Friday, March 23, 2007

Fouled-Off Bunts: Cribbed From Barry Edition

WaPo beat writer Barry Svrulga said that he's going to keep doing Nationals Journal throughout the year. That's good news for Nats fans, and today's morning entry demonstrates why. It's full of nuggety (nougaty?) goodness that's too trivial for the dumbed-down $.35 paper, but is perfect for mainlining us junkies.

Quicky notes of things we learn:

--Jerome Williams is basically a lock
--Garrett Mock (the non-Chico) is still out with a crappy knee
--Irish Mike O'Connor'll start the year on the 60-day DL, so he won't be back before the ASB -- and Barry hints that his window might be closing completely.
--Supposedly former prospect Mike Hinckley is healthy and throwing well (to see the way he fell apart last year, I'd be his shoulder was bugging him).

and...

--John Patterson's velocity is down. RED ALERT! RED ALERT!

I wrote a few days ago that I think he's hurt still, just based on the one start I saw and the command problems everyone wrote about last week. Now with the velocity stuff, I'm leaning even more in that direction (Warning: Analysis is from an asshat blogger sitting safely 1,000 miles away at his keyboard).

Given the velocity problems, it could be one of four things: 1) He's injured. 2) He's not completely healthy from last year. 3) He's just rusty 4) He's doesn't trust his arm.

We know that 4 is a good possibility. Patterson seems to be the fussiest pitcher I've seen. Remember how often he bitched about the mound in '05? Things seem to get in his head unless he's supremely comfortable. 3 makes sense, but it's the end of spring. That rust should've kicked off the fender when we hit that pothole three miles back. 2 is a strong possibility as well. Although his surgery was relatively minor, anytime they're cutting back muscle to dig out a nerve, it's going to take some time for the body to heal -- and given his Nick-Johnson-like injury history, well...

But 1? That worries me. A loss of velocity is sometimes (just sometimes) an elbow problem. There was speculation last year that his forearm problem was related to his elbow. (They go hand-in-hand) If a player is having UCL problems (as Patterson did when he had Tommy John surgery a few years back), velocity often drops. (Think of the UCL as the rubber band in a sling shot. When the band loses its stretchiness, it's hard to fire the rock into your hated neighbor's car window)

With a start today, he's going to need to show command and velocity. I wish it was on TV. That would tell us a lot.

  • Church gets actual praise after his last game and some batting tips from...

  • Mitchell Page, my hero, gets his own profile. In general, I don't think hitting coaches matter a whole lot, but Page really has a track record of improving hitters. Great, great, great hire.

  • 7 Comments:

    • Uh oh, another Deangelo Jiminez mention in the Svrluga piece. Fortunately, like every other one, it mentions him screwing up an easy play. But I won't rest until he's gone. If he sticks, it's the revenge of Tony Womack.

      By Blogger DCPowerGator, at 3/23/2007 10:19 AM  

    • Interesting, I guess... But that's just pure speculation at this point. Let's see how he does at AA for a while. If he does what he did last year, there's a chance.

      He had a weird year last year and his peripheral stats are so-so. We'll see.

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/23/2007 10:20 AM  

    • Jimenez wouldn't be a completely terrible choice to come north. At least there's a grain of potential there, even if he's been an absolute butcher.

      In some ways, it might even be wise for the team to shop around Josh Wilson if there really is interest in him (which I kinda doubt).

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/23/2007 10:23 AM  

    • It's that age that helps him. 20 is still fairly young for AA. If he succeeds there, he's definitely on the fast track.

      Looking at what he did at AA, it makes you wonder what the hell he was doing wrong at Potomac!

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/23/2007 10:30 AM  

    • I like Mitchell Page too, but do you worry that he has started to drink again (only occasionally though) according to Barry's article?

      I guess there are different ways to recover from alcoholism and I don't want to point fingers or anything, but I just hope he doesnt relapse.

      By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/23/2007 1:02 PM  

    • It's always worrisome to hear something like that, but he seems to have the right attitude with it. As long as it's something that he's in control of and it doesn't become a problem. The Nats, when they hired him, gave him a zero tolerance policy. As long as they stick to that...

      By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/23/2007 1:07 PM  

    • Wait!? Patterson is showing signs of being hurt? Oh no! He is our *ace*.

      By Blogger WinwithZimm, at 3/23/2007 2:03 PM  

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