error

Sorry for the extended delay between this post and last night's game. This blogger was coming off of a bad day at work, followed by a Philadelphia Flyers loss to put them down 3-0 to the Bruins, and a Nats near comeback win, with eventual disappointing loss to the Braves. I was in no place to blog without anger and rants. Let's go for it now, however.

The Luis Atilano and the Nats took on Tommy Hanson and the Braves for the 2nd of 3 in this series. I predicted weeks ago that Atilano would eventually have a disappointing night, because he's 24 years old and has only had 3 MLB starts. Well that night was last night. He threw 98 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, but he never got into a groove. He got out of a brief jam in the first, but after that he gave up runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th innings, and put 2 men on in the 6th before getting yanked by Manager Jim Riggleman. Sean Burnett replaced him and, to no real fault of his own with 2 men on with only 1 out and facing the top of the order, gave up an RBI hit and a sacrifice grounder to short stop. But when he left, the score was 4-4 and although those two runners on base were credited to Atilano, giving him 6 earned runs on the night, the Nats saved him in the 8th.

In the 8th, Desmond singled on an error and then Bernadina crushed a double for a runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for pinch hitter Josh Willingham. The Hammer singled to left field and scored both Ian and Bernie to tie the game. In comes Matt Capps in the 9th for an inning, right? Wrong. In comes Matt Capps for an inning in the 9th, and then back for the 10th. This is where I question the Manager.

Jim Riggleman has done a brilliant job managing this club this year. He's always innings ahead of the game in his decisions and double switches, he uses his bench, and doesn't overuse his bullpen beyond what he needs to do. I understand bringing Capps in in the 9th to try and hold onto the game, although I think he would have been more useful once the club got a lead, because that's... his job. But I digress, Riggleman made a mistake last night. He doesn't make many, but this was a big, fat, massive one.

Riggs brought in his closer to pitch 2 innings, which is 1 inning beyond what Capps should have pitched in this situation. Cappy was 11 for 11 in saves this season and just came of receiving the Delivery Man of the Month for April. Now, Capps has a 1 in the L column, and for a closer, his mentality to pitching could now change. He's no longer perfect, and that tends to affect closers in a very negative way. This club hasn't had a real closer since Cordero in 2007, and you can't take advantage of when when you get him. So Riggs, you've been a great manager all year, but you've made your first mistake. Learn from it, and don't make it again.

Game 21 = Defense and Umps

Because of the mid-game blog post, I'll make this post as brief as possible. Today's game was defense all the way (as it must be for a Cubs night game at Wrigley in April). Minus the one throwing error on the double play attempt by Cristian Guzman early in the game, the Nationals not only played flawless defense, they played exciting defense tonight.

When you have a guy like Livan Hernandez on the mount, you know that the defense behind him is going to have to play their best, because he pitches to contact. Well, the Nats did not disappoint. It started early with a diving play by Ian Desmond up the middle to prevent a Fukudome double, then an incredible catch by Alberto at 3rd on a Derek Lee line drive. Then there was another Ian Desmond pick and flip for the double play turn attempt. While it didn't work, on one of many questionable calls by the umps (see below), it was a show of why Desmond is going to be a quality shortstop for years to come. Finally, in the 6th, Willingham, who is much improved defensively, made an extended, leaping catch.

There were three very questionable ump calls on the night. Riggs came out to argue 2 of them.:

• The double play early in the game off of the amazing Ian Desmond turn from short. (Riggs argued).
• Justin Maxwell was called out stealing 2nd in the top of the 7th.
• On the last out of the 7th inning, Gonzalez was called tagged out at first on an errant throw by Theriot. On the replay, he was clearly never tagged by Lee. Clear as day. (Riggs argued this as well).
• A horrible missed strike in the bottom of the 8th with Clippard pitching to Marlon Byrd. This pitch was literally down the middle of the plate on the pitch track. Luckily, it didn't have any effect in the run column, and Tyler got out of the jam.
  

Luckily, the defense was so strong, that even some questionable calls couldn't take the win from the Nats, and they're once again, a game above .500, putting them as W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W over the last 11 games. Let's see if the team can get a second W in a row to get them 2 games above .500 in tomorrow's matinee at Wrigley to end the series.