New Season, Same Old Nats

I know it's been only two games, but the games have been such laughingstocks that I have to make a ranting post about it.

First, Manny Acta's job as manager is quickly becoming less and less stable. He plays obvious favorites, none more obvious than his handling of the outfield. He has to put Adam Dunn in left field, but he announced Milledge as the center fielder before spring training and named him leadoff hitter a mere week or so in. His stats give no reason to bat him leadoff, but Acta likes Milledge and could use the "he hit well last year" excuse to keep him there, despite the fact that Elijah Dukes was a little better and Josh Willingham was much better. Acta said Dukes is on the bench because of poor ST stats, well Manny, then why isn't the outfield Dunn-Kearns-Willingham, the three players who had the best spring? This only adds to the fact that Acta refuses to show any emotion in the dugout and has never called out his players for terrible performances.

Also, I find it baffling that Willingham can have a solid year last year - BETTER than Milledge's year - but cannot crack our outfield. Amazing. Oh, and he hasn't gotten an AB in two games, despite Acta assuring everyone that they would split at bats. Acta wants to pinch hit third catcher Josh Bard, so that the front office can decide if he's more worthy than Wil Nieves as backup. It's sickening.

Acta also demands that Ryan Zimmerman hit 3rd, which is completely ridiculous. He is far from a number 3 hitter and has never been comfortable there. They SHOULD put someone like Adam Dunn there. Oh, and Lastings Milledge at leadoff is a complete failure. 0/8 so far this year with 4 strikeouts. Guzman hit over .300 last year leading off, WHY CHANGE IT? Nick Johnson would be a perfect #2 hitter but Acta refuses to change it up. The stubborness is absurd and the favortism is prevalent. I'd be shocked if Milledge moves from leadoff before the middle of May. The team has shown a pattern of stubborness with the lineup, and it has hurt their production.

Second, the pitching staff is a joke. John Lannan, the supposed ace, got absolutely rocked yesterday. He was terrible. I know Lannan is better and the nerves could have gotten to him, so I'm not concerned about him. What I am concerned about is the bullpen and the rest of the rotation. Scott Olsen, tonight's starter, was worse than Lannan. He never hit 90 on his fastball and had no control. He was awful. It was embarassing to watch the Marlins tee off on yet another Nationals starter. Lannan and Olsen combined for 6 innings and 14 runs. That's solid production from your starters! After Olsen is Daniel Cabrera, who has never been a consistent starter for the Orioles and was far from good in spring training. Acta loves Cabrera so if he struggles, don't expect him to be demoted or released anytime soon. Behind Cabrera is rookie Shairon Martis, and you never know what you'll get from a rookie. Top prospect Jordan Zimmermann is the number five starter, but he is also a rookie - who knows what he'll be able to do.

The bullpen was terrible yesterday but was more stable Tuesday. Julian Tavarez was bad Monday but was much better Tuesday so I won't complain about him. Will Ledezma was awful on Monday and has a track record of being terrible in major league action, despite good spring training numbers. It does not look good for the Nats' bullpen this year. I'm honestly scared thinking about how many runs they will give up.


It's April 7th, and I'm already wondering if the Nats can win 50 games this year. All of my optimism is completely destroyed, and it's a depressing feeling to know your team could be out of contention by May 1st.