The Nationals held their first kangaroo court (The Wash. Times) yesterday. The franchise had not done that since they were the Expos which is kind of surprising given former manager Frank Robinson is baseball’s most famous kangaroo judge. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why 3B Ryan Zimmerman was raving about the chemistry on Washington Post Live yesterday.
Yesterday, two weeks before Opening Day, no less than three Nats blogs declared they were feeling a little apathetic right now. I can’t help but think that means something very blogworthy is about to happen. Usually, that means Jim Bowden says or does something stupid. D.C. politicians are another possbility, but the ballpark is an express train right now that isn’t stopping much. We shall see.
Speaking of Bowden, he is on the “exact same page” (The Post) as Manny Acta. I am almost hoping Acta comes out and contradicts Bowden today. Bowden also professed his love for Ryan Church. For his part, Church is concerned with Chris Snelling having a great spring (The Wash. Times). Could Church be moved to centerfield if Snelling continues to hit and CF Nook Logan does not?
“That’s a Manny Acta question,” Bowden said. “That’s not a Jim question.”
Same page everyone.
P Shawn Hill allowed four baserunners in the first, but escaped without giving up a run in yesterday’s 9-1 victory (ESPN Boxscore) over L.A. (The Wash. Times) in Viera (Florida Today).
In The Post’s notebook it is noted that Kory Casto, who has options left, will likely start in AAA Columbus. Josh Wilson may make it with the big club as the utility infielder because he is out of options.
Also, C Brian Schneider has declared himself day-to-day with a tweaked hamstring.
Did you read Stan Speak yesterday? I linked it from my recommended reading widget.
By the way, Dan Connolly of The Sun spent some time with Kasten and writes about it in a column today. The word “plan” never appears in the column, nor does “player development, customer satisfaction or community relations.”
The Nats will face Dontrelle Willis (The Miami Herald) on Opening Day.
There were two columns about Peter Angelo$ today, but neither of them broke any new ground, so I skipped them.