{"id":2122,"date":"2011-08-08T09:14:55","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T13:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2122"},"modified":"2012-10-11T13:24:10","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T17:24:10","slug":"nats-rotation-cycle-23-goodbadsoso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2122","title":{"rendered":"Nats Rotation Cycle #23: good\/bad\/soso"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2124\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Wang-Chien-Ming-PC-Nats320Jeff-Saffelle.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2124\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2124\" title=\"Wang Chien-Ming PC Nats320Jeff Saffelle\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Wang-Chien-Ming-PC-Nats320Jeff-Saffelle-300x229.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Wang-Chien-Ming-PC-Nats320Jeff-Saffelle-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Wang-Chien-Ming-PC-Nats320Jeff-Saffelle.jpg 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2124\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Is Wang&#39;s comeback going to have a happy ending?  Photo: Nats320 blog\/Jeff Saffelle<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;m back, at least with Nats Rotation Cycles, after missing #21 and #22.\u00a0 Basically, while we were gone:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Livan Hernandez<\/strong> continued his up and down ways, but managed to avoid getting traded.\u00a0 Meanwhile&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Lannan<\/strong> had a hiccup in his great run of form lately.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jordan Zimmermann<\/strong> had one bad outing and one great one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tom Gorzelanny<\/strong> got demoted to the bullpen, paving the way for&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chien-Ming Wang<\/strong> came of the DL after 2+ years and joined the rotation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jason Marquis<\/strong> got traded to Arizona the day he was set to pitch, meaning&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yunesky Maya<\/strong> was recalled for one spot start, in which he did fantastically but strained an oblique, meaning that..<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ross Detwiler<\/strong> gets another shot at the rotation in Marquis&#8217; spot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lets get back into the swing of things, starting with Rotation cycle #23.\u00a0 After all these moves, we&#8217;re now set on this rotational order: Hernandez, Lannan, Wang, Detwiler and Zimmermann.<\/p>\n<p>Good<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Livan Hernandez<\/strong> put a &#8220;good&#8221; after a bad outing for about the 10th time in a row this season, a maddeningly frustrating run of form that has this pundit calling for his rotation spot.\u00a0 He went for 1run over 6 innings against the Braves on 8\/1 (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_01_atlmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=wrap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>) for the victory.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jordan Zimmermann<\/strong> pitched effectively enough in Colorado on 8\/5 to get the victory (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_05_wasmlb_colmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 He went 5 2\/3 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs and 2 walks while striking out 8.\u00a0 Both those runs were inherited and allowed to score by the cardiac-kid <strong>Henry Rodriguez<\/strong>, who nearly blew the 4 run lead that the offense staked its pitching staff to before getting bailed out by <strong>Tyler Clippard.<\/strong> See Notes section for more thoughts on Rodriguez.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bad<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chien-Ming Wang<\/strong>: two starts, two blowouts.\u00a0 He turned 3 singles and a walk into two runs in the first, then seemed to settle down, getting lots of ground-outs (as expected).\u00a0 In the 5th he leaked in a run by virtue of his own throwing error before giving up an absolute bomb of a 3-run homer to Dan Uggla.\u00a0 The runs in the 5th may not have been earned in the scorebook, but they were Wang&#8217;s fault in my book.\u00a0 Final line: 5ip, 7hits, 6 runs (2 earned) and a 6-4 loss on 8\/3 (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_03_atlmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 As <strong>Ben Goessling<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masnsports.com\/the_goessling_game\/2011\/08\/chien-ming-wang-better-but-nationals-lose-to-braves.html\">reported<\/a>, Wang went longer threw more pitches, but we&#8217;re essentially seeing spring training outings in August.\u00a0 The team really has no choice but to keep throwing him out there, having already invested $3M in the guy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mediocre\/Inconclusive<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>John Lannan<\/strong> got bailed out of his up-and-down start on 8\/2 (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_02_atlmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=wrap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>) by virtue of a power-show by his batters.\u00a0 Ankiel&#8217;s grand slam and Morse&#8217;s towering upper-deck opposite field number contributed to an easy win.\u00a0 Lannan ended up with 8ks over 6 1\/3, giving up 3 runs early and then cruising along to the win.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ross Detwiler<\/strong> got the loss on 8\/4 in Colorado, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings.\u00a0 I <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2129\">discussed this start at length here<\/a>, including links to the gamer\/box, pitch f\/x and analysis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Starter Trends (2nd half only): Livan is Dr. Jekyll this week, while Wang&#8217;s struggles are somewhat expected.\u00a0 Zimmermann has turned it around after a couple of sub-par outings.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lhernandez\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad,good,bad,good<\/li>\n<li>Lannan\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,good,bad,soso<\/li>\n<li>Wang\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad,bad<\/li>\n<li>Detwiler\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0soso<\/li>\n<li>Zimmermann \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad,bad,great,good<\/li>\n<li>(Gorzelanny\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0incomplete,bad-&gt;demoted to bullpen)<\/li>\n<li>(Maya\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good-&gt;demoted)<\/li>\n<li>(Marquis\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,soso-&gt;traded)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Relievers of Note and other News<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After many rumors towards the end of the Trade Deadline cycle, both <strong>Tyler Clippard<\/strong> and <strong>Drew Storen<\/strong> are still safely in the Nationals bullpen.\u00a0 And honestly, I hope they stay there.\u00a0 Yes I know that relievers are over-rated but these two guys are integral parts to the vast improvement of our pitching staff&#8217;s performance over the past few years.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s the number of runs allowed over the past few seasons: 2007: <strong>783<\/strong>,\u00a0 2008: <strong>825 <\/strong>, 2009: <strong>874<\/strong>, 2010: <strong>742<\/strong>, 2011 on pace for <strong>652<\/strong>.\u00a0 That&#8217;s almost 100 runs better than last season, and a whopping 220 runs better than just two years ago.<\/li>\n<li>The savior, <strong>Stephen Strasburg<\/strong>, is scheduled to make his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/post\/pending-final-hurdle-stephen-strasburg-to-start-in-hagerstown-on-sunday\/2011\/08\/03\/gIQAA5V7rI_blog.html?wprss=nationals-journal\">first rehab start<\/a> in Hagerstown on Sunday August 7th.\u00a0 I wonder if his rehab starts will get National media exposure and live coverage like his minor league starts did.\u00a0 Either way, it will be interesting to see how many mph he&#8217;s hitting his first time back.<\/li>\n<li>After <strong>Yunesky Maya<\/strong>&#8216;s excellent 7\/31 start (in place of the traded <strong>Jason Marquis<\/strong>), we thought perhaps he&#8217;d stick in that role.\u00a0 But the slight injury he suffered on the basepaths not only removed him from that game, but got him sent back to AAA where he subsequently got rocked.\u00a0 It would have been nice to see him try to build on that start.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Davey Johnson<\/strong> has said he wants to see some of AAA&#8217;s stellar pitching feature in the majors, alluding to the performances of both <strong>Tommy Milone<\/strong> and perhaps <strong>Brad Peacock<\/strong>.\u00a0 Milone has been solid all year in AAA, and Peacock&#8217;s first four AAA starts have been up and down, with his amazing k\/bb rates skyrocketing to the bad.\u00a0 It may be premature to consider Peacock, but Milone seems to be option #1-A to replace Zimmermann when he runs out of innings in a few weeks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Henry Rodriguez<\/strong>&#8216;s 8\/5 line: 3 hits, 1 walk, two inherited runners allowed to score and zero outs recorded.\u00a0 Hey, at least he didn&#8217;t throw a ball to the backstop with the bases juiced.\u00a0 He&#8217;s now sporting a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rodrihe03.shtml\">1.61 whip<\/a> on the season and his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/gl.cgi?id=rodrihe03&amp;t=p&amp;year=2011\">Jekyll and Hyde<\/a> appearances have to be wearing out the patience of his manager.\u00a0\u00a0 He&#8217;s blown all three save opportunities he&#8217;s had and has let 33% of his inherited runners score.\u00a0 That&#8217;s not as bad as Slaten&#8217;s 50% IR-IS rate but its not a good rate for a reliever that needs to pitch in high leverage situations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m back, at least with Nats Rotation Cycles, after missing #21 and #22.\u00a0 Basically, while we were gone: Livan Hernandez continued his up and down ways, but managed to avoid getting traded.\u00a0 Meanwhile&#8230; John Lannan had a hiccup in his great run of form lately. Jordan Zimmermann had one bad outing and one great one. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[35,37,137,52,181,42,39,43,41,129,51,38,176,34,128,883],"class_list":["post-2122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-natsrotationreview","tag-brad-peacock","tag-chien-ming-wang","tag-davey-johnson","tag-drew-storen","tag-henry-rodriguez","tag-jason-marquis","tag-john-lannan","tag-jordan-zimmermann","tag-livan-hernandez","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-ross-detwiler","tag-stephen-strasburg","tag-tom-gorzelanny","tag-tommy-milone","tag-tyler-clippard","tag-yunesky-maya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2122"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2150,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions\/2150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}