Major League Baseball

Washington Post national baseball writer Dave Sheinin was online Thursday, May 22 at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions and comments from around the major leagues.

The transcript follows.

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Dave Sheinin: Howdy, folks, and welcome to another baseball chat. Plenty out there to bat around (so to speak) -- the Nationals' astoundingly anemic offense, the Orioles' surprising start, Mike Piazza's retirement, Jon Lester's no-hitter, Jim Bowden's flatulent comments (if you missed that, I urge you to check out Nationals Journal immediately), or the turmoil in Detroit, the Bronx and Queens. And much, much more. Let's get to it...

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Harristown, MD: Has there ever been a worse hitting outfield than the Nats in Major League history? Even the White Sox Hitless Wonders of 1906 hit a little bit.

Dave Sheinin: Ah, a perfect question to get us started. Let's consult our trusty STATS LLC advanced search feature...

Nationals OFs are hitting .205/.292/.283 this season (that's BA/OBP/SLG, for the uninitiated out there).

The all-time worst batting average for a team's outfielders (since 1974) is .221 by the 1991 Detroit Tigers.

The all-time worst OBP is .273 by the 1981 Toronto Blue Jays.

And the all-time worst slugging pct is .326 by the 1979 Oakland A's.

So, to answer your question -- if this keeps up, the Nationals would indeed have the worst-hitting outfield in history (or at least since 1974).

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Nats Clubhouse: Why don't the beat writers talk about how fractured the Nationals clubhouse is right now? They've hinted at it, but its not their job to hold back on information like that, is it?

Dave Sheinin: Hmmmm. Are you a clubhouse employee or something? Because unless you're in the Nationals' clubhouse more often than I am (and thus, seeing something I don't see), I think you may be overstating the issue. I don't detect a "fractured" clubhouse -- or, at least it's no worse than would be expected for a team that is eight games below .500. There are certainly groups of players who seem to prefer the company of teammates with similar backgrounds -- which is perfectly understandable, and certainly not unique to the Nationals. But I don't see any turmoil or rancor bubbling beneath the surface. I'd be curious to know where you're coming from with this question.

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13th St. S.E.: Do the Lerners believe that we owe them something for bringing baseball back to D.C.?

At every turn they seem to think we should bow and give them their every wish despite the predicted $45 million operating profit and ohhh a free stadium. This latest dispute over the $100k a day penalties is ridiculous.

Thanks for doing the chats.

Dave Sheinin: Wow, that Marc Fisher column today was an eye-opener, no? Definitely not going to make the Nationals' ownership look very good.

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Providence, RI: They're slow, have no starting pitching and are mediocre in the field. Are the Yankees tailspinning to mediocrity?

Dave Sheinin: In a nutshell, yes. But here's the thing about the 2008 Yankees -- from everything I heard over the winter and the spring, this is not wholly unexpected up there (well, at least for everyone not named Steinbrenner). I mean, the Yankees sort of telegraphed their intentions to rebuild when they held onto their young pitching, rather than give it away for Johan Santana. It's not as if they were fully writing off the 2008 season, but it seemed to me they were prepared to take a short-term hit in the interests of their long-term strategy.

So this is a transitional year in the Bronx (I hesistate to use the phrase "rebuilding year," since we're still talking about a team with a $200 million payroll). They will be in much better position after this season, when some of their huge contracts (Giambi, Abreu, Pettitte, etc.) finally come off the books.

And heck, we also can't discount the possibility they'll wind up trading for Mark Teixeira this summer and changing the dynamic.

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Boonsboro, MD: I don't see the Nats try much 'smallball' in an attempt to manufacture runs. Am I missing it, or does Acta not believe in it? I am tired of those insurmountable 3 run deficits...

Dave Sheinin: Manny Acta is not a big "small ball" guy. He's very sabermetrically advanced, in the sense that he knows which situations call for, say, a sacrifice bunt (very few situations, in fact) and which situations don't. And besides, if you're down by three runs, as you say, you want to play for a big inning, not play for one run. Problem is, the Nats at this point aren't capable of the former.

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Baltimore: Will the Orioles finish above .500, and does that bother DC fans a lot since we are clearly better than they are this year?

Dave Sheinin: No, I don't believe the Orioles will finish above .500 this season. They've played a fairly weak schedule so far (only two games against Boston, for example) and don't (in my opinion) have the pitching to hang in there for the long haul.

In fact, here's my bold prediction for the day: When the season is over, the Nationals will have a better record than the Orioles.

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Sec 114 Row E: To the comment from 13th and E - NOT A FREE STADIUM.

It's not FREE. The Nats have a 30 year lease, pay rent, and pay taxes on every penny spent at the Stadium.

Can we make this any clearer? Can the Post stop spreading this misinformation?

Don't forget the fact that the Post has reported that the relationship with the Nationals is already generating revenues that exceed expectations. This is a money-maker for the city.

Dave Sheinin: A fine counterpoint. Thanks, Sec 114 Row E.

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Annandale, Va.: The Mariners are a big disappointment.

How can they shake up the team? Would the O's have taken Clement instead of Adam Jones?

What can M's do? Fire sale? Who else will have one?

I hope the Pirates trade Jack Wilson to somebody.

Dave Sheinin: It may be time to blow things up in Seattle. This is a major underachiever. Two questions boggle my mind: 1) How can they keep running Jose Vidro out there at DH with his .558 OPS? and 2) How does GM Bill Bavasi hold onto his job?

As for the Clement/Jones question -- no, the Orioles would not have taken Clement, because they already have a catcher-of-the-future in Matt Wieters, who is currently obliterating the Carolina League.

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Sec 114 Row E: Shiner,

I've played enough ball to know a good at bat from a bad at bat. Watching the Nats games - I see bad at bat after bad at bat...

Given that - who is to blame? If the hitting coach's messages aren't getting through, do you can the coach, or start sending guys like Dukes/Pena to AAA for some adjustments to their swings and their attitudes?

Dave Sheinin: By "good at bat," we typically mean working the count, taking pitches, battling a pitcher, fouling off borderline two-strike pitches, etc. Simply put, the Nationals don't have a lot of guys capable of doing that -- particularly when Nick Johnson is on the DL. Cristian Guzman, for example, has never been capable of doing that, and isn't likely to all of a sudden start doing it.

But that said, some of the at bats you're seeing from the Nationals are downwright awful. An example that springs immediately to mind: Felipe Lopez in the final at-bat of Tuesday night's 1-0 loss. Here was Brad Lidge, losing command of the strike zone and practically inviting runners to work the count and draw walks -- not to mention putting himself in danger of throwing a slider in the dirt, which would have allowed the tying run to score from third -- and what does Lopez do? He swings at the first pitch. Ground ball. Inning over. Game over.

The obvious person to blame here is hitting coach Lenny Harris, and I was surprised to see Jim Bowden go out of his way to praise Harris yesterday. But I also am willing to admit I don't know for certain that Harris is the problem. It may be more complex than that. It's just odd that so many hitters are all performing so poorly (and in many cases, far below their career norms) at the same time.

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Boonsboro, Md.: Lots of questions today....

The smallball answer was my point. The Nats are incapable of a big inning, so chip away and keep it close, rather than have men on third with 1 out and not scoring!

Dave Sheinin: I see your point. Let's take an example: With no outs and a runner on second, in the second inning of a game, and with your No. 6 hitter at the plate, it's generally a bad idea to bunt. You're taking yourself out of a potentially big inning -- and mathematically speaking, the out you give away is more damaging than the benefit of the base gained. I think Manny Acta is aware of this as much as any manager in the game.

But I think what you're saying is: Given the state of the Nationals' offense, maybe he SHOULD bunt there.

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Not a Yankee fan: When are we going to get instant replay in MLB? Not for balls and strikes but for simple things like home runs and foul balls. Alex was robbed last night (really I'm an O's fan).

Dave Sheinin: This was a huge week for backers of replay. In the past few days, we've seen no fewer than three home run calls that were dead wrong -- Carlos Delgado, Geovany Soto and now Alex Rodriguez.

It really shouldn't be much of a debate. Use replay to get the calls right for home runs only. It would not be a huge intrusion. It's the right thing to do.

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Laurel, Md.: Just a comment...

In decades of watching baseball on TV, I don't think I ever learned as much about pitching as when Palmer and Sutton shared the booth last weekend.

Of course it helps they talked about players from my heydey as a fan.

Dave Sheinin: I agree. They are both very insightful, and the shared booth seemed to bring the best out of both of them.

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Section 321: Hi Dave - I suppose your question box is scalding hot after last night's debacle. I'm a four-year season ticket holder that can handle the Nats losing baseball games, but I can't tolerate the continued incompetence being displayed in so many areas by this team, and I sense alot of the fan base is similarly fed-up. This ownership/mgmt. group had a great opportunity in this town, and they're in danger of squandering it. Time for changes; Now.

Dave Sheinin: Hi, Section 321. I suspect you speak for a good number of your fellow fans. Last night in particular was tough to watch.

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Playoff teams in last place: The Tigers and the Mariners were thought to be serious contenders this year. Was it somethng that happened to the teams or was the speculation flawed?

Dave Sheinin: I'm surprised by the Tigers, not so surprised by the Mariners. But this is the season in which youth prevails -- the Rays and Diamondbacks are two of the youngest teams in baseball, and both are enjoying tremendous seasons. The Tigers (along with the Yankees) are among the oldest teams, and they look awful.

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Capitol Hill: Have you had a chance to watch the Dodgers' Blake DeWitt? A very impressive rookie season from a player who wasn't supposed to be in the majors any time soon.

Dave Sheinin: I've seen a little bit of DeWitt (on TV, not in person) -- enough to be intrigued. However, I'm a little skeptical of what we've seen so far. His career minor league numbers: .279/.333/.444. His career major league numbers (which is to say, his 2008 numbers for the Dodgers): .325/.390/.504.

You don't typically see players outperform their minor league numbers by such an extreme margin (actually, Nationals catcher Jesus Flores is another example), so I'm guessing DeWitt will fall back as the season goes on.

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Secttion 215 Row A: Is it me? Or has Bob Carpenter lost it? I thought he did a fine job last year but this year he seems to be very unsure of himself, much more of a homer and repeating himself frequently. (If I hear that Elijah Dukes has 3% body fat one more time....)

Dave Sheinin: Honestly, I don't see enough of MASN's telecasts to make a judgment on Carpenter one way or the other. However, I am aware of the fact a lot of fans seem to dislike him -- although, to be fair, it's usually the haters who are most vocal. Anyone else want to chime in here?

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Dave Sheinin: OK, folks, we ran out of time before we could engage in a major debate over the quality of Bob Carpenter's game-calling on MASN. Maybe we'll try it again another time. Thanks for stopping by our chat this week. See you next time.

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