Nationals Farm Authority

Mark Zuckerman has a feature on the spring training debuts of top prospects Chris Marrero and Michael Burgess (at the major league level). They didn’t waste any time making their presence known:

Summoned off the bench to pinch-hit in the seventh inning, Marrero and Burgess hit back-to-back doubles, drawing hefty rounds of applause from the crowd of 5,278 and earning praise from everyone wearing a Nationals uniform.

It’s nice to see the Nationals give some of their more promising prospects some exposure in the major league camp.

Nationals press release

The Washington Nationals today announced they will host Georgetown University’s baseball program in an exhibition game to be played at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 28 at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, FL. Due to the weather that hampered Nationals Fan Fest last weekend at Space Coast Stadium, free admission will be offered to all fans. Nationals Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs Mike Shapiro made the joint announcement.

The Nationals will field a team consisting of players from both big league camp and their second-annual accelerated development camp.

The matchup marks the first time in the 132-year history of Georgetown baseball that the Hoyas will play against a Major League Baseball team. Head Coach Pete Wilk’s Hoyas embark on the ‘08 campaign looking for their 5th consecutive 20-win season. The Hoyas are members of the Big East Conference.

VIERA, FL - John Patterson pitched in his first game in six months and looked pretty good doing it. The Washington Nationals lost 7-2 to their crosstown rivals, the Baltimore Orioles. Patterson said “I felt good; I wasn’t comfortable out there on the mound for the first couple of hitters. After that, I felt a little bit better.” He had never worked with presumptive backup catcher Jesus Flores, but they “kept it very simple today by throwing first pitch strikes, working some breaking balls in, and staying ahead of the count.” Patterson threw two innings and 34 pitches and his limit will most likely be increased to three innings or 55 pitches, whichever comes first. He threw his fastball, curveball, and changeup, but he noted that, as planned, “I didn’t throw any sliders [because] the slider is my last pitch to come. Once I find my arm slot and my release point on my fastball and get my curve ball going, then my slider works right off my fastball.” Manager Manny Acta also thought “it was refreshing to see him out there throwing the ball.” But after Patterson’s fastball, Acta said “it’s too much to ask him to have his second and third pitch [in his repertoire] with complete command. He wasn’t very sharp with his breaking ball. To see him go out there and throw the ball nice and free as he did; it was good for me.” Acta wasn’t overly concerned: “yes, the sharpness of the second and third pitches is something that sometimes in the middle of the season guys don’t have. So I don’t worry about. I worry about how he looks pitching.”

Joel Hanrahan, one of the 13-some odd pitchers competing for the four starting rotation slots of the big league club, came out to start the third inning but only lasted for one-third of an inning as he gave up three walks, three hits, and was credited with five earned runs. Hanrahan admitted, “when I got out there, the game started feeling fast,” but he understands that there were only going to be a limited number of opportunities to prove himself anyways. Even though this outing certainly won’t help his cause, he’s not going to let this hinder him from doing what he needs to do as a pitcher in his next outings. Manager Manny Acta expressed similar sentiments as he pointed out that if he changes his mind now on Hanrahan and then “if he goes out there and throws two scoreless innings next time, what am I going to do? Change my mind again? I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt out there.”

Other notes…

Some of the starting position players are still hitting well: Ryan Zimmerman had two singles to bring him to 4 for 5 in spring training and Austin Kearns continues to hit balls solidly. Jesus Flores had a solid double right down the left field line. Flores started the game at catcher since Brian Schneider was away with his newly expanded family as his new daughter, Tatum Elizabeth was born on Saturday at 10:03 a.m. Kory Casto notched his first hit of the spring; Casto has been playing the second half of each game at third base after Zimmerman comes out of the game. Relievers Ray King, Jon Rauch, and Saul Rivera all looked good in one inning of work each.

Acta said matter-of-factly that the first cut is on March 8th. He acknowledged that “For as much as everyone liked me before, they won’t after [the first cut], but that’s just part of the job.” Acta also said that with the arrival of Schneider’s daughter this morning, Schneider won’t need to be back until Monday at the earliest: “He’s not fighting for a spot.”

In a quick chat, Ryan Church said that everything is going good for him and that “the biggest thing now is to stay healthy and to stay consistent.” A similar quick chat with Kory Casto revealed that he is indeed only practicing at 3B and LF, but he said “I just go wherever they tell me. Most of my at bats are going to come from 3B.” I asked him if he had any particular goals for the season: “I’m just trying to get up [with the big club] at some point - that’s the biggest goal for me. Trying to find a way to get up here whether it’s at the beginning of the season, or in the middle of the season, or the end of the season - whatever it is, that’s my biggest goal.”

Jason Bergmann is a nice fellow and pointed out that though he occasionally reads the Nats blogs, he’s not obsessed with them or anything. Bergmann will be starting the split squad game at Houston in Kissimmee on Sunday and noted that “it’s good to get the games started and to get new energy.” Regarding spring training in general, Bergmann pointed out that his “mindset used to be … that you get your rest in the offseason and then you come to spring training to get ready. Now, it’s completely evolved into getting ready for the spring to get ready for the season. You come in ready for game one and then you’re ready to go on from there.” Bergmann has both started and relieved for the Washington Nationals and he continues to want to just “help the team out however I can. I’m not making millions of dollars, I’m a team player, and that’s never going to change. If I do somehow end up making a lot of money, it’s still going to be team first - if they want me to start, to relieve, or to pinch hit or pinch run, I’m there.” As I stated, Bergmann is a nice fellow who just wants to help the team out any way he can.

Below is the Nationals Minor League Spring Training Schedule. All games are at 1PM. (FYI … Camp day refers to a day where the Nationals play games between the levels; i.e. AAA versus AA)

VIERA, FL - The Washington Nationals started a good game yesterday against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodgertown in Vero Beach, FL, but they could not finish it out. Ryan Zimmerman hit a 430 foot two-run home run in the top of the 4th to put the team ahead 7-3, but the Nationals lost 12-7 after their relievers gave up nine runs and their second wave of position players only managed two hits. In fact, they had no more than four batters in any one inning after the fourth.

Shawn Hill pitched well overall, notching numerous groundball outs - his bread and butter. Hill said that he left “one pitch up to [Juan] Pierre out over the plate a little bit” that resulted in the only real solid hit that he gave up. The only other hit was a dribbler through the right side of the infield by Ethier that would’ve been an easy out had the infielders not been protecting the lines with two outs and no one on base.

Zimmerman had a good day with a single, the aforementioned home run, and three RBI. He downplayed the home run and said that “getting solid contact is what’s really important right now - whether or not it goes out.”

Kory Casto came in for Zimmerman at third base and played the second half of the game and had a beauty of a catch on a hot liner right at him. Casto said “most of my at bats will come at third base, but I’m working in left field as well.”

After the game, manager Manny Acta noted that the team “gave away 5 outs and that’s what we’ve been stressing this spring: when you have to make over 27 outs and you give outs on the bases, it’s going to cost you.” Acta was complimentary of Shawn Hill’s performance, noting that Hill “could have come out of there without giving up a run.”

D’Angelo Jimenez had a walk, two singles, and the Nationals’ first RBI of the spring, but he also had two errors. Acta noted that they “don’t get mad on physical errors, because those things sometimes you can’t control”, but he reiterated his disdain for giving up outs on the bases.

Yes, the year is early and only beginning. We’ll see how the second chapter shakes out today when the Orioles roll into Viera for the Nationals spring training home opener.

Well, tomorrow anyways. Brian and I will be heading down to Viera, FL to get a look at over 100 players in the Washington Nationals organization. Yes, there are over 70 guys in the big league camp, but we here at Nationals Farm Authority care just as much about all the minor league players in the system as well. From those already working out in the minor league accelerated development program to the rest of the entire farm system as they roll into town this weekend, we hope to bring you some first hand news and notes. Our goal is to talk to players and mainly minor leaguers, get some quick questions in with them about their pitches or their goals for the season and to see their skills in person. Wish us well!

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