For the last several years the Washington Nationals have been in a position to sell at the trade deadline, and have held firm.

Some may say this decision was admirable, some may say it was stupid.

Regardless of your belief on the matter, the possibility remains that the Nationals will be dealing several key players in their roster to prepare the future.

Who may be dealt?

Nick Johnson
 

Nick Johnson is in the last year of a three-year, $16.5 million contract. At the age of 30, going on 31, Johnson is probably at the peak of his career and has a lot to offer competing Major League teams. Most notably, Johnson can provide solid defense and a very strong bat at first base. The lefty is batting .305 this season but more importantly is getting on base at .415.
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Jordan Zimmermann has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 19 (his last start), with right elbow pain.

This is quite a little scare for the Nationals as Zimmermann was the clubs to prospect going into 2009 and has proven to have the talent to soon be the Nationals best pitcher.

Elbow pain is tricky. It can sometimes be nothing, or as we have seen with Shawn Hill, it can sometimes mean the absolute end of a career.

The good news for the Nationals, and for Zimmermann, is that this problem was caught early. Zimmermann had struggled in his last three starts, allowing 13 runs in his last 16 innings pitched. This of course is a much higher rate than the amount of runs he was giving up in the middle of the season, proof that the elbow problem was effecting his delivery.

Hopefully this is nothing rest can’t fix.

It is not likely that this injury is the cause of overwork. In 2007 and 2008 he pitched 134 innings in both seasons between single, double, and triple A. This yea he has only pitched 96 innings between triple A and the majors.

The Nationals have not set a timetable for his return.
 

Taking Zimmerman’s spot in the rotation will be starting pitcher Collin Ballester. Ballester had 15 starts for the Nationals last season where he posted a 3-7 record and a 5.51 ERA. Through 19 starts in Syracuse this year he is 7-9 with a 4.35 ERA.

Many had expected Ballester to make the big league club out of spring training this year, and there were high hopes for his development. He quickly squashed those dreams with a poor camp, and an even more disappointing performance in Syracuse. The big righty will get his chance now however as injuries have limited the options of the Nationals front office. This very well may be Ballester’s last real shot at maintaining his prospect status.

The Washington Nationals pitching staff came to play Wednesday night as they kept an injured but powerful Mets line up to four hits, winning 3-1.

Craig Stammen started the game for the Nats trying to match his teammate, John Lannan, who completed the shutout the night before. Stammen would not get a shutout but would record yet another quality start as he pitched 7.1 innings strong, allowing only four hits and one run.

This start was Stammen’s fifth consecutive quality start, hopefully a sign for Nationals fans that their young rookie has turne the corner. In the month of July Stammen is 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP and only three walks.

The bullpen came in as Bergmann and Beimel recorded the last two outs of the eighth inning. Mike MacDougal came in to slam the door on the Mets for his sixth consecutive save.

At the plate, the Nationals managed to convert three runs out of eight hits.

Josh Willingham played up his trade value as he went 4-4 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored. The home run, Willingham’s 13^th, was his first non-solo shot of the year.

The Nationals will go head to head today with the St. Louis Cardinals in a one game make up for a rain out earlier in the year.

We recently received an email from a devoted fan who is trying to help the cause of getting the Washington Nationals first overall pick, Stephen Strasburg, to sign. He has set up an online petition HERE, to try and convey the Washington Nationals front office to make the signing.

Hooorraaay Vigilante General Managers!!!!

Again, sign the petition here. 

As we said here a little over a month ago, John Lannan, a New York Native, owns the state of New York. In his two previous starts against New York teams he had pitched into the ninth in each, showing complete dominance.

He continued the trend last night, as the lenky lefty dominated the Mets; pitching a complete game shut out allowing only seven hits while striking out one. The Nats won 4-0.

On the other side of the hill Oliver Perez put in a rare mediocre night. The 27-year-old lefty has been notorious for his inconsistency through the year. One year you will see an Oliver with the pitches and the talent to be a major ace, the other you’ll see a lazy, rich-kid, who just wants off the mound.

Last night he fell somewhere in-between.

The Mets starter went six innings and allowed four runs on four hits. The pitcher had his typical control problems as he walked six batters and threw only 57 strikes in 104 pitches.

The Nats took advantage of the walks. Scoring four runs on four hits is no easy task, especially when the team had no extra base hits.

Zimmerman scored two runs while earning one hit and two walks, Nyjer Morgan and Adam Dunn both scored as well.
  

Riggleman earned his first win.

Washington Nationals lefty Scott Olsen will need surgery to repair a tear in his left labrum and will “miss “the rest of the season.

 While Olsen will now be able to watch one of the worst season’s in baseball history from the sidelines, the Nats will have to find a way to fill the hole in the rotation.

The answer? More rookie starters!

To be fair the Nationals have been pretty successful with rookies starters this year (and last), and Olsen has had some serious struggles on the mound.

In 11 starts this season with Washington, the lefty went 2-4 with a 6.03 ERA. He will certainly have to compete for a spot in the rotation come next spring, with an improved Lannan, Zimmerman, Stammen, Detwiler, and Strasburg in the wings. 

After a stellar 2009 in Syracuse, J.D. Martin finally made his Major League debut, it did not go as he had hoped.

The young righty pitched four innings Monday  night, giving up eight hits and five earned to a previously struggling Mets line up. Martin earned the loss, as the Nationals dropped the game 6-2.

Martin’s first and second innings were far worse than his third and fourth. The young starter allowed two runs in the first off of Daniel Murphy and Jeff Francoeur doubles, and three runs in the second off of singles from Pagan, Castillo, and Murphy.

The Nationals bats did not help the rookies’ cause.

The Nats batters combined for six hits and two runs against their former ace Livan Hernandez. It was the sixth win for Hernandez and his third against Washington.

In fact, his last three victories have come against Washington, dating back to his May 26th complete game.

While the two teams starters had opposite nights both teams bullpens excelled.

The Nats bullpen went five strong innings allowing only one hit and no walks. Unfortunately for the Nats that one hit was a solo bomb from Francoeur in the ninth.

Nats reliever Tyler Clippard did a great job in long relief out of the pen. The former starter pitched three no-hit innings while striking out five Mets batters and walking none. 

If you go to spring training you are likely to see a man being chauffeured around in a golf cart, passing from field to field, barking advice from his throne that fall on young ears.

That man is Pat Corrales.

Pat Corrales is old school. Real old school.

He’s not a man for numbers, or newfound stats, he’s a man of action.

He knows baseball, and no one will tell him otherwise, and he’ll be damned to learn something new.

There are a lot of questions about whether or not a man with this type of mentality still has a place in baseball. Does he know a tremendous amount about the game, of course, but can he effectively evaluate talent a 2009 level? Debatable.

One thing is for sure however; the one position in an organization where the skills Corrales posses are at a premium is the position he was named to this week, bench coach.

Bench coaches have long been seen as more of an honorary role than anything else but they do serve and important role.

Bench coaches complain, bench coaches bark out their old school philosophy, bench coaches keep track of the little things managers loose in the shuffle. Most importantly bench coaches bend and mold young people who play baseball into professional baseball players.

A serious problem the Nationals have had in the last two years is a lack of professionalism, I couldn’t think of a better way to fix that than to bring in Corrales as the bench coach.

The 68-year-old will be our Don Zimmer. He will be our player’s godfather.

Welcome Pat Corrales, let your old-school wisdom benefit us all.