Scott Olsen looked reinvigorated in his last two starts before the All-Star break. He looked like the pitcher the Nationals traded for when they gave the Marlins Emilio Bonifacio in the off-season.
Just as Olsen was showing promise, now comes the news that he’s going to see Dr. Andrews – no, not Erin Andrews the hot ESPN sideline reporter (who was recently captured on video naked), Dr. James Andrews – baseball’s Dr. Kavorkian. Olsen has soreness behind his throwing shoulder and is scheduled to meet with Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, AL today.
Earlier in the week, the Nationals fired manager Manny Acta and replaced him with Jim Riggleman – the result? The Cubs pulled off the rare four-game sweep on the road at the hands of the Nats. It truly cannot get much worse.
However, the Nats did make a roster move which supposedly would make the team better. They dumped the dead weight of 16-year veteran journeyman, useless sack of dog-crap, never should be on a major-league roster, called his own team the fat chick in a bar you go home with after a few beers Julian “pass the Pepto Bismol” Tavarez by DFA’ing him after last night’s game. Problem is they brought up a pitcher identical to Tavarez (except he’s not a 16-year veteran and he didn’t call the Nats the fat chick you go home with after a few beers) in Logan Kensing. Perhaps it’s time to start referring to the Nats’ bullpen as “The Recycle Bin.”
Garrett Mock (whom Washington received from Arizona for Livan Hernandez a few years back) made a successful transition from bullpen to starter while in AAA Syracuse. He, however, did not make a successful transition from Syracuse to Washington. Mock’s start was disastrous going 3.1 IP, 7 R (4 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K. His demise was aided by a costly error by Alberto Gonzalez but Mock didn’t show the moxie to work past the error and he allowed himself to be consumed by it.
There appears to be some good news. The Nats have called up J.D Martin from Syracuse to replace Olsen in the rotation. Martin was a “sandwich” pick of the Indians (35th overall) in 2001. He played for the Indians organization his entire career until finally signing a minor-league deal with the Nats this past off-season. Martin finally looks like he has realized his potential and it’s time to put him to the test. He is four years removed from elbow reconstructive (Tommy John) surgery.
Another rookie called up? Another key injury? Replacing trash for trash in “The Recycle Bin?” I’ll bet the happiest man on earth is Manny Acta.
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So who exactly did Saul Rivera piss off? His stats at Syracuse have been pretty good and he acttually has a track record of being, you know, effective at the Major League level.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly sure what Rivera did but he sure did make someone in the front office pissed. He can't be any worse than what we've had.
ReplyDeleteThough I seem to recall Mike Rizzo having some disparaging words for Rivera upon sending him down. I'll see if I can find them....