{"id":2258,"date":"2011-09-06T10:02:33","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T14:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2012-08-23T10:58:53","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T14:58:53","slug":"nats-rotation-cycle-28-goodbadsoso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2258","title":{"rendered":"Nats Rotation Cycle #28: good\/bad\/soso"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2261\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/miloneTom-Tom-PriddyFour-Seam-ImagesMiLB.com_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2261\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2261\" title=\"Milone, Tom 7096(Priddy).jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/miloneTom-Tom-PriddyFour-Seam-ImagesMiLB.com_-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/miloneTom-Tom-PriddyFour-Seam-ImagesMiLB.com_-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/miloneTom-Tom-PriddyFour-Seam-ImagesMiLB.com_.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2261\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Welcome to the Majors, Tom Milone.  Photo: Tom Priddy\/Four-Seam Images\/Milb.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The big news this cycle is that the Nationals will be welcoming a new starter for his MLB debut.\u00a0 <strong>Tom Milone<\/strong>, 2010 Nats minor league pitcher of the year and owner of a <a href=\"http:\/\/web.minorleaguebaseball.com\/milb\/stats\/stats.jsp?pos=P&amp;sid=t552&amp;t=p_pbp&amp;pid=543548\">rather consistent set of minor league stats<\/a> as he&#8217;s progressed up the system.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>12-5, 2.91 era in high-A in 2009<\/li>\n<li>12-5, 2.85 era in AA in 2010<\/li>\n<li>12-6, 3.22 era in AAA this year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So you&#8217;d think he has high hopes of continuing to pitch at that level.\u00a0 What&#8217;s going against him?\u00a0 The jump from AAA to the Majors is the biggest of course, and the scouting reports on him say he&#8217;s a soft-tossing lefty that relies on guile to get hitters out, and thus has a potential ceiling of #5 starter at best.\u00a0 I can&#8217;t wait to see how he does.<\/p>\n<p>Good<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Livan Hernandez<\/strong> cooly pitched his 50,000 career pitch while easily controlling the powerful Braves lineup on 8\/30 (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_30_wasmlb_atlmlb_1&amp;mode=wrap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>).\u00a0 7ip, 5 hits, 2 runs.\u00a0 Meanwhile the team&#8217;s 3-4-5-6 hitters all went deep against the Atlanta&#8217;s best pitcher Jurrjens.\u00a0 A good night for the team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bad<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chien-Ming Wang<\/strong> had another poor outing on 9\/1 (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_01_wasmlb_atlmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>) where his sinker wasn&#8217;t sinking, resulting in fly balls and home runs.\u00a0 End result: 5 2\/3, 4 runs, 7 hits and 3 base-runners for nearly a 2.00 whip on the night and a loss in Atlanta.\u00a0 More concerning; 0 strikeouts.\u00a0 On the season now; 38 2\/3 innings, NINE strikeouts.\u00a0 I&#8217;m sorry; i know the beat reporters are saying things like &#8220;well he wasn&#8217;t a big strike-out pitcher before&#8221; but he&#8217;s at 2.1 k\/9, nearly 50% less than his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wangch01.shtml\">career K\/9 rate<\/a>.\u00a0 His walk rate is way up as well.\u00a0 Yes he&#8217;s still coming off injury and likely isn&#8217;t 100%.\u00a0 But i&#8217;m getting less and less inclined to recommend re-signing him as his starts pile up.<\/li>\n<li>Not the best outing for <strong>Ross Detwiler<\/strong> on 9\/2 (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_02_nynmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=recap&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>): 6 runs on 7 hits over just 3 innings, highlighted by a 3-run homer given up in the top of the 1st.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tom Milone<\/strong>&#8216;s debut on 9\/3 (<a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_09_03_nynmlb_wasmlb_1&amp;mode=wrap&amp;c_id=was\">box\/gamer<\/a>) started out well, but ended badly.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2281\">See here for an in-depth look<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mediocre\/Inconclusive<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>John Lannan<\/strong> didn&#8217;t look that effective against the Braves early on 8\/31 (<a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/gameday\/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_31_wasmlb_atlmlb_1&amp;mode=recap_away&amp;c_id=was&amp;partnerId=rss_was\">box\/gamer<\/a>), giving up a bomb to Chipper Jones and another homer to his counterpart, but he got things back together and put in 7 solid innings.\u00a0 3 runs (2 earned, the unearned run coming via Lannan&#8217;s own throwing error), 6ks and just 1 walk.\u00a0 It was one of those outings that &#8220;seemed&#8221; worse than it ended up being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Starter Trends.\u00a0 Livan gets back on the good side but the rest of the rotation struggles, contributing to a 2-3 rotation cycle.<\/p>\n<p>2nd half<br \/>\nLhernandez\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad,good,bad,good,bad,good,bad,soso,good<br \/>\nLannan\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0good,good,bad,soso,good,bad,bad,good,soso<br \/>\nWang\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad,bad,great,soso,soso,good,bad<br \/>\nDetwiler\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0soso,soso,good,good,bad,bad<br \/>\nMilone\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0bad<\/p>\n<p>Relievers of Note and other News<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>(repeating this from the last post b\/c of the timing) I saw a blip in the paper today about how Livan wants to stay a Washington National, and that he&#8217;s willing to become <a href=\"http:\/\/therocket.mlblogs.com\/2011\/08\/31\/livo-reaches-milestone-wants-to-stay-with-nationals\/\">a long reliever<\/a> understanding that he may be forced out of the rotation by the rise of  young arms.\u00a0 That&#8217;s good news for the team frankly; if he stays at or  near his current salary ($1.25m base, roughly $2m with incentives) then he&#8217;s a very  good, very cheap insurance policy in case one of our younger arms has a  meltdown.\u00a0 Livan may be finishing a frustrating on-again\/off-again  season, but he does put in a number of quality starts when given the  chance.<\/li>\n<li>Look at our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/post\/bryce-harper-will-play-in-arizona-fall-league\/2011\/08\/30\/gIQA00XYqJ_blog.html?wprss=nationals-journal\">AFL roster<\/a>: <strong>Harper<\/strong>, <strong>Rendon, Solis, Martin, Lehman <\/strong>and likely <strong>Purke<\/strong>.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Talk about the future of this franchise.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/RyanTatusko\">Twitter feeds from teammates<\/a> seemed to indicate before any official press releases that both Milone and <strong>Peacock <\/strong>are indeed getting 9\/1 callups.\u00a0 <strong>Tatusko <\/strong>then retracted the tweets and apologized for starting rumors.\u00a0 Ahhh the modern media world.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adam Kilgore <\/strong>thinks the Nats are calling up <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/post\/a-primer-on-the-nationals-likely-september-call-ups\/2011\/08\/31\/gIQAdHqrsJ_blog.html?wprss=nationals-journal\">no less than 5 players<\/a> in addition to <strong>Milone; Peacock, Severino, Bernadina<\/strong>, <strong>Lombardozzi<\/strong>, and <strong>Maya<\/strong>.\u00a0 Honestly I have a hard time believing they&#8217;re going to call up Bernadina or Maya.\u00a0 What is Bernadina going to do as the 6th outfielder on this team right now?\u00a0 Maya is a starter; we have at least 3 too many starters on the traveling team as it is.\u00a0 Severino makes some sense, to spell a tired bullpen, but he&#8217;s been up twice before and has never thrown a pitch in anger.\u00a0 Its about time they figured out if he&#8217;s worth the 40-man spot he&#8217;s been occupying for 2 years.\u00a0 <strong>9\/2 update<\/strong> an injury to Nix probably means <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/blog\/nationals-watch\/2011\/sep\/2\/nix-tweaks-groin-bernadina-his-way\/\">Bernadina&#8217;s call-up<\/a> for cover.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strasburg<\/strong>&#8216;s final rehab start was pretty good; he allowed just <a href=\"http:\/\/www.csnwashington.com\/09\/01\/11\/Strasburg-allows-1-hit-over-6-in-rehab-s\/landing_nationals_loud3r.html?blockID=557932&amp;feedID=6358\">one hit through 6<\/a>, pitched 5 perfect innings and departed on 70 pitches.\u00a0 I guess he&#8217;s ready.\u00a0 The Nats announced that he&#8217;ll <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masnsports.com\/the_goessling_game\/2011\/09\/strasburg-will-only-pitch-at-home-in-september.html\">only pitch at home<\/a>, possibly enhancing the repeated criticisms that the team is &#8220;baby-ing&#8221; him.\u00a0 Per Goessling&#8217;s article the home dates will be roughly the 6th, 11th, 16th, and 23rd.\u00a0 Personally I hope its the 24th; those are my last season tickets of the season (a 105 saturday game).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The big news this cycle is that the Nationals will be welcoming a new starter for his MLB debut.\u00a0 Tom Milone, 2010 Nats minor league pitcher of the year and owner of a rather consistent set of minor league stats as he&#8217;s progressed up the system. 12-5, 2.91 era in high-A in 2009 12-5, 2.85 [&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":[111,35,164,37,39,41,166,63,69,167,51,73,19,142,34,883],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-natsrotationreview","tag-adam-kilgore","tag-brad-peacock","tag-bryce-harper","tag-chien-ming-wang","tag-john-lannan","tag-livan-hernandez","tag-matthew-purke","tag-pat-lehman","tag-rafael-martin","tag-roger-bernadina","tag-ross-detwiler","tag-ryan-tatusko","tag-sammy-solis","tag-steve-lombardozzi","tag-tommy-milone","tag-yunesky-maya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","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=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4403,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/4403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}