An ugly start to the road trip last night as the Nats lost to the Braves, 10-2. But at least they get to rebound against old friend Tim Hudson. It’s not like he has a 10-1 career record with a 1.49 ERA against them or anything. His latest gem against Washington came on July 28 at Nationals Park in a 3-1 Atlanta victory. Hudson pitched into the eighth inning that night, allowing a run on seven hits and a walk.
It’s already been a busy week for the Nats, who signed No. 1 draft pick Bryce Harper, among others, on Monday night. They will place outfielder Josh Willingham on the 15-day disabled list Thursday and recall outfielder Nyjer Morgan. Despite consistent denials, it was pretty obvious last homestand that Willingham was in trouble with the meniscus damage in his left knee. He looked about 45 years old running the bases. He’s even missed a few balls in the outfield that you could argue he’d have gotten to earlier in the season. And while his numbers are still good, Willingham has dropped from a .921 OPS on July 7 to .848 now. The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore reported yesterday that season-ending surgery is likely.
Recommended Stories
That’s a bummer. Willingham had teamed with Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman to give Washington a strong middle of the order. It was one of the team’s few consistent strengths. Those three have carried the offense all year and Dunn and Zimmerman will be exposed more than ever now. Ivan Rodriguez just isn’t a good enough offensive player at this point in his career to protect Dunn. Michael Morse, meanwhile, has six hits in 47 at-bats in August. He’ll see plenty of playing time the rest of the season. But again – that kind of production won’t help. Fellow outfielder Roger Bernadina hasn’t exactly been tearing it up lately, either. He’s 9-for-42 in August.
The Nats have also recalled rookie catcher Wilson Ramos, the prospect they acquired in the Matt Capps trade with Minnesota last month. He’ll serve as the back-up to Rodriguez. Wil Nieves is back home waiting for his wife to give birth to their first child. Ramos has performed better at the plate with Triple-A Syracuse since the trade. Remember, with the Twins he was blocked by Joe Mauer so maybe a shot at some big-league playing time in the near future has energized Ramos. Or maybe it’s just a small sample size. Either way, the Nats are happy to let Ramos get his feet wet. It will be his second stint in the big leagues this season and while Ramos’ offense has taken a hit in the last year the 23-year-old appears big-league ready defensively. Here are tonight’s lineups:
Nationals:
Bernadina – CF
Desmond – SS
Zimmerman – 3B
Dunn – 1B
Rodriguez- C
Kennedy – 2B
Morse – RF
Harris – LF
Hernandez – SP
Braves:
Infante – 2B
Heyward – RF
Prado – 3B
McCann – C
Hinske – 1B
Cabrera – LF
Gonzalez – SS
Ankiel – CF
Hudson – SP
Follow me on Twitter @bmcnally14
