THE BELTWAY BOYS: PIRATES POUND NATS 9-1 IN SPRING'S FIRST "WHO CARES" GAME

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PIRATES POUND NATS 9-1 IN SPRING'S FIRST "WHO CARES" GAME

[March 2nd] -- Well, it is only spring training.

It's a good thing that come June, the Nationals' first "official" spring game will be long forgotten. On the bright side, Ramon Oritz pitched pretty well, allowing only one run in three innings. However, he had trouble finding the strike zone, as his 50 pitch pitch-count would attest. Frank Robinson said his arm was "live" but wasn't too happy with his control. He reminded me of Nats' ace Livan Hernandez, going deep into counts 3-1, 3-2 and then retiring the batter. NO, I'm not comparing him to Livan. I am saying, though, that he battled back and got the outs on a day when he was having control difficulties. Good for him.

Brandon Watson led off the game with a single and promptly stole second base. That theft represented 1/45th of the team's stolen base total for all of 2005. The slight speedster went 2-2 against the Pirates. Kevin Gryboski pitched well in his one inning of work, retiring the side in order.

Ryan Zimmerman made a couple of stellar defensive plays as well, stabbing a ball headed into left field, and then reaching into the dugout and pulling back a foul ball for an out. Brendan Harris made a great diving stop to his right, but also couldn't find a popup in shallow right field; Ryan Church had to come in and make the grab.

Other than that, it was a pretty boring couple of hours listening to the game on my XM radio. I recorded it hoping to listen to it again tonight.

Nah, I think I'll pass.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 7:33 PM

Comments:

Re: Church.
Couldn't it possibly be Bowden posturing for a Soriano + Church package? On the other side, you have the Red Sox claiming no interest in a trade, yet quietly shopping Graffanino?

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:20 AM

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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?