Friday, August 14, 2009

Oh No! We Suck Again!


We Are The Geeks Who Get The Swirlees
Well that was fun while it lasted.

The Nats returned from Planet Ecstasy and got right back to business: losing. After a short two-game sweep at the hands of the Braves, the Nats traveled to Cincinnati last night and got a beat-down in the form of a two-hit shutout by Bronson Arroyo (the self-proclaimed juicer).

Collin Balester looked terribly hittable, the offense looked woefully inept and the bullpen was predictably less-than-average (except Mike “The Klej” MacDougal who pitched a perfect ninth inning when absolutely nothing was on the line – why can’t he do that in save situations instead of pitching to induce ulcers?).

The one pitcher the Nationals had that could be considered a potential “front of the rotation” type – Jordan Zimmermann – had Tommy John’s surgery which ended his 2009 campaign as well as shut down any hope for anything in 2010. In fact, if the Nats manage to sign Stephen Strasburg, maybe Jordan Zimmermann will actually be ready to pitch like a #2 when “Stras” is pitching in the majors (probably 2012). Even if Zimmermann can pitch next year, he’ll never be fully recovered to the point of pitching effectively until two years after the surgery and rehab.

We just can’t buy a break and now we’re adding the humiliation of a potential four-game sweep at the hands of the Reds. Garrett Mock? J.D. Martin? At least we’ll have a chance on Sunday with John Lannan.

It’s tough being a Nats fan this year. You feel like the pocket-protector wearing high-school freshman dork who shows up every day and gets a “swirlee” in the boys’ locker room. You go through the year thinking, “this must get pretty old for them, too, so it’ll stop eventually.” Well, that eight-game winning streak was apparently the Spring Break that you receive in April and you return to school and get your “swirlee” again like it never stopped.

It’s getting pretty old for me and it doesn’t appear to be getting old for the seniors.

No comments:

Post a Comment