I’m really running out of new words to describe the sheer ridiculousness of the Nationals pitching staff, but I’ll try once more. After Gio’s outstanding outing, four of the Nats five starters have ERAs at 1.52 or lower. The outlier is Edwin Jackson, but if you remove the one bad five-run inning against the Astros from consideration, he would have an equally impressive 2.00 ERA. The bullpen has been shut down good, and the Nats continue to ride high through April.
Some Thoughts:
- Craig Stammen got knocked around a bit for the first time this season, and he got the quick hook from Davey Johnson after walking a batter and giving up a single to his first two batters. Tyler Clippard gave up the run that was charged to Stammen, but it wasn’t earned. I’m still not worried about Stammen, and I think he’ll be just fine in long relief.
- Can we all agree that Mark DeRosa has no business hitting third in a major league line up? He’s hitting .091. Seriously. I don’t expect many of you reading will disagree with this, but something has to be fixed here. I’d rather see almost anyone else there than DeRosa at this point.
- Henry Rodriguez’ 88 mph change up against Orlando Hudson in the ninth may have been one of the most disgusting pitches I’ve ever seen. When you combine that with his ability to throw his fastball in the triple digits with command, it’s easy to see why he’s had such incredible success. It might be a while before we see Brad Lidge closing another game.
