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Astros Blank Nats; First Cuts Announced

Like an ugly stripper, Washingtion came away with just six singles yesterday afternoon in a 5-0 shutout by Houston, ending a seven-game unbeaten streak.

Once again, Stephen Strasburg was brilliant but left the game early Forrest Gump pause again. The 32-y.o. ace gave up a hit and a walk while getting four of his seven outs by way of the K in his second spring outing.

“Left calf discomfort” was cited by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato, as the oft-injured pitcher downplayed its significance and claimed he would have pitched through it otherwise.

To paraphrase the philosophers from Linkin Park, and in the end, it didn’t even matter as Lance McCullers Jr. and five Astros relievers kept the Nats bats quiet. Just three batters got into scoring position—twice with one out, once with two outs—and only one reached third base as the Nats stranded seven and went 0-for-7 with RISP.

Three watchlist players came off the bench and one came on in relief:

  • Drew Mendoza replaced Yasmany Tomás at 1B in the 8th and took a walk in the top of the 9th
  • Second SS Jackson Cluff singled with two outs in the 8th to extend his hit streak to two
  • Tres Barrera subbed for Yan Gomes in the 8th and struck out to end the game
  • Ben Braymer retired just two of five batters faced in the 8th, with two runs allowed on two walks and a single

Max Scherzer is slated to make his third start of the spring this afternoon as Washington (5-4-3) visits St. Louis (4-5-2) for the second of three games against the Cardinals in Jupiter, FL. The game can be heard on MLB Audio (both teams) or seen on MLB.tv (St. Louis, duh).

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Prior to yesterday’s game, the Nats announced the reassignment of twenty players – a paper move of sorts, but a sign that it’s just about time for me to shift gears back to the offseason mode.

Officially, RHP Joan Adon, SS Yasel Antuna, and RZBD* Jake Noll were optioned to AAA Rochester. The rest are assigned to the “minor-league portion” of MLB camp and are still eligible to appear in the “A” games.
* Ryan Zimmerman Body Double

Watchlisters among the cuts were:
C’s – Israel Pineda and Jakson Reetz
IFs – Jackson Cluff and Drew Mendoza
LHPs – Tim Cate and Matt Cronin
RHPs – Cade Cavalli, Jacob Condra-Bogan, Tyler Dyson, Cole Henry, and Jackson Rutledge

5 Commments

  1. Not much to take away from these cuts’ performances. Noll is maybe the only noteworthy cut, as he stood a decent chance of making the team with another good Spring. But he didn’t have a good ST, so he made the first round. I suppose JCB also had a long shot of making the OD roster, but his dreadful ST put that possibility to bed quick.

    A couple other noteworthy “prospects”:
    Braymer (another too-old-to-be-a-prospect) is playing himself out of contention with a 7.36 ERA in 4 games, and only 1 K in 3.2 IP.
    Steven Fuentes is playing himself into contention. 0.00 ERA, 4 K, 0BB and only 1 hit allowed in 3.0 IP is promising. Nice to see he’s picked up where he left off before his suspension.
    On the bat side:
    Yadiel Hernandez (the king of TOTBAP) is making a serious case for himself. Batting .412/.474/.588 in 17 AB. I’m HIGHLY skeptical about Schwarber, both offensively and defensively. But even besides Schwarber, I have no idea who the Nationals intend to be their back up corner OF. Hope Hernandez can seize that role.
    Blake Swihart has been total garbage so far, but has done so in such an extraordinary way. He’s got 16 PA to date, and has a 63% K%!! Even more remarkably, he’s hit the ball into play in only two plate appearances (he’s struck out 10 times, and walked 4), and in those two instances, he got a base hit. His BABIP is 1.000 this spring! Let’s hope Avila keeps hitting, because if we rely on Swihart at C this season (or even worse, in the OF), we’re in real trouble.

    1. Agreed! Yadiel is certainly making his case. Fuentes is looking great. I’m sure he’s ticketed for the minors but Rochester at his young age is not out of the question.

      You can make a case of just cutting Swihart, the Nats have better than him at any position.

  2. Yadiel’s biggest obstacles are 1) he has options and 2) so do the Nats. The Nats lose nothing by sticking him in Fredericksburg for a few weeks, and they could roll with Stevenson and/or Parra on the bench, giving them a left-handed-hitting fourth/fifth outfielder.

    Everyone seems to be pulling for Parra, so I guess get on the bandwagon or get run over. Personally, I’m not excited about what he brings to the team on the field, but clearly, Davey Martinez adores him, and while he still didn’t look 100% to me in today’s game, the fact that he was in today’s game at all strongly suggests to me that he’s going to make the team. So the question then is whether Stevenson makes the team and the Nats just carry two nearly identical players on a five-man bench, or Stevenson is optioned (if he can be) or traded and the Nats carry either an extra reliever or a utility infielder instead.

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