| 01 April 2011
Rizzo Addresses Opening Day Crowd
Positives From Last Night
1. Good crowd despite the weather.
2. Nats got on base more than the Braves did, chalk the loss up to untimely hitting.
3. Nats pitching looked great, Livan was up to his old antics and the bullpen was lights out.
4. Adam LaRoche made a great play at first base, giving fans hope that we have a great new glove around the bag.
5. Danny Espinosa started the season strong with two hits.
It Was An Emergency, Why Didn't Riggleman Use Stairs?
In last night's Opening Day loss to the Atlanta Braves, the Nationals pinch hit Laynce Nix in the bottom of the 7th, down two, with two outs and a runner on second. Nix went on to strikeout on three big hacks, squandering the Nationals best chance to score late in the game. Immediately questions were risen on why manager Jim Riggleman decided to use Nix in that situation instead of pinch-hitting extraordinaire Matt Stairs. Here is the explanation he gave after the game:
“That was a tough call,” Riggleman said. “I felt if I put Stairs up there, they really wouldn’t let him hit. I thought they would kind of dance around him. I thought we had a better chance of getting a left-hander a pitch there by putting Nix up there. I had a confidence that Laynce would get him.”
Riggleman was afraid that Stairs' reputation would force the Braves to walk him with first base open. This is a logical assumption; Stairs is a much better hitter than Nix and has built a second career off of opportunities like the one presented last night. That being said, one might argue that the club should play to their strengths, and not adjust their game plan based on what the other team might do. Matt Stairs was brought in for a reason, and that reason was for situations like the one last night. The Nationals were pinch hitting for a sure out, the pitcher. The goal then should not have been to tie the game up with one swing in that at bat, but to keep the inning alive and get to the top of the order. Had Stairs walked, like Riggleman expected, hen the Nationals would have two runners on with the potential go-ahead run represented in Ian Desmond at the plate.
One explanation, of course, is that Riggleman was worried that Desmond, who had been innefective so far in the game, was having an off night.
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