Nationals @ Dodgers, Game 2

[UMDNats]

lol, we won?!?

villone picking up the W

[The Chief]

smartest thing you've said all year.

He says plenty of perfectly reasonable and coherent things, but nobody ever pays attention to him when he does that, they only want to jump on his case when he says anything mildly complimentary about Dukes

[The Chief]

I wonder what I gotta do to get my own batsignal

Get professionally diagnosed with OCD by the WNFF medical staff.

[Minty Fresh]

Everybody but Ryan Zimmerman and Flores is a bum on this team.  Everyone else. 

AK is a beast.  We need to have this guy in the lineup everyday. 

I pitch Beimel in the 8th, and Joel in the 9th. 

Beimel blows.  Just doesn't have an out pitch. 

[The Chief]

Whatever fits in a Magnum

Real Magnums are six-shooters

[DPMOmaha]

I'm going to make a bold statement:

This team has one of the top 3-5, if not THE best, regular line-ups in the MLB.

I wouldn't go that far.  We're averaging exactly 5 runs per game, which puts us right in the middle of the pack offensively.  Bright spot though, we're facing the two worst offensive teams in baseball in Arizona and  San Francisco coming up.  I will say this though, they really are explosive when they're clicking. 

Pitching and defense...pitching and defense...pitching and defense...

[cruiser]

Look at our batting averages!
Guzman .392
Johnson .330
Zimmerman .336
Dunn .290
Dukes .292
Flores .301
Hernandez .328

We have SEVEN hitters batting above .290!!

And even though Kearns isn't hitting as well as the rest of them, his OBP is still up over .400 - a walk's not quite as good as a hit, but it's better than a strikeout.

[PANatsFan]

And even though Kearns isn't hitting as well as the rest of them, his OBP is still up over .400 - a walk's not quite as good as a hit, but it's better than a strikeout.

[education]

RE: Kearns .900 OPS is VALUABLE
[/education]

[DPMOmaha]

And even though Kearns isn't hitting as well as the rest of them, his OBP is still up over .400 - a walk's not quite as good as a hit, but it's better than a strikeout.

what's the difference between a walk and a single?

[PANatsFan]

what's the difference between a walk and a single?

e.g, can score from second on a single, but there's a risk of outs - so it balances IMO.

[blue911]

e.g, can score from second on a single, but there's a risk of outs - so it balances IMO.

What's the "out risk" on a single?

[DPMOmaha]

e.g, can score from second on a single, but there's a risk of outs - so it balances IMO.

No I get that, but a hitters job is to get on base, how he does that is relatively irrelevant.  If he can move runners around, but the difference between a walk and a single are fairly insignificant.  I think, psychologically, the walk could be worse than a single often times...

[PANatsFan]

What's the "out risk" on a single?

The advancing runners can be gunned down at the plate, for instance.

[spidernat]

I'll be really curious to see what they do if Zim get's above 30 on the hit streak.  I think Bristol might explode if a lowly Nat makes a run at a record like that.

hitting streaks aren't even worth making a big deal about until they reach 30. EVery year there are hitting streaks that reach the 20's. It's not until they reach 30 that they merit the coverage you guys want for Zimmerman. And there is no way they should be cutting away for Zimmerman at bats at this point in time as SF wishes they would do for Zimmerman. Maybe when Flores' hitting streak reaches 4 MLB Network can do a countdown to Dimaggio or a piece on Flores' hometown back in Venezuela. 

I am exhausted and feel wrung out, but happily like after a l-o-n-g round of very active sex.

What brand of DVR do you have? 

Oh, and BTW Spider, I tell every woman I'm with that she's the best ever!!  

  saltydad is an all-pro in my book.

[blue911]

The advancing runners can be gunned down at the plate, for instance.

That would be Tim Tolman's fault. The single didn't cause the out, that would be the fault of poor base running.

[blue911]

hitting streaks aren't even worth making a big deal about until they reach 30. EVery year there are hitting streaks that reach the 20's. It's not until they reach 30 that they merit the coverage you guys want for Zimmerman. And there is no way they should be cutting away for Zimmerman at bats at this point in time as SF wishes they would do for Zimmerman. Maybe when Flores' hitting streak reaches 4 MLB Network can do a countdown to Dimaggio or a piece on Flores' hometown back in Venezuela. 

What brand of DVR do you have? 


  saltydad is an all-pro in my book.

Daniel Cabrera. MLB network should cut away if his hitting streak ever reaches one.

[PANatsFan]

That would be Tim Tolman's fault. The single didn't cause the out, that would be the fault of poor base running.

OK but all runners are safe after a walk.

[blue911]

OK but all runners are safe after a walk.

That's only because there is less chance of poor or over aggressive base running.

If you really wanted to argue the point, you should bring up a base runner being hit by a batted ball. That results in a single and an out 100% of the time.

[PANatsFan]

That's only because there is less chance of poor or over aggressive base running.

If you really wanted to argue the point, you should bring up a base runner being hit by a batted ball. That results in a single and an out 100% of the time.

Like Kearns

[hammondsnats]

Flores has been on a tear and I loved when Dibs/Carpy were talking about how positive a sign this is that slow starters in Zimmerman and Flores have been starting off hot this season. 

[blue911]

Flores has been on a tear and I loved when Dibs/Carpy were talking about how positive a sign this is that slow starters in Zimmerman and Flores have been starting off hot this season. 

Rick Eckstein. What do you think the odds are that Zimmerman, Flores and Dukes would all have career best Aprils if Lenny Harris was still around?

[PANatsFan]

Rick Eckstein. What do you think the odds are that Zimmerman, Flores and Dukes would all have career best Aprils if Lenny Harris was still around?

I think Zim's contract and health helped. He started slow for a bit and then caught fire.

[hammondsnats]

Rick Eckstein. What do you think the odds are that Zimmerman, Flores and Dukes would all have career best Aprils if Lenny Harris was still around?

I think it's a combination of things.

1) Rick Eckstein absolutely.  The guy is obsessed with baseball and he really goes the extra mile to work with hitters on their swing/approach.  Great hire.

2) Adam Dunn.  I call him the Transformer and it's corny, but it's true.  He has transformed this line-up from top to bottom.  He'll go in funks and he'll k, but more often than not he'll hit a bomb, get a walk or come through with a single/double and it'll remind us why we paid him some good money.

3) Nick Johnson being healthy (knock on wood).  He's the on base machine.

4) Ryan Zimmerman in best shape of his life and starting hot in spring.

5) Elijah Dukes getting the everyday job.

[cruiser]

e.g, can score from second on a single, but there's a risk of outs - so it balances IMO.

It doesn't quite balance out.  With a runner on 1st or nobody on, a walk is as good as a hit (the risk of getting gunned down at 3rd trying to advance from first certainly balances out the slight advantage of runners at the corners vs. runners on 1st & 2nd).  With a runner on 2nd, I'd say the risks of an out at the plate or a runner getting hit by a batted ball don't quite outweigh the gain of scoring from 2nd or having a runner who can score on a sac fly if he only advances to 3rd.  With a runner on 3rd, there's no contest that scoring from 3rd is better than still standing there.  Runners on 2nd and 3rd is just like adding runner on 2nd + runner on 3rd - i.e. you'd rather have a single than a walk.  Bases loaded, yeah, I'd rather have the walk (no chance of an out, psychologically bad for the pitcher).  So in the final analysis, I'm going to stand by my original statement that a walk is not quite as as good as a hit.  I also should have mentioned in that with a runner on 3rd, a walk might not even be as good as an out, given the possibility of an RBI on a sac fly or a ground out.

[DPMOmaha]

1) Rick Eckstein absolutely.  The guy is obsessed with baseball and he really goes the extra mile to work with hitters on their swing/approach.  Great hire.

2) Adam Dunn.  I call him the Transformer and it's corny, but it's true.  He has transformed this line-up from top to bottom.  He'll go in funks and he'll k, but more often than not he'll hit a bomb, get a walk or come through with a single/double and it'll remind us why we paid him some good money.

I am fully expecting there to be a coaching change before spring training next year.  I'm not convinced it will/should happen in-season, but that's a different conversation.  Should it happen though, Eckstein can not be part of those changes.  He absolutely must be kept around, I'd even consider making him the highest paid assistant in baseball.  Seriously.

Adam Dunn is hitting home runs at the same rate he always have, about one every 13 AB's.  he's the model of consistency.  He's hitting a bit above his career mark at this point.