A Few Good Men: 10 - Milone

And now we are in Week Three of our epic journey to recap every player that graced the ballfield for the hometown team. We are enjoying the give-and-take in the comments section, so feel free to share your thoughts and stats with us.

Tom Milone – Age 24 – Under team control until at least 2014

How He Became A Nat: Drafted by Washington in the 10^th round of the 2008 Amateur Draft.

The Raw Numbers:

Games with the big club: 5

WHIP: 1.231

BAbip: .310

K/BB at Harrisburg in 2010: 155/23

K/BB at Syracuse in 2011: 155/15

Key Stat: Age – 24. 5 big league games is a small sample size, so we are going conceptual. Tom Milone, with Jordan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, and Brad Peacock represent a core of young starting pitching poised to breakout for the Nats over the course of the next year or two. He has shown impeccable command over the past 2 years, cut his walks by a third against better competition in the second year, without a dip in K’s. Great pitching staffs aren’t usually made up of 4 power arms or 4 finesse guys, it takes a mix, and Tom Milone could be the perfect complement to the power arms listed above.

Best Game: Sept 20 vs. the Phillies. Over 6 innings Tom held the vaunted Phils lineup to no runs on just 4 hits, striking out 2 and walking no one. Milone claimed, “It was actually pretty easy” to move the ball in and out. Against the prohibitive National League favorite. On the road. Freak boy. (Yes we realize he didn’t face Utley, Howard or Rollins. Tom Milone still pitches for the Nationals. The team he faced was still the Phillies.)

Worst Game: Sept 26 vs. the Fish. In his very next start he did exactly what you can’t do. Go four and a third against the last place team in your division. Granted he was victimized by some bad luck, any starter in your rotation needs to go at least 5 against a last place team, if you expect to compete in the MLB, let alone the National League’s East Division. (Ok, the Marlins’ lineup is no joke and last place jabs aside, the Nats pitchers need to spend some serious time looking at tape of Babe Stanton, LoMo and Gaby or they will continue to be dominated by the “Miami Marlins”).

CapBall Grade: B+ - In his cup of coffee Milone showed flashes of being a polished Major League pitcher. In a very small sample size, Milone had 15ks and 4bb and while the 1.231 WHIP is not ideal, the BAbip shows that pehaps some luck was involved in a least some of those 28 hits over 26 innings. The grade is mostly given based on the overwhelming sense of progress his arrival, along with Peacock, signaled for a Nats fan base hungry for relevance.

2012 Nats Status: He will start 10+ games for the 2012 Washington Nationals, whether he is in the rotation when camp breaks, or is first or second up from Syracuse when the eventual need for a starter arises. Write it down, take a picture…we don’t care.

Livan is done, and there are lots of reasons why

When the Nationals acquired Livan Hernandez on a 1-year deal in 2010, everyone in NatsTown was excited for the return of a hometown favorite, and he did not disappoint. In his first full year back with the organization, he put up 211 2/3 innings and a 3.66 ERA, his best since the 2003 season with the Montreal Expos.

This season started out with about the same story: lots of innings eaten and an impressive ERA. But after his June 15 complete game shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals, Livan's efficiency decreased significantly. His ERA since that game is 5.74, opponents are hitting a high .345 against him, and has an astronomical .886 OPS. In the last 9 games, he only pitched 6 or more innings in a start 4 times. Not exactly what you want to see from your "innings eater" on the ball club. He's only thrown 62% strikes as well.

The main reason for Livan's pending doom with the Nats organization has little to do with his steady decline this season, though. It has more to do with the slew of incredible pitching talent that is ready to break though to the majors. Trading Jason Marquis before the deadline was the first step toward a younger Nationals pitching rotation.

With Stephen Strasburg's pending start on Opening Day 2012, plus the emerging dominance of Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan (I know, I can't believe I just wrote that either), there are just two rotation spots left to fill with emerging talent. Ross Detwiler looks to be out of the contest, as he is unable to get through a lineup more than twice. He'll end up traded or in the bullpen. But Brad Peacock and Tom Milone provide the most hope for the Nationals pitching future.

Peacock was dominant in Double-A Harrisburg to start the season, and since being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, he's certainly put up pretty good numbers. Milone has been simply dominant in Syracuse all season, putting up an 8-6 record, a 3.62 ERA, and an astounding 12.00 SO/BB ratio. He struck out 120 batters this year and walked only 10. That's incredible.

We're not convinced that both Peacock and Milone will make the rotation to start the 2012 season, but we are sure that they will both be September call ups this season. Mike Rizzo will still set out on his annual goal to sign a "big name" pitcher to help his rotation, but one thing is for sure. Livan Hernandez won't be the guy to make that rotation.