Spring Training Blog: Monday

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale, Florida!!

We were able to catch the Nats vs. Marlins today in Jupiter on yet another hot, sunny day. The Nationals won 3-1 behind a dominating pitching performance by five different pitchers.

The two pitchers that I was excited to see - Shawn Hill and Jordan Zimmermann - did not disappoint. Hill only pitched one inning, but had 2 strikeouts and looked good. I know he is unreliable when it comes to staying healthy, but man what a boost it would be to have a healthy and productive Shawn Hill.

Jordan Zimmermann was...well, nasty. There's really no other terms to describe him. He was ahead of just about every hitter, had six strikeouts (all of which involved at least one pitch that made the hitter look foolish), and only gave up two hits. He was confident and challenged every hitter. If he isn't in the rotation to start the season, I will be pissed.

Some other notes:

• Anderson Hernandez with another solid day. No mistakes on defense and was 2-3 at the plate. One of his hits was a textbook bunt; it rolled up the first base side and ended up in no-mans land next to first.
• Austin Kearns was great. 1 hit in 2 ABs and 2 walks. He's got great discipline and whatever Rick Eckstein did with his stance has worked so far. He's hitting .357 in spring and is making his case for starting RF - though I don't think he deserves to make it over a guy like Elijah Dukes, who is the future (and someone I hope to see Wednesday). Though the better he plays, the better his trade value is.
• Lastings Milledge is making his case for leadoff hitter. He was 3-4 today with a double, and his only out was on a hard-hit ball that hit the pitcher and bounced right to the second baseman. He could be great at leadoff or at the second slot, behind Guzman.
• It was nice to see the bullpen step up, especially Hinckley and Mock (who earned the save). The Marlins had a lineup with a lot of major league players, and the pitching staff was fantastic (no ER, 12 K, no BB, 3 H). Hinckley gave up the lone run after a throwing error by Willie Harris at 3rd. Hopefully both Hinckley and Mock keep it up, because the team needs some reliable middle relievers.
• Wily Mo Pena is terrible. Swings at everything, no defense...no worth. The team should just cut him and take the hit.

Tomorrow the Nats are off but we have tickets to Caps-Panthers at night. Don't expect any blog posts tomorrow simply because we'll be back late from the Caps game and I probably won't have any pictures. Here is the link to the facebook photo album (flickr is too annoying) that everyone can view.

Spring Training Blog: Sunday

Greetings from Jupiter, Florida! I am currently in a Courtyard Marriott after traveling the majority of the day (flight at 8:35, driving 1 hour to Viera, another hour after the game to Jupiter) and am exhausted. I have some pictures from today's Nationals-Tigers game that can be found here.

Here are some of my favorites:








Pete "Warrior" Orr before his bunt single.










Ronnie Belliard after his bare-handed throw to first.




















Steven Shell warms up after relieving Gustavo Chacin.















Huntington Beach's very own Collin Balester delivers a pitch in the second inning.











Some notes from the game:

• Anderson Hernandez should be the opening-day second baseman. He had 2 hits today, both of which were well hit, and played real good defense. Him and Guzman work well on double-play balls and a combination of Hernandez + Johnson (who had some nice snags of his own at first) on the right side of the infield will be real good (until, of course, Johnson gets hurt).
• Collin Balester was a little wild today, despite not giving up any runs. He got hit hard and had a lot of pitches in the dirt (I joked to my dad that they told him to test Valentin's defensive work to see how he could do as Flores' backup). He ended up with 3 walks and 2 hits against, but his pitch count was high; I can't remember him being ahead 0-2...ever. And this is against a lineup of minor-leaguers.
• The offense was...abysmal. I can't expect the offense to be on everyday, but I only recognized one pitcher (Rodney) for the Tigers. Lastings Milledge was particularly bad. He swung at everything. Everything. He had some real ugly swings. About the only player who showed up offensively was the aforementioned Hernandez.
• Steven Shell actually showed up and pitched well. Sure, he let two inherited runners score (after coming in with the bases loaded), but it was on a ground ball to third base that would've at least been one out had Ryan Zimmerman been playing the position. Minor leaguer Jose Castillo is certainly not the talent Zimmerman is. Shell then got ahead of hitters and got mostly ground balls. It was good to see a reliever actually pitch well.
  
• I'm REALLY excited for tomorrow. I get to see my boy Shawn Hill (though he's very close to being cut for his "issues") AND Jordan Zimmermann. I'm stoked. I'll definitely have to watch the game much closer tomorrow to see how Hill and Zimmermann do. Hill is only scheduled for 25 pitches/1 inning, but I hope he can go 2 strong innings and then let Zimmermann go 4-5. Hopefully the offense (depending on who actually travels...it should be a good mix of starters/bench players, because the second round of cuts is tomorrow) shows up to score some runs and make the games more than a three-hour sunburn party.
  
• Pete "Warrior" Orr had a beautiful bunt single. He showed his blazing speed as he beat out what was supposed to be a sacrifice. Unfortunately, the team couldn't convert, as Milledge and Freddie Bynum struck out, and Kory Casto lined out at the wall.
  

That's all for today. I'm sure Tony will have an extended post on Maryland playing California in Kansas City as well as the NCAA Tournament as a whole. I should have more pictures tomorrow night and should be able to post pictures/thoughts every night this week up until I leave Friday.