FTW

Washington: News-Worthy Notes, Note-Worthy News?

The Washington Nationals Won!

vs.

President Obama Declares Amnesty for CIA Torture Mongers

I’ll start with the Nationals winning their first game as I watch the season premiere of The Deadliest Catch Season 5 and doze off, hopefully before 2:00 AM.

Joe Blanton looked somewhat solid, going 6 Innings and ONLY allowing 3 runs. I’m not sure what broke Joe Blanton, but I’ve got a feeling moving from Oakland to Philadelphia certainly helped.

1. Elijah Dukes hit 5th, played centerfield, and continued to smash the ball to the tune of a .360 Batting Average.  Dukes hit another Home Run and I can’t help but continue to hate Manny Acta for playing Austin Kearns over Dukes to start the season.
2. Christian Guzman didn’t play tonight, but he continues to blow my mind.  Guzman used to have issues getting his OBP to .300 and now he’s hitting above .300 with a solid walk rate.  I never would have called his 2008 in a million years, and I couldn’t fathom Guzman ever repeating it.
3. Nick Johnson hitting second is a SABR-Magicians dream.  It’s nice to see the Nationals making use of Nick the Stick.  I still think that so long as Johnson’s healthy, he’s a viable option in most fantasy leagues.
4. Zimmerman’s only batting .243, but the earth will end before he gets moved out of that three-hole.  If Zimmerman can stay healthy, he’s going to be a steal. I would however like to see Dukes in the 3-hole at some point during the season.
5. Hanrahan came in, even if it wasn’t a save situation.  I think Hanrahan eventually ends up with 20+ Saves.  The only caveat: The Nationals win at least 21 Games.

After a rain-out last night, the new and improved Washington Nationals, sans Lastings Milledge, looked like a solid ball club. It’s one of those addition by subtraction things — moving Milledge to Syracuse is akin to taking Valtrex to reduce your herpes outbreaks:  The problem’s still there, but at least it’s no longer visible.

I still think their pitching is going to be hit or miss for the majority of the season.  The offense should be solid though, and it best be, considering I drafted their entire outfield.

I thought a line-up of Guzman, Johnson, Zimmerman, Dunn, Dukes, Milledge, Hernandez, Flores would be damn solid.  They definitely have enough OBP-guys to make it count, and an intense amount of line-up flexibility.

With the amount of guys in the Nationals line-up sporting a .385+ On-Base Percentage, you can mix and match that line-up however you see fit.

Milledge was of course the wild-card — a toolsy player with none of the qualities you look for in any single type-cast batting order position.

Lots of tools though, everything scouts drool over: Milledge has speed and power, but strikes out too much and doesn’t get on base nearly enough.  He was tossed into the hype-machine by the New York Media after his first round selection and eventually pawned off to Washington for Brian Schnieder and Ryan Church.  Who knows how long he’ll be down in AAA Syracuse for…

Josh Willingham and Austin Kearns don’t really bring anything special to the table and probably aren’t worth looking into.  Willingham was a keeper when he had catcher eligibility, but now he’s just another outfielder.

…and about that Obama thing, I’m sure these guys wished their government pardoned them because they were just following orders.

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