A Promising Development – The Post
Desmond’s debut is a dandy – The Wash. Times
So, is Ian Desmond as good as Jim Bowden and Frank Robinson told us he was in 2005? Um, maybe? The shortstop, who was the Nationals “original” prospect back in that first spring training made his long awaited MLB debut last night. Truth be told, after about March 31, 2005, Desmond was mostly an afterthought as he struggled to learn how to play professional baseball under the weight of the expectations unfairly placed upon him by a general manager prone to hyperbole and overestimating players. It was on the in the last year that it clicked for Desmond as he started improving his hitting and his defense. This month, it was finally enough to make him a September call-up, but he had sat on the bench, much to the frustration of the Natmosphere. Last night he finally made his debut and it was smashing. He hit the ball hard, displaying warning track power and then home run power. His fifth inning blast landed in the last row of the Red Porch, a three-run shot. He had a RBI double in the fourth as well. His night was not perfect as he did overthrow first base in an error and get caught trying at home on an otherwise heads-up play.
Desmond’s 4 RBI accounted for half of the Nats eight runs. Washington had an 8-2 lead over Philadelphia that nearly came apart in a disastrous ninth inning when the Phillies scored five runs. Naturally, it was Desmond who fielded the groundball that ended the game.
¡LIVAN! Hernandez got the win too, his first for the Nats since 2006.
FINAL SCORE: WASHINGTON 8 Philadelphia 7
Riggleman Sees Big Picture, but Is He in It? –
Riggleman backtracked from his “we’ll play the vets” stance and reaped the rewards when Desmond had his big night. He said about 400 words that basically said he gets the big picture and thinks it is the right direction.
Strasburg Accepts Attention – The Post
Strasburg’s stint in D.C. nears its end –
Pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg seems to be accepting that people are interested in what he does. He just spent a week with the big club and got pretty good reviews from the major leaguers, from what I understand.
Nats ask Guzman to play second base in 2010 – All Nats All the Time, nationals.com
Apparently, GM Mike Rizzo asked Cristian Guzman to play second base next year. This even happened before Desmond played and put himself on pace (over a 162 game season) for 162 HRs, 162 doubles and 648 RBI. Guzman has never played second and did not give Rizzo an answer. I’m guessing that Guzman is the source in this story.
THOMAS BOSWELL – Time to Make Most of This Horror Show – The Post
Bos has a great lead and tells me just what I want to hear — the Nats are only a few steps away from being mediocre and can easily do it through free agency since they are shedding so much payroll. It all sounds very nice and I have found myself daydreaming about that happening too. Things never work out that way though, do they? Not in this town.
Washington Nationals, Nats, Ian Desmond, Philadelphia Phillies