Jordan Zimmermann returned to the rotation yesterday after missing his last start and put forth arguably his best start of his young major league career.

The young righty pitched five strong innings, striking out six and allowing only one earned run on four hits. Despite Zimmerann’s strong outing however the Nationals lost 7-3 to Tampa Bay.

It was the sixth inning where everything unraveled.

Jason Bergmann came on and let up two homers; a three run blast to Ben Zobrist and a two run blast to Gabe Gross. Jesus Colume came to ‘relieve’ Bergmann and gave up two more runs off of a double by Evan Longoria.

The Nationals bats didn’t help the poor bullpen performance. The Nats only recorded seven hits, two for extra bases and only managed to get two earned runs across the board.

While our series preview spoke to the Rays excellent defense, they recorded two errors yesterday in a winning effort. For the Nationals to have any chance against a quality team like the Rays, they need to take advantage of defensive mishaps, any mishaps really, to give themselves an advantage. At this level of baseball it is a gift to receive opposing teams errors, we just can’t afford to let them go. 

After dropping two out of three to the Cincinnati Reds at home, the Washington  (16-42) Nationals will make the trip south to kick off interleague play and face the Tampa Bay Rays (31-31).

The Rays can offer something to the Nationals that few teams can, a blueprint.

When the Nationals finish this year with the worst record in baseball, which they are overwhelmingly likely to do, they will have done so two years in a row. The only reward for that is the first overall pick in the draft for a second season in a row.

The only other team to do that in MLB history is the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006 and 2007.

In 2008 the Rays were in the World Series.

So what changed for the Rays from 2007 to 2008? The Rays had excellent young pitching talent that had finally arrived, they made some gutsy moves including trading top prospect Delmon Young.

On top of player personnel moves the Rays hired Joe Madden and made the all-important commitment to defense.  

Sound like a good blueprint? Seems to me it could work just fine for our ball club.

While the Rays had dominant success in 2008, they have had a little trouble getting off the ground in 2009. Last year’s ace, Scott Kazmir, struggled early and then hit the DL. Closer Troy Pericval has an ERA over 6, and stars like B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena and Pat Burrell are struggling to keep their batting average above .250.

There is reason to believe for Rays fans however.

 Sluggers Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist are setting a solid pace while Carl Crawford is having the best hitting season of his life. 2007’s number one pick David Price has joined the club and in four starts has a 2.37 ERA and 26 strikeouts in only 19 innings.

The Rays will look to get their line up started against three Nationals rookie starting pitchers.

Pitching Match Ups

Criag Stammen (0-2, 6.45) vs. Matt Garza (4-4, 3.55)

Stammen goes for his first win of the season, and of his career, tonight in Florida. While Stammen’s stuff has looked solid, it hasn’t been consistent, often allowing him to make mistakes which lead to big innings. This would be a great time for him to break out.

Matt Garza came to Tampa Bay in the Delmon Young trade as a fizzled pitching prospect that never really figured it out. Now, at 25, it seems he has finally grasped the game mentally in order to utilize his great physical assets. He has now risen himself to one of the better starting pitchers in the American League, and likely this teams Ace.

Jordan Zimmermanm (2-3, 5.71) vs. Andy Sonnastine (4-6, 7.00)
 

Zimmermann missed his last start due to Elbow soreness.  A scary sign to say the lease for the Nationals, especially after the Shawn Hill saga. Zimmermann claims to be fine however, as he looks to continue to work on consistency and cutting down on mistakes which produce runs.

Sonnastine has been by far the worst pitcher for the Rays his year. He is a contact style pitchers who can be effective when batters are missing, but not when they’re squaring up on the ball. May inevitably lose his starting spot once all starting pitchers are healthy.

Ross Detwiler (0-3, 5.06) vs. James Shields (5-5, 3.36)

Detwiler continues to show great talent and little consistency, as most of the Nationals rookie pitchers do. He was able to get through five innings against the Reds this week with allowing only three runs and five hits. He needs to focus on not walking batters and not making mistakes up in the zone.

James Shields is another pitcher for the Rays who may be one of the better starting pitchers in the American League but not  necessarily this teams ace. He has been very good the last three years, however, finishing each year with under a 4.00 ERA. 

Second Round Jeff Kobernus-UC Berkeley
 

With the first pick in the second round, the Washington Nationals selected an athletic utility infielder, Jeff Kobernus from California University.

At six foot two, 195 pounds, Kobernus has a long lean body with very fluid movement on the field.

Kobernus was used a primarily a second baseman in college, though he played all over the infield. With his height he is not your prototypical second baseman, but that has not stopped players like Chase Utley from playing there. He has the athleticism and the range to someday convert to shortstop if that is the direction the Nationals chose to take, however it is unlikely.

Kobernus has a very quick bat. He batted .341 for the Bears in 2009, his junior season. He also hit 14 doubles, 8 homers, and stole 20 bases. In his career at Cal he batted .324.

Scouts project Kobernus to develop into a Major League number-two hitter. While they think he only projects to have average power once he develops, scouts think that he is likely to someday be a starting second baseman in the MLB.

Opinion: The Nationals need middle infield help, especially in the future. Anderson Hernandez isn’t more than a current fix to that problem. Kobernus has a chance to be a solid major leaguer in the next several years in the mold of an Adam Kennedy. The Nats filled a needed hole here, just like they did with their second overall pick. Kobernus goes along with the evident strategy for the Nats yesterday, draft players who can help, soon.

Third Round Trevor Holder- Georgia
  

With their fourth overall pick the Nationals surprised many by drafting Trevor Holder, a senior from Georgia University.

In 15 games started this year Hoder went 7-5 with a 4.48ERA. in 92 IP Holder struck out only 72 and walked 30.

Opponents batted .260 against him last season.

Holder has a low 90’s fastball to combine with average off-speed stuff. 

While he faced solid competition in the SEC, Holder’s stats leave much to be desired. He was expected to be drafted in about the 10^th round.

Opinion: This pick made little sense, so I’m going to put faith in Mike Rizzo that he knows something now one else does. Holder never had a ERA below 4.00 his entire career at Georgia, and doesn’t seem to have major league stuff.

Other picks:

4^th Rd. Anthony Morris, RHP, Kansas St.
5^th Rd.Miguel Pena, RHP, La Joya HS
6^th Rd. Michael Taylor, SS, Westminster Academy HS
7^th Rd. Andrew Weaver, RHP, Georgia
8^th Rd. Roberto Perez, SS, Dorado Academy HS

Many predicted it, but few saw it coming until just before the draft. With the 10^th overall, and their second pick in the draft, the Washington Nationals took right handed pitcher Drew Storen.

Storen is a rare draft-eligible sophomore out of Stanford who has been used almost exclusively as a reliever.

His freshman year he pitched in 31 games, posted a 3.51 ERA and struck out 50 in 56.1 innings pitched.

This his sophomore year, he appeared in 28 games earning a 7-1 record as a reliever. The righty had a 3.90 ERA on his way to seven saves and 66 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.

Storen is considered extremely polished as a sophomore and very close to major league ready. His fastball is constantly in the low to mid 90’s and has decent life. It’s strong sinking motion induces lots of ground balls and forces batters to miss. His biggest problem he will have to correct however is that his fastball from time to time misses his spot, and when it misses it misses high which in college turns into hits and in the majors will turn into homers.

He also employs a changeup and a power slider, which serve to keep hitters off balance. His slider keeps batters eye’s guessing and helps improve his strikeout rate.

While no one questions his polish, or the fact that Storen was the best closer in the draft, many question his ability to get much better. Among scouts there is some serious question as to whether or not he has the stuff to be a MLB closer.

Some in fact, including Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Golstein say that this may have been the biggest overdraft of the first round. He believes the only way the Nationals could save face is if he becomes a starter.

The truth is the Nationals did draft him way above where he was projected. Many believed Storen would get picked up in the compensation or the second round of the draft. Did the Nationals get something they needed? Yes they got bullpen help. Could he possibly help the club this year? Yes he is very polished. Was he easy to sign? Yes he already signed today.

The bottom line is with Storen the Nats knew what they were doing when they drafted him and they got what they wanted. Time will only tell if he’s as talented as the Nationals hope, or as talented as the scouts project.

Speculation that the Nationals number 10 pick Drew Storen was a signability pick was confirmed as the right handed reliever signed with the club today.

Many believed Storen would sign quickly, as he is close to Major League ready, was drafted about his projected talent, and the Nationals are in desperate need of bullpen help.

The official announcement will be released later today.  

A review of the Drew Storen as a pick is forthcoming. 

It was destiny. There were few who suggested the Nats may pass on Strasburg but they mostly were trying to add suspense to the biggest no-brainer since Lebron James went first overall to the Cleveland Cav’s in 2003.

The Nationals selected the six foot five righty out of San Diego State and in doing so may have marked a historic day, and perhaps a turning point in Washington Nationals history.

Strasburg comes to Washington after one of the most successful college career’s in history.

As a freshman Strasburg closed for San Diego State. In 25 games he recorded a 2.43 ERA with seven saves. In 37 innings he struck out 47 and walked only 15. This stellar performance from a relatively unknown, low-recruited talent peaked interest, and earned him the number one prospect rating from the New England Collegiate League.

His sophomore year he converted to a starter. In 13 starts he went 8-3 with a miniscule 1.57 ERA. In 97 innings he struck out 133 and walked an impeccable 16 batters. This performance earned him a spot both on the collegiate USA baseball team and the Olympic USA baseball team.

By the time his junior season surfaced he was far and away the top prospect in baseball, just three years after having gone undrafted out of high school. As a junior he went 11-0 with a 1.24 ERA. Strasburg struck out 164 batters in only 87 innings while surrendering only 17 walks.

But while his numbers are superior, what blows scouts away more are his abilities.

Strasburg fastball is blazing, often registering between 97-102 MPH throughout the game. What is so devastating about his fastball however isn’t that it is one of the fastest ever, but that it has movement, lots of it. Scouts always say that for every inch a baseball moves it may as well be going another five miles per hour faster because of the amount of time it takes for the batter to adjust.  This is the same reason Mariano Rivera’s 92 MPH fastball is so unhittable.

Strasburg also had the best curve in the draft. Dropping to 82 MPH his curve has huge slurve like movement that will not only keep hitters off balance but also whiffing at it’s deceptive motion.

He throws it from the same arm slot as his fastball and his low 90’s slider, which makes predicting what pitch is coming nearly impossible.

Strasburg also has in his arsenal a Major League ready change up that can be delivered in the high 70’s. It is, however, rarely seen as Strasburg’s primary pitches have been so dominant in college, he hasn’t needed to use it since the Olympics.

For the Nationals winning the most hyped prospect in history is both a blessing and a curse. Strasburg will have unprecedented demands in contract negotiations.

The Nationals can not afford to let Stasburg go unsigned however, he is the future of this team and the MLB.

Is he a guarantee? No, but scouts say baring injuries he is the closest thing to a lock prospect in the history of the game. Expect to see a lot of this guy in 2010.