I was at the Nationals game in Philly yesterday, and had a chance to see their ballpark. I don’t love it, it’s not awful but I am surprised at how cramped the concourses seemed. Parking was great though, $15 and I was like 100 feet from an entrance. There were 6 of us together at the game, and we weren’t harassed or mistreated, so I suggest making the short trip up to Philly next year and bringing a few fans to their park.
Strasburg
Alot of chatter about Stephen Strasburg out there, but much of it is no news at all. What I’ve gathered from everything I’ve read is that he’s had this problem before, in college, and has pitched right through it. They also haven’t yet shut him down for the season, or technically ruled out his next start. He had an MRI yesterday but haven’t made the results public. I’ve seen rumors that he’s going to see Dr. James Andrews. There were rumors that Strasburg was to be shut down for the season, Mike Rizzo has denied that any sort of decision has been made.
Zimmermann
Strasburg’s next scheduled start is Thursday, but there is enough to think he may not go, and that may be the time that Jordan Zimmermann makes his first major league start this year. He pitched another great game in AAA on Friday night. He made one bad start in low-A, his first start of the year. Since then he’s pitched 4 games in high-A, 1 in AA, and 4 in AAA. In those 9 games and 34 2/3 innings, he’s given up exactly 1 ER, while striking out 28 and walking 5. Altogether, including the poor start right off the DL, he has a 1.59 ERA. He seems ready, so he may be called up this week, and Thursday seems to make alot of sense.
Harper
Harper will make his Nationals debut on Thursday, in a way. He won’t be playing, but he’ll be at the stadium. Apparently he’s being given #34, which is what he wore in college. He’ll probably give a hello to the media and fans and then get ushered off before too many questions are asked of him. But, if JZim ends up pitching that night, Thursday could be a pretty good night to attend a Nats game, if you’re looking for an excuse.
Maya
New acquisition Yunesky Maya had a relatively poor start in high-A, but it actually started out strong. He pitched 3 scoreless innings before having a meltdown in the 4th. They’ll promote him anyway, I’d try not to make too much of any news, good or bad, on him until he’s pitched a few more. He’s probably still on track to join the team in the next few weeks. Unless the results are horrendous, I don’t expect more than another 2 or 3 starts in the minors.