The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

[Warhead36]

I'd stay away from Hamilton. He'll be declining soon. We need to save our $ to give extensions to JZ, Desi, and eventually Stras and Harper(though those won't be for a while).

The big question is, how do we handle Laroche/Morse? We can't keep both. Morse has I believe 1 year left, so if we resign Laroche I'd look to trade Morse. We need to see what we have in Moore though and he's a natural 1B. Harper will likely take Laroche's spot as the 4 hole power hitting lefty.

I think we'll stick with Espi for one more year. We were all raging about Desi this time last year and look how he panned out. Espi is a year younger so hopefully next year will be his breakthrough year as well.

I'd also say no to Grienke. The guy is as mentally weak as they come and he's a lock to choke in the playoffs. Plus he said no to us before when we were bad, now that we're good I'd rather tell him to **** off. Stras/Gio/JZ/Det/Lannan is a fine rotation.

Bullpen...well it's really hard to evaluate a pen. Relivers are so volatile and change so much year to year that it's hard to say. If we could get a reliable vet or two who are still fairly young and have postseason experience though, I'd go for it.

[hail2skins]

And renegade you gotta understand how physically and mentally exhausted the crowd was. I thought about doing the standing ovation thing but I really just had nothing left to give. I can barely swale today my throat hurts so bad from screaming. And I don't think I've ever been to a sporting event where my ears were popping all night from the noise. Like I said never been more proud to be a DC.sports fan.

And that's really what it was all about. I was there as well and was easily the most electric event I've ever been to. This was certainly a crushing way to end the season, but its all about the journey, and the Nats fans got to see three playoff games at home, two of which were stone-cold thrillers. And next year isn't as far off as you would think. By the time the Super Bowl ends (and you know we all obsess over football until the championship game), it'll be only roughly two months until opening day. Very small timeframe when you consider how long we wait in between football seasons. Catching the last few innings of almost every Nats game during the regular season was how I got hooked this year, and I intend on doing the same in 2013.

Until then......LETS GO SKINS!!!!!!

[Zazzaro703]

And after sleeping on it, I feel no different. I've seen countless ES members rag on the Eagles and Cowboys about their recent division titles that mean nothing without a Super Bowl. Why should it be any different for the Nationals just because they are our own squad.

[skinswillwin06]

I was at the game. I was absolutely devastated after the hit to make it 9-7. One strike away so many times. How close were some of those pitches that were called balls with 2 strike? I tried to look at the monitor but couldn't quite tell. Why was Jackson even in the conversation to come in? Mattheus would have been much better.

Anyways, up to the 8th inning that was by far the best atmosphere I've ever been a part of.

Maybe next year...

[SkinsHokieFan]

Having done about 18,000 things in the last 3 hours and looking again at recent baseball playoff history, this team is on the verge of a crazy run.

When do pitchers and catchers report? Lets get 2013 going

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

And that's really what it was all about. I was there as well and was easily the most electric event I've ever been to. This was certainly a crushing way to end the season, but its all about the journey, and the Nats fans got to see three playoff games at home, two of which were stone-cold thrillers. And next year isn't as far off as you would think. By the time the Super Bowl ends (and you know we all obsess over football until the championship game), it'll be only roughly two months until opening day. Very small timeframe when you consider how long we wait in between football seasons. Catching the last few innings of almost every Nats game during the regular season was how I got hooked this year, and I intend on doing the same in 2013.

Until then......LETS GO SKINS!!!!!!

I try to make it a habit of going to historical sporting events. Nats first game in DC, first game at Nats Park, Jordan dropping 50 as a Wizard, Wiz playoff games, John Wall's home debut, Strasburg's debut, Strasburg's return after the injury, Harper's home debut, Gibbs' return to the Redskins, the game after Sean Taylor passed (RIP), so on and so forth. NONE of them matched last night. Not even close. I'm sure some Caps playoff games might be up there and the Skins runs back in the 80's, but in my lifetime, in what I've been to, last night was tops.

I was at the game. I was absolutely devastated after the hit to make it 9-7. One strike away so many times. How close were some of those pitches that were called balls with 2 strike? I tried to look at the monitor but couldn't quite tell. Why was Jackson even in the conversation to come in? Mattheus would have been much better.

Anyways, up to the 8th inning that was by far the best atmosphere I've ever been a part of.

Maybe next year...

Well obviously we all thought they were strikes. Talking to people today though, people who watched it on TV, the ump did a good job. My brother, former college baseball player, told me that Suzuki actually got a bunch of balls called strikes because he was doing such an amazing job framing the pitches.

I remember Strasburg's debut. Unless the ball hit the ground in front of the plate, the crowd thought every single pitch should be called a strike. It was pretty funny actually. Every single ball was boo'd unmercifully by the entire stadium. It's just so hard to tell watching from the stands. I did watch the monitor though and I know for a fact that there were a couple of pitches that should've been called strikes. ESPECIALLY in Molina's last at bat where he walked.


Anyway, going forward. I wouldn't mean seeing Morse gone. I know he's a fan favorite and a very good hitter, but he is just such a liability in the field. That double from last night hit down the line toward him (forget who hit it) was played so ****ing bad by him. I really think if someone else is there and plays that properly, the runner that was on first stops at third instead of scoring. Of course we could dump LaRoche and move Morse back to first but I think that's a mistake. One LaRoche is SOOOOO much better in the field, two LaRoche is just as good a hitter, three he's a left, and four they're actually almost the same age. So yeah, maybe get a real leadoff hitter, put him in center or keep Bryce there, whatever. The otufield would be real leadoff hitter, Bryce and Werth. Position them how you want.

As far as pitching goes, I was all about keeping EJax a month ago, but he's just way to inconsistent. Way too much. You can't count on him. I'd rather have an average pitcher that is a lock to give you an average outing, than a guy who is either lights or completely bombs, which is what EJax is. I actually agree with Skinfan2k. I think I ride with Stras, Gio, Zmnn, Ross and Lannan.

And bring back HRod!!!! (I tried to get a "We want HRod!!!" chant going when EJax came in and I'm sure you all can imagine how that went over, lol.

---------- Post added October-13th-2012 at 04:54 PM ----------

Having done about 18,000 things in the last 3 hours and looking again at recent baseball playoff history, this team is on the verge of a crazy run.

When do pitchers and catchers report? Lets get 2013 going

Agreed. And after last night I'm convinced the Nats are going to easily be the #2 team in town from here on out. I could even see them start to press the Skins. This can be a baseball town. If you don't go to the games, you don't realize how good our fans are. If you just watch it at a bar, you think all Nats fans don't know **** about baseball. But I sure as hell last night was having discussions with MULTIPLE people in my section about pitching strategy, calling the pitches, knowing that if you're up 0-2, you don't want to throw them something to hit on the next pitch (Looking at you Clippard), so on and so forth. There's a solid core fanbase that does know baseball. They're the ones that stay at the games. Then you have people starting to learn the sport. You see it more and more. It's going to be fun.

You know, when I left last night I said I never wanted to talk about the game again. Talking about it is making me feel somewhat better though. Letting me get it out of my system. Plus I'm just trying to focus on the positives from last night.

Anyway, here's a picture of me on TV. Harper's HR came RIGHT at me, about five feet away. It ricocheted off of one person and was heading my way, but other fan stuck his hand up and made a nice snag. Would've been a helluva nice payday (Harper's first postseason HR ball? Oh yeah.) Arrow on the left.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Kimball is back next year too. Mattheus, Garcia and Kimball will be huge for middle relief next year. Davey taxed the pen big time all year. I hope next year Strasburg, Gio and JZ are ready to have more 7 and 8 inning showings. They had way too many 5.2 and 6.1 type of starts

Yup. And Davey taxed the pen so the starters would still be fresh in September and October. Did. Not. Work.

[skinfan2k]

Kimball is back next year too. Mattheus, Garcia and Kimball will be huge for middle relief next year. Davey taxed the pen big time all year. I hope next year Strasburg, Gio and JZ are ready to have more 7 and 8 inning showings. They had way too many 5.2 and 6.1 type of starts

[skinfan2k]

Yup. And Davey taxed the pen so the starters would still be fresh in September and October. Did. Not. Work.

Yup. 100% agree. Pitchers either have or they dont for the postseason. If you cant get amped for the playoffs, you shouldn't be a starter

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Kimball is back next year too. Mattheus, Garcia and Kimball will be huge for middle relief next year. Davey taxed the pen big time all year. I hope next year Strasburg, Gio and JZ are ready to have more 7 and 8 inning showings. They had way too many 5.2 and 6.1 type of starts

Yup. And Davey taxed the pen so the starters would still be fresh in September and October. Did. Not. Work.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

And am I the only one who thinks Gio isn't a big game starter? When the crowd was chanting "GIO! GIO! GIO!" at deafening levels, I started thinking, this isn't good. Gio needs to be calm and cool. When he's hyped up, he starts to press, and when he starts to press, he starts missing the strikezone. And bad **** happens. Maybe that changes with experience, but who knows.

That was also the problem with the hitters. They were pressing all series. Werth's walkoff loosened them up and they just played baseball again to start the game off last night, but you could tell that went away with Gio's struggle. It was an absolute lock we weren't going to do anything in the bottom of the 9th. See Harper's strikeout.

[skinfan2k]

Yup. And Davey taxed the pen so the starters would still be fresh in September and October. Did. Not. Work.

Yup. 100% agree. Pitchers either have or they dont for the postseason. If you cant get amped for the playoffs, you shouldn't be a starter

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I counted 3

Exact same. I was looking out for them too. All I saw all night long were 3. Two chicks and an old dude.

[stevemcqueen1]

I hate to say it because I've always enjoyed the throwback nature of the NL game. But it really sucks for us the NL has no DH. We're built like an AL team, and our problems with Morse could be solved with a DH. Also, we don't have to figure out a place to work in Rendon in a year or two if we had a DH.

---------- Post added October-13th-2012 at 05:09 PM ----------

And am I the only one who thinks Gio isn't a big game starter? When the crowd was chanting "GIO! GIO! GIO!" at deafening levels, I started thinking, this isn't good. Gio needs to be calm and cool. When he's hyped up, he starts to press, and when he starts to press, he starts missing the strikezone. And bad **** happens. Maybe that changes with experience, but who knows.

That was also the problem with the hitters. They were pressing all series. Werth's walkoff loosened them up and they just played baseball again to start the game off last night, but you could tell that went away with Gio's struggle. It was an absolute lock we weren't going to do anything in the bottom of the 9th. See Harper's strikeout.

Young team. Easy to forget how young they are with how good they've been. Young players have to learn how to win. I think that's somewhat true for the fan base too. We've never experienced a heartbreaking loss like that before. If the Nats came out there and cruised to a world series title, it wouldn't be good for the fan base IMO. We'd think it was easy and take winning for granted. We'd get spoiled. You know it would happen.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Young team. Easy to forget how young they are with how good they've been. Young players have to learn how to win. I think that's somewhat true for the fan base too. We've never experienced a heartbreaking loss like that before. If the Nats came out there and cruised to a world series title, it wouldn't be good for the fan base IMO. We'd think it was easy and take winning for granted. We'd get spoiled. You know it would happen.

I'm not going to name any names (you're still my boy so I'm not going to put you on blast) but I had someone who was originally supposed to go with me yesterday. Had to cancel (tickets really were pretty ****ing expensive) but he said "How about we just hit next round?" Man, there might not be a next round for 50 more years.