Strasburg Redux

Washington has many fine sportswriters. Atop the list are Tom Boswell, Tim Kurkjian, and until recently John Feinstein. Last season Feinstein was one of the louder voices calling for the Nationals to keep sending Strasburg out every five days in September. And now he is using the failure of the Nationals to make the playoffs […]

A Flood of Riches

The rain is falling in Washington and it will mean that there is no chance to sweep the Marlins today. There is nothing cloudy or damp, however, about the superlatives being used to describe the Washington Nationals pitching staff. It is dedicated Nationals fans who are most aware of what it all means as they behold […]

Clearing The Bases

I completed all of my spring training rankings for each position last week.  Now that I have done that it’s time to go back and take a look at each set of rankings and see if there are any changes that I would make.  Now by changes I’m not talking about one or two spots, […]

Brad Peacock, Selig Man with Upside Heart

Brad Peacock was taken in the 41st round of the 2006 draft as a “draft and follow” pick by the Washington Nationals. For Washington the 2006 draft was a disaster. Conducted when the team was still under management by Bud Selig and MLB, Inc., it might serve as a tutorial on all of the things […]

Yankees Should Avoid Using Burnett in the Postseason

Since 1920, 391 Yankees pitchers have had a seasonal ERA of at least 5.30. Of all those pitchers, no pitcher has been allowed to pitch as many innings as A.J. Burnett. Why? Because Burnett is on a five-year deal, and he is making $16.5 million this season. Essentially, he is here to stay and the […]

Aroldis Chapman’s Fantastic Pitch f/x

The last time I tried to copy and paste a graph from Texas Leaguers Pitch f/x database, the information didn’t translate.  Let’s see if this works. Here is supposed to be the side angle of Aroldis Chapman pitches from his Major League debut two nights ago.  Notice the excellent tumbling, downward action of his offerings. […]

Fastball, Fastball, Fastball

On the web there are numerous video clips of Nolan Ryan throwing fastballs and they loop over and over, fastball after fastball ad infinitum, Ryan’s seemingly effortless delivery going on forever in some parallel universe where he will throw forever.  That was my mental picture of where Stephen Strasburg should be as he neared the […]

Stephen Strasburg: It Was Bound To Happen

Almost three months ago, Nationals Stadium was filled for the first time in it’s existence. Not because the Nationals were playing well, but because the most sought after prospect in baseball, Stephen Strasburg, was set to make his debut. The day was June 8, 2010. The opposing team was the Pittsburg Pirates. If the uniforms […]

The story of Joba Chamberlain: Frustration, frustration and more frustration

Believe it or not, Yankee fans can be frustrated too. Hard to believe considering they have won 27 championships and are in the playoff race year in and year out. But occasionally, Yankee fans find something to complain about, something to criticize. And once you get Yankee fans going, there is no stopping them. This […]