Nationals already crumbling?

[50PoundHead]

Think it's a rookie manager of a veteran ball club trying to send a message who is in charge. Either that or trying to "ground" a youngster a la Bobby/Andruw.

Seems an odd time to do so.....ground ball right back to pitcher with a player playing thru an injured quad. If the benching is only based on not running out a grounder; him and every other manager would bench a heck of a lot of players.

My theory is that he's just enforcing that his the one in charge. Williams is a very fiery guy and has not reacted well in the past to things not being down as he likes.

With a veteran and talented ball club, I'm not sure it's the right decision by Williams despite it enforcing the game "the way it's supposed to be played".

Good points. Is there any talk of whether or not Williams is up to this task? Hasn't managed at any level before. I didn't follow the off-season that closely and didn't realize he was their manager. I was never a Davey Johnson fan, but I don't know if this is an improvement.

 

[muscle979]

It's a pretty good roster.

Maybe not as good as the media hypes it out to be but they have a good team.

They do seem to play tight though, at least against the Braves anyway.

They are atrocious against good teams. Even ESPN who loves them isn't able to ignore that. If their schedule's soft enough they might have a shot at a wildcard.

 

[nsacpi]

Just remember Williams served his apprenticeship under Kirk Gibson.

 

[nsacpi]

They are atrocious against good teams. Even ESPN who loves them isn't able to ignore that. If their schedule's soft enough they might have a shot at a wildcard.

In general the Gnats are an awesome team when things are going well. But they don't do adversity.

 

[gilesfan]

Good points. Is there any talk of whether or not Williams is up to this task? Hasn't managed at any level before. I didn't follow the off-season that closely and didn't realize he was their manager. I was never a Davey Johnson fan, but I don't know if this is an improvement.

Typical stuff. Few writers point it out. Some love him. Players supposedly love him, they didn't care for Davey too much.

His in game stuff has been good, managing veterans is the test

 

[gilesfan]

Just remember Williams served his apprenticeship under Kirk Gibson.

Roger Craig has some good things to say. Williams was only guy that could put Bonds in his place. Whether that works here, who knows

 

[keithlaw]

In general the Gnats are an awesome team when things are going well. But they don't do adversity.

It's because they have no depth. Their top guys are stars, but all of their depth guys are replacement level scrubs, which is why they're constantly being overrated.

 

[gilesfan]

It's because they have no depth. Their top guys are stars, but all of their depth guys are replacement level scrubs, which is why they're constantly being overrated.

I think that was a big issue last year and the young guys they had in minors werent ready.

It will be interesting to see this yeAr: mclouth, Espinosa, Hairston, Lobaton, frandson is a good bench on paper.

The guys behind them that are up now are questionable; Moore, Souza, Walters.

 

[Dunit24]

Nats are talented, no question, but very overrated. I agree that its bc Harper and Strasburg. I would take both on the Braves any day of the week, but these 2 were hyped up as once in a generation type talents and both just...arent. Very good players but very inconsistant. Put it this way, I wouldnt trade Freeman and Teheran for those 2. FF and JT dont get as much hype as those 2 and its just ridiculous.

I just dont see why anyone would say they are better. We own them, good teams own them, we play our best vs good teams, and we have just as much talent as they do.

I wouldnt say they are crumbling. They just realize they arent as good as even they thought. Still a team that can turn it on and win a title, but it aint happening. Too inconsistent.

 

[thethe]

This year is already feeling like last year though.

Do you think the same feelings are surrounding the Nationals (team/media/fanbase)?

 

[thethe]

Nats are talented, no question, but very overrated. I agree that its bc Harper and Strasburg. I would take both on the Braves any day of the week, but these 2 were hyped up as once in a generation type talents and both just...arent. Very good players but very inconsistant. Put it this way, I wouldnt trade Freeman and Teheran for those 2. FF and JT dont get as much hype as those 2 and its just ridiculous.

I just dont see why anyone would say they are better. We own them, good teams own them, we play our best vs good teams, and we have just as much talent as they do.

I wouldnt say they are crumbling. They just realize they arent as good as even they thought. Still a team that can turn it on and win a title, but it aint happening. Too inconsistent.

Freeman is certainly making the case that he is the best young player in baseball outside of Mike Trout thats for damn sure.

 

[Heyward]

I dont get the benching.

He hit it to the P, what's he supposed to do, run it out and maybe injure his hammy?

Maybe we can stop comparing him to Trout now too.

 

[nsacpi]

I think that was a big issue last year and the young guys they had in minors werent ready.

It will be interesting to see this yeAr: mclouth, Espinosa, Hairston, Lobaton, frandson is a good bench on paper.
The guys behind them that are up now are questionable; Moore, Souza, Walters.

I'm wondering if they overestimated Jordan and Roark based upon some small sample major league data from last season. I think Detwiler is better than either of those guys.

 

[Hawk]

I dont get the benching.

He hit it to the P, what's he supposed to do, run it out and maybe injure his hammy?

Maybe we can stop comparing him to Trout now too.

I don't think it wasn't the speed that pissed Williams off so much, but rather that Harper didn't even go all the way to the bag.

 

[50PoundHead]

Nats are talented, no question, but very overrated. I agree that its bc Harper and Strasburg. I would take both on the Braves any day of the week, but these 2 were hyped up as once in a generation type talents and both just...arent. Very good players but very inconsistant. Put it this way, I wouldnt trade Freeman and Teheran for those 2. FF and JT dont get as much hype as those 2 and its just ridiculous.

I just dont see why anyone would say they are better. We own them, good teams own them, we play our best vs good teams, and we have just as much talent as they do.

I wouldnt say they are crumbling. They just realize they arent as good as even they thought. Still a team that can turn it on and win a title, but it aint happening. Too inconsistent.

I see some similarities to the Braves of the early-1990s when we were media darlings. We had a lot of high draft picks and they translated (for the most part). Harper was hailed much more than Chipper when drafted (Chipper was always viewed as a "settle" pick by the Braves because Von Poppel informed the Braves he wouldn't sign with them), but Chipper flew up through the system and was really given a ton of props along the way (except for guys like Gammons for some odd reason).

I think the Nationals are pretty good. They may be one of those teams that has trouble getting, and staying, in sync, but I like their line-up and the top of their rotation. Still gotta play 162 games though.

 

[gilesfan]

I'm wondering if they overestimated Jordan and Roark based upon some small sample major league data from last season. I think Detwiler is better than either of those guys.

Detwiler can only command his fastball so a bullpen role is probably suited for him unless he can consistently find an off speed pitch.

Jordan is a better starter than him for sure. Hes had a rough start or 2 with walks but his sinker is very good.

Im not high on roark. I dont know how he keeps getting outs (for the most part).

 

[NinersSBChamps]

We need Ian Desmond. He is superior in every way to Simmons. I think Simmons and Freeman would be enough to net us Ian Desmond.

 

[cajunrevenge]

I dont get the benching.

He hit it to the P, what's he supposed to do, run it out and maybe injure his hammy?

Maybe we can stop comparing him to Trout now too.

That's the way I see it. Some players I would rather they not risk injury for a 1/1000th of a chance to get on base. Bench playrers and role players better hustle their ass off but the last thing I want to see is a star player like Freeman getting hurt running to first.