If the Nationals win and nobody sees it, does it count? E-mail
Written by William Yoder   
Monday, 20 April 2009 23:53

zimmermann

It was the game many Washington Nationals fans circled on their calendar before the season began, the day prized prospect Jordan Zimmerman would make his Major League debut as the teams 5th starter.

Maybe now the team can finally get their season started with.

The 22 year old pitched six strong innings scattering six hits and only allowed two earned runs, both coming off a mistake pitch in the rain to Matt Diaz which resulted in a two run homer.

Aside from that one gaff, Zimmerman looked better than any Nationals starter had all season. He threw 51/72 pitches for strikes, only walked one batter (while pitching in basically awful conditions and after warming up twice), and his fastball just looked plain nasty.

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Rob Dibble densely proclaimed it “The best start to a career he’s ever seen.”

Stupid…but not outrageous. Most importantly Zimmermann showed he could pitch in tough spots and had more than just good stuff. Nats fans need something to get excited about and this should be it. Zimmermann will of course have his troubles but he will also make an impact on this team and barring a meltdown should compete for a top rotation spot next season.

In other news Hanrahan ‘earned’ a save. Although saves are marked by their high pressure situations and pitching at midnight in front of literally only a few dozen fans isn’t really pressure. But it might be what the guy needed. He had some control problems, only throwing 7/15 pitches for strikes, which is a pretty lousy sign. Relief pitchers need to get ahead in the count, they only have a few chances to get batters out and if they’re behind in the count, then they have to be just about perfect to get them out.

Comments (5)Add Comment
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written by poppayoder, April 21, 2009
Let's consider last night the real opening day. It was a nasty night after a dreary day (over an inch of rain). I thought the game had been rained out and was surprised to see the lights on.
We have a new ace, a new bullpen, and twice as many wins as we had 24 hours ago!! Let's go Nats!
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written by The Oriole Post, April 21, 2009
I live in Silver Spring, and although an Oriole fan, I follow the Nationals closely, and also have season tickets there. I don't know why both teams played the game considering the conditions, but the win sure meant a lot to everyone who witnessed it.

This win was one that was needed, not only for the fans, but for the esteem of the franchise. Nice to see some good news come out of there after a scary first two weeks.
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written by Reed "CK", April 21, 2009
Glad the "Natinals" got the win. We really need help in the bullpen. All this losing coupled with the Caps recent falterings has been quite hard to bear.
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written by Lucky Jarmes, April 21, 2009
Losing Beimel hurts. That dive was an incredible play, but ouch. Rivera back up.

Regardless, that win felt great. It meant a lot to me getting home from work and watching every bit of it, it meant a hell of a lot for a reeling team, and it meant the world to the 20 people left in the stadium, who provided the best "Laaarrrryyy" chant I have ever heard.

On my way to go see Martis try and follow that one up.
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written by fishtoprecords, April 21, 2009
I watched it. I count. Of course, I did it from my sofa.

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