The Nats won their second straight game in Milwaukee on Saturday night.. Al solo hosts after the 3-1 victory and begins with Foster Griffin's shutout effort that lasted into the bottom of the 6th. Griffin issued three walks but only allowed one hit on 80
IMHO, this was one of Nas’ worse offensive games this season. Yes he went 3 for 2 (which included his first extra-base hit) that brought up his BA and OPS but his base running gaffes were rally killers. He was much more effective in a game earlier this season when he went Ohfer 2 with a run and an rbi— which brought his BA and OPS down. BUT he had a walk stole second , then stole third and scored. Later he had a ground out RBI. In that game he acted as a catalyst and lit a fire under his teammates.
Definitely not his best game. Love his energy and enthusiasm, but maybe he needs to tone it down a little. I know he wants to do all he can to help the team win, but as you point out, this sort of result is NOT helping. I’m sure Butera had a few words for him (and CJ and JY) after the game.
The typical MLB team carries 5-6 infielders (excluding catcher) on their 26 man roster, 4 everyday players with 1-2 bench players. The Nats have 7. They have 4 OF and no regular DH, so that is how they’ve accommodated the extra infielder. But look down this list of infielders, and justify Jose Tena staying on the team as the primary backup to Brady House at 3B and occasionally at 2B:
CJ Abrams, SS: .306 BA/ .975 OPS
Nasim Nunez, SS: .220 BA/.548 OPS
Brady House, 3B: .255 BA/ .753 OPS
Curtis Mead, 1B: .261 BA/ .849 OPS
Jorbit Vivas, 2B: .333 BA/.778 OPS
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B, .289 BA/.771 OPS
Jose Tena, 3B: .238 BA/.511 OPS
Jorbit Vivas also plays 3B, which he has manned about as often as 2B (albeit with a much smaller sample size than Tena). Mead has also played 3B. However, Vivas and Mead are at least average defenders. Tena is a poor defender.
Of course, Nunez also plays 2B, and together with Vivas, look at lot better manning 2B defensively than Luis Garcia and Tena ever could. Garcia cannot play 1B. So where does Garcia fit? DH? Tena? Also DH? Is that the best we can do? Maybe there’s nobody ready on the farm to bring up in their places, but I gotta think neither of them fit long term—or even through the season—and carrying 7 infielders won’t last. One of them should probably go. Garcia has a better bat. Offensively and defensively, Tena looks like the weakest link.
Mark said yesterday that since he wasn’t in Milwaukee, he was going to wait and do a series wrap-up instead of an “after’” story for each of the three games in this series.
IMHO, this was one of Nas’ worse offensive games this season. Yes he went 3 for 2 (which included his first extra-base hit) that brought up his BA and OPS but his base running gaffes were rally killers. He was much more effective in a game earlier this season when he went Ohfer 2 with a run and an rbi— which brought his BA and OPS down. BUT he had a walk stole second , then stole third and scored. Later he had a ground out RBI. In that game he acted as a catalyst and lit a fire under his teammates.
Definitely not his best game. Love his energy and enthusiasm, but maybe he needs to tone it down a little. I know he wants to do all he can to help the team win, but as you point out, this sort of result is NOT helping. I’m sure Butera had a few words for him (and CJ and JY) after the game.
My advice to Nasim is to be like Wood : stop listening to the online chatter and just play his game.
The typical MLB team carries 5-6 infielders (excluding catcher) on their 26 man roster, 4 everyday players with 1-2 bench players. The Nats have 7. They have 4 OF and no regular DH, so that is how they’ve accommodated the extra infielder. But look down this list of infielders, and justify Jose Tena staying on the team as the primary backup to Brady House at 3B and occasionally at 2B:
CJ Abrams, SS: .306 BA/ .975 OPS
Nasim Nunez, SS: .220 BA/.548 OPS
Brady House, 3B: .255 BA/ .753 OPS
Curtis Mead, 1B: .261 BA/ .849 OPS
Jorbit Vivas, 2B: .333 BA/.778 OPS
Luis Garcia Jr., 2B, .289 BA/.771 OPS
Jose Tena, 3B: .238 BA/.511 OPS
Jorbit Vivas also plays 3B, which he has manned about as often as 2B (albeit with a much smaller sample size than Tena). Mead has also played 3B. However, Vivas and Mead are at least average defenders. Tena is a poor defender.
Of course, Nunez also plays 2B, and together with Vivas, look at lot better manning 2B defensively than Luis Garcia and Tena ever could. Garcia cannot play 1B. So where does Garcia fit? DH? Tena? Also DH? Is that the best we can do? Maybe there’s nobody ready on the farm to bring up in their places, but I gotta think neither of them fit long term—or even through the season—and carrying 7 infielders won’t last. One of them should probably go. Garcia has a better bat. Offensively and defensively, Tena looks like the weakest link.
Mark - do you no longer write game day stories?
Mark said yesterday that since he wasn’t in Milwaukee, he was going to wait and do a series wrap-up instead of an “after’” story for each of the three games in this series.