It's been more than a month since the Nationals signed Adam Dunn, a move that has changed the conversation about baseball in Washington.
It's been almost a month since the gates of the Carl Barger Baseball Complex opened its doors to the first wave of Nationals' players.
Enough time has passed, and enough change has occurred, to take a look and see how the Nationals are doing in 2009.
Overall Performance: Everyone says that wins don't matter in Spring Training games but the only teams that say that are the ones that are either winning or have a history of winning.
Teams like the Nationals need wins in Florida to gain confidence.
But since moving to Washington in 2005, the Nationals have never had a winning record in spring training. Their best record came in that first year when they went 14-16. Since then, however, the Nationals have a combined record of just 32-58.
Yes, records are important.
This year, the Nationals are playing right at .500, typically winning when their starters are playing and losing when they aren't.
And I think that number, more or less, areindicative of the coming season.
The starting pitching is looking at worst acceptable, at best intriguing. John Lannan and Jordan Zimmermann look to anchor the rotation, while Daniel Cabrera and Scott Olsen look like pitchers who could win, or lose, on any given night.
The problem lies in the 5th spot in the rotation, where Colin Balester and the rest just haven't looked very good. And while Shairon Martis has pitched well, I don't think he's really being considered for a starting job, at least for now.
The interesting thing is that the pitcher most likely to fill the 5-spot isn't even the property of the Nationals. Steven Strasburg, who will likely be the number one pick in this June's amateur draft, is 3-0 for the San Diego State Aztecs this spring with 45 strikeouts and just 4 walks in 20 innings.
If all goes well, he'll likely be the Nationals' 5th starter by September.
Those five pitchers - Lannan, Cabrera, Olsen, Zimmermann and Strasburg - are all young, talented, and capable of cementing their place in the rotation for the next decade.
But wait, there's more.
The Nationals have a fine group of young pitchers still developing but who - maybe this year, maybe next - will be able to step into the starting rotation if injuries, trades or poor play require it.
Martis, Balester, Ross Detwiler, Jack McGeary, Josh Smoker and Colton Willems is a solid group from which one or two will emerge and become competent major league pitchers.
So the Nationals seem to be in good shape in terms of starters, both at the major league and minor league levels.
It's been almost a month since the gates of the Carl Barger Baseball Complex opened its doors to the first wave of Nationals' players.
Enough time has passed, and enough change has occurred, to take a look and see how the Nationals are doing in 2009.
Overall Performance: Everyone says that wins don't matter in Spring Training games but the only teams that say that are the ones that are either winning or have a history of winning.
Teams like the Nationals need wins in Florida to gain confidence.
But since moving to Washington in 2005, the Nationals have never had a winning record in spring training. Their best record came in that first year when they went 14-16. Since then, however, the Nationals have a combined record of just 32-58.
Yes, records are important.
This year, the Nationals are playing right at .500, typically winning when their starters are playing and losing when they aren't.
And I think that number, more or less, areindicative of the coming season.
The starting pitching is looking at worst acceptable, at best intriguing. John Lannan and Jordan Zimmermann look to anchor the rotation, while Daniel Cabrera and Scott Olsen look like pitchers who could win, or lose, on any given night.
The problem lies in the 5th spot in the rotation, where Colin Balester and the rest just haven't looked very good. And while Shairon Martis has pitched well, I don't think he's really being considered for a starting job, at least for now.
The interesting thing is that the pitcher most likely to fill the 5-spot isn't even the property of the Nationals. Steven Strasburg, who will likely be the number one pick in this June's amateur draft, is 3-0 for the San Diego State Aztecs this spring with 45 strikeouts and just 4 walks in 20 innings.
If all goes well, he'll likely be the Nationals' 5th starter by September.
Those five pitchers - Lannan, Cabrera, Olsen, Zimmermann and Strasburg - are all young, talented, and capable of cementing their place in the rotation for the next decade.
But wait, there's more.
The Nationals have a fine group of young pitchers still developing but who - maybe this year, maybe next - will be able to step into the starting rotation if injuries, trades or poor play require it.
Martis, Balester, Ross Detwiler, Jack McGeary, Josh Smoker and Colton Willems is a solid group from which one or two will emerge and become competent major league pitchers.
So the Nationals seem to be in good shape in terms of starters, both at the major league and minor league levels.
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