57 Comments
User's avatar
Cameron Smith's avatar

Paul Toboni can buy a ton of goodwill with the fanbase if he goes full Jeremy Guthrie and gets rid of Miles Mikolas asap.

Gentle Hesher's avatar

It's an apt comparison except for the fact that Guthrie was a likeable dude.

Cameron Smith's avatar

That’s true, I’m leaning more into the cut ties immediately after one blow-up start aspect.

Gentle Hesher's avatar

No, I get it. Just sayin' lol

Rich Hart's avatar

Well that was money well spent..keep chewing up those innings..somewhere else Mikolas..

CBinDC's avatar
4hEdited

If Mikolas is still here next week they are not serious about having a good baseball team

Testudonal Fortitude's avatar

Toboni and company have said that this year’s team is going to be bad

Adam Guglielmo's avatar

Agreed. @Mark - What's the over/under on additional Mikolas starts?

Hoping it's zero - even putting aside the Gulf of America hat that Keith Law posted a picture of him wearing.

Gentle Hesher's avatar

You don't need to put it aside...

Jacapa's avatar

Doesn't surprise me at all. 90 percent is more of mlb

Tim K's avatar

Short lease, but a few more starts

Ed B's avatar
3hEdited

Mikolas better hope he has a short lease--I don't think he'll be on the team long

(although I suspect you meant short leash--it was an interesting typo though).

Tim K's avatar

Yes, auto correct!

markopc's avatar

You can always edit your comment. Tap the three dots …

Nicholas Popejoy's avatar

Tired of crappy baseball this decade

NME's avatar

So how many more of those are we going to have to endure before they call up Alvarez or Parker. Or, maybe swap him and Lord's position. He didn't look good in his first game. He looked even worse here.

Max Patkin's avatar

It would be Gray, no?

NME's avatar

He's on the IL-60 with a flexor mass strain so we won't see him for a while.

Max Patkin's avatar

Duh. Totally forgot that.

Jacapa's avatar

I think Alvarez needs a bit more time there.

Oakley's avatar

Can’t take new regime serious until Mikolas is gone

david behnke's avatar

Hey no errors or brain freezes so give the position players a little credit for cleaning up their side.

KB's avatar

Mark, I'm glad you feel compelled to post immediately after the game, but not everyone has the luxury of watching in real time and you are spoiling the results with your headers. Regretfully I am going to have to unsubscribe to these posts because if I am going to derive any joy watching the Nats this year it is essential that I not know the result of the game before I even get a chance to start watching it.

Gentle Hesher's avatar

In this case, maybe you should look at the headline the way a bird looks a brightly colored butterfly - a signal that it's poisonous and shouldn't be consumed. You're not gonna derive any joy from watching this one.

KB's avatar

Too true! But I prefer to approach each Nats game like Shrodinger's cat - neither won nor lost until the box (score) is opened.

Susan V's avatar

Do you get them via email or with the app? If it's email, why not filter them directly to a folder?

(I do not use the Substack app so have no suggestion there.)

Jerry Shaver's avatar

I don't care what the question is, Miles Mikolas is not the answer.

cipherlockinexile's avatar

What if the question is - Who will be the first Nat to be dropped from the roster?

natsclop's avatar
4hEdited

Every Nat got a hit.

James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr, Daylen Lile, CJ Abrams, Brady House, Jacob Young(!), and Jorbit Vivas(!) recorded hard hits.

None of the pitchers involved in today’s game will be a National next year.

Dodgers still used 5 separate pitchers.

All runs given up were due to Mikolas and Mikolas alone. Defense played right; the worst defensive miscue was Daylen Lile not miraculously robbing a home run.

Small sample sizes suck, but this is already a better team.

Susan H aka pitchingfan's avatar

So, maybe this was the laugher of the series and the next two games will be more competitive.

Tune in tomorrow - different time, but same station!

Go, Nats!!

Jacapa's avatar

I think we can win tomorrow's game. Better pitcher. Better remaining bullpen. Good plate appearances. Glasnow can be hit.

Would be nice because I will be there!

Chris Tharrington's avatar

When CJ hit that three run shot, I was like a little kid on Christmas morning...then Mikolas reminded me that every Christmas morning comes with a bill.

Susan V's avatar

LOL That's a great way to put it!

NME's avatar

I don't know why posters are questioning the new regime's expectation or seriousness. Mark has been reporting all spring that they, specifically Toboni and his staff, don't expect them to be a good team this season. Toboni said it when he made his public statements post Gore trade.

Susan H aka pitchingfan's avatar

Crystal clear to me. But "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest", as one of my favorite songs notes. This year is about improvement, not world dominance. We've seen some change already, and we will see more. Change takes time. Celebrate when we can; groan and move on when we can't.

Susan V's avatar

I think there's a big difference between bad meaning a bunch of mostly green youngsters and bad because the guy on the mound is washed up and can't pitch his way out of a paper bag. The former is -- or should be -- absolutely acceptable. But fans will not have much if any patience for the latter, especially when the kids have been scoring runs and might otherwise have been in a position to win. I don't think it's asking too much that a starting pitcher not give up double digit runs.

BassMan's avatar

I can't say I disagree with the feeling here about Mikolas. Alverez pitched very well last night in Rochester. I hope this isn't Patrick Corbin part 2, but it sure looks that way.

Max Patkin's avatar

Comparing Mikolas to Corbin is woefully unfair to Corbin. He'd have gone at least 6, maybe 7 innings, in giving up double digits! 😉

Max Patkin's avatar

It's ok. You're allowed to be wrong, er, have another opinion. 😉

BassMan's avatar

To route HL Menkin, I prefer thinking for myself, it's a prejudice of long standing. If you have anything else to say to me, take it to DM.

Max Patkin's avatar

I think we've said enough!

GLH aka NatsFan4Ever's avatar

You mean the guy who gave his arm to be a very key contributor to the WS Championship? He is go to go in my book, even with his bad ERA after that. Besides, he is off the books.