Guest Blog Post: Nationals Preview

Another installment of the guest blog posts. This one comes from my favorite brother-in-law Jeremiah. Jeremiah and Brianna live in Virginia, so most of the "baseball" they get to see is the Nationals and Orioles. Not the best options exactly, but Jeremiah is kind enough to focus most of that baseball-watching attention on the Nationals in order to get a good scouting report for when our beloved Phillies play them. So here is what he has to say about the upcoming series with the Nationals, our current chances in the NL East, and a certain German airship disaster:

We are 2.5 games back. We are on an 8-game winning streak. We are playing the Nationals, and the Braves are playing the Reds. We will face the following three pitchers in the next three games: Craig Stammen, Ross Detwiler, and probably Miguel Batista. There has never been a better opportunity to take the lead in our division. But this is 2010, and our team has rarely done what they are expected to do. I think, however, this weekend will be one of the biggest weekends for the Phillies this season.

Game 1: Oswalt v. Stammen

Enter: Roy Oswalt. Leads the league in losses (12), but has a 3.42 era and 120 strikeouts. Because he played for the Astros. Oswalt will do well tonight, especially because he is facing Craig freakin’ Stammen. In two starts against the Phils, Stammen has a 0-0 record with an era of 15.63. Yeesh. On the other hand, Stammen is tied for the league leading 5 potential wins blown by the bullpen (tied with our very own Kyle Kendrick), so in his defense, he could have a record of 7-4 instead of 2-4. But the Nationals also just traded Matt Capps. So Stammen probably won’t win for the rest of the year.

Game 2: Blanton v. Detweiler

If there is a game we should worry about, it would be this one simply because Blanton is pitching and he has been a little less than consistent for us this season. His last start was solid aside from only striking out 2, but in his career against the Nats he is 2-3 with an era around 6. On the other hand, Dettweiler has an era around the same number and is 0-2 against us. It would really help if they traded Adam Dunn soon, but even so we should win this game.

Game 3: Hamels v. somebody

The Nats sent Hindenburg to the DL because of a “sore shoulder”, so lucky enough for us, we get to face whoever they can muster. They currently have 5 pitchers on the DL, and though Jason Marquis is close to a return, most likely we will face someone like Miguel Batista who recently made a start against the Braves. He was pretty phenomenal against them (5.0 innings, 6 K’s and no earned runs), but with the way Hamels is pitching I think we have to have the upper hand.

Something else to think about – the Nats just won a series. So with the way baseball usually progresses – especially for a team like Washington – getting this sweep seems like much more of a possibility. We don’t face Livan or Scott Olsen, so we are set up nicely. Capps is gone – Dunn could leave too – and so it looks really good for us.

Hilarious facts:
1. Strasburg leads the Nationals in strikeouts. He has 75. Oh yeah, and he has started in less that half the games of any other starter.
2. Tyler Clippard leads the team in wins. He has 8. Oh yeah, and he isn’t a starter.
3. Stratosphereburg pitched 55.1 minor league innings. Halladay, Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Mitch Williams, and pretty much every other pitcher ever pitched at least 200-250. At least.
4. John Lannan was the Nationals ace at the beginning of the season. He is currently in the minors. But not because he is hurt.
5. I refuse to spell Debtwiler correctly. Because I respect him that little.
6. I know Strasburg is good. But if he does fail, you heard him referenced as Hindenburg here first.
7. The White Sox play by play announcer. He gone.

Looking at who the Braves are facing:

Medlen (6-2) v. Cueto (10-2)
Jair Jrjrjrjrjrjr (3-3) v. Arroyo (10-6)
Hanson (8-7) v. Volquez (1-1)

I think those are good match-ups, especially with the way the Reds are playing and the way they are and the current semi-struggles the Braves are having. Let’s go Phils.