WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If you thought that Washington Nationals middle infielder Danny Espinosa was going to be just another September callup from the minors, you might now want to think again.

Espinosa, who began the 2010 season at double-A Harrisburg, went on a tear during Sunday afternoon's 13-3 Nationals victory over the New York Mets at Nationals Park.  Washington's third-round selection in the June 2008 First-Year Player Draft -- who played shortstop and batted eighth in Sunday's lineup -- went 4-for-5 at the plate, including a solo home run in the third inning and a grand slam in the sixth, and ended the day with 11 total bases, 2 runs scored and 6 RBI.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman praised Espinosa's effort.

"That was just a great performance," Riggleman said.  "It was reminiscent of [Ian] Desmond coming up here last year and doing those things in September."

"It was a great compliment to our scouting and player development," Riggleman said, "to bring those two guys along the way they have and get them ready to play here."

If Espinosa -- who was playing his first major-league game before the home fans and just his fifth ever -- was affected by the way his achievements were piling up through the afternoon, he wasn't letting on, according to his manager.

"He's a pro," Riggleman said. "He's just playing hard and trying to have a good at-bat and make plays."

"All that athleticism every now and then," Riggleman said, "for these guys, it's just all gonna come out there and display it all in one day -- running, throwing, hitting.  We saw [Desmond] do it last year in September, and he's showing us the quality of player he is."

"To be able to go find that talent like the scouts do, and cultivate it the way our player development does, says a lot about the organization," Riggleman said.

Riggleman didn't seem overly fazed by the apparent early breakout of Espinosa, whom many have seen as on track for another year of minor-league development before eventual promotion to a full-time major-league job.

"I wouldn't take anything for granted," Riggleman said.  "He was a guy we were bringing up here to get a look at, and that's what we're doing.  There's a lot of games left to play and he's gonna play a lot of baseball here."

Riggleman emphasized the organization's broad long-term perspective on Espinosa's development.

"Whether he hits or has big days," Riggleman said, "is not gonna be the criteria that we're gonna use as to whether he's ready."

"His athleticism and his ability to play defense," Riggleman said, "is a nice thing for the future of the organization."

Riggleman concluded his assessment with another note of praise for both Espinosa and Desmond.

"It's encouraging to know," Riggleman said, "that two good athletes [are] there [in the middle infield] that could play for a while."

      

Fans of both the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles have become accustomed to subpar performances by their teams in recent years. The Nats, of course, dropped more than 100 games in each of the preceding two seasons, while it's been 13 years since the Orioles have finished anywhere above third in the tough AL East.

Even so, it's hard to say which would have been less expected at the beginning of the current season: that Washington would be at .500 after the team's first 42 games, or that Baltimore would be occupying the Nationals' theretofore-accustomed position in the MLB cellar.

The teams will face off at Nats Park this weekend in a three-game series. Washington will be sending left-handed staff ace Scott Olsen to the hill on Friday evening, followed by right-hander Craig Stammen on Saturday and lefty John Lannan on Sunday. They'll be opposed respectively by Baltimore right-handers David Hernandez, Brad Bergesen and Kevin Millwood.

Who will come out the winner of this weekend's series?  It would appear to be a toss-up if you try to go by the teams' recent win-loss records:  the Nats have lost seven of their last ten games while Baltimore has lost six.

And throughout the season thus far, neither team's pitching or hitting has, on the whole, turned in particularly wonderful results. Washington ranks 11th of 16 teams in the National League in runs allowed per game and 12th in runs scored; Baltimore is 11th of 14 in the American League in runs allowed and 13th in runs scored.

So why is Washington in the middle of the NL pack even as Baltimore is peering up from the bottom of the AL?

For one thing, the Washington relief corps has enjoyed remarkable success at preserving close margins, while the Baltimore bullpen contains no one with the wicked changeup delivery of Tyler Clippard, the closeout consistency of Matt Capps or the youthful promise of Drew Storen.  Orioles relievers have produced just eight saves and six wins; the Nats' have won 10 games (seven by Clippard alone) and saved 16.

The teams' performance on the field provides another intriguing indication.

True, each club has logged more errors on the field than it would like: the Orioles have committed a total of 27 errors on the season and the Nationals have unreeled 33, including five in the last two nights alone.

But looking at the teams' overall Defensive Efficiency, the Nationals are clearly out front, with a DEff of .694 -- fifth-best in the National League -- while the Orioles' DEff, at .678, is second-worst in the AL. Even though the Nats may commit a few more errors, they're still significantly more likely than the Orioles to turn a ball in play into an out.

The teams' relative defensive strength will continue to be a factor as the season rolls on. Since neither Washington's nor Baltimore's staff records above-average numbers of strikeouts, both need all the help they can get behind them on the field -- and the Nats' pitchers are getting more of that help than the Orioles' are.

      

The way the Washington Nationals have been going at the game on the field in 2010 continues to show marked differences from a season ago.

A fielding style in 2009 that at times looked downright unprepared was notable for little except producing an MLB-leading total of 146 errors on the season. But the better-prepared, more aggressive approach of this year's Nats has shown in the standings -- where they are now 13-12, one game back in the National League East -- and also in the stats, in which they've raised their Defensive Efficiency ranking among the 16 NL clubs from 14th in 2009 to sixth on Tuesday morning.

After an off day on Monday, Tuesday will see the Nats bringing their improved defensive game back to D.C. as the team begins a six-game homestand against NL East rivals Atlanta and Florida.

First up will be the Braves whose subpar 11-14 record can be attributed largely to the unevenness of their rotation. Most recently, right-hander Derek Lowe (4-2, 5.18 ERA) had a somewhat lucky five-inning start on Sunday -- giving up six hits and a walk but only one run -- while struggling righty Jair Jurrjens was able to make it through just one inning last Thursday in which he gave up three runs before exiting with a sore left hamstring.

While Atlanta will offer right-hander Kenshin Kawakami (0-4, 5.48) on Tuesday, their Wednesday and Thursday starters will be more daunting righties Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17) and Tim Hudson (2-1, 2.87).  Closer Billy Wagner will be looking to seal any late-inning leads the Braves may accrue; if you hope to see Wagner in action at Nats Park, you'd better do it this year as he's announced that the 2010 season, his sixteenth in the major leagues, will be his last.

The Nats' starting pitchers will be right-handers Livan Hernandez (3-1, 0.87) and Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25) and lefty Scott Olsen (2-1, 4.35).

The Atlanta ballclub was evidently not too worried about service-time considerations when they tapped top prospect Jason Heyward to start the season in MLB rather than in the minors.

About a week ago they might have wondered if they'd done the right thing. As of the end of play April 27, Heyward was carrying a batting line of .224 / .358 / .448 -- and his line over the most recent eleven games had been a paltry .147 / .310 / .235.

That plus a sore shin resulted in Heyward's being benched for a game as well as his being counseled to show a bit more aggression at the plate. Evidently the rest and the advice helped:  Heyward has gone 7-for-14 over his last four games to raise his season line to .272 / .388 / .580, which is more in line with what the Braves were expecting when they broke camp with the 20-year-old right fielder at the beginning of the season.

Among the providers of the Nationals' more efficient 2010 defense has been the trio of rookie Ian Desmond, veteran free-agent pickup Adam Kennedy and sixth-year Nat Cristian Guzman who have allayed the worries of those who feared a porous middle infield.

But as the Nats look toward future seasons they'll be hoping for continued progress from their minor leaguers, particularly Harrisburg's Danny Espinosa and Potomac's Steve Lombardozzi. Here are the lines they've put up at their respective posts as of Sunday morning.

A direct comparison of the fielding statistics wouldn't be advisable.  Since shortstop is the more challenging position of the two, more errors can be expected there.  Also, it's hard to project much from so few games.

But here's another small-sample-size nugget: Lombardozzi has also played shortstop in seven games in his professional career over the last two seasons, and has yet to commit an error there. He may be a guy you (and the Nats) want to keep an eye on if you're a fan of good glove work.

      

This series continues its position comparisons of the NL East by rating the division's teams according to whom they'll be deploying at shortstop in the 2010 season.  The rankings below, from highest to lowest, account for both defense and offense.

• Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez' job is made a little easier by the comforting presence of All-Star Hanley Ramirez.  Should Ramirez need an occasional breather, the Marlins will have to settle for onetime National Emilio Bonifacio.
• The second-best of the NL East's regular shortstops, Yunel Escobar, and best of the division's backups at short, Omar Infante, will occupy the position in Atlanta.
• Uncertainty clouds the shortstop situation in Flushing.  If Jose Reyes' thyroid is brought under control by Opening Day (which sounds improbable), and he doesn't have any other off-field medical distractions, New York's middle infield shouldn't be much worse than average.  Otherwise an unedifying shortstop platoon of (pick two) Ruben Tejada, Alex Cora and/or Anderson Hernandez alongside equally unimpressive Luis Castillo at second will again be a bane to Mets pitchers and a boon to rival hitters.
• Speaking of All-Stars, why -- assuming the Mets don't bottom out -- should the Phillies be ranked no higher than fourth?  Don't blame Jimmy Rollins; but backup Juan Castro, whom the team is trying to convince itself that they acquired for his fielding prowess, will no more impress with his glove than with his weak bat on Rollins' days off.
• Reyes' medical condition notwithstanding, it's Washington whose middle infield rates to be the most porous in the division (and possibly in MLB).  While some of Ian Desmond's more extreme boosters would just as soon see Cristian Guzman take a hike, it wouldn't help; the Nationals would be even more perilously shallow at short without Guzman than with him.  Which of the two gets the Opening Day job will depend largely on the strength of Guzman's shoulder.

      

This Hutch has never gone to any pains to conceal its liking for Nationals infield prospect Ian Desmond.  He's showed promise in the minors, he showed promise at the Arizona Fall League in 2008 and at Nats Park in September 2009 and he shows promise now.

Does his employer share that attitude?  It would appear so.

For one thing, an invitation to AFL is something offered only to a handful of the 150 or so players on an organization's rosters each season.  That was a vote of confidence in Desmond right there.

And in Fall 2009 there was talk of bringing him up this Spring to replace shortstop Cristian Guzman, who would be asked to step across the keystone and become Desmond's double-play partner.

That plan looked likely to hit the shelf once the Nats started going after free-agent second basemen in the offseason.  It appears that the second sack is now Adam Kennedy's to lose.

Has Desmond thus resigned himself to a trip back to triple-A Syracuse?  Not exactly.

"In my head," says Desmond, "I'm making this team. I'm going to be up here."

It could happen.  MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that Desmond's still in the running for the Opening Day shortstop job -- and that Guzman says "he still needs to build strength in his [surgically re-repaired] right shoulder."

Irrespective of Guzman's health status (and that $8 million he'll be collecting in salary this season), why shouldn't Desmond be on the short list?  Well, there is the matter of defense.

Desmond's range at shortstop seems to be everything the Nats could ask for, and he's committed no errors in four games this spring.  But one's entitled to wonder whether his overall defensive performance before that -- including six errors and a slightly negative UZR/150 over a couple dozen 2009 major-league games -- could have been a sign that Desmond won't keep as many runs off the board as the Nats might like.

Some teams might use such numbers as an excuse to rubber-stamp a player's ticket back to triple-A.  But the Nats would be wise to reserve judgment on whether Desmond should be with the MLB club on Opening Day -- and, for that matter, on whether Guzman should start the season in the field or on the bench -- at least until further into the month of March.  Given the team's recent hideous history in the middle infield, it's essential that both Desmond and Guzman have the opportunity to demonstrate which, if either, can be expected to get the job done in 2010.

      

Veteran middle infielder Orlando Hudson, who had been long rumored to be on his way to the Washington Nationals, is apparently going elsewhere according to Bill Ladson at MLB.com who cites Minnesota as Hudson's most likely destination.

The present situation in Washington, which has been spending the offseason seeking a dependable veteran 2B/SS, would appear to present an opportunity for Adam Kennedy who had been reported as being interested in coming on board with Washington but also as waiting for the Nats and Hudson to reach (or fail to reach) agreement.

More as we learn it.

UPDATED 2/4/10 3:40 pm: Mark Zuckerman, late of the Times, hears that the Nats are giving Kennedy a look but are willing to stand pat with Ian Desmond at shortstop and Cristian Guzman at second base, as they've been saying since the end of last season…

UPDATED 2/4/10 6:30 pm: Curtis Kitchen of Sports Radio 810 WHB in Kansas City tweets that the Hudson-Twins deal is done and that he hears Hudson wanted at least twice the money from the Nats that he'll get from Minnesota…

UPDATED 2/4/10 7:40 pm: Not so fast on the reported Minnesota discount -- Buster Olney of ESPN hears that Hudson's getting a $5 million deal from the Twins…

UPDATED 2/5/10 6:20 am: That didn't take long -- Kennedy has been signed to play second, reports Ladson. All indicators now point to having Guzman remain at shortstop and Desmond start at triple-A Syracuse…

      

From the perspective of the people responsible for improving the Washington Nationals, it's hard to deny that the past two months have been productive ones, particularly with respect to the upgrades they've made to the pitching staff.

The back end of the bullpen has been bolstered with Brian Bruney and Matt Capps.  When considered alongside the acquisitions of left-handed relievers Doug Slaten and Eddie Guardado and front-line starter Jason Marquis, as well as the re-signing of starter Scott Olsen, pitching coach Steve McCatty should have fewer worries come Opening Day 2010 than his predecessor Randy St. Claire had at the beginning of 2009.

But the Nats shouldn't be thinking that the work is all done.  A strong case can be made that the team should try to solidify the 2010 rotation even further by bringing either Jon Garland or Joel Pineiro into the fold.  Both are available via free agency and either could help to provide something the Nationals have never possessed during their time in Washington:  a rotation containing three members (the other two being Marquis and John Lannan) each capable of producing 200 innings of work, and work of reasonable quality at that.

Before we get all excited, though, it's important to consider that not every weakness on the team has been addressed to everyone's complete satisfaction.

While we'd like to think that the catching situation isn't in as much turmoil as it appeared to be this past September when Jesus Flores and Wil Nieves were lost for the year, it's far from worry-free.  True, Ivan Rodriguez brings the team both veteran experience and a measure of cachet.  But nothing short of the return of Flores to complete health will really convince either the Nationals or their fans that the team has matters anywhere near settled behind the plate.

Meanwhile, the middle infield remains an issue.  Spring Training 2010 will be far advanced before it's known whether the team's defensive woes can really be mitigated by deploying Ian Desmond at shortstop and repositioning Cristian Guzman at second base.  Unless the Nats can bring an effective free-agent infielder on board, they may find themselves juggling combinations involving guys like Alberto Gonzalez, Willie Harris and Pete Orr and hoping for the best.

So should the Nationals put additional pitching improvements on hold until matters are settled up the middle?  Not unless they want to risk making it look as if they're ready to write off the 2010 season before it even starts.

Just as in past years it's been possible to be too optimistic, it's also always possible to be too gloomy -- and to allow that gloom to justify needless inertia.

To be sure, the envisioned middle infield of Desmond and Guzman will have a hard time trying to match the defensive prowess of, say, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.  But, as mentioned above, alternatives -- whether or not of All-Star caliber -- do exist on the present 40-man roster.

And the infield challenges needn't last forever.  If Danny Espinosa can continue to clean up his glove work, he may earn some time at shortstop at Nats Park in 2011.  Likewise, Steve Lombardozzi appears to be on track to challenge for the keystone position in 2012 -- which, if all proceeds on course, should also be about the time the Nationals are ready to give his teammate Derek Norris a major-league audition at catcher.

All that said, the Nats should continue to do everything they can to build league-contending rotations both for 2010 and for future seasons.

Imagine a starting five in 2010 that looks something like Pineiro, Marquis, Lannan, Olsen and Craig Stammen.

Now add Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann, and maybe Brad Meyers or Erik Arnesen, in 2011.  (Not to mention guys like Collin Balester and Ross Detwiler if they reach the next level.)  You could be looking at some of the deepest starting pitching in the majors, as opposed to the patchwork rotations of the past few seasons.

That can be the basis for a team that contends -- not just for NL East pennants in the future, but for legitimacy and fan dollars today.

Which is the real point.  The novelty of both the Nationals and of Nats Park has worn off.  After five seasons of never seeing the Nats finish above .500, even die-hard fans are weary of the prospect of trooping to the ball park to witness yet another campaign that's practically over by the end of May.

And they shouldn't have to.  For about another $10 million per annum -- what Garland or Pineiro would likely fetch on a two- or three-year deal -- the starting pitcher that the Nats need in order to end their days as yet another joke of a Washington baseball team may be within their grasp.

It's none too soon for the Nats to show this town and its fans that they're ready to look like a winner.

      

As the Nationals' front office heads into this week's Winter Meetings in Indianapolis, a bit of puzzlement attaches to their position.

Not that they don't have one, and MLB.com's Bill Ladson does a good job explaining it.  But Washington's stance seems to be biased toward incremental change, which Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus ($) sees -- barring a major trade for prospects, of which he discusses one possibility in his article -- as about all that can be hoped for given the still-parlous state of the system.

There is money in the coffers.  Ronnie Belliard, Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns and Dmitri Young are all gone, and their $20+ million in salaries with them.  (Cristian Guzman and his $8 million salary remain, but it is not clear either whether he will play shortstop or second base or what he could fetch in a trade.)

Spending some of the recovered money to pick up free-agent pitching is an attractive idea.  Don't be surprised if the Nats bypass that option, at least with respect to any multi-year contracts.  A one-year deal to someone like free agent Jon Garland, whom Peter Gammons at ESPN ($) says they are interested in, is a more reasonable expectation.

Beyond Garland and a handful of others, though, the market for starting arms is fairly thin.  Moreover, lavishing big-bucks, long-term contracts on pitchers in their 30s is a strategy far from guaranteed of success (which might, for example, reflect the Angels' equivocal attitude toward free agent John Lackey, although he should still produce 150+ innings a season) and would thus be highly unwise unless just about every other piece were in place.

Which, in Washington, it is not.  For one thing, the Nats' needs at catcher still must be addressed.  But improving the middle-infield defense is paramount, and expecting a relocated Guzman and rookie Ian Desmond to do it alone would be foolhardy.  A signing of free agent Orlando Hudson or a trade for Florida's Dan Uggla would probably make it less tempting for the Nationals' 2010 opponents to field all-left-handed-batting lineups to poke ball after ball through what might otherwise be a very porous right side of the infield.

Whom might Washington send back in an Uggla trade?  The Nats don't have a lot of spare pieces they'd be willing to let go of.  (Local product Justin Maxwell might be one, which, as Ladson notes, could be a win-win if Maxwell thus got to play every day.)

And there's always interest swirling around slugging outfielder Josh Willingham.  The Mets, who are aching to avoid a repeat of their embarrassing 2009 season, are the latest potential trade partner whose name is being bandied about.

Whether the Nats will either acquire Hudson or Uggla or deal Willingham, or some combination thereof, is anybody's guess.  But given all the work this front office has yet to do to field a competitive team, Nats fans must be hoping that this week's meetings won't just be the beginning of another endless winter.

      

It took them 15 innings -- the most in a single game since the Nationals arrived in D.C. in 2005 -- and the last bit of gas in Logan Kensing's tank to do it, but Washington held on to defeat Atlanta 2-1 in a tightly played season-ending contest on Sunday afternoon at Turner Field.  Nats starting pitcher JD Martin finished his year with a fine 73-pitch performance, allowing just one run on six hits over six innings.

The victory -- which capped a four-game sweep of the Braves in Atlanta, a first for the Montreal / Washington franchise -- was the Nats' seventh in a row and sealed the team's final 2009 win-loss tally at 59-103, just a half-game worse than their 2008 record and a nice way to close a season that opened with seven losses in a row.  In a possibly hopeful note, Washington put up a .500 record (12-12) over the last 24 games of the year, as against 47-91 (.341) in their first 138 contests of 2009.  The improvement is likely attributable in part to the performances of September callups like Ian Desmond, Ross Detwiler and Justin Maxwell; indeed, the Nats' starting lineup for Sunday's game featured nine players all of whom spent some portion of the 2009 season in the minor leagues.

Read more at the Post, Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MLB.com and AP.

In the meantime, here at NationalsPride.com we're getting ready to dissect the 2009 season and fire up the hot stove as we look forward to 2010.  Not to mention that we'll be reporting on Stephen Strasburg and other Nats participants in the Arizona Fall League, whose season starts a week from Tuesday -- so keep it tuned right here.

      

Per Bill Ladson at MLB.com, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman says that bunion-afflicted shortstop Cristian Guzman -- he of the two ninth-inning errors on Wednesday -- has also been playing with a sore shoulder for at least a month.  That would be the same shoulder that cost Guzman the 2006 season after surgery to repair a SLAP tear.

Guzman will not be in the lineup for Thursday evening's game at Nats Park.  We would expect that September callup Ian Desmond will be tapped to play either shortstop or second base.