Today's lineup
First, some roster news: Kevin Mench, as expected, will become the last man off the Nationals bench. He played in Japan last season and hasn't played a game in the majors since 2008, when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Roger Bernadina will still be the Nationals everyday centerfielder, but not tonight against left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who is hell on lefties. Adam Dunn is the only left-hander in there, and Justin Maxwell will lead off and play center.
Nationals
1. Justin Maxwell, CF
2. Ian Desmond, SS
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Adam Dunn, 1B
5. Josh Willingham, LF
6. Michael Morse, RF
7. Ivan Rodriguez, C
8. Alberto Gonzalez, 2B
9. John Lannan, SP
By
Adam Kilgore
|
August 6, 2010; 6:30 PM ET
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Man crush mode continues with JMax making the top of the lineup pathetic again ... Giggles the clown does it again.
Posted by: periculum | August 6, 2010 7:35 PM | Report abuse
I don't think Josh has been caught stealing this year. Sounds like a candidate for leadoff with this group.
Posted by: marathoner | August 6, 2010 7:47 PM | Report abuse
JMAX=0-4 or 0-3 and a walk. Why?
Posted by: TippyCanoe | August 6, 2010 8:02 PM | Report abuse
Lefty or righty, Kershaw or a bum; makes no difference to Justin.
Posted by: Slidell | August 6, 2010 8:22 PM | Report abuse
Trying to be optomistic here - JMax goes 0-3, with a BB, SB, RS & OF Asst.
Lannan needs his "A" game to prove his worth tonight - A quality start would go a long way toward keeping his spot in the current rotation.
Posted by: BinM | August 6, 2010 9:07 PM | Report abuse
@peric:
No 'man-crush' tonight, imo. Who else in that lineup makes better sense in the #1 slot? Desmond, AGonz, maybe Pudge? There might be a slight case for Desmond, but otherwise, fuggeddabouddit.
Posted by: BinM | August 6, 2010 9:23 PM | Report abuse
Mench is a 'loyalty' call-up, imo. There are more deserving players in SYR, in terms of pure statistics - Both Lambin (2B-3B) & Botts (1B-LF) currently have better AAA numbers than Mench, but lack both the 'time served' in the system, and the ML experience that Mench has.
In my view, this was a wasted roster move; I hope I'm proven wrong.
Posted by: BinM | August 6, 2010 9:38 PM | Report abuse
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