Nats' Pitching Less of a Damper

Despite Single Win, Rotation 'a Lot Better' in Second Week

NEW YORK, April 15 -- Rain began pelting the boroughs of this city early Sunday morning, and by daybreak, when the winds began to pick up as well, it was clear that no baseball would be played here. The postponement of the Washington Nationals' game against the New York Mets not only denied the Nationals their first opportunity for a series win in this young season, but it took the ball from the left hand of rookie Matt Chico, still searching for his first major league victory. The oddity: Considering the way things have gone recently for the maligned Nationals rotation, Chico might have beaten the Mets.

No topic of conversation has defined the Nationals more through spring training and into the season's first two weeks than their starting pitching, seen around baseball as a group of wannabes and never-weres. But quietly in the last week, that group -- John Patterson, Shawn Hill, Chico, Jerome Williams and Jason Bergmann -- has stabilized itself. The starters only have one win -- Hill's seven-inning, two-run outing against the Mets on Saturday -- but they have made games much more competitive and actually given the Nationals a chance.

"Overall," said Hill, "the guys are starting to throw the ball a lot better."

Manager Manny Acta said after an abominable first week -- in which the starters racked up an 8.87 ERA -- that he expected better outcomes the second time through the rotation. The results aren't overpowering, nor do they mean those same pitchers will repeat their performances when they return home for four games this week -- two against Atlanta beginning Monday, followed by two with Philadelphia.

But the numbers are better. Since Patterson faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in his second start on April 7, the starters' ERA is 2.72 -- more than respectable.

"It's been very encouraging the second time around," Acta said Sunday. "Each one of those guys has been better. . . . I think those early problems are behind us."

Though Hill is the only National to complete seven innings thus far, in the seven games since, only Chico -- who went 4 2/3 innings and gave up one earned run in a loss to Atlanta -- failed to finish five, eliminating the early-game blowups that led to so many blowouts the first week of the season.

"They're coming around," pitching coach Randy St. Claire said. "These guys have major league stuff. But they have to stay healthy, and they have to go out and do it."

That starts with Hill (1-2, 2.89 ERA), who has been the Nationals' best pitcher since spring training began. Limited by injuries to nine major league starts since he first came up in 2004, the Nationals believed that if Hill's elbow problems were behind him, there was, as Acta said, "no doubt" he could perform in the majors. Last year, in four starts before his elbow flared up, Hill averaged nearly 6 2/3 innings per outing, posted a 2.42 ERA and allowed opponents a .234 average.

"I have a lot of confidence in this kid," Acta said. "I think he's going to give us a chance every five days."

So he, not Patterson, is the early-season tone-setter. Given that the club's only concerns for him involved his health, and Hill apparently quickly put behind some forearm soreness early in the spring, could he have imagined a better eight weeks, from his first bullpen session in Viera, Fla., through his first three starts?

"Pleasantly surprised," was how Hill described himself. "Not shocked, because I know I can throw the ball. But [I'm] very pleased with how things have gone so far."

Each starter has already faced some sort of adversity and figured out a way to -- if not completely overcome it -- at least put it to the side. Patterson's second and third starts came in frigid conditions -- first at RFK Stadium, then at Shea -- but he managed to at least minimize the damage each time. He still hasn't reached his maximum velocity on his fastball, which is perhaps 93 or 94 mph, but Acta remains patient because Patterson is coming off a year virtually completely wiped out to elbow problems and, as Acta said Sunday, "doesn't have all his arm strength yet." Patterson believes that as the weather warms and he continues to refine his mechanics, the life on his fastball will return.

Chico, 23, has been rushed to the big leagues (one scout said this week he really belongs in Class AA) and has allowed four homers in his two starts. But he has impressed with his composure and his ability to recognize his own mistakes. Williams frustrated himself by walking four men and needing 95 pitches to complete five innings in his last start, but he still limited the Braves to just two runs.

And Bergmann, on the brink of being sent to Class AAA Columbus, put behind his unsightly six-walk performance against Arizona and came back to allow only one hit through six innings against the Braves -- though he did walk four men.

"We're in a position where people are telling us we're going to lose X amount of games," Bergmann said, "and we want to prove them wrong."

The stats, of course, are far from perfect. The rotation's average of 14.08 base runners allowed per nine innings is second worst in the National League. The entire staff's ERA of 5.28 is the second highest in the NL, better than only Philadelphia. But considering how that first week went, and how far the rotation has come, there is some optimism, however tentative, within the clubhouse.

"We've had a couple good starts now," Patterson said. "It's positive. We've just got to let the defense play. We're hitting the ball well. We're putting ourselves in good spots now. I think the guys are getting into the fifth, sixth, seventh inning. We're going to win some games. We're going to be all right."