By Reggie Yinger, on December 14th, 2010 First, some good Jayson Werth news. I noticed this bad boy is now for sale on MLB.com.
Don’t worry, I’ve already ordered mine and will wear it proudly for the next seven years. On a side note..I find it a bit odd that they carry Stephen Strasburg and Jayson Werth as regular t-shirts in stock, yet Ryan Zimmerman is a custom order.
Now for some sad Jayson Werth news. Werth was spotted at the Washington Wizards game tonight…beardless.
I hope this is just for the press conference tomorrow and that the beard will return to full time duty….I’m sure Jayson Werth’s Beard is sad, but hopefully it’s a temporary thing. I expect the below image (or something close to it) come March 31st of next year.
In other news, the Nationals announced that they signed veteran Matt Stairs to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. If you’ve ever seen baseball, you know that Stairs has played for over 12 big league teams, including the Montreal Expos for 19 games. He’ll be 43-years old when camp opens in February next season and currently holds the MLB record for pinch-hit home runs with 23. While I’m sure that this is a “feel good” story for some Nats fans, I’m still left asking - “When will the team address the needs of the pitching staff?” Sure, they’re linked to rumors with Carl Pavano and supposedly had their name in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, but how about a little effort towards a horrible starting rotation and bullpen?
In closing, I leave you with this. Apparently Stephen Strasburg’s biggest fan is sponsoring his Baseball-Reference.com page. That’s great and all, but follow this link to read the message to everyone who visits the page. Thanks, pal.
By Reggie Yinger, on December 14th, 2010 Last post we reviewed the pitch selections for some Nats relievers. Now let’s take a look at some pitch selections from last season for some of the starters. (FYI – Charts may take a few seconds to load.)
Stephen Strasburg, RHP - ERA+ 139, 12.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9
Livan Hernandez, RHP - ERA+ 110, 4.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9
John Lannan, LHP - ERA+ 87, 4.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9
Craig Stammen, RHP - ERA+ 79, 6.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
Luis Atilano, RHP - ERA+ 79, 4.2 K/9, 3.4 BB/9
By Reggie Yinger, on December 11th, 2010 Here are pitch selections for some of the Nationals relievers last season. I use Fisher Baseball for my PitchFx information and recommend you do the same. (FYI - Charts may take a few seconds to load.)
Drew Storen, RHP - ERA+ 113, 8.5 K/9, 3.6 BB/9
Tyler Clippard, RHP - ERA+ 132, 11.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9
Sean Burnett, LHP - ERA+ 189, 8.9 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
Joel Peralta, RHP - ERA+ 201, 9.0 K/9, 1.7 BB/9
I’ll check back later with pitch selection from the starters.
By Reggie Yinger, on December 11th, 2010 While it may be cold and snowy in the Northeast region, there are some Nationals playing winter ball in some very, very warm places right now. First up, let’s take a look at the positional players for the Nats.
Roger Bernadina - OF, Navegantes del Magallanes (Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional)
Bernadina has played in limited time, producing just 24 at-bats over seven games. He’s hitting .208/.333/.250, but his stats shouldn’t be used as a success indicator due to the small sample. Heading into next season, Bernadina figures to give Nyjer Morgan a run for his money at the centerfield position. He could also see increased playing time if the team decides to deal Josh Willingham.
Jesus Flores - C, Navegantes del Magallanes (Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional)
Flores is doing well in winter ball. He’s hitting .360/.396/.520 with a .916 OPS over 50 at-bats. During his 14 games, he has one home run and eight RBI. Besides the great stats thus far, the biggest issue for Flores is making sure his shoulder is finally healthy. His past two seasons with the Nats have been complete washes due to a labrum injury in his right shoulder. Again, while the stats are nice, this is about Flores rehabbing and being able to play a full nine innings. The catching position for Washington this season is fully stocked. Along with Flores, the team also has Ivan Rodriguez and Wilson Ramos. With Flores being 100% healthy, I expect Ramos to start the season in Triple-A.
Wilson Ramos - C, Tigres de Aragua (Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional)
Ramos, who was acquired from the Twins for closer Matt Capps last season, is hitting .315/.372/.523 over 28 games. He has five home runs and 24 RBI with a .894 OPS over 111 at-bats for the Tigres. Ramos was the highly regarded catching prospect for the Twins a few seasons back, but with Joe Mauer signing a long contract extension, Ramos’ ceiling was capped as a reserver player. During 15 games in Washington last year, Ramos hit .269/.296/.404 with one home run over 52 at-bats. Although Ramos has played well this winter and last year in Syracuse (Triple-A), he’s likely to see limited playing time once again with Pudge and Flores. However, Pudge’s two-year contract ends after the 2011 season, so Ramos will likely be transitioned into the starting role.
Fans should also remember that Derek Norris is still young and although he had a down season at the plate in Potomac (high Single-A) by hitting just .235/.419/.419 over 94 games, his defense seems to improving, which was a weakness for Norris prior to last season.
Danny Espinosa - 2B/SS, Leones de Ponce (Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico)
Over 89 at-bats in 22 games, Espinosa has collected a .281/.343/.483 line with two home runs and eight RBI. Espinosa is the talented middle infielder who split time between Double-A and Triple-A last season before making his MLB debut in September. Not only is Espinosa is a defensive whiz, but he’s proven his power is for real and is a legitimate threat to have a 20/20 season in 2011 with the big club. His strikeouts are something to keep an eye on as he makes his full transition from the minors to the big leagues, but he could see time at the leadoff spot along with time in the eight hole.
Chris Marrero - 1B, Leones de Ponce (Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico)
This former first round pick during the 2006 MLB Draft is expected to man the first base spot in the near future for the Nationals. Over 85 at-bats for the Leones, Marrero has hit .306/.350/.450 with two home runs and 16 RBI. He spent all of last season in Double-A and posted an .800 OPS with 18 HR over 141 games. The biggest question mark for Marrero is his defense. He’ll need to put his defense and offense together in one package for the Nats before earning a shot at the big league level. The good news is that he’s just 22, so there’s no reason to hit the panic button.
Of the pitchers currently playing winter ball, Yunesky Maya (Leones del Escogido, Liga de Beisbol Dominicano) stands out the most. Over 32 innings and six starts, Maya has posted a 0.56 ERA along with a 4-1 record. More importantly, he’s walked just seven over those 32 innings (1.9 BB/9) and has struck out 33 batters. Hopefully, this is Maya’s way of gaining control of the strike zone after his 3.81 BB/9 performance over five starts in Washington last season. We touched on Elvin Ramierez during an earlier post. Ramierez was the pitcher who was acquired via the Rule 5 Draft, during an earlier post. He’s posting big numbers for the Gigantes del Cibao over 16 games this winter.
By Reggie Yinger, on December 10th, 2010 The Rule 5 draft happens each year during the offseason and can provide teams a chance to improve upon their current team. While it sounds great to “steal” players from different clubs, there’s a certain catch for each player. Based on the current rules of the draft, the players selected must remain on the major league 25-man roster for the entire season or they are returned to their parent club.
With their first pick, the Nationals took right-handed pitcher Elvin Ramierez from the New York Mets. Ramirez, a 23-year old from the Dominican Republic, was gaining a lot of attention from teams for his recent success in the winter leagues in the Dominican. Ramirez is a hard-throwing righty that had 26 strikeouts over 21 innings while allowing just four walks. The four walks is a great number for Ramirez, as he’s struggled with walks over the past few minor league seasons with the Mets. He spent the 2010 season splitting time between high Single-A and Double-A posting a 4-4 record with a 8.1 strikeout per nine innings (K/9) ratio, but also walked 49 batters over 80 innings (5.5 BB/9). Here’s what Baseball America said about Ramierez earlier in the week:
“Elvin Ramirez, rhp, Mets: Ramirez has pushed his fastball up to 98-99 mph according to several scouts who have seen him in the Dominican. A starter all the way through 2009, Ramirez moved full-time to the bullpen in 2010, going 4-4, 4.16 and reaching Double-A Binghamton. He throws a changeup, curve and slider as well but has impressed most with his improved fastball velocity and control in the Dominican, where he was averaging 11.32 strikeouts per nine innings and just 1.74 walks per nine. He’s posted a 2.18 ERA in 21 innings.”
Given his recent success with control in the Dominican and the fact that he throws close to 100 mph, Ramirez will likely stick with the Nationals for the entire season.
The other player acquired by the Nats was right-handed pitcher Brian Broderick from the St. Louis Cardinals. Broderick, 24, split time between high Single-A and Double-A last season posting 14-7 record, a 3.66 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Based alone on his stats, Broderick appears to get the job done, but doesn’t overpower hitters. His 1.5 BB/9 ratio suggests good control, which is complimented by his 5.5 K/9 ratio. Because I was unfamiliar with Broderick, I did some digging around on the interwebs and found some really good scouting information from folks in the Midwest. Here are some excerpts from Scouting the Royals on a Broderick start during the month of August at Double-A Springfield.
On Broderick’s fastball:
“Very good location with his fastball on both sides of the plate. Looked like it would jump just a little at the end, that classic “rising” action. Was hitting 91-92 in the 8th and 9th innings.”
On Broderick’s slider:
“Nothing special, but had decent enough movement to be successful. Used this pitch very well with his change and fastballs. Complimentary pitch.”
On Broderick’s mechanics:
“Simple. Fairly smooth. Gets on top of his front leg well like most Cardinal pitchers. Releases downhill well but not great.”
On Broderick’s overall performance:
“Broderick did a great job mixing his pitches as the game wore on. Broderick could become a serviceable major league pitcher and he is intriguing in the fast that he has a good build and good assortment of pitches.”
Be sure to check out the full scouting report on Broderick from Scouting the Royals by following this link.
While Broderick is still young, it’s likely he’ll be a long reliever for the Nationals next season out of the bullpen. Most of his pitching experience is as a starter, but he could be a guy that comes in during the fifth and sixth innings if guys get in trouble early.
Overall, I thought the Nationals did a good job acquiring arms for a weak bullpen. Whether or not this guys stick all season remains to be determined, but so far it looks good on paper.
By Reggie Yinger, on December 9th, 2010 Here are a few thoughts as the MLB Winter Meeting dwindle down in Orlando, Florida.
First thing is first. The Nationals made a huge splash by signing Jayson Werth to a seven-year deal worth approximately $126 million. Not only is Werth’s contract the largest in Nationals history, it’s also the thirteen-richest deal in all of the majors. The 31-year old outfielder had previously been with the Philadelphia Phillies and was rumored to be heading to a large market team this offseason.
So after losing first basemen Adam Dunn to the Chicago White Sox, General Manager Mike Rizzo needed his “power” bat, but at what cost? Let’s be honest, Werth is a good player, but he isn’t a great player. For a team that has loss close to 300 games over the past three seasons, the Nationals are no where close to competing with teams in the National League East such as the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.
On the other hand, some writers and fans are stating that the team needed to overpay free agents in order to lure them away from other successful teams. Regardless of the stance, we can agree that hitting behind Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will take some adjusting from Werth. If the Nationals decide to deal Josh Willingham, Werth is left without protection in the order.
On another note, the Nats still have not extended Ryan Zimmerman to a long term deal. Will the Werth contract play a role in Zimmerman’s status in Washington? The Nationals have proven that they have money to spend and after all, Zimmerman is the “face of the franchise”.
Now, let’s move on to a fun topic. Projections for the Nationals during the 2011 season. These projections are provided by Dan Szymborski and are titled ZiPS. The projections are computer based projections based on past performance. Remember that the projections are just that…projections. If you would like to see more information on ZiPS and the rest of Dan’s work, check his work out over on Baseball Think Factory.
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