Jordan Zimmermann rebounded from his poor showing against the Cardinals with a strong outing against the Tigers as the Nationals won 5-2 last night.
Zimmermann went five shutout innings, allowed five hits and walk while striking out six. Brian Broderick, who appears to be closer to making the club after the optioning of Craig Stammen yesterday, continued his spring dominance with another scoreless inning with just a hit and no walks allowed.
Todd Coffey’s poor outing represented both of Detroit’s runs, both scored in the bottom of the ninth on a leadoff single, double, and two groundouts. Could it lead to the Nats releasing him? Probably not, but I’d love to wrong on that one. Not because I have a disdain for Coffey but because it could walk the talk about the Nats releasing a MLB-ready player this year.
Despite the predicted-here-two-weeks-ago announcement that Henry Rodriguez will start the season on the DL, Collin Balester’s remaining option looms as more cuts are expected today and tomorrow.
Danny Espinosa got the start yesterday but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. This is something to watch because Espinosa is prone to both cold streaks and strikeouts. One has to worry if Riggleman will have the patience to ride them out.
Wilson Ramos came off the bench and singled in his only at-bat to raise his spring average to .289. Yesterday’s decision to option Jesus Flores now turns most folks’ attention to how Ivan Rodriguez fares, knowing he’s got not one, but two MLB-ready catchers ready to take his place. We, on the other hand, wonder which of these two will still be around if/when Derek Norris is ready.
With the win, the Nationals are now 13-12 in Grapefruit League play with the final MASN broadcast tonight at 6:05 p.m. against the Cardinals.