Sure, the Nats suck.  But Opening Day was a pretty good time once again.  Ok, a mostly good time.  Hard to get past statement 1.  This year, for the fourth year running, my wife and two of my kids joined me at the ballpark; the third child celebrating in solace back home.  The weather was a bit brisk, but the rain held off until after the game.  No Presidential first pitch meant no long lines waiting to get into the ballpark.  Once in the park, the bands playing in the center-field concourse sounded really good.  I even wasn't that critical of the controversial new statues of Walter Johnson, Frank Howard and Josh Gibson.  

Still, something was missing.  And it was crystalized by Dave Sheinin of The Washington Post, who came up to me and asked a few questions.  He put a couple of my rambling answers into English here.  We have a team coming off a 102-loss season last year.  Said team has begun the year 0-6 (now, 0-7).  And the economy is in the grips of the worst recession since the early 1980s.  Does that put a damper on things?  Well, yeah.  

What happens in the economy is largely outside of our control.  As long as we can hold onto our jobs until the recession rides out, consider ourselves lucky.  But what happens inside Nationals Park is within the control of the owners, management and players of the Washington Nationals.  And now in its fifth year, you want a sense that the team is making progress.  But I don't see much of it.  Case in point: the Nats' opening day starter was Daniel Cabrera, whose poor performance yesterday reminded Orioles fans of why the O's got rid of him in the first place.  As long as the Nats see themselves as a place for retreads, they're not going to move forward. 

So I asked Sheinin what he thought the Nats needed to do.  His reply: sign Stephen Strasburg, the college pitching phenom.  But he isn't going to come cheap, Sheinin quickly pointed out.  A young rotation that includes Strasburg, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann and Shairon Martis has promise.  And I agree.   

To sign Strasburg to a mega-deal probably means signing Ryan Zimmerman, who absolutely crushed a ninth-inning home run yesterday, to a long-term deal as well.  Will the Nats do both deals?  If they do, Opening Day next year might be a lot more fun.  

      

Chico Harlan reports that the Nationals will include two rookies in the starting rotation this year:  Shairon Martis and Jordan Zimmermann.  Thus, the rotation will include three young prospects from the Nats farm system:  John Lannan, Martis and Zimmermann.  This is good news for building a fan base.  Now, fans can follow the careers of young, (mostly) home grown pitchers who could be around for many years.  Let's just hope that Martis and Zimmerman prove wrong the concerns of this guy.

      

Jordan Zimmermann had a rough time in his last outing.  He got shelled for seven hits and five runs in just two innings against the used-to-be mighty Cardinals.  Zim 2 -- I can't think of another nickname yet -- had been suffering from a pretty bad case of the flu.  And no one expected him to continue his perfect 0.00 ERA throughout the entire Spring.  So a bad outing was inevitable.  

Despite getting shelled, Zim 2's ERA went up to just 3.14, a figure that other Nationals' pitchers competing for the starting rotation would love to have.  Think Balester, Collin.  After being called up in mid-season last year, he posted an unimpressive ERA in the mid-5s.  That's okay for a young pitcher (he's only 22) as long as you see some progress.  But a 7.80 ERA during Spring Training suggests that has not been happening.

This season, the Nats' likely starting rotation will be very young:  John Lannan (24), Scott Olsen (25), Daniel Cabrera (27), and two 22-year-old rookies: Zimmermann and Shairon Martis.  And it is the Balester precedent that is the worry here; pitchers being rushed to the majors.

The Nats are still affected by the misguided decisions of Jim Bowden, their recently departed but un-missed general manager.  He would accelerate pitchers through the minor-league system faster than the norm or what their performance suggested.  Once in the majors, said pitchers would get shelled.  And they would either get banished to the bullpen, where they were asked to perform roles they had not prepared for and, again, get shelled.  Or they would simply get sent back down to the minors in a confidence-breaking move.  Or, in Balester's case, compete for a starting job in Spring Training and get absolutely hammered.  

The one pitcher who followed the Bowden Accelerated Path but performed well: John Lannan.  He is a serious, mature, no-drama type of pitcher, characteristics that Zim 2 and Martis seem to have.  But will these characteristics, without more minor-league experience, allow these 22-year-olds to perform more like Lannan?  Or will they end up like Balester?  

If the rotation firms up like it seems to be doing, we'll soon find out.