Seven starters have combined ERA of 4.95
On the surface the plan seemed reasonable enough. The Nationals entered the season with three young pitchers in the starting rotation and added Scott Olsen, 25, via trade and Daniel Cabrera, 27, through free agency to stabilize that group. The pair had made a combined 247 major-league starts prior to this season compared to 43 for everyone else.
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But for this club, at least, things always seem to fall apart. Cabrera was terrible, making just nine starts before acting general manager Mike Rizzo became “tired of watching him.” He was cut on May 27. Olsen, meanwhile, was even worse in his first eight starts as he fought shoulder fatigue. He has since returned and been solid in three starts. But during Olsen’s time on the disabled list, Washington fielded an entire rotation with starters 25 or younger — the elder statesman, Craig Stammen, made his big-league debut May 21.
The group, which also included John Lannan, 24, Jordan Zimmermann, 23, Ross Detwiler, 23, and Shairon Martis, 22, performed reasonably well. Olsen finally returned and Martis and Detwiler have since been demoted to Triple-A. But the seven starters have a combined ERA of 4.95. That ranks 25th in the majors, but is ahead of playoff contenders like Philadelphia and Milwaukee and just behind the New York Yankees (4.76) and New York Mets (4.70).
“We’re still very excited about our prospects going forwards,” said Rizzo. “We believe that we’re still looking at a very good, young starting rotation.”
