Washington Nationals Countdown to Spring Training: 12 Days

The off-season is almost over. Less than three weeks until Washington Nationals pitchers and catchers report to Viera. To celebrate this fact, we here at DistrictOnDeck will commence a countdown of sorts pointing out interesting facts about numbers.

18 Days
17 Days
16 Days
15 Days
14 Days
13 Days

We continue today with number 12.

Today we will take a look at pitchers and strikeouts. Which pitchers in franchise history have the most games with 12 or more strikeouts and who did the best in those games. Fourteen different pitchers have at least 12 strikeouts in a game.

May 04, 2011; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa (18) celebrates hitting a three run home run with pinch hitter Matt Stairs (12) and left fielder Laynce Nix (19) during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Nationals 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The pitcher with the most 12+ strikeout games is not surprisingly Pedro Martinez. Martinez had 11 such games, and went 4-5 with a 1.50 ERA in those games. Of those 11 starts, seven were complete games and he walked 26.

In second spot with four is Bill Stoneman. The former general manager was 4-0 in those games with two shutouts.

Three pitchers had three games meeting the criteria. One of which is Stephen Strasburg which isn’t a big surprise to anyone who remotely watches baseball. Of all of the pitchers with at least two games, he has the best strikeout-to-inning ratio which is not surprising either as the Nationals have always been careful with his pitch counts and innings.

The other two with three games are Javier Vazquez and Balor Moore. Vazquez sat last year out of Major League Baseball and is still considering a return and the Nationals are one of the teams that have shown interest. Moore was the first draft pick to play for the Expos. He was their first round pick in 1969 and was largely a disappointment as he battled arm injuries throughout his career. In fact, all of the three 12+K games came in the first full season of his career. He made his debut in 1970 at age 19, but made his last at only 29.

Here are the others that made an appearance on the list:

Two Times: Floyd Youmans, John Patterson, Mark Langston, Bill Gullickson
One Time: Mike Wegener, Bob Sebra, Jeff Juden, Joe Hesketh, Jeff Fassero

Notable players to wear 12 with the Expos/Nationals: John Boccabella, Wil Cordero, Don Buford, Alfonso Soriano, Josh Wilson, Rob Mackowiak, Alberto Gonzalez, Matt Stairs