Used to be that if you were exiled from the Washington Nationals rotation, you would have to seriously think about finding another way to make a living. But over the last two seasons, starting pitching for the Nationals hasn't been all that bad. Matt Chico was a part of that surprise last year ... but this season things haven't been going all that well for the young lefty. So he, his 0-5 record, and his 6.87 ERA have been sent to the bullpen in favor of Mike O'Connor.
"We just want to release Matt from some of that tension that he's having every five days going out there," Manager Manny Acta said. "We want to give O'Connor a shot. He pitched very well in Triple-A."
Chico, 24, has not made a relief appearance since his second professional season, 2004. But he is 0-5 with a 6.87 ERA this season and is the only member of a surprisingly dependable Washington rotation who is under-performing. He also admitted to pressing, a problem he hopes will subside in the bullpen.
"When I was starting, I was trying to do too much," Chico said. "I was trying to throw five wins in one game."
Yeah, trying to win five games in one does sound like there's some underlying tension that Chico's been feeling. If it's tension that Manny wants him to release, maybe they could send him to the massage therapist that Dmitri Young's been seeing.
(You think perhaps being "sent to the bullpen" is just an elaborate Washington euphemism for a massage?)
With nearly a month of the baseball season in the books, the Washington Nationals pretty much are what we thought they would be -- a bad team (9-17) wallowing in the cellar of the National League East. Just why they are struggling so much is more of a surprise.
The starting pitching has actually been very strong. Odalis Perez, John Lannan and Tuesday night's starter Tim Redding all have ERAs under 4.00. The offense, despite battle-tested pros like Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson and young hitters with upside like Lastings Milledge, is really scuffling. Cristian Guzman is the only regular hitting over .300. Milledge is the only other player hitting over .255. Ouch.
That's especially hurt the Nationals in the power department. They have 14 home runs as a team, the second fewest in the NL. They rank 14th in the league in doubles (44) and 15th in slugging percentage (.334). And unlike last year, it doesn't appear they can blame the ballpark. Nationals Park seems to play a lot more neutral than RFK, which was a definite pitcher's park.
Manager Manny Acta, one of the more statistically-inclined skippers in the league, isn't worrying too much yet. "The power numbers will come," said Acta before tonight's game with the Braves. "The only reason [the middle-of-the-order hitters] don't have five, six, seven homers is because of the batting averages.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Chicago Cubs (12-6) vs. New York Mets (10-7) - 6:00PM Est. ESPN
If you think Cubs fans are obnoxious to begin with (as a White Sox fan I kind of agree with Marty Brennaman's assessment of Cubdom, but at the same time, I don't place the blame on all Cubs fans as much as the morons who frequent the bleachers. And Eamonn.), you should hang around them when they're in first place.
I mean, after beating the Pirates yesterday, the first question Aramis Ramirez had for the media after the game was "Did the Cardinals win?" Hey, Aramis? It's April 21st. Let's hold off on the scoreboard watching for now, okay? It's a little early to worry about blowing division leads, and besides, even if the Cubs do win the division and get to the World Series, they'll probably just throw it.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
Milwaukee Brewers (79-76) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (73-82)-8:05PM Est.
If the Brewers are going to pull off a crazy last ditch effort to take the NL Central away from the Cubs, they can't afford to make any mistakes from here out. They're currently 3.5 games behind the Cubs with only seven games left to play. That means if they finish their season by winning their last seven games, the Cubs have to go 3-3 to force a playoff game. So as you can see, Milwaukee can't afford any more losses. Dave Bush gets the start for the Brewers, and he hasn't picked up a win in his last three starts. He did pitch well in his last start though, going six innings and allowing only a run against Houston, but he didn't factor into the decision. Against the Cardinals, Bush is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA. Adam Wainwright will start for the Cardinals, whose season may be over, but maybe they'll take some solace in eliminating Milwaukee. Though, if the Cardinals lose these three games, there will be plenty of Cubs fans who think it's some kind of huge conspiracy spearheaded by the evil Tony LaRussa.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Toronto Blue Jays (76-75) vs. Boston Red Sox (90-62) - 7:07PM Est. Does anybody want to make the playoffs this season? Judging by the actions of most division leaders, I don't think they do. Just look around. The Mets are losing, the Cubs and Brewers can't take a lead, and the Red Sox have allowed the Yankees to creep within 2.5 games of them. All season it looked as if the AL East would be the only division in the American League without a race, and now it's the only division that hasn't been decided. The division lead isn't the only thing the Red Sox are messing with either. Thanks to their three-game slide, they currently have only a .5 game lead on Cleveland and Los Angeles for homefield advantage in the playoffs. So tonight it will be up to Clay Bucholz to save the team. It's the rook's first start since his no-hitter nearly three weeks ago. The Red Sox don't need another no-hitter tonight, just a win. Jesse Litsch starts for Toronto, and he's not liking September very much. Litsch is 0-3 with an 11.12 ERA this month, and opponents are hitting .396 against him.
Mike Bacsik is very close to being called up to the major leagues to pitch for the Washington Nationals. But if I was Bacsik, I wouldn't leave the house. You see, the whole reason Bacsik is on his way to the show is because practically every other Nationals starter has fallen to injury. First is was John Patterson. Then Shawn Hill. Jerome Williams came off the DL on the 15th to only last two innings before returning.
And now it's Jason Bergmann, who recently came within six outs of throwing a no-hitter, is on now the disabled list with inflammation in his throwing elbow. So that's four-fifths of his rotation, in addition to Ryan Wagner and Luis Ayala, on the DL. Your starting rotation is now Matt Chico, Jason Simontacchi, Levale Speigner, and Bacsik. Yet this team, amazingly, has won five out of six.
We wondered what was in the Wheaties of the Nationals pitching ... now we know: elbow inflammation. Don't eat those Wheaties, Mike.
Two in a row? Break em' up! The Washington Nationals have all of a sudden become spunky and plucky and any other adjective that you can come up with that sounds vaguely similar.
Of course, you can credit Dmitri Young who went three for four with two doubles and two RBI's ... and had a new uniform number for a night, and some divine intervention on his side:
The Washington Nationals' first baseman was scheduled to wear Robinson's No. 42 Sunday along with most of Major League Baseball to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut. But a storm that struck the east coast and postponed the Nationals' game at New York forced Young to reschedule his tribute. "That was an out-of-body experience. Jackie Robinson was in my soul tonight and he was the one that played," said Young, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored in Nationals' victory over Atlanta at RFK Stadium.
Heartwarming as a figurative feeling ... but if Young had stolen a base on Monday, I would have believed more of a paranormal Ghostbusters kind of scenario where Jackie Robinson would have really thrust his soul into Dmitri Young.
It is said about good teams that they find ways to win when their go to guys have an off night. The Nationals are becoming the exact opposite. They're starting to find ways to lose when their achilles heel is a strong point.
Their starting pitching was not the problem in their 8-0 loss to the Braves on Tuesday night. Rookie Matt Chico had given up only a home run to Andruw Jones through the first four innings. He should have been out of the fifth as well. But Ronnie Belliard dropped a pop-up much like the one caught in this picture, and the Braves scored three unearned runs with two outs to knock Chico out of the game. With the Nats bats asleep, the rest of the game was pretty much academic.
It's becoming increasingly evident that this is going to be an ugly, ugly season for the Washington Nationals. Here's a nugget for you: The Nationals, after eight games, have not yet sent a batter to the plate with the team in the lead. With a statistic like that, it's amazing the Nationals have a win.
Meanwhile for the Braves, Tim Hudson looks gosh darn good. His sinker was darting nicely, and he threw a back-up slider that fooled Brian McCann to the point he almost didn't catch the ball (you know you're going well when you fool your catcher with a pitch he called). Jeff Francoeur drove in five runs including the two that knocked Chico out of the game. As for Andruw Jones, he puts himself in the conversation as to who will top Hank Aaron'sBarry Bonds' Alex Rodriguez's home run record. Jones is now at 343 career before the age of 30, which was more than Aaron's 342 at the same point. Of course at the rate Alex is hitting them this season, Andruw is going to have to consider a free agent deal at Coors Field to have a shot at catching him.
This time Astacio was signed out of a different sense of desperation -- the thought that the Nationals may have a real problem putting major league pitchers out on the mound on a regular basis in 2007. And say what you will about Astacio. He is a major league pitcher, albeit a 37-year-old who, at this stage, is not very good.
I guess from that, we can forget about that whole "every team has hope in spring training" thing, eh?
Not to rehash old decisions and bring back inner pain, but you think some people within the Nats' organization are regretting not pulling the trigger on a trade involving Alfonso Soriano last season when they had the chance? Maybe then they wouldn't have a problem "putting major league pitchers out on the mound on a regular basis." Instead, you have Pedro Astacio: The Sequel.
Used to be that if you were exiled from the Washington Nationals rotation, you would have to seriously think about finding another way to make a living. But over the last two seasons, starting pitching for the Nationals hasn't been all that bad. Matt Chico was a part of that surprise last year ... but this season things haven't been going all that well for the young lefty. So he, his 0-5 record, and his 6.87 ERA have been sent to the bullpen in favor of Mike O'Connor.
Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in 
Mike Bacsik is very close to being called up to the major leagues to pitch for the Washington Nationals. But if I was Bacsik, I wouldn't leave the house. You see, the whole reason Bacsik is on his way to the show is because practically every other Nationals starter has fallen to injury. First is was John Patterson. Then Shawn Hill. Jerome Williams came off the DL on the 15th to only last two innings before returning. 
Two in a row? Break em' up! The Washington Nationals have all of a sudden become spunky and plucky and any other adjective that you can come up with that sounds vaguely similar.
It is said about good teams that they find ways to win when their go to guys have an off night. The Nationals are becoming the exact opposite. They're starting to find ways to lose when their achilles heel is a strong point.
Between John Patterson, the resurgent Shawn Hill, and the 
