Welcome back to our new regular column here at Nationals Daily News - Stock Up, Stock Down.  Last week we talked about Josh Willingham (who has stayed hot) and Nyjer Morgan (who was demoted from the leadoff spot and promptly responded with one of his best hitting games all season).  Here's hoping this week's entries continue to have better luck than the folks from our inaugural week.

STOCK UP

Adam Dunn - He hit a big 3 run double that started the avalanche yesterday that gave the Nats some semblance of an offense, scoring as many in one inning as they did all series in San Diego.  Over his last 7 games, he's hitting a sweet .387 with 6 runs scored and 6 RBI.  The power isn't there, but the contributions are - as his 6 runs scored show, he's getting on base.

STOCK DOWN

Justin Maxwell - He's getting the Ryan Church treatment, albeit more deservedly.  In my mind, Church at least had his injury liability as a crutch for poor performance.  Maxwell, who went 0-7 with 2 walks and 2 strikeout's over the last week, has no such excuse, and was demoted to AAA to make room for starter J.D. Martin.  When you combine Maxwell's lack of results with Roger Bernadina's* semi-coming out party, we may be seeing the end of J-Max's shots at a permanent spot in a Nats uniform.

Also receiving votes among the NDN staff:  UP - Zimmerman, Guzman, Desmond, Martin, Atilano. DOWN - Morgan, Kennedy, Martin, Bernadina.  Honorable Mention - Syracuse Chiefs Uniforms (thanks, Let Teddy Win) which are universally agreed to be pretty bad.  Again, players only, folks.

* the author is fully aware that Bernadina went 1-15 with 5 K's over the last week, which is why he's a candidate for Stock Down - the sole difference being that Maxwell was also sent down.

      

Welcome back to our new regular column here at Nationals Daily News - Stock Up, Stock Down.  Last week we talked about Scott Olsen (now on the DL) and Brian Bruney (who refused his assignment to the minors and will be a free agent unless the team trades him this week).  Here's hoping this week's entries have better luck.

STOCK UP

Josh Willingham - He hit the walk-off yesterday that gave the Nats a 3-2 home stand and a series win in the battle of the beltways.  He may have also inadvertently cost O's Manager Dave Trembley his job.  More importantly he's on another one of his hot streaks, hitting home runs in two straight games, hitting in 5 of his last 6 games, and posting an OBP of .500 over the past week.

STOCK DOWN

Nyjer Morgan - I was skeptical when NDN colleague Tim Lemke was down on Morgan last week, but after his on-field tantrum Saturday show's that he's frustrated with his performance both on and off the field.  He's only hitting around .260 and has 8 times caught stealing to go with his 8 stolen bases - a 50% average that's not going to cut it.  Though harder to statistically quantify, his defense has been poorer this season as well - something you can see with the naked eye*.  The team has to be hoping that he turns it around to get closer to his performance after arriving in DC last year.

Also receiving votes among the NDN staff:  UP - Guzman, Storen, Bernadina. DOWN - Atilano, Capps.  Honorable Mention - Wil Nieves (who?) for actually getting playing time with Pudge on the DL.

* the author is not ready to fully accept stats like UZR since he still feels that they can be flawed, so defensive performances are judged by the naked eye.  Want to convince me otherwise?  Comment up.