Wednesday, September 26, 2007

You Know Your Team Sucks When...

...they lose a game started by Mike Bacsik and with a relief appearance by Joel Hanrahan!

Mets lose, Phillies win, Arizona Loses! We're well on our way to a five- or six-way tie in the NL!

The team's finally getting tired of Nook Logan. And Ryan Church has another HUGE night -- 3 hits, 4 RBi and a homer adding to the incredible .291 .355 .520 line he's put up since the All-Star Break. Might we have found our centerfielder of the future? (how many times have i said that since '05?)

posted by Chris Needham at 10:34 PM

18 Comments:

  • 1. Mike Bacsik and Joel Hanrahan can do the elephant walk right out of town this winter. Robert Fick can drive. I can't remember the time either of those pitchers made it out of the third without getting hammered.

    2. I'm with you...no more Nook, at least as a starter.

    3. Why, oh why, is management so keen to overlook Church all the time? What's wrong with a Pena/Church/Kearns outfield?

    4. It's fantastic to see the Mets get swept at this critical juncture by the Nats, a team for whom Mets fans have zero respect. The Mets can eat a...

    5. I hope we can dole out a similar beat down to the Phillies, whose fans are the most despicable group of troglodites ever belched onto the earth.

    By Blogger Brandon, at 9/26/2007 11:03 PM  

  • I dunno. Part of me wishes we would roll over and play dead for the Phillies... at least for the first two games.

    Let's make things really interesting.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 9/26/2007 11:05 PM  

  • Fargin Padres didn't get the memo -- they're up 2-1.

    It's tough counting on SF to beat anyone decent at this point I suppose.

    Hanrahan is such a frustrating case. He's so close to being able to do this. Obviously, at the end of the day, "close to being able" to do something is another way of saying "not able" to do it.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 9/26/2007 11:14 PM  

  • If pitching staffs ever devolve into such specified roles so as to require a designated intentional walker, then Hanrahan will have a job for life.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 9/26/2007 11:17 PM  

  • You sure he has enough control of his pitches for that?

    By Blogger Unknown, at 9/26/2007 11:19 PM  

  • Break up the Nats!!!!11!!!

    Look, the team has impressed me this season. I really thought they were going to suck. hard. And now they're mixing it up in the NL playoff race, finishing off the season with a four game winning streak. I guess if you can't make the playoffs, it's the next best thing. If Manny Acta isn't one of the top 3 in NL manager of the year voting, i'm going to throw something.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/26/2007 11:19 PM  

  • Just have "Snyder" sit right in the middle of the plate.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 9/26/2007 11:19 PM  

  • Above and beyond the greart game by Ryan Church, Manny Acta finally got the picture and left Jorge Julio Cordero on the bench in the bullpen.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/26/2007 11:47 PM  

  • A-Men. He finally left the Hitler of the pitching staff (forgive me, I'm watching the rebroadcast of The War) on the bench.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 9/26/2007 11:49 PM  

  • All the supposed Frank Robinson stuff aside, Church has always impressed in small burst (with emphasis on *projected* numbers) and rarely come through for a long duration.

    Should we toss him? No. Is he a CF? No. Is he a huge power guy? Not with a focus on HRs, but good doubles numbers. Is he a speed or defense specialist? Double no. He's one of those guys who never fits in, a slightly above average 5-tool player. Nothing stands out, nothing flashy.

    Let's not forget that Termel Sledge and Brad Wilkerson haven't exactly thrived elsewhere.

    Now Church in the new ball park?? He may suddenly have 25 HRs.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/26/2007 11:50 PM  

  • Whither Cordero in '08? I'd say if anything, not as our closer. I know you're a Cordero apologist Chris (that is, until reading the comments tonight ;), but it just doesn't seem to be clicking anymore. We need somebody that we can rely on in the 9th, and unfortunately Cordero is more groan inducing than anything when he steps out of the pen.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 12:16 AM  

  • Not an apologist by any means, just a realist.

    I merely took offense with the contention that he's a terrible closer. In terms of converting saves, he's still roughly a league average closer.

    Now if you ask me whether he's worth his salary -- something I've never really addressed -- the answer is clearly NO!11!1!

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 9/27/2007 12:18 AM  

  • Hey - what's wrong with Bacsik & Hanrahan? The Nats have worked that combo both ways this week - first Bacsik relieved Hanrahan on Sunday and last night the other way around- and won both games! Nothing succeeds like success! Naaah - just kidding-more likely "succeeds" is one syllable too long for those two...

    As far as Chad Cordero - I don't see any better closer options on the team right now. And let's not go projecting anything about, say, Ayala based on one game shall we? Last time I saw him pitch in person he lit the fuse the on the Phillies rally last Thursday night. He's certainly had his struggles. Rauch has also been inconsistent at times. Chad remains the best option.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 5:38 AM  

  • I think the key question on Cordero is whether or not he will improve as his career continues or whether he's already at the top of his game.

    He was one of those draft picks that was pressed quickly into service and rocketed into the spotlight by grabbing all those saves in '05. Many of those saves, of course, were the product of all the 1-run games the team played that year. But even in '05 he wasn't a lights-out closer.

    Does he have the stuff to become one, or will he always be one bloop single or three-run homer away from a blown save? He's still a somewhat young guy, but he does have three big-league seasons under him now.

    I agree with Chris, he is a league-average closer, so it's hard to justify tossing him to take a chance on another league-average guy.

    By Blogger Brandon, at 9/27/2007 8:12 AM  

  • We now know that the reason Chief didn't come into the game last night was that he got sick just as he was about to warm up.

    He'll likely be closing in Philadelphia this weekend (admittedly, not the optimal place for him to pitch).

    He's worth keeping around until:
    a) he definitely develops Jorge Julio Disease,
    b) the team stumbles upon a Billy Wagner clone by dumb luck, or
    c) Somebody else is willing to overpay for him.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 8:18 AM  

  • BTW, we are no longer last in the league in runs scored. With last night's game, we jumped ahead of the Giants!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 9:35 AM  

  • IP H R ER HR
    315.1 261 112 98 39

    BB K ERA WHIP BAA
    114 286 2.80 1.19 .221

    Yes. Please. Let's get RID of this monstrosity immediately!!!!! This guy is KILLING us.

    Hey, if this guy pitched whole games, we'd only need to score THREE runs to win every night. Three runs, r u kidding me we can't score three runs.

    8Ks per 9innings. Strikeouts are fascist. It means our defenders aren't working hard enough. They need to be kept on their toes.


    For comparison sake: this guy makes $5m a year:

    IP H R ER HR 546.1 409 197 183 51

    BB K ERA WHIP BAA
    217 551 3.01 1.15 .207


    So does this guy:
    IP H R ER HR 399.0 309 159 146 38
    BB K ERA WHIP BAA
    168 560 3.29 1.20 .213

    Calm down people. There are plenty of current Nats who should not be on major league rosters (I'm looking at you Tony batista).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 10:48 AM  

  • Brandon - Isn't ANY closer usually just "one bloop single or three-run homer away from a blown save"? Unless you pitch the last three innings of a 30-3 game, as some pitcher for Texas did up in Baltimore. (And is a "bloop" single really the fault of bad pitching most of the time?) My point here is that it sounds like you are doing something that I think a lot of fans do, and that is blaming Cordero for aspects of the closer's role that are simply part of the job, but not necessarily attached to Chad specifically.

    Unfortunately for the Chief, he is the only closer that Nats fans have ever really known on an up close, day-in-day-out basis. I think a lot of the unrealistic expectations and misconceptions that many of these fans have about the closer job will follow him around until he moves on and fans come to realize that his successor will have bad days and have to pitch out of jams sometimes.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/27/2007 11:14 AM  

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