Three On Twenty-Five

Brian Schneider: He rarely makes hard contact, as you can see by looking at his line-drive rate and his infield popup numbers. When the batting average comes around a bit, he'll be improved, but his slugging is always going to be suspect because his Isolated Slugging (the part of slugging average that's NOT driven by batting average) has been in the crapper for two seasons. With three catchers, he really should see the bench more often, especially for a PHer.

Dmitri Young: The amazing thing about him hasn't been his defense -- which is much better than expected, even if that's still not really terrific -- but his walk rate, which is more than double his career rate, and another sign that Mitchell Page, despite the struggles this team goes through, really seems to have an impact on its hitters. (Is that only one sentence?) Other than the walk rate, most of the rest of his numbers are in line with his career, so maybe he's not really playing over his head?

Ron Belliard: He doesn't look really pretty out there sometimes, except when he's making the quick transfer from the glove on the double-play pivot. I'm not sure whether I'm impressed with his range because he's genuinely excellent out there, or if it's because I'm used to slow hoppers lazily rolling into the grass for hits. His walk rate is half of his career total, and he really needs to up that if he's going to be useful, especially as a #2 batter, because he won't have a high enough batting average to be league average.

Ryan Zimmerman: He's finally starting to get hot, as over his last seven games, he's hitting .333. His performance this year with RISP shows the stupidity of RBI as an evaluating stat. It's not that RBI aren't important, but when trying to assess an individual player's value, they're one of the last things you look at because they're so dependent on what the other players on the team doing, and it's certainly not his fault that that Nats' #2 batters have a .225 on-base percentage.

Felipe Lopez: He's continuing a trend he started last year, when the Reds asked him to work on his on-base percentage by taking more walks to become a complete lead-off hitter. Unfortunately, it's come at the expense of much of his extra-base hit power. He's still a useful lead-off guy and a pretty good shortstop, but unless he starts hitting for more power or zips his OBP up into the .380 range, he's probably below average at second base, all things considered.

Chris Snelling: Snelling has easily been the Nats biggest surprise. He also shows why batting average alone isn't enough to evaluate a player, because he's been quite useful despite a .238 BA thanks to the walks, the extra-base-hits, and those beanballs. If he can get that batting average up -- and given his .312 career minor league average, there's hope -- he'll be one of the team's best players.

Ryan Church: Church is finally living up to the promise he showed early in 2005. Confidence, for once, seems to be oozing from his body, which is why I worry a bit about how he'll react to being yanked for not hustling in Sunday's game. It's interesting to see how the perception of his defense moves with the perception of his offense, and I wonder whether he's really better out there, or if sources just appreciate the body language he's given off, even though he still will probably butcher the next screaming line drive hit right at him.

Austin Kearns: I really like watching Kearns play defense, especially the way he hustles after balls to get into position to throw. It's something that's hard to see sometimes, but when you see a single to right with a man on first, watch how often the runner holds at second. He's been a terribly unlucky batter as you can see by looking at his line-drive rate, indicating that he'll get "better" once he stops hitting them right at the fielders.

Robert Fick: He's more a character than a ballplayer. He hasn't had a slugging average above .400 since 2003. That's fine from a third catcher -- but not a primary PHer -- and how many games has he caught anyway?

D'Angelo Jimenez: He hasn't had a slugging average above .300 since 2004, and he's left a trail of outs and shoddy defense wherever he's gone since. Manny Acta seems terrified to put him in the field -- likely with good reason. If he's not going to hit, and he's not going to field, why not get a fat slugger like Daryle Ward?

Michael Restovich: When he signed a minor-league contract, I assumed that he was a near-lock to make the roster, because of his right-handed power. A platoon with Ryan Church seemed like the natural option. It didn't happen, but he's basically platooning with Snelling now, putting both batters into positions where they're more likely to succeed.

Jesus Flores: We're rapidly nearing the time when Flores should be getting more PT. The Rule 5 process often harms players development, but with this dog of a team (and the dog of a starting catcher), what's the harm in giving him a chance? I've been impressed with his approach at the plate, where he's patient and doesn't swing wildly at pitches like a normal rookie, like Casto, does.

Josh Wilson: I'm not sure that I've ever seen a perception of a player change as quickly as it has with him. During spring, he was a bright light, a hidden superstar, who Bowden assured us (wink, wink) was being asked about by any number of teams. One terrible, terrible game later, and he's all but stapled to the end of the bench, available only as a last resort when there's a lefty reliever on the mound.

Shawn Hill: While not completely unexpected, his performance this year has been a very pleasant surprise -- and that's not just in comparison to the dregs around him. I worry about his health, especially with the reports that he's experiencing right forearm tenderness. All too often, forearms equal elbows, and he's already had plenty of elbow problems in his career.

Jerome Williams: I guess it would be a bit surprising to find out that he's second on the team in innings, but that's mostly because he's been left out there to take a thorough beating. For the most part, pitchers only control three parts of their job: walks, strikeouts and homers. Williams is failing at two of the three, and even the strikeout rate isn't that exceptional.

Matt Chico: I sorta feel bad for the kid. He's clearly over-matched in the big leagues. You just can't survive when you walk 15 batters and allow 5 homers in 18 innings of work.

John Patterson: Just shut up and pitch. I'm tired of the excuses, whether it's mechanics or the weather, or a tummy that feels bad. If he's not healthy, shut him down, but if he's just building arm strength, leave him out there for a few beatings until he's ready to let it loose.

Jason Bergmann: I'm not quite ready to hold the parade yet. Sure, he's had two great starts in a row, but the other 8 -- where his ERA is way over 6 -- count, too. I still want to know whether that extra zip on his breaking pitches is for real, or if it's just a hot streak.

Jesus Colome: Would you have guessed that Colome leads the team in relief innings? He's been a pleasant surprise, but he still worries me when he pitches, and those 11 walks in 15 innings mean he's likely a ticking time bomb. He's succeeded because he hasn't allowed a homer, and because he's allowing far fewer hits than the number of balls in plays he's allowing indicates he should -- at least based on his career averages.

Ryan Wagner: He's really a tough one to figure out. One game, he'll look brilliant, commanding his pitches, keeping them low in the zone, and keeping the hitters off balance. The next game, they're up, and wide, and he's getting smacked all over the place.

Jon Rauch: For all the talk about how good he is, and how effective he is at his job, he does have a 5.56 ERA. While he hasn't walked a single batter, he's allowed two huge homers. Despite the occasional struggle, he's still our most consistent reliever.

Levale Speigner: I still haven't figured him out. His control was shaky, especially in those early starts, but he seems to have improved. He's a decent enough 12th pitcher, but I really wish he were able to be a more effective long man because that's something this team could really use.

Chad Cordero: His usage is one of the reasons why so many statheads dislike the notion of a closer. Despite nominally being the team's relief ace, he's fifth on the team in relief innings. Granted, they haven't had many leads to hold on to -- and he's choked away two of those with his ineffective pitching -- but Manny Acta needs to look for more ways to get him in the game. Of course, the one time he did that, it ended with Cordero batting with runners on, and squandering the lead half an inning later.

Micah Bowie: If Jon Rauch' arm doesn't blow out first, then Bowie's the leader in the clubhouse given his 11 appearances already. Although he's supposedly the Nats' primary lefty, he's faced nearly twice as many righties as lefties. Thankfully, for him, righties have batted just .143, and strangely, lefties are ripping him for a .417 average.

Saul Rivera: He's been terrific so far, as he was last year. He keeps his stuff low in the zone, especially his breaking pitches. What really makes him effective, though, is his splitter, which has action down and away from left-handed batters, which basically kills any chance of success they have off of him.