40 Comments
User's avatar
Travis McGavin's avatar

If this is what Mikolas delivers, why not give his starts to Parker or Alvarez? 5 innings or less is not Patrick Corbin-level of eating innings

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

He’s a vet who is going to show the impressionable kids how to suck without assuming responsibility. You see, Mik pitched well but just had some bad luck. Again. Pound the Bud and get ‘em next go.

nebco66's avatar

Well said. There are two sides to every coin, and you flipped the coin and offered us a little light and hope. Thanx.

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

There is no hope with Mik. As long as he is on the active, your life will be an unbearable hellscape. Once he’s IL’d, the angels will sing and you will only know immeasurable joy. Up to you, boss.

Testudonal Fortitude's avatar

I’m not sure if Alvarez is any better. He pitched last night for Rochester and gave up 4 BBs / 2 runs in the 1st inning to the Jumbo Shrimp. Parker is pitching tonight.

Tim K's avatar

Watched the AAA game too. Alvarez isn't the answer

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

After watching Mik, I forgot the question.

dennis703's avatar

I watched Alvarez throw 5 BBs, give up 5R, 4H in 4 IPs last night against the Jumbo Shrimps of Jacksonville. It wasn't fun.

Tim K's avatar

Parker pitched a rock solid 5 innings tonight against Jumbo Shrimp, 6 K and only 2 walk

Tim K's avatar

Correction, only 1 walk

Joe Tinkelman's avatar

He had poor control of the curve and yet stubbornly kept using it in challenging situations or counts. Butera likes that he owns his mistakes. How about he shows him that he can learn from them.

Rebecca's avatar

Painful to watch Mikolas and makes me wonder why we “wanted” him.

CBinDC's avatar

We are the Last Chance Motel

CBinDC's avatar

The Royal We

Cameron Smith's avatar

Bad defense behind Miles Mikolas is like adding gas to a fire.

Gotta avoid the yakety sax moments

gonatsgo1's avatar

Post-game just did a multiple replay look at the Nunez play from different angles.

Absolutely amazing. Web Gem.

dennis703's avatar

Same here, and he had to throw it by a diving House, too.

Dave Nemec's avatar

Really digging the “instant analysis” stories! Only got to see bits and pieces today & Thursday; these gamers fill in the gaps!

CBinDC's avatar

I have to say that Mark is providing way more story coverage then the TV has been doing and today they promised Butera post game and nothing so far they are doing a very Bare Min broadcast

dennis703's avatar

I'm really missing the post game interviews with Butera. Especially if it's not posted online somewhere - like YouTube in the past.

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

Are you Nats.tv? I’m curious if the club.tv streams provide more than mlb.tv’s lights out immediately following the last out.

CBinDC's avatar

I checked the site Nothing not even a game story summary at 5:30

dennis703's avatar

Not even. I mostly follow on the radio and via Gameday on the app.

Let Teddy Win (fmrly Noodles&)'s avatar

Love the instant beat reporting. Got to go record the podcast before that last dinner in Chicago!

Watching the Cubs is a reminder that excellent defense is a beautiful thing. You know Toboni, Kilambi, and Butera agree.

We can at least all enjoy the non-losing record for one more day.

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

End of April, Nats will be in first. Last day that’s the case though. I also predicted Waldo will be the first sayonara of the bullpen.

Greg Rosendahl's avatar

I don’t want another Corbin.. if he is not at a sub 5 ERA by the all-star break he’s got to go.

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

That’s April, May, June and perhaps an early July start. Think of your sanity, man.

Patrick Walker's avatar

Mikolas wasn't Walter Johnson by any stretch today, but he was much better than the stats show. It wasn't just shoddy defense in the second inning, it was Bad News Bears level bad. I'm still not a fan of his signing, and I think one of the AAA starters will and should replace him before too long, but that doesn't mean he won't pitch decently most of the time. He's not Corbin-level bad (or at least I don't think he will be, but time will tell).

Fredo Rizzo's avatar

Cards had one of the best defensive teams in MLB last year and he was still awful. Why would you think he would be better with a lesser defensive team behind him?

Golfersal's avatar

Am I the only person watching the Nats telecast that is bothered that they have no more post game interview with the Manager. Tell me this, if Nationals TV isn't going to show these interviews, how are we suppose to get to know Blake Butera??? Sorry but I really miss MASN

CBinDC's avatar

No you are not alone I posted about there being No PRE GAME and Post game is so bare bones and she even said we will come back from break with Butera's post game comments and then NOTHING

Willie's avatar

Absolute amateur hour. I'm not sure who's responsible for this cluster but, needless to say, I'm not impressed.

gonatsgo1's avatar

Word on the street was that pre-and post-game production quality was going to be bare bones with Nationals.tv. Maybe it'll get better as the season progresses, but definitely agree that a manager interview (and some other features) should be part of every broadcast.

CBinDC's avatar

AHHH they have swapped with the White Sox UTIL Curtis Mead in exchange for C Boston Smith.

Mark Zuckerman's avatar

Hey all: I've heard from a few of you who don't like seeing the emailed version of this article before you've had a chance to watch the end of the game. I understand and sympathize. But I'm not sure what I can really do. Even if my headline doesn't include the actual final score, it's still going to contain some kind of wording that conveys the outcome of the game.

If there's enough of you who really believe this is a problem, I can try to do something different. But if it's only a few people, I would suggest either turning off the email notifications or simply not checking your phone until you've been able to watch the end of the game. That's unfortunately the risk you take when you don't watch live. And my job is to convey as much info as I can to my readership as quickly as I can.

Josh's avatar

If Substack allows us to turn off email notifications specifically for these "instant analyses" -- for example, by making the "instant analyses" a different category of posts from the rest of your content -- I'd appreciate that. Watching "live" on a streaming service often means you're a minute or so behind the true game action, so I'm getting these "instant analysis" notifications a few pitches before the last out. Not an issue during blowouts, but I'd hate to get spoiled later in the season during a tense ninth inning.

If there's no way for you to differentiate "instant analysis" posts from the rest of your articles, no worries - we can turn off email notifications across the board on our side.

Greg10ike's avatar

I appreciate your prompt reporting, Mark. It certainly beats the slow reporting we used to see by the WaPo writers who would post their stories several hours after games.

Tony Dillon's avatar

Yeah the defense didn't help him, but today was still a reminder how beatable Miles Mikolas is at this stage of his career. I'm hoping that by the end of May one of our pitchers in AAA has performed so well that they force the issue in replacing Mikolas in the rotation. Would be even better if that pitcher was Riley Cornelio. I'm a fan of his.