Lawrence 'Never Missed a Start,' Until Now

Nationals pitcher Brian Lawrence stands with General Manager Jim Bowden after learning that he will require surgery on his shoulder. (By Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)

VIERA, Fla.

Outside Space Coast Stadium, the wind blew, drizzle fell and gray clouds covered the skies as a spring training day turned almost raw. Inside, the power went out as the Washington Nationals showered and dressed in their subterranean quarters. Cell phones were held up to provide light. "I guess MLB is cutting our budget again," came a voice from the locker room.

That's the last laugh the Nationals may have for a while. The bad news they got Saturday, that pitcher Brian Lawrence has a torn labrum and will be lost for at least half the season, may prove even more devastating than the team and its fans realize.

The Nats thought they had stolen Lawrence in an offseason trade for Vinny Castilla. He was going to be the crucial, inning-eating replacement for Esteban Loaiza. While Loaiza had the name, Lawrence had numbers.

In five seasons in San Diego, the little-known Lawrence had never missed a start and amassed a career ERA of 4.10, a full 50 points better than Loaiza's 4.60 and comparable to Livan Hernandez's career mark of 4.11. Compared with Lawrence, the rest of the Nats' rotation -- Tony Armas (4.32), Ramon Ortiz (4.72) and Ryan Drese (5.32) -- looks pale.

Sometimes, numbers don't lie. And in 146 starts, the speed-changing, corner-nibbling Lawrence, 29, already was ahead of Loaiza at a similar career juncture and appeared to be the most dependable of 200-inning acquisitions. The slim, 6-foot Lawrence was twice the Padres' Opening Day pitcher, once won 15 games for a lousy Padres club and, although not nearly gifted enough to be a top-of-the-rotation star, was just the kind of ballast the destabilized Washington boat desperately needed.

Lawrence's most attractive attribute was that he, in his words, "never missed a start." Over the last four seasons, he averaged 205 innings. With Hernandez and John Patterson at the top of the rotation, Lawrence's steady competence seemed to limit the Nats' chance of a disastrous '06. For morale's sake, the Nats are lucky they never learned what they had in Lawrence.

In one day, all that has changed. Where are you now, Tomo Ohka? The Nationals, already scrawny in their rotation, are now emaciated. As recently as Friday, the Nats could keep a straight face and still concoct scenarios in which they were a winning team, although Patterson presciently said that injuries to the rotation equaled "instant problems."

One reason the Nationals could take the calculated gamble of trading hitting -- Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge -- plus a pitching prospect for Alfonso Soriano was that Lawrence already was safely in hand. The Padres even picked up part of his salary.

"Even if he's your number five starter, you figure he gives you 200 innings," General Manager Jim Bowden said.

Not anymore. Depending on how bad the labrum tear turns out to be, Lawrence could lose half a year or the whole season.

"Nothing to eat or drink after midnight," a member of the Nationals medical staff said to Lawrence in the clubhouse.