The Espinosa Question: What should happen with him?

[NatsAllThe Way]

I would sent him to Hagerstown,,,   he needs some confidence.  Looks like a complete loser right now.  Without a doubt the biggest disapointment to me this year. 0 for his last what, at least 13 or 15.  6 of them Ks, almost no walks, almost no power.  He just needs a break, send him to the little leagues to work on fundamentals.

[sportsfan882]

I had a dream they demoted him to AAA. But no luck.

Doubt they will do anything with him until they head back home next week.

[spidernat]

I had a dream they demoted him to AAA. But no luck.

Doubt they will do anything with him until they head back home next week.

They can't continue to carry dead weight and expect to reach their goals. Something will have to be done and the sooner the better. Of course we've been saying the same thing about H Rod for some time as well.

[HalfSmokes]

They can't continue to carry dead weight and expect to reach their goals.

still one game back in may

[blue911]

Kobernus, hitting .357 in AAA, still not on 40-man?

Why would you waste an option year?

[mach1ne]

They can't continue to carry dead weight and expect to reach their goals. Something will have to be done and the sooner the better. Of course we've been saying the same thing about H Rod for some time as well.

Davey continuing to bat him leadoff/second is not helping either.  He's an automatic out.  The first inning was our best chance last night and started with an out before we got to the part of the lineup that could do damage. If Espinosa is moved to the eighth spot, he's going to continue to see junk that he will still swing at.  Batting him 7th is really the only option other than giving him the Lannan treatment to work on the mental aspect of his game.

[Ray D]

1 game back- they can afford it for the time being

To what end? He is useless and is never going to amount to anything.    Look at his swing FROM THE RIGHT SIDE last nigth.  Looked as bad as his swing from left side.

[MorseTheHorse]

Why would you waste an option year?

If we still have need to send Kobernus to AAA 4 years from now, he isn't gonna make it anyways.  He is (almost) 25 already. 

[madj55]

I'm done having faith in Espinosa, he really is just straight up trash. Your glove can only take you so far, and he's at the end of the road. However, I know Rizzo is going to do absolutely nothing about this. Are there any 2B on the market we could trade for?

[blue911]

If we still have need to send Kobernus to AAA 4 years from now, he isn't gonna make it anyways.  He is (almost) 25 already.

He has an OBP of .374 which brings his career number to .322. Coupled with walk percentage below 5% and an ISO of .082 in his best ever showing, and you think he's ready. You want to burn his most valuable asset, which is his options because there is nothing in his stats that remotely suggests he's ready. It's down right idiotic to suggest two major league franchises have come to the same conclusion are wrong.

[sportsfan882]

He has an OBP of .374 which brings his career number to .322. Coupled with walk percentage below 5% and an ISO of .082 in his best ever showing, and you think he's ready. You want to burn his most valuable asset, which is his options because there is nothing in his stats that remotely suggests he's ready. It's down right idiotic to suggest two major league franchises have come to the same conclusion are wrong.

Then what is your suggestion on how to resolve our glaring 2B problem?

[BigMeech]

There is no way to continue justifying Espinosa having a spot on this team.  His OBP is .206 FFS! 

.206!!!

[PowerBoater69]

Give him the Patterson, Dukes, Dibble, Old Yeller treatment.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

He needs to get surgery al-freaking-ready.

[Slateman]

He needs to get surgery al-freaking-ready.

I'm not sure how surgery is going to help him not swing at bad pitches or even make more contact.

[DPMOmaha]

Zuck jumping on the bandwagon. 

http://www.natsinsider.com/2013/05/how-much-more-rope-for-espinosa.html

I say go get that shoulder fixed and see if that helps, let's see what we've got with the rest of the guys.

[DPMOmaha]

I'm not sure how surgery is going to help him not swing at bad pitches or even make more contact.

If he's not able to fully use the shoulder, I can see how it is hindering his ability to make contact.  If that's the case, and he's not able to make contact on pitches he would be able to if he were healthy, it would reflect negatively on his decision making. Get the shoulder fixed, remove all excuses and then reevaluate.

[MorseTheHorse]

He has an OBP of .374 which brings his career number to .322. Coupled with walk percentage below 5% and an ISO of .082 in his best ever showing, and you think he's ready. You want to burn his most valuable asset, which is his options because there is nothing in his stats that remotely suggests he's ready. It's down right idiotic to suggest two major league franchises have come to the same conclusion are wrong.

Well  I think short-term he can outperform Espinosa, and I think Espinosa could use a trip to AAA and then we'd need somebody to play 2B.  If he is gonna have a hot-streak while Espi is dead cold, lets have him playing the games that matter. 

And like I said, long-term, if he isn't ready in three years, he will never be ready.  So whether he is ready to come up and stay forever is really irrelevant. 

Options are confusing though, so perhaps I'm missing something, but if we put him on the 40 man and called him up then he would have 3 years from that date to be sent up or down, correct?  If that's the case, then like I said in 3 years he is either on the major league team or out of the game (or of little value)...

[BigMeech]

To be fair, Espinosa was horrible at the plate even before he was injured.

Cut bait.

[Ray D]

I'm not sure how surgery is going to help him not swing at bad pitches

Surgery will keep him off the field for several months.   So he won't swing at ANY pitches.

[hammondsnats]

hahahahahahahahaha i was right about this guy for a while now.  he's not what the nats thought he would be.  just cut bait. 

[Optics]

If he could just go back to putting up the #s he put up as a rookie, I'd be perfectly happy.

Good defense only gets you so far when you're hitting sub .200.

[hammondsnats]

The Nationals have given their young second baseman plenty of rope, but how much more can they afford to offer. As the season reaches the quarter pole tonight, Espinosa is sporting a .175 batting average, .206 on-base percentage and paltry .531 OPS that ranks 171st out of 175 qualifying major-league hitters.

Perhaps most alarming about Espinosa's start to the season: He's not drawing any walks. He's got only three of them in 126 plate appearances, a pathetic 2.4 percent rate. (For comparison's sake, Espinosa's career walk rate is 7.4 percent, while the major-league average is 8.2 percent.)

One reason the Nationals have been able to stick with Espinosa during his prolonged slumps over the past couple years is his ability to still draw walks even when he's not recording base hits. But with that ability severely diminished so far this season, the rationale for continuing to play Espinosa on a daily basis is growing thin.

http://www.natsinsider.com/2013/05/how-much-more-rope-for-espinosa.html

[sportsfan882]

Rizzo says on the radio show that they will remain very patient with Espinosa because of his full package and arsenal of tools.

[hammondsnats]

Starts at 2B >>> 52 (54.2%)

you guys are absolutely clueless.  please stop following baseball