The offense doesn't concern me and every team is playing crappy defense right now. I really don't know what it is. I kind of feel it might be the weather or just a SSS. As far as the offense they are getting plenty of men on and one of these games they are just going to bust out. The starters are doing pretty well when you think about how Nats starters have started seasons in years past. The bullpen will be fine. My biggest concern is Riggleman. This guy is just making some seriously terrible decisions. I wrote up why I thought last nights decision was the worst on the year so far. Even worse than LaRussa's back to back IBB to put the winning run on third with 2 outs. http://blownsavewin.com/?p=1423
Hey Evolution - I'll be bookmarking your blog and reading it more often.
Riggleman is in kind of a tough spot when it comes to managing the pen. He seems to understand that the 3 (4 if you count Coffey) reliable guys need the occasional day of rest. He doesn't seem to trust Gaudin, so he's out in a close game. He was saving the 2 remaining guys - Slaten and Burnett - for later in the game.
I don't have a huge problem with pitching Broderick for that extra inning. He's a starter and should be used to those pitching multiple innings. If it costs one loss to determine that Broderick can't handle pitching in the bigs and this results in us either sending him back to the Cards or working out a trade for him, then fine. I don't think he tops out at anything more than a #5 starter at best, so it's not a huge loss if we lose him. Either way, he's out of the pen and another, more reliable arm is brought in. If Gaudin doesn't get his act together, he can be cut lose, too.
I do think it was setting Broderick up to fail a bit to send him out there, but it had to be done. If he can't pitch in the bigs, he shouldn't be there. The rest of our starting and relief corps aren't good enough to carry him.