Awesome play by CJ but our first basemen have taken a beating with these bad throws. Maybe that's why Mills sat Wallace? :grin:
Lyles looks fantastic tonight. If he is limited to 170 innings, that should be what another 10 starts if he averages 6 innings?
MAn that 6th was just filthy by Lyles .. i know it was the 8, 9 and 1 spot but still . Ever since the homer he has been even more locked in . Just plain destroying right now.
Just tuned in....Corporan, Michaels, Lee and Sanchez connecting for our 2 runs? How unlikely is that? I'll take it though. Lyles in command. Our real #1 ?
Lyles will most likely be a middle of the rotation guy when we are good again. Ace potential is low - not impossible but unlikely.
If Zimmerman can stay healthy, the Nats are going to have a dynamite offense for A LOT of years. That said, Werth is going to handcuff them big time.
And as was the case with CJ last season and any other young players, you can't really define them until they have multiple seasons under their belts. Some people thought CJ was a stud because he hacked away with success last season. Now they're seeing why he's closer to a AAA player. Let a pitcher get a few hundred big league innings under his belt and a hitter get 500-1000 PA before believing too much in what you see, good or bad.
He reminds me of a right-handed Mike Hampton. Seems to have good focus, stuff is based on movement not location. Add a bulldog mentality, and he could have a similiar career. Hampton was basically a middle of the rotation guy who happened to have a couple of big years that got him an overpaid contract. He was never really an "ace". Closest he came to that was his year in NY (nobdoy expected him to have that amazing 1999 for us). In other words, middle of the rotation guys can sometimes have big, almost cy-young type years.
Its almost mind boggling to remember that we had 3 potentially #1 guys on our team at the same time once... Clemmons, Oswalt and Pettitte.
Agreed, Nick. I'm saying that there is greater likelihood that he is a mid-rotation type than an ace if we are going to make projections. Anything can happen though and as your alluding to, he could have some seasons of relative overachievement. The possibilities are endless but there are things that are more likely at this point in terms of what to expect from him.
While I agree, CJ and Lyles were on different trajectories. CJ has always had the same problem with plate discipline all through the minors and while it looked liked he might have finally mastered it, the odds were that he'd regress, we just hoped it wouldn't be this badly. With Lyles he has always been able to master his shortfalls to succeed and that shouldn't change. Ultimately I think a middle of the rotation starter will do just fine with flashes of a number 2 type starter from time to time....I've used the Shane Reynolds comparison.
I just recently looked back on their 2005 season... simply awstruck at all three of their performances that year (especialy Pettite). All three threw 200+ innings, ERA's of 1.87, 2.94, and 2.39 respectively... playing most of their games in a "hitters" park (we all know MMP plays pretty fairly, but bad pitching can really get exposed sometimes here). Add in the bullpen performances of Wheeler/Qualls/Lidge, and that season is a textbook example of how pitching, almost by itself, can lead a team to a pennant.
My point was less about specifics of players and more about the importance of letting a pitcher or position player establish themselves over time before labeling them stuff like "ace" or "3Bman of the future" like a few people were actually doing with CJ last season believe it or not. Regardless of age or potential, let the player get hundreds of innings or PAs under their belt before labeling them. There are some exceptions with truly special talents but those are rare and even then, they need to do it over time. Lots and lots of "sure-fire" prospects turn out to be mediocre or worse in this sport.
