When he reported to spring training, Garrett Mock was in a three-way battle along with J.D. Martin and Scott Olsen to secure the fifth and final spot in the Washington Nationals rotation. A couple of weeks ago, he had outperformed both of them and the job was his for the taking. All he had to do was to not screw it up.
Since then, Mock has pretty much screwed it up while Scott Olsen has pitched brilliantly his last two starts.
If manager Jim Riggleman makes his choice based on pitching and not politics, then Scott Olsen will come north as part of the rotation.
In his last two outings, Mock has a 7.82 ERA, allowing eight runs in 9.2 innings, walking five and striking out three.
In his last two outings, Scott Olsen's ERA is just 1.78, allowing 12 hits in 10.1 innings, walking one while striking out 11.
Riggleman made it clear this morning that Mock could win the job even if Olsen pitched well against Boston, but it would be very difficult to send Olsen to Triple-A Syracuse while making $1 million this year while Garrett Mock has yet to have a successful stint as a major leaguer.
Perhaps Olsen was still not over his elbow surgery earlier this spring and perhaps he finally feels healthy and strong.
Perhaps Olsen will again become a 200+ inning pitcher like he was for the Marlins from 2006 through 2008.
Or perhaps he just happened to have two good games at the end of spring.
An effective Scott Olsen could make the Nationals a .500 team in 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment