Normally, I love a quiet rainy day. I get my best work done on quiet rainy days. The dogs are all sacked out around me, I'm not tempted to go outside for anything.
Today? This needs to stop.
We're running out of season here and I think I have just three games left (I may be forgetting one later in the season). Tonight is one. I'm going up with some friends to collect yet another free t-shirt. Thursday is another. I'm meeting some friends at the Park to celebrate a wedding. Neat story that I'll share later. The forecast? Rain both times. I've seen enough rain this season. I want to see a little more baseball before the days get cold and short again.
As for those callups - was this a Big Raised Middle Finger at Martis? Is he hurt? Is there a message here? Has he fallen off the prospect radar? Ol' Shairon didn't exactly tear it up in Syracuse. He went 4-4 with a 4.96 ERA and opponents hit better than .300 against him. Not exactly call-up worthy. I haven't read all the accounts of the call-ups yet but what I have read didn't address his situation. Given that he had five wins in Washington in early May, I thought it merited some discussion. We saw him beat the Cardinals with a complete game in May. He looked outstanding. Did we catch his "blind squirrel finds an acorn" day? Or did he just fall apart?
Detwiler ended up winning four of his final five starts and allowed six runs in those games. He's made 26 starts this year but only has about 128 innings so I guess he's not a candidate for shutdown.
I'm also curious about this: What more does Logan Kensing need to do to prove he's not a major league pitcher? Sure, his AAA numbers of 2.97 ERA and 17 saves are impressive but it doesn't hide that 10.46 ERA in the majors. With a .371 batting average against. And it isn't like his stats were sterling before this year. He was DFA'ed by the Marlins - who later used Luis Ayala and Brian Sanches in their bullpen.
I do want to see Desmond play. I remember reading a Washington Times article about him in spring training of 2005, where Frank Robinson gushed about him. I can't remember if there was serious talk about him making the team as a 19-year-old. Whatever, that was a long time ago. Let's see if he's ready now.
Twenty-five games to go, five games up in the Harper Cup standings. Can the Nats hold on?
6 comments:
Tonight's free T shirt is fugly. The chance to see Pedro pitch live is the real drawing card. If it's not pouring at 5:00, I'm heading down. The only other time I ever got to see Pedro pitch was in Y2K at Fenway. Pedro struck out five Yankees in a row, nine in total, but Pettite and the Yanks won the game 3-0. I suspect the Pedro we see tonight will be quite different from the one I saw that night.
(If I do go tonight, though, I will still collect the fugly T shirt. Might come in handy to wipe the seat dry.)
Fugly but free!
We're still not sure what we're going to do. Weather is nasty here but we're 125 miles away.
It stopped raining in Fairfax County well before noon today. Sidewalks and grass are dry. It's overcast but it doesn't feel like it's gonna rain here any time soon. Supposedly this is a very slow moving system, which is why it's taking the whole week to clear the area. If you come up, you might well find yourself driving out of the band of rain. I'm no meteorologist, but there you are.
Regarding Kensing: he has one thing most other Nats pitchers lack -- a fastball that goes more than 90 MPH. I would gather they are hoping he can learn to use it effectively and figure garbage September innings are the time to do that.
Regarding Martis: he is still one of the youngest of the young arms, so he has time to bounce back from his disappointing second half.
We bagged the trip, which I may regret later. Not feeling terribly chipper anyway, so I'll settle in and listen to Rob and Bob and hear the word "Twitter" too many times.
Some interesting comments on the Nationals Journal comments section about everything with the moves - Martis may be near his innings limit. No decent explanation for the Kensing thing.
ABM, if you don't totally much up your fugly shirt cleaning off your seat, save it for me. I have no pride. I'll wear anything.
I'm really going to be bummed if Thursday is affected by weather.
Beautiful night at the ballpark tonight. Well, except for the score. And not a drop of rain. The shirt even looks better in person.
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