OT: Washington Nationals...major upside?

by greg456 on Feb 21, 2009 1:09 AM EST Comment 54 comments

I was just taking a look at the Nationals roster tonight and was impressed with the upside. There's certainly a LOT that can go wrong, but do they have an outside shot and being the surprise team of the National League if everything goes right?

C Jesus Flores - upside

1b Dunn - not too bad (at the plate, anyway)

2b Anderson Hernandez - yuck

3b Zimmerman - good, with very good upside

SS Guzman - yuck

OF Milledge - serious upside

OF Dukes - crazy, but serious upside

OF Willingham - solid

Bench: Kearns, Wily Mo, Nick Johnson

SP Scott Olsen, Daniel Cabrera, John Lannan, Shawn Hill, and Odalis Perez - not very good, but again, some upside in Olsen and Cabrera

I know, this is a stretch...but if everything went right, this is a team that can shock people, and I haven't heard a thing about them.

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Haven't heard a thing about them? Wait for my preview!

The Nats only won 59 games last year, so it’s safe to say they’ll have some improvement. I don’t see them competing with the Mets or Phillies. I think it’s a fight between them and the Braves for fourth place in the division. Oh, and Guzman, who gets a yuck from you, was their All-Star representative last year.

by Brendanukkah on Feb 21, 2009 1:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

guzman

Yeah he was surprisingly solid last year, although being the Nats All-Star last year was no huge feat. But .310/.345/.440 isn’t bad. Still though…yuck(ish).

by greg456 on Feb 21, 2009 12:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Zimmerman

I think “good, with very good upside” somewhat underrates Zimmerman.

by Red Menace on Feb 21, 2009 1:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

really?

.287/.351/.471 was his best season. It was at the age of 21 and he’s only 23, which is why I think he has very good potential. Would you say he has great potential? Right now I’d say he’s good, but not very good. Defensively he’s very good, correct?

by greg456 on Feb 21, 2009 12:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Zimmerman

.287/.351/.471 is a great line at RFK. That was the worst park in baseball for hitters (and for fans, but that’s another story entirely).

And, calling his defense “very good” is selling him way short. He’s phenomenal. He has tremendous range, a great first step, great instincts, and a really good arm. His only downfall is that he makes a lot of throwing errors, but my impression by watching him is that he makes those errors on off-balance throws that nobody else even attempts. On plays where another 3B will pick it up and eat it, Zimm will always try to make a throw.

He’s a very good hitter, and one of the best defensive players in baseball.

"Karma - there it was. The meaning of life, straight from Carson Daly's lips to my morphine-laced ears." -Earl Hickey

by BLee2525 on Feb 21, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

fair enough

Thanks. I’ll admit that I’ve seen him play very little. Perhaps my fantasy baseball obsession has colored my view of him. I’ve always gotten the impression that his bat will never be on par with, say, David Wright’s…but I suppose you are correct that that line in RFK is pretty impressive as a 21-year-old. Of course, now that he is 24 and in a more hitter-friendly park, I would expect some large numbers if he is really great.

by greg456 on Feb 21, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And he was drafted...

…just ahead of our boy Bruce in 2005?

So, Bruce or Zimmerman?

"When is marshmallow season?"

by Fat Vegas Alan on Feb 21, 2009 7:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sweaterpants would say Bruce

because he’s an outfielder.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 21, 2009 9:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Zimmerman

Only because it’s harder to find a great 3B than a great OF.

I miss the old days of the internet when men were men, hot girls were middle aged men, and hot uderage girls were FBI agents.....

by jch24 on Feb 24, 2009 10:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Definite Potential

They have so many promising young players (hitters), but most of the stuff I have read is pretty skeptical of their pitching. Dukes, Milledge, and Zimmerman have upside, no doubt.

Oh, and Christian Guzman is hardly a “yuck.” He has the 3rd highest VORP projection among SS going into this year. Granted, this is due to a very limited sample size for PECOTA to work with from the last 3 years, but he should still be solid if he’s healthy.

Not to step on Brendan’s toes here, but I think If they can get a get a couple of good pitchers and their young guys keep improving, they could make some noise in a couple years.

by D-Rock on Feb 21, 2009 12:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I feel like i heard

I know, this is a stretch…but if everything went right, this is a team that can shock people, and I haven’t heard a thing about them.

About every Bowden team. Between a couple of stars, some former stars, and some Pete Shoureck types we the Reds hoped to catch lightening in a bottle every year…

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 21, 2009 12:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I can't help but feel that there are some John Smiley fans who are lurkers

y’all can come out! We’re not a Schourek-loving clique, I swear!

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Feb 21, 2009 1:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i love smiley too

because Smiley had like 9 wins by the all-star break, and an 8 year old thinks wins are a really important stat.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 21, 2009 4:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I didn't know this until recently

The Twins’ compensation pick from us for signing Smiley turned out to be Torii Hunter.

by ken on Feb 21, 2009 5:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My G/F fav player of all time

and I am a Smiley LOVER!!! ‘95 was a year where I really fell in love with the Reds. I was young (9 years old) and my dad took me to about 10 games that year including a few post season games. As most 9 year olds would be, I was amused by his name but it seemed like all 10 games I went to he pitched, sadly including game 2 vs. the Braves where we lost in 10 or 11 innings and I think it was damned Mark Portugal who blew the game… So now I’m out of the JS-Closet.!

by kennythered on Feb 21, 2009 5:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Every time I saw a game at Wrigley

it would be Portugal or Pugh pitching. Laaaaaaaaame

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Feb 21, 2009 5:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Portugal wasn't bad while he was in Cincinnati.

He put up an ERA+ of 108 in his half a season as a Red in 1995, and an ERA+ of 107 in 1996.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 21, 2009 7:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And the Reds dumped him rather unceremoniously.

If I’m remembering right…He was “getting ready” in the spring, not worrying about his stats, because they told him he was set. Then they released him right before opening day to instead keep Brett Tomko with the MLB club. It was too late for Portugal to latch on with another club, and he never pitched again.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 21, 2009 9:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not quite right.

he was granted his free agency by the Reds in November of 1996, and signed a 2 year deal with the Phillies making $2.3M both seasons, and he spent 1999 in Boston, and he signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati in 2000 at the age of 37, and didn’t make the team out of spring training.

Letherpants did award Portugal a spot in the rotation, only to take it away at the end of spring training, giving it to Rob Bell. You were close to be right, just forgot about a couple of years, and confused a couple of young Reds’ pitching prospects, who had potential and never made anything of it.

link

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 22, 2009 12:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

check out

Pugh comps.

The stuff I do when I should be preparing for finals.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 22, 2009 1:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

*Pugh's

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 22, 2009 1:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Feb 22, 2009 1:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

am I the only one that really liked those uni's?

probably because they’re the only one that I saw playoff baseball in, but still.

...because there's already someone posing as Jacob Brumfield

by Cy Schourek on Feb 22, 2009 10:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i second the uni's

i loved the sleeveless jerseys.

"aw....c'mon. That's suck! I heard Coldplay on WARM98" obc son(after watching the band win Best Rock Grammy)

by obc2 on Feb 22, 2009 11:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like it when my team's uniforms allow them to play a game

then go serve ice cream to kids while singing “Ziggy Piggy”

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 22, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Loved the sleeveless, hated the pinstripe cap

Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you.

by "Red" Moskau on Feb 24, 2009 7:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nothing beats pure polyester

肏你祖宗十八代 - and your sister too !

by Madville on Feb 24, 2009 8:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am going to start adding "in bed" to the end of all of Madville's posts.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 25, 2009 4:09 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

don't forget the rimshot!

肏你祖宗十八代 - and your sister too !

by Madville on Feb 25, 2009 6:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

....in bed?

I miss the old days of the internet when men were men, hot girls were middle aged men, and hot uderage girls were FBI agents.....

by jch24 on Feb 25, 2009 10:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No that's called a rim...

Oh, never mind.

I laid my bed and I'm going to have to sit on it. - A-Roid the Liar

by PeteyHendrix on Feb 26, 2009 1:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A least they can say they aren't the worst team in the NL this year

That belongs to the Pirates or Padres

by kyleb740 on Feb 21, 2009 1:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Rockies are a bigger question mark to me

I know they’re 2 years removed from the World Series and looked gawd awful for most of last year. They lost Holliday but had lots of injuries last year. Their pitching could be good but who knows. But their division kinda sucks. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they could win 70 or 90 games.

by buckeye22fox on Feb 21, 2009 5:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs