Nationals Notebook
Fresh Arms May Enter Rotation Soon
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Sunday, August 23, 2009
This week's addition of Stephen Strasburg to the Washington organization is not going to help the team's pitching staff escape from having the National League's worst earned run average. There are no plans for him to pitch in the majors this season. That doesn't mean, though, that interim manager Jim Riggleman won't look elsewhere for spry arms.
Riggleman said he expects to give some chances to prospects the Nationals call up when teams are allowed to expand their rosters to 40 players on Sept. 1. He said he might give someone like Ross Detwiler or Shairon Martis a chance to log some innings. Some of the Nationals' current starters might get a rest if their inning totals get too high. Coming into Saturday, though, John Lannan (159 innings) was the only one to have thrown more than 100.
"September could get interesting in how we put the innings together," Riggleman said. "There could be some guys coming in from the bullpen to start a game or two. We're not going to overdo it with anybody's innings. The current five guys we have right now, we're not going to exceed the allotted innings they're going to get . . . but one or two of them we might have to hold back, which would mean somebody from the call-up group might get some starts."
Willingham, Guzmán Rest
Both Josh Willingham and Cristian Guzmán were given Saturday night off for what Riggleman termed "a couple of aches and pains."
Although Riggleman said Willingham was not 100 percent, it seemed the 30-year-old left fielder might need a day off to shake his mini-slump. After batting .368 in June and .330 in July, he had gone 7 for 32 (.219) in the past nine games.
"Nobody can stay as hot as he was," Riggleman said. "The best hitters in the game, that's the pace he was on. He was right there with [Albert] Pujols and Manny Ramírez and all those guys and even those guys cool off now and then. It's tough to stay that hot."
Jorge Padilla stepped into the lineup, but Riggleman expects Willingham back Sunday. . . .
The team opened Nationals Park to season ticket holders early Saturday afternoon and Riggleman met with many of them as they walked through the stadium concourse.
"I was really impressed," he said. "We've lost four games in a row, but you would have thought we were on another eight-game winning streak from what's coming out of their mouths."
