The Nationals Report

Finally we're back. Spring Training just started getting really old and tedious so we said we'd had enough and we decided we weren't going to post until real baseball was being played. That, sirs and ma'ams, is tonight

I know live-blogging a game is about the most absurd thing ever but I'm going to do it anyways as this is a very important night for the Nats. (This is going to be the most thorough live blog of a game you'll ever see in your life) My compatriot Jon somehow swindled his way into the stadium tonight so no doubt you will have images tomorrow.

7:50 - SBF from Nats320 is on the big screen...jealous...maybe a little

7:54 - Baseball Tonight is still on so I'm watching pieces of a glacier fall into the sea in Alaska on Discovery HD Theater

7:56 - Roll credits on the ice...#@$% I just realized I have no beer, I guess wine it is...I'm a loser

7:59 - SE Austalian Shiraz it is...it doesn't even have a date...WOOOOO PLAY BALL!

8:01 - This pre-game schtick sucks. How about talking about the Nationals. They are playing tonight after all. Nope, its still all about the Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox...and Dmitri

8:03 - John Miller is looking older every single year, and he just admitted it!

8:04 - With all due respect to Joe Morgan, Chipper Jones is no Manny nor Ortiz...Texiera is the real deal though

8:06 - Yet another story about how horrible of a person Lastings Milledge was last year. I'd expect nothing less from the worldwide leader in sports

8:10 - I'm not a fan of operatic interpretations of the national anthem. There just seems to be a lack of emotion behind it. Which is ironic because that's the whole point of opera. I dunno, just doesn't get my blood pumping.

8:11 - How boss would it be to be sitting behind Colin Powell

8:13 - HAHA THE PRESIDENT IS GETTING THE BUSINESS FROM THE CROWD!!! AND ITS A BALL AND THE NATIONALS ARE SCREWED FOR ANOTHER YEAR!

8:15 - Girl scout cookies are amazing

8:16 - Way to take the field as a team...

8:20 - What the hell is "breaking stuff" to me that means he should throw at batters and go postal in the dugout...I don't think that's what ESPN meant...

8:22 - Odalis Perez needs to tuck the tag of his shirt in, its very unprofessional...and he K's Kelly Johnson nice start

8:23 - From now on I will only post at the end of each half of the inning, unless something hilarious happens

8:29 - Yunel Escobar hangs tough and draws a walk. Joe Morgan is incensed at Odalis but that was just a good at bat by Yunel. He fouled off some tough pitches. Chipper is out on the first pitch...wow, there's no space down that right line. Perez is trying to blow it by Texieria and the ball is riding up. Oooooh that 4th pitch looked good. Perez sits him down. Texiera can go suck on one because that was a strike sir. Next up...GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

8:31 - Sorry Baseball Tonight...that wasn't funny. Although taking Ravi's "In the mouth" out of context, it could be hilarious

8:32 - GUUUUUUUUUUZ! 'Nuff said

8:33 - Wow the Braves are hapless...

8:42 - Joe Morgan telling it like it is. I think Milledge is awesome for slapping hands with fans! Ouch! that was a good pitch, and Milledge is caught. Zimmerman picks his spots and goes down swinging. Tim Hudson is good. I'm looking for a patented Nick Johnson double...and I get it! HA NJ is nasty. Jon chimes in via txt that Johnson's slide was ugly. I don't care as long as he doesn't injure himself

8:43 - Kearns laces a single through the right side of the infield and Johnson scores from second. Good to see NJ holding nothing back

8:45 - Nick Johnson looks old and Jon Miller doesn't know where he is

8:47 - Blow-Duca is battling...Lastings is piling the seeds into his mouth and LoDuca chops to third. Game on!

8:50 - Zimm's first throw of the season was high...ugh

8:52 - Power Kearns guns another one down. Man should have to register that arm...Belliard gobbles up the grounder and the inning is over

8:56 - Dukes pops out...Belliard grounds out...Odalis Perez has an awful swing, you can tell he's from the AL...and he strikes out

9:03 - Dubya is in the booth and he's straight cheesin'. Look at his posture, he's lounge-nasty. And Perez picks off Johnson. Nice move

9:09 - Guz pops out (the Nats need some stronger bats)...Zimm grounds out to end the inning (he might have made it if he hadn't stumbled)

9:10 - Evidently the leader of the free world doesn't really have that much to do on Sunday night so he's just going to spend some more time in the booth.

9:14 - Chipper lines one out...this is going to be a hitters park no doubt...

9:20 - Texiera grounds out...the wine is kicking in and I'm missing whole AB's. I need to settle down. Zimmerman has a sitter...someone pops out and the inning is over

9:25 - Teddy didn't win because he didn't want to.

9:27 - Hudson makes a nice jumping grab...Blo Duca grounds out and the side is retired. Still up 2-1 I'm happy

9:29 - Joe...his name is Dmitri, not Delmon

9:30 - John, John, John, you obviously haven't seen Guz play the glove...it wasn't the field

9:36 - Kotsay flies out to Dukes...Johnson ends yet another inning and Dukes is up next

9:41 - Dukes grounds weekly to third (lame! Tim Hudson has really settled in)..Belliard and Mackowiak ground out and the inning is over. I'm really surprised Acta is bringing out the hook so early on Perez. The only problem he had in the 5th inning was a Guzman error. I really don't get this. I know our bullpen is good but they're going to be overworked this season as they were last year. Only use em when you need em.

9:45 - Harris in for Dukes. John Miller thinks Dukes got injured but again, ESPN didn't cover a single damn Nats game last year so he doesn't know that Manny substitutes more than any other manager in the league. He's already playing for the 2-1 win. Which means Chief is going to make us all have a heart attack again...especially in this park

9:47 - Jon suspected pitch count for for Perez...70 pitches...I don't think so. But River retires the side quickly, perhaps thats why I don't manage a big league team

9:49 - Round-up pump-n-go, sounds like an Elliot Spitzer story...BA-ZING!!!!

9:53 - Guz grounds out...Milledge grounds out...and Hudson is being Hudson...Gammons reports that Dukes experienced hamstring tightness and that it was a precautionary move. I like that they're bring cautious...Zimm grounds out and its not looking good for the offense. I will re-iterate that Tim Hudson is pitching. Remember when the A's let him go because Billy Beane is cheap, that was a bad idea..

9:?? - McCann flies out to Kearns (btw Kearns looks hungry this year, I'm tipping him to have a breakout year)...another flyout and the inning is over.

10:08 - I missed an entire inning...grrr

10:11 - Ray King is fat

10:11 - Seriously this is setting up for a typical Nats/Cordero cardiac finish. I'm not looking forward to this

10:14 - I love the MLB media machine. They're blowing so much smoke up the Lerner's butts they're going to need nicotine patches to come back from reality

10:15 - Ray King basically comes in and does his job and he's being lifted. Good job. I'm pouring my final glass in anticipation for the Cordero train wreck this is sure to come.

10:20 - Weird play down the third base line for Zimm...Escobar is retired...and Cordero will face Jones and Texiera...oh no

10:26 - Uh oh, there's a Mike Hampton sighting, that can't be good news for anyone...some Nat grounded out (I remember now! it was Willie Harris!) and the Braves are changing pitchers

10:30 - FOUR EYES!!!!! (As he get as out...) Flop off the bench to pinch hit...and he K's looking...that was rediculous... how can he possibly be pissed that he's not in the starting lineup...the man is horrendous at the plate. He looked like he was pouting up there! I'm done with him. Too bad he'll be worth nothing in a trade.

10:32 - Here comes squeaky bum time as my favorite English soccer manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) would call it. I'm glad Rauch has come in to get this done...and he grabs the liner...that man is a pimp and should be able to make love to any woman he wants. (except my girlfriend)

10:34 - And Texiera tattoos a ball off the wall. I think everyone thought it was out...on further review it was a pretty good pitch, turns out Texiera is just a really good hitter.

10:36 - My sphincter is sooooo tight

10:36 - After all that Blo Duca completely screws up the game. I knew we got him for some reason. Standard Nats.

10:45 - BAAAAANG ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM go the fireworks! Ryan Zimmerman lines one out to end the game. Literally I think the same fan who caught Jones' home run caught Zimm's

10:48 - Seriously, I don't think there could be a better way to open a stadium than having Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off home run. I'm not exactly sure what holiday it is today but I'm sure someone is celebrating somewhere because Z-man jack-a-lacked one. I'm glad we played in Nationals Park today because that was a double off the wall in RFK. Then again so was Jones'

That's all for tonight, I need to sleep this Shiraz off. Good start to a great season

P.S. Jon Rauch got the win tonight which I guess should be obvious since he led the team in wins last season

"Ace" John Patterson has just been released by the Nationals due to "lack of performance.".

This all just happened recently, and there isn't a lot of news on it. But, sufficed to say, he wasn't as good as they hoped he'd be, and someone was tired of waiting for his promise to come true. Here are some quotes:

"They told me I didn't blow the doors open and that there were other pitchers pitching better," he said.

*On the reasons he was given for the release: "I think I wasn't progressing as fast as they wanted. They weren't seeing what they wanted to be seeing from me. For me to [ potentially] be not 100 percent -- it was a risk they weren't willing to take."

*On whether he's hurt: "I'm not hurt. I just think I didn't progress as fast as they wanted."

*Patterson also said it didn't help his case that Mark Lerner witnessed his most recent start Sunday in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles, an admittedly rocky performance. "I pitched pretty well my [previous] two starts," Patterson said. "But he didn't see those."

*He also said he was "caught in between" Manager Manny Acta's desire for him "to get outs" and GM Jim Bowden's desire for him to throw more fastballs.

*Finally, he said, "I have great memories of D.C. and this organization. I'll always remember what it feels like to wear this uniform. Jim stuck by me as long as he could stand by me."

A lot to digest, but the last one makes it seem that it was Manny's call to cut him loose.

Kyle and I are both in agreement that a release seems hasty. Waivers would have been the better route. Or DL him. Something, anything. It's not like we have a lot of major league talent ready to go. We have a lot of young arms, but you have to have a balance between experience and youthful talent. We'll see what happens here.

Update: Courtesy of Nats Chatter:

The reason for the timing of the move: Patterson, as it turns out, had a nonguaranteed contract. By releasing him now, the Nats don't have to pay him his $850,000 salary.

Update 2: Again from Nats Chatter, here's Bowden's reasoning...

After watching Patterson pitch for the last month, Bowden (and the club) became convinced he just wasn't going to regain his velocity and command to a point where he was a better option than some of the other younger pitchers in camp (ie. John Lannan, Matt Chico). Patterson insisted he was healthy all along, but the fact his fastball never surpassed 87 mph was a sign to the Nats that things weren't going to improve for a long time.


"We believe he had better stuff last season [when he was 1-5 with a 7.47 ERA]," Bowden said. "We hoped we could get him back, and it just never came."


"We've done everything we could possibly do. He just never got the stuff back."

The not oft-read Washington Times blog has brought forth this horrible news...

Nats win, 9-1. After the game, the club announced it has reassigned outfielder Alex Escobar and catcher Humberto Cota to minor-league camp. Cota, however, exercised a clause in his contract that allowed him to opt out and become a free agent.


What it means: Barring a miraculous recovery by Johnny Estrada (not likely) or a scenario in which the Nats think Jesus Flores would get three or four starts a week, Wil Nieves is the likely backup catcher on Opening Night.

The Nieves as backup thing is pretty horrifying, but my MAIN MAN, Escobar is gone. TO the siberia of baseball, "Minor League camp". Do I wish injury upon our left fielder, so that Escobar may play? Do I wish that we had never signed Mackowiak?

I'm not saying.

First, Wily Mo Pena hurt himself in the cage, by I can only imagine swinging so violently, his muscles exploded. He'll be out for 4 weeks. At least. That article states that Pena's injury comes as good news to Elijah Dukes, who will be the starting left fielder.

OH NOZ. Elijah Dukes strained his hamstring running to second today, and is "day to day". Know what takes a long time to heal? The hamstring.

Come on down, next left fielder. Be careful, if Manny gives you the job, your body may break down without warning. If he names Escobar the starting left fielder, he might just literally explode.

Edit: Also, we tried to sneak Josh Whitesell through wavers. FAIL. Arizona took him. That means "Little Papi" Luis Jiminez and Larry "I'm never going to play in the majors" Broadway in AAA with Marrero into AA at some point.

Barry brings it up this morning, its time to start guessing who's coming North.

Here is my pick for the Opening Day roster
Starting Pitching: John Patterson
Jason Bergmann
Tim Redding
Odalis Perez
(Hill on 15 day DL, and Chico to AAA)

Bullpen: Joel Hanrahan (no more options)
Jesus Colome
Ray King
Saul Rivera
Luis Ayala
Jon Rauch
Chad Cordero
(Wagner on the DL, Schroeder to AAA)

Catchers: Paul Lo Duca
Humberto Cota
(Johnny Estrada either on DL or AAA for rehab, Flores hopefully to AA, Nieves cut or to AAA)

Infielders: Dmitri Young
Nick Johnson
Ronnie Belliard
Cristian Guzman (WOOO)
Felipe Lopez (BOOO)
Ryan Zimmerman
Aaron Boone (think he has a big league deal)
(Boone cut or traded, more likely traded for a low low low prospect, Casto sent to siberia or Columbus, either or, Orr to AAA, Whitesell to AA, Whitney returned to Indians (although I'd like to see a trade for him))

Outfielders: Austin Kearns
Lastings Milledge (pencil him in for a while)
Rob Mackowiak
Elijah Dukes
Alex Escobar or Wille Harris (I see this as the spot with the most competition, until...)
(WMP gets back from the DL, which is when Dukes should be sent to AAA to play every day, Guzman sent back, Langerhans to AAA)

What's your guess?

-This article talks about Rocco Baldelli, and why he won't be playing baseball anytime soon. Sucks, because I liked the way he played.

-Updating Kyle's previous post about Doug Mirabelli being a genius, he's now cut.

-And for some reason, Armando Benitez still plays baseball.

Finally we won't be copying the Sox in the 7th inning stretch. You have no idea how relieving that is. In fact, you now have a choice as to what music will be played this year at the new park. Specifically what's played for home runs (get used to hearing this more often), the 7th inning stretch, and every curly W that goes in the books.

Vote Here

My choices:

HR...........................................Bustin' Loose (Chuck Brown)
7th Inning Stretch.....................Rock Me Gently (Andy Kim)
Curly W....................................Beautiful Day (U2)

Chuck Brown is such a DC institution (despite the pre-game performance that no one could hear over the shitty RFK sound system) that I had to pick him for the home run music. It doesn't hurt that its a high energy song either. The only reason I picked Rock Me Gently was because like Sweet Caroline is has that one big line in which you can just let loose and blow. And finally for the victory song, every choice was horrible so I picked beautiful day because I like U2. Post your selections in the comments...and I'll belittle your decisions.


-Update by Jon:

Go do this! They're letting fans pick the music of the stadium.

Do this only to prevent us from ever hearing Sweet Caroline at our stadium ever again.

A takeout slide is when you slide through the bag into the player. It's not sliding through the bag studs up, looking to spike a guy. Oh and Francisco, if you don't want to get run in to, don't block the plate. Finally...Girardi, stop whining and play ball. Some guys livelihoods are on the line here so don't act like it doesn't mean anything.

Wow Joel rung up 8 of 9 against the Braves tonight. I haven't seen so many K's since I was in Hawaii. He's got to be getting serious consideration for the 5th starter's spot. I know its only one game but he wasn't exactly a Juggs machine last year (paging Ryan Wagner).

Seriously, how many stories are we going to have to endure from the national media about the Nationals signing so-called reclamation projects.

Here's another one...

Oh and if I hear that high-fiving fans after a home run is a baseball sin one more time, I'm going to rip someone's head off. Glad to hear our team thinks it was awesome and a great thing to do. New York sucks.

Update (Jon): I was going to post something about this article, but Kyle beat me to it. I take umbrage with two things from this article. One Kyle has already addressed. There is nothing wrong at all with high fiving fans. Nothing.
The second thing is the thing I find more troubling, and maybe more of a society wide issue. Are the only people that can talk to Dukes and have it sink in, black people? That's the conclusion I reach when I read Young's quote about him, Ray King and Willie Harris being able to tell him the ropes.
Dukes needs all the council he can get, and skin color shouldn't factor into it. Unless he won't listen to a white person for some reason. In which case, ?.

Validation from the mainstream media, Guz went 3 for 3 with 2 Homers, 1 from each side of the plate.

It's just another day for the greatest shortstop Washington has ever seen.

- The Nats won 12-10 in a wind aided slug fest over the Astros. You know it was wind aided because of neither of those teams can score that many runs in normal conditions.
- Good article from Barry about Ian Desmond's fall from golden boy status after three good plays and down to promoted-demoted error machine.
- Shawn Hill's arm is a box of suck.
- I wish we had this guy.

That's it. See you Monday.

It seems the only interest the national press has in the Nats Spring Training this year concerns two people, Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young. We knew going in that this would be the key position battle this March. With Nick playing well, Dmitri injured and not making playing time demands, it seems more and more likely that Nick Johnson will be the opening day starter at first base. What's becoming a little more unsettled is the other position on that side of the infield.

Coming into this season, Jim Bowden pretty much ended any debate as to who would be starting against the Braves at shortstop, it would be The Guz. That left Felipe Lopez and Ronnie Belliard to play for the spot this spring. Word from the front office was that it was Belliard's position and Flop was going to have to take it away. Then, a few weeks before the season kicked off, the Nats made a signing that perplexed some and was ridiculed by many. They signed 38 year-old (soon to be 39) Brett Boone to a minor league deal.

Many around the league figured we were just signing a player to fill out Spring Training rosters and basically paying some has been to field BP. Meanwhile, Brett himself swore up and down that he left the Mets in the spring of 2006 because he was battling alcohol and that he was now clean, hungry, and still has plenty left in the tank. I, like many others dismissed his quotes as someone who had lost touch with reality and was in denial that he is past his prime. Heck at this point most players are past their usefulness at all. Despite this, Boone showed up to Nationals accelerated minor league camps ready to play.

It wasn't long before Bowden made the decision to move Boone over to the big league camp and allow him to prove that he's still got a little juice left in the bat. Shortly thereafter Boone showed everyone that he was not a liar and that he could still hack. Boone's swing has been as sweet as it ever was, showing decent power to go along with a keen eye.

As of today Boone's batting line is .462 .636 .364. He's got the fourth highest slugging percentage on the team (min. 10 AB) and has yet to strike out. Compare his line to Elijah Dukes, .476 .778 .389 and their pretty similar. That is until you take into account that Dukes has struck out in just short of half of his at bats. (See crazy Elijah Dukes stat at the end)

Personally my vote for opening day second baseman has to go to Brett "The" Boone. I haven't even begun to get into his defense but both Flop and Belliard have obvious holes in their defensive games (Flop's penchant for errors, Belliard's range). It also couldn't hurt to have another veteran to show the youngsters the right way to approach the game day in, day out. I know we're paying Flop/Belliard significantly more money but I've never been one to play who you pay. You play the players who give you the best chance to win the game and from what I've seen so far this spring, that player is Brett Boone.

That being said there's still plenty of time this spring for Boone to fall off and for Flop and/or Belliard (btw Belliard is raking) to really lay claim to the spot, so I'm keeping an open mind. And to be honest I'm biased because I dig the fact the Brett wears a helmet instead of a cap. I think there's no question Boone should be on the bench, but I think this is one position that the front office and Manny should take a closer look at before penciling in the opening day starter.


RANDOM ELIJAH DUKES STAT: So far this year Elijah Dukes has had 18 AB and has not been put out once. 7 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts...wow

In high school, this is when all the kids with inhalers, glasses, and Franklin baseball gloves left the scene. Here's Barry breakin it down...

A bit of interesting tweaks with the cuts. Yes, last year's first-round pick, lefty Ross Detwiler, was sent to minor league camp, as was lefty Josh Smoker and veteran lefty Mike Bacsik. But right-hander Adam Carr, one of the better pitchers in the minor league system last year, was added to major league camp, as was shortstop Ian Desmond -- who has played a few games up here already because they have needed extra bodies for split-squad games.

The others who were reassigned to minor league camp: infielder William Bergolla, outfielder Roger Bernadina, right-handed pitcher Tristan Crawford, infielder Yurendell De Caster, outfielder Frank Diaz, left-handed pitcher Mike Hinckley, catcher Devin Ivany, left-handed pitcher Charlie Manning, outfielder Tommy Murphy, outfielder Jorge Padilla, infielder Antonio Perez, right-handed pitcher Ismael Ramirez and right-handed pitcher Jim Ed Warden to minor-league camp.

Dmitri Young. Meat Hook. D Meat. Nicknames fit for someone as gregarious and outgoing as he is. Comeback player of the year in 2007. .320 batting average, and he was in the race for the batting crown towards the end of the season, but lost time to an concussion and wasn't quite the same after.
This season he finds himself in a battle with Nick Johnson for the starting spot at First. Unlike Nick, he hasn't given an ultimatum in the press of "Play me, or trade me". So that's a positive. But let's look at the whole situation.

Hitting: If you happened to catch any Nationals game on tv or in person last year, you can attest that the man can rake. He can pull it down the line, or spray it the other way. He has no significant holes in his swing, and shows power occasionally. Can he repeat those numbers? Maybe.

Intangibles: The things that Bill James wouldn't mention would be the things that makes Young so valuable. He's a "clubhouse guy" and seems to have a loose, friendly personality that his teammates enjoy.



Exhibit A:



Exhibit B: this was about RFK...

"You had at least 90 to 1,000 generations of rats and cockroaches that had multiplied in RFK since the last baseball team left," Young said. "I think the rats probably ran the Redskins off to FedEx Field."

"You'd come to the park and see the paint peeling off the facades," Young said. "When you left, walking through the tunnel back to your car at night, cockroaches would fall down in front of you from the ceiling. Thanks for helping me remember that."

Points against:
Weight. The man weighs 300 pounds and takes insulin 4 to 5 times a day. He has lost almost no weight in the offseason, when he promised to come to camp so skinny, he could play LF. Well. He can't. Even if he had roller skates on and the outfield was paved, and sloped down hill.
So the health concerns are obvious, but that has a habit of trickling down into effecting play on the field. Already injured with a muscle pull, if he doesn't lose weight, more leg and muscle problems will undoubtedly crop up.
Let's be clear. He isn't one of those 1000 pounds guys on the Health channel where he needs help to bathe and has to be lifted up by a crane, but the man is a professional athlete, and he needs to slim down.

Verdict: Best case scenario would be the Nick is healthy and is the every day 1B. Meat accepts his role on the bench, starts every 4th of 5th game, and is the first bat off the bench, and depending on if he slims down and is consistent or not, we flip him or NJ at the deadline and hope that someone in the Minors figures it out in time, and can contribute next year.

According to this story, Shawn Hill's second MRI at Duke University Medical Center came up negative and he will not need surgery to fix his forearm. That being said, that doesn't mean he isn't injured. I'm starting to believe this is more of a permanent thing for Shawn and that he will always have arm pain for the rest of his life. Which brings me to what I really want to talk about...youth baseball.

Shawn probably threw too many curve balls in little league and now his arm is jacked. I knew way too many kids who's fathers and coaches thought it would be a good idea for their kid to learn how to throw a curve when they were 12. I was not one of those kids. I guess you could call me the Greg Maddux of our local league. I was highly successful (League Champion and All-star, whatever that means when you're 12) throwing 3 pitches: the 2-seam fb, 4-seam fb, and change-up. It's something you see all to often in today's game. Just watch a few games of the little league world series this August. You'll see these kids with their tiny arms throwing 12-6 curves. They haven't worked out enough to develop the muscles needed to maintain a proper throwing motion without injuring themselves. Thus, most of these kids will have dead arms by the time they reach high school, when the big money can really be made. I know LLBB has implemented pitch counts and mandatory days of rest to try and keep these kids healthy but the burden really lies on the parents and coaches of these players. The more parents and coaches urge their players not throw curves, the less Shawn Hill's we'll have in the world.

EDIT: I have thrown a Zito-esque curve my whole life, through high school. It accounted for about 80% of my K's. The flip side? When ever I raise my arm, my shoulder pops audibly. - Jon

The voting is in and the Nats nation has spoken! You guys really think Nick Johnson is going to be back in full force this year, the whole year! By an overwhelming margin you think Glass Joe/Nick Johnson will make it though the majority of the season before catastrophically injuring himself again.

I'm still on the skeptical side. Though with DMeat pulling up lame, I think there's a very good chance that Nick starts the season opener on the bag.

Because of this video: Credit to the new and improved Nationals Pride!

So this past week Ryan Church pops off on how he was jobbed by the Nats and that he's so much happier now that he's in NY. Without the Nats there would be no Ryan Church, but that's beside the point. The baseball gods must've decided that Church was being a dick as well as they got their revenge yesterday.

To be honest, the perfect scenario for me would be for someone else to take his pos. in spring training and then he never is able to battle his way back into the lineup. Then he can talk about how much he loves the bench in NY.

Arm "tightness".

That's normally the complaint before they find out their arm is going to fall off. Anyone else worried?