Washington Nationals

Craig Stammen was all but guaranteed a spot in the Washington Nationals’ starting rotation prior to his Saturday start against the Mets.

Heading into that game, Stammen had a 1-1 record with a crisp 2.89 ERA, striking out eight while walking just two.

Players are always listed too high for the amount of use they will get, whether you realize it or not.

Sometimes a player jumps up the list even though they had a serious injury during the season.

I will put this next post into the “I didn’t see this one coming” category.

In a very surprising move, the Washington Nationals have released outfielder Elijah Dukes. Dukes was supposed to be the Nationals’ starting right fielder in 2010.

What was the reason for the release?

Nationals’ manager Jim Riggleman called the release purely a “baseball related” decision. There are a lot of things I am buying in this world and this isn’t one of them.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that I thought the Washington Nationals would send phenom Stephen Strasburg down to the minors to start the season. Now, it’s looking more and more likely that thought is going to come true.

0-10 through 10 games.

Stinks, right?

To hear the Nationals' players talk about it, fans and writers should disregard the club's spring training record.  They have a list of reasons and excuses to forget about the record.

"We're just getting our work in."

"We aren't playing with our regular players."

"I just want to stay healthy for the season."

"I'm working on some new thing/adjustment."

Ten games into spring training, the Washington Nationals are 0-10.

Ugh.

It looks like the team, after back-to-back 100 loss seasons, are heading for a trifecta in 2010.

Or are they?

John Lannan is a pitcher who has garnered some attention the past two seasons due to some impressive ERAs, but that is where the positives come to an abrupt end. 

Is this one "plus" a reason to consider taking the gamble on him?  I certainly don’t think so, and here’s why…

First off, his 2009 statistics:

9 Wins
206.1 Innings
3.88 ERA
1.35 WHIP
89 Strikeouts (3.88 K/9)
68 Walks (2.97 BB/9)
.276 BABIP

Things You Need To Know:

If you’ve heard about Stephen Strasburg , chances are you’ve heard about Bryce Harper too.  There could be a lot of similarities between the two—or there could be none other than the hype they’ve both received long before draft time.

Projected as the consensus first-overall draft pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft, here’s what you need to know about Harper before we get to June.

In 2007, John Lannan came out of nowhere.

An 11th-round afterthought in 2005, Lannan climbed the minor league ladder quickly, going a combined 12-3, 2.87 in 2007 before finishing the season with the Nationals where the 22-year-old went 2-2, 4.15.

Washington Nationals right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his spring training debut Tuesday in a 9-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Viera, Fla.

Strasburg, who was selected by the Nationals with the No. 1 overall pick out of San Diego State University in the 2009 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, fanned two batters in two scoreless innings before the was relieved.