From the land of things could always be worse, at least the Nats aren’t sending out Carl Pavano to the mound. You know, the man who played in 26 games in 4 years for the Yankees, with an ERA of 5.00. He started a game yesterday for the Indians, and after giving up 5 runs in the first inning, he couldn’t get a single out in the second, but still managed to give up 4 runs. In total, he had 1 IP, 9 ER, 6 H, 2 HR, 3 BB, 1 K, and has an ERA of 81.00. Almost makes Daniel Cabrera look good. Almost.
From the world of things may get better
The minor league season started yesterday, and alot of eyes were on Jordan Zimmerman, who pitched last night, in his AAA debut. It wasn’t an incredible outing but it wasn’t bad at all. He went 5 1/3 innings, struck out 4, walked 1 and allowed 4 hits. 5 baserunners in just over 5 innings aint bad, but there is the unfortunate circumstance that 2 of those hits were Home Runs. They were hit back to back in the 4th, but they were carried on the back of a 14-mph wind out to center field. Zimmermann recovered enough to make it to the 6th. I’m not excusing it by any means – HRs are always bad news. But I’m not overreacting either, as he was 2 outs away from a quality start and may have been replaced due to pitch count more than anything else – he was pulled right after an out. Regardless, a promising if not entirely exciting outcome. As I’ve said before, he is scheduled to start for the Nats on April 19, I plan on being there. He’ll have one more start for AAA Syracuse, probably on Tuesday.
Jason Bergmann, meanwhile, pitched well, going 1 2/3 inning in relief of Zimmermann, with 0 ER (but one inherited runner), 1 H, 0 BB, and 1 K. Speaking of guys who are trying to be called up to the majors, Kory Casto went 4-4 with a 2B and a HR, scoring 2 R with 3 RBI.
This Weekend
At least the Nats don’t have to play in Florida this weekend, as they meet the Braves in Atlanta. Rookie Shairon Martis takes the mound tonight, he’ll pitch against Derek Lowe who has yet to surrender a run this year. After 8 innings and 1 start. I think he’ll have at least 1 after tonight. Saturday John Lannan has a chance to recover from his poor start, against Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami. Same goes for Sunday when Scott Olsen will pitch against young star Jair Jurrgens.