They keep coming one right after the other. Every time the Nationals’ starting rotation turns over yet another young pitcher is there to take the ball.
It’s not an ideal situation to be sure. But for a team that was already 18 games under .500 entering last night’s scheduled game against the New York Mets there were few other options. For the rest of 2009, youth will be served at Nationals Park. The club just hopes opposing batters aren’t served, as well.
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Tuesday night’s starter was 25-year-old Craig Stammen, a 12th-round draft pick out of the University of Dayton in 2005, who improbably found himself the rotation’s elder when he arrived for his first big-league start last Thursday. With Daniel Cabrera, 27, designated for assignment Wednesday and Scott Olsen, 25, on the disabled list with a left shoulder injury the Nats decided 10 days ago to go full throttle with a youth movement in the rotation.
At this point, “veteran” John Lannan, 24, is the only one of the five pitchers with more than 13 major-league starts and the only one who isn’t a rookie. The others are top prospects Jordan Zimmermann, a 23-year-old right-hander, and Ross Detwiler, a 23-year-old left-hander, and Shairon Martis, the youngest of the group at 22 and yet the most experienced other than Lannan.
“Well, I’m not going to make a big assessment on it,” manager Manny Acta said after watching Detwiler pitch his way out of a few self-made jams on Saturday night against Baltimore. But he could have been speaking about the entire rotation save Lannan, who had a respectable 3.91 ERA in 2008 and at least has a track record. “I haven’t seen [Detwiler] do it 20 times. But he did it [Saturday] and I’m glad he did. That’s a good sign for us.”
There were some other positives last week, including Detwiler’s debut against Pittsburgh on May 18. Zimmermann pitched his best game of the year on Friday against Baltimore. Martis fought command issues in his two starts, but at least gave Washington a chance to win both with five runs allowed in each. Lannan was good last Tuesday against Pittsburgh, but struggled on Memorial Day against the Mets, allowing five runs in six innings. Acta knows this crew is a work-in-progress. But he and the front office believe the foundation is there for a solid rotation — and even more so if the team can select and sign San Diego State phenom Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft.
