NEWSBREAK: Tom Groeschen reports that Logan Ondrusek has been activated and Travis Wood optioned to Louisville. Wood should return when rosters expand in 5 days.
Go easy on them, they've been through a lot: the debt ceiling thing, an obelisk-cracking Earthquake, an impending hurricane and a wormhole that connects DC to Cincinnati (circa 2009). I don't mean to be glib, it's not been a bed of Roses in our nation's capital.
But tonight's a fun one: Wanger vs. Willis. Good nicknames, high marks in the Come-Back-Story column. Wang's still coaxing a lot of worm-burners, if not at the same rate as his Yankee days. He's also not overpowering or fooling anybody with just 2.3 K/9. Even Bronson gets to mock that ratio. The Reds should be able to make plenty of contact tonight. Let's hope they hit 'em where the Nats ain't, with the possible exception of Jonny Gomes. Especially now, I enjoy watching him find new ways to catch baseballs.
As for D-Train, he may no longer be teetering on the brink of guaranteed money for 2012. His last two starts have been a significant drop-off from his 8 inning, 10 K performance on August 9th against the Rockies, with 5 walks and 7 earned runs in 8.2 innings pitched. But some of that may be the arm soreness, which shouldn't be terribly surprising, considering he spread 65.2 innings over 4 months last season and threw just 7.1 innings in the minors. This season, he's been averaging a little over 5.2 innings per start, pitching 45.2 innings over two months after making 13 starts in AAA. He still has to finish strong, but judging by most rate stats, he's no worse than the Reds' 4th starter. I could see most teams taking a one-year flyer on him as at least a long reliever or lefty specialist.
Finally, if you're around on Saturday and feel like meeting Drew Stubbs, Bill Bray or Chris Heisey, you're in luck. See Sheldon's post for more details.
LINEUP:
Phillips 2B
Lewis LF
Votto 1B
Bruce RF
Hernandez C
Stubbs CF
Frazier 3B
Janish SS
Willis LHP
SBNation's Nationals site is Federal Baseball.