Strong-Arm Tactics
Nats Farmhands Flush With Talent

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

There was a time when Randy Knorr, the manager of the Class A Potomac Nationals, would dread when his pitchers started a hitter with two consecutive balls. Any batter would know, right then, that a fastball was on its way, and he would likely be able to crush it.

"I wanted to pull the guys off the field," Knorr said yesterday. "I was afraid one of the fielders might get hurt."

Things have changed, not only at Potomac, but throughout the Washington Nationals' minor league system. Already this season, Knorr has sent three promising pitchers -- Jordan Zimmermann, Cory VanAllen and Zech Zinicola -- on to Class AA Harrisburg. That still leaves him with talented pitchers in his rotation, with more on the way. And that doesn't account for top pitching prospect Collin Balester, who at 21 already is pitching at Class AAA Columbus, a step away from the major league club.

The pitching in Washington's minor league system was, as recently as two seasons ago, laughed at. Now, it is respected.

"We've got the ability in fastball counts to throw fastballs by the hitters," Knorr said. "Talent-wise, arm strength, we've got guys who can pitch. Before, we couldn't put them away. Now, we have strikeout ability. I'm not worried about hitters squaring up balls and killing our fielders."

The pitching prospects throughout the Nationals' system are promising enough that General Manager Jim Bowden, asked to pick one player that might arrive in Washington later this summer, said he couldn't do it.

"I could give you half a dozen," Bowden said, "and I'd probably be right on all of them."

Though Balester, who is 2-2 with a 4.13 ERA at Columbus, is closer to the majors, the Nationals have shown they are not afraid to reward pitchers who perform well. Zimmermann, VanAllen and Zinicola are the latest examples. Last year, left-hander John Lannan began the season with Potomac -- and ended up in the majors.

"It was kind of crazy," Lannan said. "But I wouldn't change anything about it. I'm just glad I got the opportunity."

The pitchers currently on the move are trying to focus on their next step, taking on the prospect-rich Eastern League for Harrisburg. But VanAllen, for instance, was teammates with Lannan at Potomac last year. The two remain friends. VanAllen, a left-hander, knows that while he's in Harrisburg trying to improve, Lannan will make his 13th major league start Thursday in Houston.

"I think it'd be crazy for any of us to say we didn't pay attention to that and think about what happened with John last year," VanAllen said yesterday by phone. "I think the important thing to do is kind of stay focused on the present and control what we can control. John's situation shows that if you do that, the franchise will reward you. It's definitely run through my mind, though."

VanAllen, Zimmermann and Zinicola are coming at their promotions from different angles. VanAllen, 23, was a fifth-round pick from Baylor in the 2006 draft who went 4-10 with a 4.59 ERA in 24 starts with low-Class A Hagerstown and Potomac last season. But in spring training this season, Spin Williams, the Nationals' coordinator of minor league pitching, asked him how he felt about working on a slider.

"I said I'd do whatever they wanted me to do," VanAllen said. The results in the first month at Potomac were spectacular, a 3-0 record and 0.66 ERA based on the command of his fastball and smart use of his change-up and developing slider.

Zimmermann, who will turn 22 this month, is a bit different. Taken in the second round of last year's draft out of Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point, he had an outstanding professional debut with short-season Class A Vermont, going 5-2 with a 2.38 ERA. His performance there got him ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the Nationals' system in the offseason by the trade magazine Baseball America.

Internally, the Nationals had considerable debate about where Zimmermann belonged this spring. Bowden argued for Harrisburg, director of player development Bob Boone and others for Potomac. "I deferred," Bowden said. But after Zimmermann went 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA for Potomac, Bowden promoted him.

"Jim asked me if he could pitch at Double-A," Knorr said. "I mean, I can't say no. Nobody can touch him here."

Zinicola, 23, is the only reliever in the group, and perhaps the strangest case. A sixth-round pick in 2006, he was the organization's minor league pitcher of the year that season.

"He was on the fast track for our bullpen," Bowden said.

Last year, though, was disastrous. Zinicola went 0-4 with a 5.46 ERA for Harrisburg. He lost both his velocity and his command.

"I would ask him how he was doing," Knorr said, "and he'd say, 'Just trying to get better.' That got old. At some point, there was enough of that. I just told him, 'You are better. Now go out and do it.' It was a confidence thing."

In nine appearances this year, including one at Harrisburg, Zinicola hasn't allowed a run, and opponents are hitting .075 against him.

Despite the varied roads to their promotions, Knorr said he noticed a similar trait in all three pitchers.

"They all had that look in their eye, that desire to get to the big leagues," Knorr said. "Some guys get here and are just happy to be here. They weren't. They have a goal to get to the big leagues, and they think they can. Those guys were the best."

Will any of them be the next Lannan, who has a 3.74 ERA in his six starts this season and doesn't appear headed back to the minors -- ever?

"All three of them have an outside shot of pitching for us this year," Bowden said.

And they are not alone. Balester could. Last year's first-round pick, lefty Ross Detwiler, is struggling a bit at Potomac, where he is 1-2 with a 5.18 ERA, but his potential is perhaps unmatched in the organization. And youngsters such as Jack McGeary and Josh Smoker, high school lefties selected last year, haven't even begun their minor league seasons.

"We have tons of talent at each level," VanAllen said. "I know it's hard to make room for us, but I'm definitely grateful that they didn't waste any time. The results are definitely rewarded."