19 Mondays to go: Nats 'pen rates to strengthen in 2010

Posted by Mike Henderson on Nov. 23, 2009 at 4:10 AM
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Much of the Nationals' ill fortune in 2009 could be attributed to poor defense.  However, as colleague Jeff Bergin points out, it was the pitching that most conspicuously let the team down.

It's hard to fathom a staff so inept that its cumulative Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) is less than zero -- but such, as Jeff reminds us, is what the Nats' was this past season, alone in '09 in Major League Baseball.  This confirms what you might have suspected even as early as 2009 Spring Training:  that the Nats could have set aside all their Opening Day pitchers save John Lannan, fielded a randomly selected group of triple-A arms, and expected to do no worse than the 59 wins the staff managed to cobble together.

That's more or less what, in fact, they ended up doing as the 2009 season unfolded and unraveled -- due in no small part to the prompt collapse of Daniel Cabrera and the loss of Scott Olsen and Jordan Zimmermann to midseason injuries.  Look who started the last four games:  Livan Hernandez, who was picked up in August off the Mets' ash heap; Ross Detwiler, who opened his 2009 campaign at double-A Harrisburg; and Garrett Mock and JD Martin, each of whom began his season at triple-A Syracuse.

While Washington won all four of those contests, they have the bullpen to thank for three of those victories.  And though that may be good news on the surface, it's far from clear that the 2010 relief corps would benefit from the likes of Zach Segovia and Logan Kensing.  Even so, the Nats -- thanks in part to some astute trades and waiver claims, as noted below -- may already have most of the pieces they need to proceed with greater confidence (or less trepidation, anyhow) into the late innings this coming season.

Who are the front-line bullpen candidates for 2010?  Try these names on for size.

Middle relief:

• Tyler Clippard started the season alongside Mock and Martin in Syracuse, then came up to South Capitol Street in June and produced 60 1/3 pretty good innings in 41 games, delivering 67 strikeouts, 32 walks, 36 hits and a formidable (if slightly lucky) 2.69 ERA.  
• Meanwhile, June trade acquisition Sean Burnett showed greater versatility than your average LOOGY, logging a 3.20 ERA over 33 Washington appearances that ranged in length from one batter to two and a third innings. 
• Marco Estrada only had four September outings (totaling seven and a third frames) under the curly W in 2009, but didn't yield an earned run in the last three of those appearances. 
• Those of us who've been impressed by the performance of Josh Wilkie at double-A, triple-A and the Arizona Fall League are probably also wondering why Wilkie's been left off Washington's 40-man roster and thus exposed to next month's Rule 5 Draft (an omission it's not too late to fix [UPDATED 11/27/09:  rosters were frozen on November 20; thanks to commenter Rich for pointing out the error]).
• If his progress remains steady, Atahualpa Severino shouldn't need more than another year's seasoning to earn a trip to Nats Park.
• The swingman of the future could be Jesse English, whom the Nats snatched off waivers in September from the pitching-rich Giants.

Lefty specialist:  If Burnett isn't slotted for this job, it most likely isn't on account of early-September trade acquisition Victor Garate.  Recent waiver-wire pickup Doug Slaten would seem a more likely call to get the out when there's one out to get, allowing the Nats to use Burnett more flexibly (and sensibly).

Setup/closer:  Washington's 2009 number-two draftee Drew Storen just completed another awe-inspiring stage in his steady ascent, posting a 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings over 12 appearances in the Arizona Fall League.  Whether or not Storen starts 2010 in Syracuse, he's unlikely to end it there -- and once he does arrive at Nats Park, the only question will be how near the end of the game he'll be brought in and for how long.  If the Nats sign a veteran big-gamer like 38-year-old Billy Wagner or try to charm another decent season out of Mike MacDougal, then Storen will most likely be limited to eighth-inning setup duty.  That, however, would probably be just a phase:  the 2009 Nats under pitching coach Steve McCatty were willing on occasion to use their relief ace for more than three outs, and there's no reason not to continue that practice as soon as they deem Storen's arm ready for it.

     

Stephen King Latest Nats Farmhand to Be Nailed for PEDs

Posted by Mike Henderson on Oct. 2, 2009 at 8:50 PM
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Washington minor-league third baseman Stephen King can expect to be looking in from the outside at the beginning of the 2010 season.  Alden Gonzalez at MLB.com reports that King, who logged a batting line of .226 / .312 / .345 in 94 games, mostly at high-A Potomac, received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for ritalinic acid.

King joins Nats minor-league outfielder Edgardo Baez and infielder Ofilio Castro on the suspended list.  Baez and Castro, both of the double-A Harrisburg Senators, were benched in August after testing positive for amphetamines.

     

UPDATED: I-81 Paradise: Senators Could Go from Worst to Wild Card

Posted by Mike Henderson on Sep. 5, 2009 at 12:55 PM
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Back in May we took the liberty to snark mightily upon the double-A Harrisburg Senators, who had started their season by dropping 16 of their first 18 games.  That's a record of baseball futility that we imagine hasn't often been eclipsed since these guys went 0-and-21 at the outset of the 1988 American League East campaign.

The readers of this Hutch, long inured to dismal news, will be unfazed to learn that the Senators are poised to finish the season 15 or so games behind the Akron Aeros, who currently sport an 86-53 record and who clinched the Eastern League Southern Division flag a while back.

In addition to Akron, the EL South will also send its second-place team to the playoffs next week. There are four teams in contention for the wild-card berth:

• The Reading Phillies have a record of 72-66 and, as of this morning, are second in the EL South. They have four games left on the schedule, all against the EL-North champion Connecticut Defenders.
• The Erie SeaWolves are a close third at 71-67. Their remaining schedule consists of three games against Akron, after which they will only have played 141 games of the 142-game schedule, with one game postponed and never rescheduled.  (Which makes us wonder what would happen if the 'Wolves were to end up a half-game short of the wild card.)
• The Bowie Baysox, who are hosting the Senators this weekend at Prince George's Stadium, are just a game back of Erie at 70-68 with four games remaining.
• Who's the fourth contender? That would be... ahem, your Harrisburg Senators, who are enjoying a record of 69-69 -- no small thanks to Drew Storen, who has racked up nine saves, a win and zero earned runs in his sojourn at Harrisburg to date -- and are only one game behind Bowie and three games back in the wild card with four games to go.

As can be seen from the above list, the Sens -- who play a twi-night doubleheader against Bowie tonight -- have a fair job of work in front of them, and even at that are currently at Reading's mercy.  If the R-Phils take both ends of tonight's doubleheader with Connecticut, the Senators will be eliminated; otherwise Harrisburg can stay alive with a twin-bill sweep if Reading and Connecticut split, or with a split if Reading drops two this evening.

First pitch at Bowie this evening will be at 5:35.

UPDATE 11:35 pm Saturday 9/5/09: The scenario that absolutely did not admit of the Senators staying in the wild-card hunt is the one that played out.  Harrisburg lost an ugly pair -- highlighted by errors, low strikeout totals by starting pitchers, and opposing home runs -- at Prince George's Stadium this evening.

     

I-81 Paradise: All A-Flutter

Posted by Mike Henderson on Aug. 24, 2009 at 12:15 PM
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One of the treats that Nats minor-league fans could enjoy in 2009 has been the sudden progress of 24-year-old reliever Yunior Novoa through the Nats' farm system.

A White Sox signee out of the Dominican Republic in late 2002 who was picked up by the Nats in 2006 after having been let go by Chicago, the tall, slim left-hander has issued 40 strikeouts, 19 bases on balls and 51 hits on the way to accruing a 3.99 ERA in 47 1/3 innings at three levels thus far in 2009.  Now in the bullpen of triple-A Syracuse, Novoa had shown impressive breaking stuff at double-A Harrisburg, so intriguingly so that this Hutch has been musing silently as to whether the knuckleball is a part of Novoa's repertoire.

In an internet writers' question-and-answer session at Nats Park this past Sunday, Washington assistant director of player development Mark Scialabba praised Novoa's offspeed ability (without alluding to the knuckleball), but also made a comment that now has us wondering whether, rather than Novoa, it's 2007 late-round draftee Aaron Seuss -- now a 24-year-old blah-hitting outfielder with high-A Potomac -- who just might be the knuckleballer of the future.

Scialabba notes that Seuss -- who, in addition to his outfield duty, has pitched five and two-thirds innings of garbage time in six games for the P-Nats -- has been throwing the floater in some side sessions.  (Brian at NFA also notes that Seuss has been racking up some strikeouts with it.)  The Nats, says Scialabba, might see if they "can entice some former major leaguers to work with [Seuss]."

Is Seuss the next Tim Wakefield?  Maybe, maybe not -- but stay tuned.

     

2009 Draftee Check: Drew Storen

Posted by Mike Henderson on Aug. 13, 2009 at 1:15 PM
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This is the tenth installment of a series in which we take a look at each of the Nationals' selections from the first ten rounds of this past June's First-Year Player Draft.

We continue with the Nats' supplemental first-round pick, a right-handed college reliever from Indiana.

Most Recent Performance:

Storen pitched the ninth inning of the Senators' 5-4 victory at Binghamton on August 11.  He faced the seventh, eighth, and ninth batters in the lineup and set them down in order.

2009 Minor-League Season Summary:

Storen has appeared in 19 minor-league games at three levels.  Over 25 2/3 innings, he has struck out 37 batters, issued just two bases on balls and allowed 18 hits including two home runs, logging a 1-1 record with three saves and a 2.81 ERA on the season.

     

Storen promoted to Double-A Harrisburg

Posted by Ian Koski on Aug. 10, 2009 at 11:30 PM
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It appears that Drew Storen, the Nationals' second first-round pick in the 2009 draft, has been promoted once again.

According to a Twitter update from the rapidly rising 22-year-old pitcher posted shortly after 11 p.m. Monday, he'll board a bus to Harrisburg Tuesday morning to join the Double-A Senators. Storen's mother, Pam, also discussed the news in her own Twitter account.

The 52-61 Senators are due to play the Binghamton Mets Tuesday evening in upstate New York.

     

I-81 Paradise: August Edition

Posted by Mike Henderson on Aug. 3, 2009 at 12:50 PM
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There's barely a month of minor-league baseball left, and we're ready to fit some farm-team visits into our August vacation travel.  With the help of the Big Board at Nationals Farm Authority, we've also been tracking some of the Nats' 2009 draftees at each level.  (Schedule projections and records shown in parentheses are as of the end of play on August 2.)

• Vermont Lake Monsters (short-season single-A, 21-22): Ten of the Nats' selections from June's First-Year Player Draft are in Vermont uniforms, including right-handed pitcher Pat Lehman, the Nats' 13th-round pick.  A product of George Washington University, Lehman has made four starts and three relief appearances for Vermont; in 27 1/3 innings, he's logged a 1.65 ERA, striking out 14 and walking 1. Centennial Field -- whose future as a minor-league venue is discussed in this New York Times article from last Saturday [HT:  poster CoverageIsLacking from the Post's "Nationals Journal"] -- will host 17 Monsters contests in the remainder of the 2009 New York-Penn League season.
• Hagerstown Suns (low single-A, 13-22 second half):  The Suns are fairly well out of South Atlantic League contention, but still enjoy the services of Derek Norris who belted nine homers in July.  (And who unreeled his 15th and 16th errors of the season in Saturday night's game against visiting West Virginia.)  First-round draft pick Drew Storen has moved up to Potomac, making room for fourth-round selection A. J. Morris who has been called up from the Gulf Coast League where he'd thrown five scoreless innings in two starts, striking out four and walking none.  There are nineteen home games left on the Suns' 2009 schedule at Municipal Stadium.
• Potomac Nationals (high single-A, 24-12 second half):  The P-Nats, who fielded a pennant-winning squad in 2008, are looking to re-enter postseason contention as their record over the first 36 of 70 second-half games finds them parked atop the Carolina League's Northern Division.  Third-round draft pick Trevor Holder and first-round draft pick Drew Storen have been marching smartly up the system:  Holder has won three and lost none in six minor-league starts at three levels, striking out 20 and issuing just seven bases on balls in 23 innings, while Storen has shone in relief, posting a 1-1 record with one save, 34 strikeouts, one walk and a 3.00 ERA in 21 innings at Hagerstown and Potomac.  The P-Nats have 13 contests left on the 2009 calendar at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, as well as three games in Frederick at 7:00 p.m. on August 3, 4, and 5.
• Harrisburg Senators (double-A, 49-57):  The Senators have achieved a degree of respectibility in the Eastern League through June and July, especially as compared to their dismal start in April and May.  Lefty reliever Jack Spradlin, recently promoted to triple-A Syracuse, continued to keep Harrisburg's opponents at bay:  in 53 1/3 innings over 35 double-A appearances, he struck out 45, walked 18 and accrued a 2.87 ERA.  Metro Bank Park will host 16 Harrisburg home games over the remainder of the season, and the Senators wrap up the schedule with a visit to Bowie over Labor Day weekend.
• Syracuse Chiefs (triple-A, 56-50):  Even with the major-league Nats raiding the Chiefs at regular intervals for live arms, Syracuse remains in contention in the International League's Northern Division, just four games back of Scranton / Wilkes-Barre in the standings after a 15-15 stretch from July 1 through August 2.  Eighteen games remain on the Chiefs' home schedule at Alliance Bank Stadium.

     

Nats Torch Padres 13-1 in Rain-Delayed Tilt

Posted by Mike Henderson on Jul. 26, 2009 at 7:00 AM
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It was shaping up to be a pretty good Saturday evening at Nationals Park for JD Martin, whom the Nats had called up from triple-A Syracuse last Sunday after placing starter Scott Olsen on the 15-day disabled list.  In his second-ever MLB start, Martin enjoyed two scoreless innings against San Diego before a three-hour, eleven-minute rain delay intervened.

Happily, the Nats -- having touched recent Padres callup Tim Stauffer for two runs in the bottom of the first, and aided by a second-inning walk to Martin and an Adam Dunn grand slam against San Diego reliever Luis Perdomo -- buried the Friars for good after play restarted to record a 13-1 victory, their most one-sided thus far in the 2009 season.

Washington right-hander Tyler Clippard delivered four innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the season, allowing just one hit and one base on balls while recording seven strikeouts, the most ever by a Nationals reliever.

Here's coverage from the Post, Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, MLB.com and AP.

For what it's worth:

• The Nats recorded a quadruple-double in Saturday's contest. They logged 13 runs on 16 hits, while striking out 15 times and leaving 15 men on base.
• In 18 rain-delayed games over the 2009 season to date, the Nats have accrued 33 hours and 42 minutes of waterlogged idle time.

Meanwhile, several items of good news from the Nats' minor-league system on Saturday:

• A shaky beginning turned into a superb no-decision outing at triple-A Syracuse for recently-demoted left-hander Ross Detwiler. Over seven innings on Saturday evening, Detwiler allowed three runs -- only two earned, and all in the first two frames -- as well as seven hits and two walks while striking out five in a 4-3 Chiefs walk-off win over the visiting Louisville Bats.
• Rehabbing lefty Matt Chico produced a fine five-inning start at double-A Harrisburg to earn the win in a 7-2 Senators victory over the visiting Trenton Thunder.
• In high-single-A Carolina League action in Salem, Virginia, Drew Storen, the Nats' second pick in last month's First-Year Player Draft, contributed his second scoreless relief appearance for Potomac as the P-Nats set down the Salem Red Sox by a 5-1 margin.
• Nats number-four 2009 draft pick Trevor Holder allowed just two runs, one earned, over a five-inning start for low-single-A Hagerstown to notch his second South Atlantic League win of the 2009 season as the visiting Suns defeated the Bowling Green Hot Rods 8-2.

     

Arms List Highlights (Use a Soft Pencil and Erase Cleanly)

Posted by Mike Henderson on Jul. 20, 2009 at 6:45 AM
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Having learned by now not to write any part of the Nationals' roster in ink, we provide the following helpful summary of this weekend's most noteworthy pitching staff performances and changes at several levels:

• Nats reliever Julián Tavárez (aka "Beer Goggles") allowed two inherited runners, plus one runner of his own, to score in Sunday's error-sodden 11-3 loss to the Cubs. That, on top of his altogether underwhelming performance out of the 'pen in July, was enough to get him frog-marched to the door.
• Reliever Logan Kensing, who was designated for assignment by the Nats on May 15 and subsequently shuttled to triple-A, will be brought back up to the big club to round out the bullpen. The Nats are hoping Kensing's decent performance at Syracuse will somehow translate to improvement at Nats Park.
• JD Martin, as reported earlier, has the Monday start against the Mets in place of DL-bound Scott Olsen. Martin will fill the lone vacancy on the Nats' 40-man roster.
• Left-hander Matt Chico scattered three hits and a walk and struck out three in a scoreless five-inning rehab start for double-A Harrisburg on Sunday.
• As our colleague Jeff Bergin reported last evening on NationalsPride.com, Drew Storen, heir apparent to bygone Nats All-Star closer Chad "Chief" Cordero, is on his way to high-A Potomac after making quite an impression on the brass and the fans in barely a month at low-A Hagerstown.

     

Detwiler to Triple-A: An Easy Call

Posted by Mike Henderson on Jul. 16, 2009 at 10:35 AM
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The Nationals' crisis-management skills have been exercised in every aspect of play on the field. Shaky defense, a threadbare bullpen and sleepy situational hitting have all tested the Nats' ability to hang on.

But starting pitching has also been a challenge. The reason you might not classify it in the same category of emergency is that, at least once the D-Cab experiment was brought to a close, a lot of things have gone right with this rotation.

Two decisions made by the Nats' front office and coaching staff stand out to us as particularly sound ones. The first was to promote 2007 first-round draftee Ross Detwiler from double-A Harrisburg on May 18, and the second -- as NationalsPride.com colleague Jim Kurtzke also notes -- was to option Detwiler to triple-A Syracuse this past Sunday.

Detwiler had shown enough improvement for the double-A Senators in April and May, particularly in delivering strikeouts, to merit a look at the major-league level when a replacement was needed for the injured Scott Olsen. And Detwiler started off well enough at Nats Park -- not that his record showed it, for which responsibility must be shared with the fielders and relievers behind him.

Seven pretty good starts for Detwiler put him second on our rotation ranking a couple of weeks ago. Alas, those were followed by three pretty bad starts, which slid him down the scale enough to worry us.

Our worry apparently was justified. The reason for the sudden barrage of walks and hits against Detwiler wasn't just bad luck, as John Lannan sometimes suffers (and bounces back from), nor injury, which Olsen suffered (and recovered from).  We are told that Detwiler (not, we think, for the first time in his career) has had a hard time maintaining a consistent release point, a problem from which Lannan and Olsen -- not to mention up-and-comer Craig Stammen and emerging ace Jordan Zimmermann -- don't seem to suffer.

In any event -- particularly with a resurgent Garrett Mock available for callup from Syracuse -- there was no need to try to solve Detwiler's mechanical issues under the MLB spotlight. The second half of the triple-A season should afford him a reasonable amount of time to improve his consistency enough to merit a serious audition for the big-club roster in 2010.