THE BELTWAY BOYS: Vargas Vindicates Robinson's Trust, Loss Lessened by Quality Effort

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Vargas Vindicates Robinson's Trust, Loss Lessened by Quality Effort

The Winner In Tonights Game: The Nats

The Washington Nationals have lost two games in a row, and I couldn't be happier. By dropping back to back 3-2 contests, the Nationals have slipped back with two games of the .500 mark. I say: Way to go boys -- keep it up!

The Nats arn't in contention for the pennant or a wild card berth, so wins and losses are less important than making positive strides towards 2008, the year we contend for the title [of course, that's just a "ballpark" estimate]. Until then the job of manager Frank Robinson is to be competitive, win as many games as they can while testing players and lineups to see who, and which, works best.

That's happened the last two nights.

Livan Hernandez has been "lights out" as a member of the starting rotation. Esteban Loiaza goes to the mound and gives the Nats a chance to win with every pitch. John Patterson has shown himself to be a quality #2 or 3 man in any team's rotation. That left Tomo Ohka and Zach Day to man the last two rotation slots, but they simply haven't produced. The difference between an 85 win Nationals team and a 72 win Nationals team are those last two rotation slots.

Enter Tony Armas Jr & Claudio Vargas.

Combine their efforts and see the potential:
INNINGS: 12 -- HITS:9 -- EARNED RUNS: 3 -- WALKS: 3 -- STRIKEOUTS: 5 --ERA:2.20

This comes from the fourth and fifth slots in the rotation.

It doesn't matter that the Nationals lost these last two games. They ended the hardest road trip of the season with a 5-4 record. They now own the best batting average in the league and the 6th best ERA. We could have just as easily won both of these games, but by getting quality efforts by Tony Armas Jr. and Claudio Vargas, we really did win.

It's going to be some year.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 8:39 PM

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Rasner Rocks For Yanks

What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.

Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.

Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.

What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.

Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.

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Big Changes, Little Names

Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash, was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.

That's all well and good, but don't look to any of these moves making a difference in the play of the team. But hey, it's something to talk about. Right?