Morning reading from soggy Viera
Since 35-year-old catchers aren't the only ones who feel tired when there's a day game after a night game, we'll get right to the links today. In the birdcage liner, I wrote about Adam Dunn's progress at first base. He was honest in saying he had hoped to be further along by now, but he's also optimistic he'll be a viable first baseman soon enough. Nyjer Morgan returned to the Nationals and looked great last night, which is a positive considering how valuable he was to them last year. When Jim Riggleman called Craig Stammen "a good bet" for the rotation, it made it possible to envision the pitching order once the season begins. Pat Listach can take the heat of being a third base coach. Some general observation make up this SI.com postcard from Viera.
By
Adam Kilgore
|
March 26, 2010; 8:30 AM ET
Save & Share:
Previous: In return, Nyjer Morgan looks like his old self
Next: Today's lineup
Posted by: bjvon58 | March 26, 2010 9:06 AM | Report abuse
How do you solve a problem named Dunn? I listened to a couple of minutes the other night. The Detroit announcers were all over Dunn for not making that play, because it was hurting Batista in his effort to make the team. Dunn, as they noted, was the perfect AL DH. His bat is great, but the team won't win championships with him at 1st base. I know the Nats have been talking about extending his contract, but getting maximum value out of Dunn may mean trading him.
I'd love to know how Whitesell and Marrero are doing....
Posted by: fischy | March 26, 2010 9:28 AM | Report abuse
Weather.com says mostly sunny, 75, 15% chance of rain. Thunderstorms possible in the 4pm hour (30%).
Posted by: OldDude | March 26, 2010 9:31 AM | Report abuse
Is it possible that Dunn's poor performance at the plate this spring is a result of his having to spend so much effort and concentration on his first base defense? My impression of him based on comments he's made in the past is that he plays pretty much by instinct rather than by being overly analytical about it. For instance, he claims to not know how or why he has such a good eye at the plate. He just does it. So maybe having to be so analytical about the way he's playing defense is spilling over into his offensive mindset and messing him up.
Posted by: nunof1 | March 26, 2010 9:50 AM | Report abuse
So let's review:
1B: Things aren't going well.
SS: Still up in the air
C: Flores out indefinitely, nice to have Pudge but he won't last 162 games.
RF: God only knows.
Starting rotation: Lannan, a shaky Marquis, and a bunch of other all-too-familiar names until SS arrives.
Bullpen: Who's closing?
Looking like another scary first half of the season. Sure, we see Strasburg and maybe Detwiler by June, but if it's anything like last year, it's all over by then.
Posted by: Meridian1 | March 26, 2010 9:53 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
Any early report on the expected playing conditions at Space Coast Stadium for this afternoon's 1:05 game?