NATIONALS PARK, Washington -- In 2010, right-handed pitcher Livan Hernandez -- accustomed for some years now to the role of veteran innings-eater in whatever rotation he inhabited -- has added a new title to his credits with the Washington Nationals: staff ace.

That's not just "ace of an up-and-down pitching staff nagged by injuries."  Coming into Thursday evening, Hernandez' 2010 ERA+, at 136, is better than that of any other Washington starter -- and that's not all.

• It's better than that of any member of the rotation of NL Central-contending Cincinnati with at least 100 innings pitched.
• It's better than Tim Lincecum's.
• It's better than Stephen Strasburg's.

Would you have expected this from a man who in his most recent season had accrued a win-loss record of 9-12 and an ERA of 5.44?

Hernandez' resurgence might amaze many fans and maybe even some baseball people.  But from his manager, Jim Riggleman, Hernandez' 2010 performance evokes admiration rather than astonishment.

"Nothing really would surprise me about Livo," Riggleman said to reporters before Thursday night's game at Nationals Park.  "I've seen him for so many years from the other dugout, watching him pitch . . . mixing the pitches up and changing speeds.  Nothing surprises me about him."

Evidently that would include Hernandez' current 8-7 record and 3.03 ERA -- respectable numbers even in what is arguably the most dominant season for pitching since 1968.

"I'm just really pleased that he's doing it," Riggleman said. "He came into Spring Training, we didn't even know if he'd be on the club for sure, and what role he would have on the club, but I'm really glad we got him."

      

After scratching out just six runs in their previous four contests, the Washington Nationals are traveling to Cincinnati in hopes that the cozy dimensions of the Great American Ball Park can encourage them to put some tallies on the board (or, more precisely, to push some runners across home plate instead of stranding them on the bases).

To be sure, whatever hitters' edge exists at the GABP works in favor of both the home team and the visitors.  Still, the Reds have maximized their home-field advantage this season by assembling a team that not only leads the National League in runs scored -- something they haven't accomplished since 2005 when the Cincinnati outfield of Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns combined to produce 93 home runs and 260 runs batted in -- but also, thanks to strong pitching, is just a half-game back in the NL Central.

Washington will summon four right-handed starting pitchers to the hill this week to try to keep the Reds in check.  Monday evening's starter for the Nats will be JD Martin (1-4 win-loss record, 3.35 ERA).  He'll most likely be followed by Luis Atilano (6-6, 4.85) on Tuesday evening, Stephen Strasburg (4-2, 2.03) on Wednesday evening and Livan Hernandez (6-6, 3.27) on Thursday afternoon.

Cincinnati will also send out all right-handers this week, starting with Johnny Cueto (8-2, 3.42) on Monday and rookie Mike Leake (6-1, 3.53) on Tuesday.  Wednesday's Reds starter will probably be veteran innings-eater Bronson Arroyo (10-4, 3.96), followed by Edinson Volquez (1-0, 1.50) -- who turned in a superb six-inning, nine-strikeout performance this past Saturday in his first start since Tommy John surgery in 2009 -- for Thursday's getaway contest.

      

If you've had a chance to look over last night's box scores, you might have noticed that unvaunted rookie Travis Wood came very close to pitching a perfect game for Cincinnati last night.

Wood was ultimately frustrated, and in a way that Washington baseball historians can fully understand.  In the great tradition of the original Senators' Walter Johnson, Wood held opposing Philadelphia scoreless through nine innings.  Over that span the 23-year-old left-hander allowed one hit and no walks and struck out eight.

Also in the Johnson tradition, Wood's team lost the game in an extra-inning shutout.  The Phillies' starter, Roy Halladay, had a little to do with that:  Doc also went nine frames, striking out nine while giving up five hits and one base on balls.

Who gave up the game-deciding tally?  That would have been ex-National Bill Bray.  (One imagines that former Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky is grinding his teeth a little.)

By the way, Wood now sports a better earned run average (2.18) than fellow rookie Stephen Strasburg (2.32).  That's after just three starts for Wood, so don't get overexcited if you happen to be a Reds fan.

On the other end of the spectrum, another left-hander -- Anaheim's Scott Kazmir -- gave up 13 earned runs last night all by himself, acheiving a mark only reached by three other pitchers in the previous two decades.

Here, too, there is a Washington connection of sorts.  Kazmir's immediate predecessor in infamy was current National Jason Marquis, who coughed up 13 on June 21, 2006.

Marquis did this in the employ of the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the World Series that year.  Not to say whether Kazmir should expect to stick with the Angels long enough to get the chance to compete for a ring, but you never know.

      

Speculating on whether a team's record at any given time is justified, or rather is just lucky, is a source for countless hours of stathead arguments.

For example, is the Houston club -- which, having just taken three of four from the Washington Nationals, is no longer in sole possession of the National League's worst winning percentage -- really as bad as their record, now 20-34, would indicate?

And while we're at it, let's talk about those Nats for just a minute. As recently as the morning of May 15, they were 5 games over .500 at 20-15. Having gone an unsightly 6-14 since that date, at this writing they're 3 games under .500 at 26-29.

Which of those numbers -- 20-15 or 26-29 -- better represents the Nats as the first week of June draws to a close?

According to their theoretical Pythagorean record, based on the 242 runs they've scored and 259 runs they've allowed through Thursday afternoon, they're right where they belong on Friday morning, after having played well above themselves for much of the season.

That makes sense. "Pythagorean record" is supposed to represent how many wins and losses a team should have recorded based on the runs it has scored and the runs it has allowed. A team that is playing well above (or well below) its Pythagorean record can be said to be playing in luck (or out of luck).

Often, though, that luck revolves around one- or two-run ball games. And those games are won, as they were early in the Nats' season -- or lost, as has happened the last two days in Houston -- by the bullpen.

Through April and most of May, the totals accrued by setup man Tyler Clippard (7 wins, 1 loss, 1.80 ERA) and closer Matt Capps (14 saves, 0.93 ERA) were stellar. For whatever reasons -- and the Nats will be hoping that overuse isn't one of them -- the last couple weeks has brought their aggregate numbers (Clippard: 7-3, 1.77; Capps: 17 S, 2.81) back toward earth.

So the Nats' relief corps would appear, on average, to be merely effective rather than nearly invincible. That's a sign of progress, for an effective bullpen is something the team didn't have at this time last season.

Washington will be hoping for effective performances from both starters and relievers this weekend as Cincinnati comes to town for a three-game set that will feature all-right-handed pitching matchups. Starting for the Reds will be Aaron Harang (4-5, 5.48) on Friday evening, Mike Leake (4-0, 2.45) on Saturday and Bronson Arroyo (5-3, 4.92) on Sunday afternoon. The Nats will counter with Livan Hernandez (4-3, 2.15) on Friday, Luis Atilano (5-1, 4.70) on Saturday and Craig Stammen (1-2, 5.88) on Sunday.

By the way, since we brought it up: The Astros' current record of 20-34 is three games above their Pythagorean expectation of 17-37.

Though it wasn't always evident this week, setup man Brandon Lyon (4-1, 3.47) and closer Matt Lindstrom (11 S, 3.47) have been reasonably effective, and that's helped the Astros win some close ballgames. (The reason Houston's still 14 games under .500 is because the ballgames often don't stay close for long.)

      

After a challenging nine-game road trip that has left them with an even .500 record, the Nationals are on their way back to D.C. for a two-game set with the New York Mets followed by a three-game interleague series against struggling Baltimore.

Washington's probable Wednesday starter will be veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez (4-2 record, 1.46 ERA), who'll be going on just three days' rest after having taken a loss in the opener of last Saturday's doubleheader in Colorado.  He'll be followed on Thursday by rookie righty Luis Atilano (3-0, 3.90).

New York having sent struggling starter Oliver Perez (0-3, 5.94) to the bullpen, it's likely that on Wednesday they'll give right-handed knuckleballer R. A. Dickey his first MLB start of the 2010 season.  In eight starts for triple-A Buffalo, Dickey has accrued four wins, two losses and a 2.23 ERA over 60 2/3 innings, issuing 55 hits and 8 walks while striking out 37.

Thursday will most likely see right-hander John Maine (1-3, 6.13) take the hill for the Mets.  However, Maine's luck not having been much better than Perez' this season, it wouldn't be shocking to see his rotation turn bypassed some time soon -- perhaps even this Thursday -- in favor of left-hander Pat Misch who's gone 3-0 with a 3.30 ERA in seven triple-A starts so far in 2010.

Desperate as they are for reliable starting pitching, might the Mets be interested in bringing back one-time fan favorite Pedro Martinez?  It would appear not.

One wonders if any other NL East team might be willing, as the Phillies were last season, to engage the services of the future Hall of Famer.

What mark did the 2010 Nationals finally reach on Monday that it only took the 2009 squad until April 10 to get to?

Four losses in a row, an accomplishment to which last year's team was no stranger, having racked up losing skeins of at least four games on eleven separate occasions in 2009.

If it's any consolation to the Nats, they were a bit late to the party in 2010.  As of Tuesday morning, 20 of the other 29 MLB teams -- including current NL Central division leader Cincinnati and current AL West division leader Texas -- had each already recorded a losing streak of four or more games this season. 

Since a 162-game schedule has room for any number of peaks and valleys, it will be mildly surprising if any of the other nine teams doesn't drop at least four games in succession at some point in 2010.

      

The date of Stephen Strasburg's major-league debut -- or, more precisely, guesses thereat -- has been a hot subject in Nats Town over the last few weeks, and Nationals manager Jim Riggleman didn't do much to cool it off on Friday:

We're going to meet tomorrow -- myself and [general manager] Mike (Rizzo) and the rest of the guys, and put some moves together that we're going to be making in the next three days. . . . [Strasburg's status] will be one of the discussions we're going to have, I'm sure.

Two Friday evening solo home runs dealt to the visiting Cardinals in Viera, which vaulted Strasburg's spring ERA all the way to 2.00, may have influenced the discussion.

But it's more likely that considerations relating to development and service time weighed most heavily in the team's decision Saturday morning to send Strasburg and reliever Drew Storen to minor-league camp.

It'd be surprising if either Strasburg or Storen were to spend as much as half the season in the minors.  While it had been thought that Strasburg might start the season opener at high-single-A Potomac on April 8, it's just been reported that both Strasburg and Storen will begin the 2010 season at double-A Harrisburg.

This Hutch estimates an early-June MLB debut for Strasburg and Storen against Cincinnati, who will be bringing much-anticipated Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman to town the weekend of June 4-6.  Great seats are still available.  (You're welcome, Stan.)

UPDATE 20-Mar-2010 6:45 pm: Wondering what Strasburg's schedule might be for the season? The Post's Adam Kilgore does the hard work so you don't have to…

      

Rumors are flying that Cuban free-agent pitcher Aroldis Chapman has inked a $30 million deal with a National League team.

Since the only NL teams reported to have been bidding for Chapman's services were Florida and Washington, we'll be following this rumor very closely.  More as we know it…

UPDATED 1/10/10 1:30 pm: Jon Morosi at FOX Sports hears it's not the Nats…

UPDATED 1/10/10 2:15 pm:  Reports heard by Eli Greenspan at MLB Daily Dish make it sound as if Chapman's headed to Cincinnati…

UPDATED 1/10/10 3:30 pm: The Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay tweets that the Reds and Chapman are still at the talking stage but that a deal "could be for as long as 10 years"…

UPDATED 1/10/10 5:35 pm: To hear SI.com and MLB.com tell it, a $25-30 million deal over five or six years is all but a fait accompli. In our experience, it ain't accompli 'til it's accompli, so we'll be checking back later…

UPDATED 1/10/10 9:25 pm: Fay elaborates on the deal; it's $25 million for 5 years with an option at the end, the payouts to be spread over 10 years.  The Reds, says Fay, "think that there’s a chance Chapman will make it to the big leagues this year."  If so, we might see him at Nats Park when Cincinnati visits the weekend of June 4-6…

      

As anticipated, the Nationals have officially bid farewell to the player who may have been the most disappointing acquisition of the Jim Bowden era, electing not to extend the contract of outfielder Austin Kearns.  Washington exercised its $1 million buyout option on Friday, as a result of which Kearns is now a free agent.

The transaction closes the books on the July 2006 trade in which Kearns was acquired alongside infielder Felipe Lopez and pitcher Ryan Wagner in a spectacular eight-player deal with Cincinnati that became embroiled in controversy after relief pitcher Gary Majewski went onto the disabled list not long after reporting to the Reds.

Lopez, whose mutual dissatisfaction with the Nats culminated in his July 2008 release, is again a free agent after spending parts of the past two seasons with St. Louis, Arizona and Milwaukee.

Wagner, who most recently pitched for the triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, retired in May of this year after unsuccessfully attempting to rehabilitate his injured right shoulder, and is now a youth baseball coach in his native Texas.

      

Try as he might, Nationals starter John Lannan couldn't nurse a 2-0 lead on a hot, sticky Cincinnati afternoon, surrendering four runs to the Reds in the bottom of the fifth inning on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.

A botched squeeze play caused a sixth-inning Nats comeback to fizzle out a run short.  Two frames later, a pinch-hit RBI single by Ryan Zimmerman, punctuated by alert baserunning by Josh Willingham, plated the go-ahead run as the Nats went on to edge Cincinnati 5-4.  Reliever Jorge Sosa picked up the win and Mike MacDougal came on with two out in the eighth to finish the game and notch his 13th save.

Check out the coverage at the Post, Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, Dayton Daily News, MLB.com and AP.

      

The year 2006 had been a turbulent one for Dmitri Young and those around him, as he dealt with domestic violence charges in April, rehabilitation from injury, depression and alcoholism from May through July, his surprise unconditional release by Detroit in September and a life-threatening diabetic episode in late November.

If Young was worried that the baseball world would forget about him, Nationals then-GM Jim Bowden -- for whom Young had played as a Cincinnati Red from 1998 through 2001 -- allayed that fear in February 2007 when he invited Young to Spring Training.  That move may have raised eyebrows at the time, but it looked pretty cagey when Nick Johnson's extended recovery from his September 2006 collision with Austin Kearns created an urgent need for a power-hitting first baseman.

Young filled that need ably in 2007, compiling a batting line of .320 / .378 / .491 in 136 games.  That, as well as his facing up to his personal issues, earned him the support of fans, a $10 million contract extension through 2009, and the 2007 Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Unhappily, Young's career has been on the downhill slope since.  Plagued by continued injuries and ongoing issues with weight and diabetes, Young only appeared in 50 major-league games in 2008 and has yet to appear in a 2009 MLB game, though a handshake agreement with Bowden during the 2008-09 offseason ensured Young a spot on the Nats' 40-man roster.

Although, between Johnson and Adam Dunn, the club has been pretty well set at first base, Young has been working his way back from a hip and back strain suffered in Spring Training.  That phase of the journey has just come to a sad end as Young has suffered a torn quadriceps in double-A play and is done for the season.

Still, it sounds as if Young would like to don a uniform next year.  Should that come to pass, our guess -- especially with Bowden gone -- is that it probably won't be the Nationals'.