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Streaking player probably won’t play; winner of none, loser of three will!May 12th, 2008
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Raise your hand and speak up if you have no clue in the world what is happening with DC’s baseball team.
But, please: not everyone at once.
The Washington Nationals is the same team that earlier this season owned MLB’s worst record and had lost 15 of 17 games then turned it around to play .750 ball by winning nine of 12 games to climb to within striking distance of the team ahead of them in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves.
That surge also prompted the Nats to rise above five other MLB teams, pull into a tie with a sixth and – more importantly – demonstrate the team can play ball, win games and continue soaring upward.
Or so we thought.
Through Monday morning, as they approach this season’s quarter mark, the Nats are tied with the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies for third-worst in MLB, ahead of the penultimate Seattle Mariners and the last-place San Diego Padres.
What more to expect from a team that markets itself on its own Web site with the following sub-headline to its top story: ‘Aaron Boone has been on a tear for the Nationals, but will likely not start as Odalis Perez throws against the Mets at 7:10 p.m. ET tonight.’
The Nationals are reduced to pitching the exploits of a back-up third baseman.
One who might not even find his way into the game.
Naming him alongside the name of the pitcher whose record is 0-3.
Is the message from the Nats: Viewers should watch the game not to watch the streaking infielder but to watch the pitcher who has won no games but lost three in the eight he has started?
Since Sunday, April 4, when the Nats won the ninth of their 12 most recent games by taking three of four from the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park, they have gone on to lose two of three to the Houston Astros in Texas and all three home games of a weekend set to the Florida Marlins. Their record now stands at 15-23, a .395 winning percentage.
Now six games into 16-straight days of games, the Nats face the New York Mets at Shea Stadium for a four-game set, then return to the mid-Atlantic to begin interleague play when they visit the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards for a three-game weekend set.
Following Wednesday’s game, the Nats will be slightly more than 25 percent through the 2008 regular season schedule.
Maybe Boone should play.
In lieu of the guy he’s backing up.
Boone is hitting .304 in 46 at-bats while appearing in 28 games. By contrast, Ryan Zimmerman is hitting .240 in 154 at-bats while appearing in 37 of the team’s 38 games.
In fact, the one game Zimmerman missed thus far was April 4, when his streak of playing in 205-straight games came to a close.
To commemorate the occasion, back-up third baseman Boone (the one who might not play Monday while ‘on a tear for the Nationals’) homered in a 5-2 victory over the Pirates.
Boone, who also platoons at first base, also has committed less errors than Zimmerman, 0-2, according to the Nationals.
Maybe all Nats back-ups should be given more playing time.
Who knows: maybe some stiff competition will motivate the starters to play harder and genrate needed consistency.
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