District on Deck » Andrew Flax

Week in Review: May 12th-18th

Andrew Flax — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:45:22 +0000

While staying up for every 10pm game on this road trip has obliterated my sleep schedule, my late nights have not been wasted. The week was a mixed bag in terms of outcomes, but has certainly not been without excitement. If you want to relive it all, here’s this week in review:

Sunday, May 12th

May 17, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals players celebrate after a win against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Nationals won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Strasburg Falls Apart As Cubs Wallop Nats, 8-2

Moments That Mattered: No One Does Much Of Anything Too Well

Chicago Cubs At Washington Nationals Lineups, May 12, 2013

Bullpen Blows Lead For Gio Gonzalez: Nats Lose 2-1 To The Cubs

Monday, May 13th

Moments That Mattered: Gonzalez Returns To Form, Bullpen Doesn’t

Week In Review: May 5th-11th

Lineups: Nats Head West To Face Reeling Dodgers

Tuesday, May 14th

Nats Win, Harper Hurt

Bryce Harper Avoids Concussion, DL After Scary Collision With Wall

Moments That Mattered: Offense Sputters To Life Early

Lineups: Starting Outfielders Sit Against Kershaw

Wednesday, May 15th

Nationals To Move Spring Training Facilites From Viera

Nationals Fall To Dodgers In Pitching Duel, 2-0

Moments That Mattered: Kershaw Mows Down Hapless Nats Bats

Win A LG Electronics 42-Inch LED TV From District On Deck

Lineups: Harper Still Out As Nats Gun For Series Win, NL East Tie

Thursday, May 16th

Walking Wounded Nats Drop Series Finale In L.A.

Injury Updates: Ramos Likely To Miss Time, Harper To Return?

Moments That Mattered: *Exasperated Groan*

Lineups: Harper Returns To Lineup As Strasburg Returns Home

Friday, May 17th

Detwiler’s MRI Yields Concerning Results, Werth’s Return Delayed

Harper And Strasburg Make Their Presences Felt In Win Over Padres

Moments That Mattered: LaRoche Keeps On Truckin’

May 17, 2013 Lineups: Washington Nationals At San Diego Padres

Saturday, May 18th

Moments That Mattered: A Heaping Helping Of Homers

Tracy’s Late Blast Leads Nats To Dramatic 6-5 Victory In San Diego

Lineups: Harper Sits, Nats Aim For Third Straight Win Against Padres

Zach Duke To Start Monday in San Francisco For Detwiler

Lineups: Haren Hopes To Deliver Series Win

Andrew Flax — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:31:05 +0000

After last night’s offensive debacle, the Nats are leaving no stone unturned in their pursuit of offense. Unfortunately, tonight’s stone does not look particularly promising. In addition to missing Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper, the Nationals will rest Ian Desmond today, who is 2-24 (.083) in the Nats’ last seven games. An unfortunate consequence of this is that the Nationals now have three offense starters who are hitting under .170. In fact, today’s pitcher, Dan Haren, has a better batting average (.188) this season than Tyler Moore, Roger Bernadina, and Danny Espinosa. Never say never, but tonight’s lineup doesn’t look poised to score a ton. Haren (4-4, 4.76) has been better than his ERA indicates, with a 3.00 ERA and two quality starts in his last three. His opponent, Andrew Cashner (2-2, 2.84), has been even better, allowing one run in his last two starts (14.2 IP). Cashner is a fireballer, with a 95.3 MPH average fastball, which is not a recipe for success with three struggling hitters. Here are today’s lineups:

May 17, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche (25) is congratulated by second baseman Danny Espinosa (8) after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Washington

Denard Span CF

Steve Lombardozzi 2B

Ryan Zimmerman 3B

Adam LaRoche 1B

Moore LF

Bernadina RF

Espinosa SS

Kurt Suzuki C

Haren RHP

San Diego

Everth Cabrera SS

Will Venable RF

Chase Headley 3B

Carlos Quentin LF

Yonder Alonso 1B

Jedd Gyorko 2B

Kyle Blanks RF

Nick Hundley C

Cashner RHP

Moments That Mattered: No Offense, But…

Andrew Flax — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:30:26 +0000

Source: FanGraphs

So can Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth be healthy already?

This one was contentious all along, but the way the Nationals’ hitters flailed against a pitcher with a 4.57 ERA was painful to watch. The team was 4-26 tonight, good for an anemic .154 average. Nats who are not Harper, Adam LaRoche, and Ryan Zimmerman are 5-42 (.119) in these past two games. Four of today’s starters were hitting under .230, and two under .200. The team hit into more double plays (2) with runners on base than they had hits (1), going 1-9. It was a sad showing any way you slice it, and hopefully a change will come soon, whether that comes through a team-wide regression to the mean, or through some demotions to the minors.

Most Important Nationals Hit: Steve Lombardozzi‘s RBI single (+16.5%)

Apr 25, 2013; Washington, DC, USA;Washington Nationals third baseman Steve Lombardozzi (1) fields a ground ball during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Inexplicably, the .210-hitting Lombardozzi has two RBI hits in the Nats’ last three games. Most would agree he should not be hitting second, especially Keith Law, but at least for this series, he could definitely have been worse. Kurt Suzuki was walked, moved over by a Jordan Zimmermann sacrifice, and scored by Lombo with two outs after a Denard Span flyout. He has an OPS of .510.

Most Important Nationals Pitch: Everth Cabrera‘s RBI single (+23.2%)

This was an unfortunate sequence for Zimmermann, who was excellent all game long. He misfired on a pickoff move that allowed Alexi Amarista to move to second and subsequently score on the single. He retired the next two batters to end the inning, meaning the run may not have scored if he hadn’t erred, but it did not look like the Nats were going to score anytime soon to get him the win.

Champ of the Game: Zimmermann (+9.3%) earns this, but for an odd reason. His one-ER, seven-hit, eight-inning complete game was actually worth -1.0%. But at the plate, he was 1-1 with a reach on error and sacrifice, good for +10.3%. For San Diego, the usually pedestrian Eric Stults (+29.9%) locked down the helpless Nats, allowing four hits in eight innings.

Chump of the Game: Denard Span (-23.2%) was 0-3 with a walk. Not particularly bad, until you realize all of his outs came with runners on and one was an inning-ending double play. Chris Denorfia (-12.8%) was 1-3, and also grounded into an inning-ending double play.