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IBTL?

Hope you all are well and are enjoying this team. What a fun ride so far.

Great season thus far. 15 games over .500, they just mud-stomped the team with the second best record in the NL TWICE, and they're improving....rapidly. They are, by far, the team closest to bringing a parade to DC, they're a legitimate emerging power in the NL, and they're a very fun watch as well.

Go Nats! For the first time in my life this summer, I actually deliberately turned the channel to a baseball game. First time for everything I guess.

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THANKS!

DCsOwn wrote:Great season thus far. 15 games over .500, they just mud-stomped the team with the second best record in the NL TWICE, and they're improving....rapidly. They are, by far, the team closest to bringing a parade to DC, they're a legitimate emerging power in the NL, and they're a very fun watch as well.

I think the last sentence says it all. Of course, winning is always fun, but seeing it all come together like this so quickly has been a real treat. I was at the game yesterday and it was first time I can remember the crowd being truly into it.

Where do people stand on the Strasburg innings limit? We're probably getting ahead of ourselves, I know, but if the team goes to the playoffs, he has to pitch. If that means going to a six man rotation in September, skipping him in rotation, etc., he's gotta be on the bump come October.

Last year I thoroughly enjoyed watching the MLB playoffs. Usually, I NEVER watch baseball. However, the drama of watching St Louis barely make the playoffs but just keep rolling over teams once they did, hooked me. I was glued to the tv. My 12-year old son is now a baseball fan. It seemed like every game came right down to the wire between the Cardinals, the Phillies, the Brewers, and the Texas Rangers. I enjoyed watching the MLB playoffs more than the NBA playoffs. Baseball is back!

This season I am really happy to see the Baltimore Orioles and the Nationals be very competitive. I remember being an Orioles fan back in the day when they were managed by Earl Weaver. Guys like Boog Powell, Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Mike Cuellar, Ken Singleton, and Doug Decinces were fun to watch. The real heyday came right after Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. were with the Os.

Now DC has a team that rocks. I have been here in HI the whole time but I did see the beautiful stadium where the Nats play. Strasburg coming back from the arm issue and the team doing so well is good to see.

I want to see the Os and the Nats in the World Series this year. After the years of Peter Angelos running Baltimore, who would have thought this possible?

Sorry CCJ, it's not going to happen for the O's. I think they're the worst team in the division and that should prove itself out by the end of the season (or next week, given how bunched they are). I'd bet a substantial sum of money on them not making the playoffs. Angelos notwithstanding, team will never compete in the AL East without drastic improvements and investment in pitching.

In that case, go Nats!

It is always a pleasure to hear from you, JRo!

As far as the Os go, I'm not even watching baseball yet (not until the playoffs). I am just glad the team has a pulse and has generated some buzz. It's not like they have a zillion-dollar, Yankees payroll and stars at every position. I honestly cannot even tell you who is on the Os as a very casual fan these days. I will still root for them for the memories, but I will take your word the team has no pitching, JRo.

The AL East has been a bear for years with the Yankees and Red Sox dominating. At least Baltimore is back on the scene. The Orioles and Nationals give me hope for the Wizards. I'm optimistic for the first time in a long, long, time. RG III gives me hope for the Skins.

Even though every local team isn't destined to win a title in their respective sports (heck, it's possible that none of them will), we are really entering halcyon days on the DC sports scene. The Caps are obviously a competitive team with the ceiling to do real damage if things break right for them over the next few seasons, the Nats are an emerging power with the potential for significant improvement over the next few season if they stay healthy (Bryce is going to develop into a legitimate MVP caliber player in a few seasons, Stras, Zimmermann and Gio are all young enough that at least moderate improvement going forward is possible, and they have a number of very high ceiling kids in their minor league system in Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Sammy Solis, Brian Goodwin etc. AND they could be adding an incredibly talented kid to that group in Lucas Giolito who has stuff comparable to Strasburg--although he's a few years away.) Their revenue projections are also likely pointed WAY up with the recalibration of their television contract in the forthcoming months, increased ticket sales at the gate (up around 30 percent over last season already and likely to keep climbing), increased merchandise sales (up around 50 percent over last season and likely to keep climbing) etc., so free-agency is a more viable option now and in the future should they decide to wade into those turbulent waters.

The Skins obviously made the move to grab RG3, and he has the potential to be every bit the franchise-changer that Anthony Davis would've been for the Wiz. Everyone compares him to Vick for obvious, albeit fairly superficial reasons, but to me the kid has Aaron Rodgers type arm talent (I believe his arm is that good.) Combine that with his other-worldly athleticism and the perfect schematic fit he's fitting into, he has the ability to do tremendous things in the DMV.

The Wiz are also quietly on the precipice of doing nice things, especially if Wall reaches his potential. He still has elite pg talent imo, and that Beal-Wall backcourt could be one of the most lethal backcourts in basketball in a few seasons, and our frontcourt is actually on the verge of being very solid now with the potential to be terrific if we can land a SF with the ability to score consistently in the next season or two.

Good post and I agree in principle, but the real difference to me is that the Caps and Nats (to a much lesser degree) have proven it on the field.

As optimistic as I am about RGIII and the Skins, he hasn't taken a snap yet and while he could be amazing, the dysfunction of the organization may mean the team still stinks. He's also joining a conference that is already stockpiled with good QBs (Rogers, Brees, Manning, Romo, Newton, Stafford, Vick) and all of them play on teams that are already better than the Skins. So while I believe and am optimistic for RGIII, I'm more than a little skeptical of the franchise's ability to do what it takes to truly build a contender.

As for the Wizards, I'm not even sure if John Wall is a top 30 player NBA, much less an All-Star. The fact that he didn't really improve this year is a hugely disappointing IMO (although he did stay healthy). This is the year we find out how good Wall is IMO. He needs to make the leap or we'll be stuck in lottery land for the next several seasons (I know, what else is new). I did like the Beal pick, although his size concerns me a bit. We'll see.

Back to the Nats. They have done an incredible job of building the farm system and have already proven they're willing to spend. The Werth contract proves that (although it was awful) and they also were very close to landing Prince Fielder this past winter. Add in a rich owner, competent front office, a burgeoning fan base, and a few true potential superstars on the roster, tickle me pink.

For the first time ever, I think I logged in more hours watching Nationals games than I did the NBA playoffs. . .while the playoffs were going on, of course.

They are great fun to watch!

jmrosenth wrote:As optimistic as I am about RGIII and the Skins, he hasn't taken a snap yet and while he could be amazing, the dysfunction of the organization may mean the team still stinks. He's also joining a conference that is already stockpiled with good QBs (Rogers, Brees, Manning, Romo, Newton, Stafford, Vick) and all of them play on teams that are already better than the Skins. So while I believe and am optimistic for RGIII, I'm more than a little skeptical of the franchise's ability to do what it takes to truly build a contender.

As for the Wizards, I'm not even sure if John Wall is a top 30 player NBA, much less an All-Star. The fact that he didn't really improve this year is a hugely disappointing IMO (although he did stay healthy). This is the year we find out how good Wall is IMO. He needs to make the leap or we'll be stuck in lottery land for the next several seasons (I know, what else is new). I did like the Beal pick, although his size concerns me a bit. We'll see.

Nice follow up post. On the personnel front, I actually think the Skins have quite a bit of undervalued talent. They have competent receivers, a franchise-caliber receiving tight end (if he's truly matured), a LT with pro bowl ability (if he's truly matured) and a solid defense with some upside. RG3 has enough talent on the current roster to help foster his development in this nascent stage of his career, and that's really all that concerns me in the short-term. I believe in the Kyle Shannahan's system and believe it to be the best possible offensive system for him coming from a fairly simplistic offense at Baylor with its clearly defined initial reads and alternate reads, frequent movement action and emphasis on high-to-low reads that only require half the field to be read on myriad plays throughout the game, and when he gains the requisite amount of experience in it, it's also proven to be a pretty prolific offense when run by vets. Whether or not the Skins can put together a championship caliber supporting cast three or four years from now, when the kid projects to be in his prime, will be proven over time, BUT, he's a tremendous building block that has legitimate, elite level skills, and that type of talent at the qb position alone is enough reason for hope.

It should also be noted that every qb in the Skins division is or will be 32 at some point early in the season iirc, so when Griffin is 27-28, the prime of most qb's careers (at least the athletic prime), those qbs will likely be in some degree of decline, so that alone should provide a pretty decent window for the Skins to make a move within the division. Plus, beyond talent at the qb position, talent cycles through so often in the NFL that in a year or three, even without the benefit of two first round picks in the next few drafts, we could be singing a completely different tune about the relative strength of each roster.

In regard to Wall's development, I agree with you completely about his current status relative to his NBA counterparts, but I'm very encouraged about the type of practice Wall's undertaking now (with an actual proven trainer/shooting coach). His lack of improvement I partly attribute to a lack of concerted training, or expert-level training as I saw it called in a book I read a while ago. Playing in pickup games, even talent rich pickup games, and shooting a bunch of shots isn't really enough to improve a professional basketball player's skills. Elite players typically need elite level training to sharpen skills, especially areas of weakness that are really deficient. He's working with Rose's old trainer I read somewhere (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm sure that he'll be doing tons of work that has been proven to be effective over time and translatable to game action, and I think that's going to be very helpful in expediting his development. The elite talent is still there though. He's still absurdly explosive with tremendous height and length for his position, we just need him to burnish the hell out of his game.

Its weird. early in the year we were winning a lot of games, but they were all close games with timely hitting. Because we had been so terrible for so long I wasnt quite sure what to think even though we were better. But now its mostly obvious that were just plain better than everyone we play in the NL.

I think we are just starting to hit our stride with Zimmerman and Morse coming around at the plate.

We are a truly complete team. Offensively we have speed and power with enough patience to get by. If Espinosa keeps getting hotter we have a very deep lineup too. Even our pitchers can hit!

Then you watch us defensively and its just awesome. I really started to take it for granted until I watched the Giants in this series and the Orioles consistently. We make almost all of the routine plays minus some misplays in the OF from natural infielders or rusty guys, plus a regular helping of great plays from our entire infield.

and Obviously we have great pitching, and not just from the starters. Craig Stammen has probably been our most valuable reliever this year, then to go with an almost automatic back of the bullpen of Burnett and Clippard, with Mathues as needed, and all of this without Drew Storen.

Oh and our starting rotation is the best in baseball, nbd.

jmrosenth wrote:IBTL?

Hope you all are well and are enjoying this team. What a fun ride so far.

looking forward to talking Nats with a great group of posters.

I've really enjoyed watching the team evolve.

And, I'm willing make a deal with the mods.

Please keep this thread open and we'll all promise to get in at least one comparison with the Wiz rebuild per post...

For example, Jason Werth and Gio Gonzalez signings signaled the next logical step in the rebuild. To me, the Wiz might need to do the same. Overpay for a vet FA, then pull a consolidation trade, even if it means sacrificing some assets (Booker, Ves).

How's that?

jmrosenth wrote:
Where do people stand on the Strasburg innings limit? We're probably getting ahead of ourselves, I know, but if the team goes to the playoffs, he has to pitch. If that means going to a six man rotation in September, skipping him in rotation, etc., he's gotta be on the bump come October.

I'm all for the innings limit and I appreciate the club taking a long term view as opposed to risking such a valuable asset like Strasburg.

But this year it means the Nats may need to start looking for short term solution at starter on the trade market for the postseason run. I don't trust Wang or Detweiler in the rotation.

Magic. I think I watched every pitch of this game.

Amazing. Bryce and the Nats have pulled me back into baseball. I can't say I never thought it would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. I took my daughter to her first game yesterday and she loved it. Any father-daughter time is a good investment as far as I'm concerned we'll be back.

Jason Reid actually wrote an interesting piece about the Nats over the weekend, saying they should double down on pitching and go after Zach Greinke (as opposed to going for a bat). Here's why I like the idea -- instead of shutting Strasburg down, move him to the 'pen. Remember how dominant the 96 Yankees were when Mo Rivera was setting up Wetteland? If they had a lead in the middle of the 7th the game was over.

Can you imagine rotating Strasburg, Storen and Clippard in late innings in the playoffs?

Gotta say that I don't agree with Reid on this one.

They should treat Strasburg's inning limit like an injury. One player goes down, next man up.

This team is so talented, so deep, and has so many prospects. They are set up to make a long run of playoff appearences. It'll be a real bummer not to see Strasburg pitch in the playoffs this year... But they will be back- all their young arms are signed through something like 2018.

Stick to the protocal, hope for some magic by Edwin Jackson, give games over to their best in the majors bullpen... And live to fight another day.

Er, em, just like I would shut down Wall in a similar situation.

jmrosenth wrote:Magic. I think I watched every pitch of this game.

Exactly this. Simply a sensational comeback.