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The Oakland A’s have not been in the playoffs since the 2006 season. This could have been the year to make it back had they not traded away Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was the ace for the A’s before the offseason trade to the Washington Nationals. Now he is the Nationals’ second ace, behind Stephen Strasburg, and will pitch his fourth game for Washington on Tuesday night. 

Gonzalez has started the season with a 2.04 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP and he has struck out 21 and only walked five. 

Gonzalez has been a major contributor to the NL East-leading Nationals, and he could have had the same effect on Oakland if they did not make the trade.

Oakland has started the season under .500, but where would they be with Gonzalez still on the team?

Assuming that Oakland still would have signed Bartolo Colon, they would have had a very good front three in their rotation with Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy and Colon.

Last season Oakland was 74-88 with Gonzalez. It looks as though the A’s are a better team this season and would be a playoff contender if they had that one big pitcher to compliment Colon.

The additional wild card spot would have given the A’s a better chance to make the playoffs this season if they still had their ace on the staff. Without Gonzalez, this team does not appear to have enough weapons to keep their heads above water in 2012.

The back end of their rotation is unproven and will not be able to carry this team to the playoffs. They might come close this season but they will be one ace short.

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Saturday was not a good day to be an All-Star third baseman in Major League Baseball. Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Beltre and Kevin Youkilis either did not start or were pulled from their games due to injuries.

The Nationals’ Zimmerman was the first third basemen to fall victim when he was scratched from the lineup due to mild right shoulder inflammation. According to William Ladson, there is no structural damage to the shoulder.

The Nats have a day off on Monday, so they might opt to let Zimmerman have a long weekend of rest in hopes to reduce the inflammation.

Beltre of the Texas Rangers was the next one to go down on Saturday. He came up lame on a double in the second inning and was removed from the game. Jeff Wilson reported that Beltre is day-to-day with a strained left hamstring.

Beltre told reporters that he does not think the hamstring injury is as severe as last year when he was forced to miss five weeks. Richard Durrett reports that Beltre “hopes to play back in Tex where weather is warmer.”

It sounds somewhat optimistic that Beltre is ready to return by Monday when they return back to Texas.

The final victim of Saturday was Boston Red Sox third baseman Youkilis. He was removed from the game after he was hit by a pitch in the left thigh by New York Yankees relief pitcher David Phelps. According to Ken Rosenthal, Youkilis left the game with a left quad contusion.

Overall, there is a lot of uncertainty and concern for the Nationals, Rangers and Red Sox. These guys are key to the success of their ballclubs, and they will have to wait and see how each of their injuries progress.

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The absence of Drew Storen at the end of ballgames is beginning to weigh on the Washington Nationals.

Trying to avoid using flamethrower Henry Rodriguez in consecutive days is also beginning to cost the Nats as Brad Lidge blew a 2-0 lead and a victory for Stephen Strasburg on Saturday.

There are not many words to describe Strasburg this season besides pure dominance. Every game that he has pitched has been nothing short of brilliant. 

Strasburg continued his incredible start to 2012 against the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon. He threw six innings of scoreless ball while only allowing four hits and striking out six.

Although Strasburg did not get a win, the Nationals still did.

The Nats picked up Lidge in the 10th inning when Wilson Ramos singled to begin the inning. Adam LaRoche followed with a ground ball to first base that Gaby Sanchez threw to second in order to get the lead runner. The ball deflected off of Jose Reyes’ glove however and Ramos scampered to third.

Ian Desmond ended the game with a deep fly ball to center field resulting in a sacrifice fly to send the Nationals home with a 3-2 win and improve to 12-4 on the season.

Leaving games in the hands of the bullpen might not be the ideal situation when Strasburg takes the mound and the Nats are going to have to rethink their innings limit for Strasburg.

An ace like Strasburg has to be allowed to pitch deeper into games in order to give his team every chance to win. Fellow aces Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez seem to throw over 120 pitches in many of their outings. Strasburg however does not get that opportunity.

The Nats are going to be in the playoff hunt this year, but if Strasburg is limited then what kind of message does that send to fans? That their team will play hard until the end of the summer and then shut down one of the best pitchers in the game?

That does not seem logical.

Washington needs to let their young pitchers off their leashes and allow them to develop naturally.

Whether is means allowing Rodriguez to pitch on back to back days or allowing Strasburg to pitch deeper into games, something has to be done for them to be legitimate contenders in the National League.

For now the Nats are winning ballgames despite the limitations that are on their young arms. The longer they continue the win however, the more their fans will be calling for the limitations to be eliminated.

Washington will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon when they send Gio Gonzalez to the mound to take on Josh Johnson.

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The Washington Nationals found themselves trailing the Chicago Cubs 4-2 at the beginning of the eighth inning.

But by the end of the eight, the Nationals took a 7-4 lead, which was the ballgame’s final score.

The Nationals rally began with two outs in the eighth inning and no one on base. Then, Danny Espinosa battled Kerry Wood in a 10-pitch at bat that resulted in Espinosa depositing a ball in the left field bleachers. The home run brought the Nats within one, 4-3.

Ryan Zimmerman delivered with a broken bat single, and Adam LaRoche singled, before Wood was pulled from the game.

The Cubs’ Carlos Marmol entered but didn’t have better results. He walked Jayson Werth and set up a bases loaded at bat for pinch hitter Chad Tracy.

Tracy delivered with a single that scored two runs and gave the Nats a 5-4 lead. The scoring continued, as Roger Bernadina doubled and Steve Lombardozzi beat out an infield single, each driving in another run.

After a similar comeback on Opening Day, the Nationals find themselves sitting at 2-0 to start the season. The only negative from Saturday’s game was the performance of newly acquired Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez only lasted 3.2 innings while allowing four runs, walking three and striking out six. The bullpen shut the door, however, and allowed for the comeback to take place.

Ryan Matteus pitched an impressive seventh inning, striking out two and earning the win. Tyler Clippard labored in the eighth but struck out Reed Johnson to make it out of the inning unscathed.

Henry Rodriguez was called upon to record the save on Saturday.

He walked the first batter of the inning despite hitting 100 mph on the radar gun. He went on to impressively strike out the next three batters and recorded the save in the 7-4 Nats’ victory.

Adam LaRoche led the Nats in offense with four hits, including a home run, while scoring two runs and knocking in two RBIs.

Washington is proving that they are legitimate contenders in the National League early on in 2012. On Saturday, they showed that they possess a key quality in playoff caliber teams—a never-say-die mentality.

The Nats now look to sweep the first series of the year in Chicago at 2:20 p.m. Sunday, when they send Jordan Zimmermann to the mound.

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In a surprising turn of events, the Washington Nationals optioned John Lannan to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday.

Lannan was ready to take the reigns as the fifth starter in the Nationals’ dominant rotation while Chien-Ming Wang recovers from a hamstring strain.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reported that Lannan was sent down and that Ross Detwiler will likely become the Nationals’ fifth starter.

Detwiler has shown good control this spring. In 17.2 innings, Detwiler has struck out 18 while walking five batters. He has pitched to a 3.06 ERA while giving up 14 hits this spring.

The 26-year-old Detwiler has not thrown more than 75.2 innings in his career but has a chance to impress the Nationals while Wang is sidelined.

Lannan had drawn interest from teams all offseason but the Nationals ultimately decided to keep Lannan around. They will have a decision to make down the road, assuming they hold on to Lannan and Wang becomes healthy.

They are one of the few teams that have depth at pitching and can withstand injuries to their starting rotation.

Lannan had a chance to start the season with the big club due to Wang’s injury but now finds himself in Syracuse. Perhaps his 5.14 ERA in spring led to the decision to be made.

Now it is up to Detwiler to impress with the opportunity he has been given and force manager Davey Johnson to make a decision when Wang returns.

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Michael Pineda’s velocity has been down all spring but the New York Yankees might have finally discovered the reason for the decline. 

The Yankees sent Pineda for an MRI on his shoulder after he experienced shoulder soreness and tightness after his outing on Friday night. The MRI showed no structural damage but revealed tendinitis in Pineda’s shoulder. 

New York has placed Pineda on the disabled list where he will begin the season. Pineda is expected to be out until at least May.

The New York Daily News quoted Yankees manager Joe Girardi as saying, “It’s great news. Very relieved, because the rest of the MRI came out good. You always worry about rotator cuff and other things in the shoulder. The rest of the shoulder came out good.”

At this point the Yankees are not significantly affected by this injury as long as it does not persist or turn in to a long-term problem. It will allow the Yankees to figure out their pitching situation over the first month of the season.

It was assumed that the Yankees would send Pineda to the minors to begin the season and allow Freddy Garcia to begin the year as the fifth starter. With Pineda’s move to the DL, there is no choice to be made as Garcia will take over for Pineda .

There is now a chance for Garcia to pitch and potentially raise his trade value for New York so that when Pineda is ready Garcia can be traded and Pineda can slide back into the rotation. There is also a chance that Garcia transitions to the bullpen at some point.

With the addition of Andy Pettitte presumably coming around the same time that Pineda will be returning, there will be some major decisions for GM Brian Cashman and the Yankees to make in the near future.

For now, however, Pineda will have time to rest his shoulder and work on returning to the 23-year-old dominant pitcher that the Yankees traded for.

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The Washington Nationals might start their season with their closer sidelined on the disabled list.

Drew Storen, who has been sidelined with bicep, tricep and elbow pain, might not have enough time to prepare for the regular season. An MRI done earlier this week revealed inflammation in his elbow joint but no structural damage.

According to Nationals beat writer Amanda Comak, Nationals manager Davey Johnson said that Washington will “prepare for the possibility he doesn’t break with us.”

Storen plans to begin throwing on Tuesday or Wednesday, and the Nationals fear that there might not be enough time for him to be ready to close ballgames at the beginning of the regular season.

If Storen starts the season on the DL, Johnson plans to leave Tyler Clippard in the set-up role and have Brad Lidge and Henry Rodriguez assume the role of closer. Lidge has plenty of experience as a closer, as he racked up 223 career saves in his career with the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.

The good news is that Storen should be able to bounce back from the injury since there is no structural damage. The Nationals should be able to piece it together without moving Clippard from his set-up role.

The 24-year-old Storen had 43 saves last season in his first full year as the Nationals closer. The Nationals hope that he can return without pain and be effective for a team with expectations to contend.

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Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers have dealt with a lot over the last several months. Tuesday brought about another bump in the road for Braun.

Braun was scratched from the lineup on Tuesday afternoon after experiencing tightness in his groin. 

The Brewers are likely being cautious with Braun, but if this injury lingers it certainly won’t do Braun any good as he attempts to find his swing this spring.

He has one hit in 17 at bats and has struck out five times. Braun was trying to play back-to-back games for only the second time this spring. The last time he did was on March 8th and March 9th. 

Many will wonder if his horrific spring is related to his PED scandal. 

Perhaps Braun has been unable to find a rhythm playing in only a handful of games. If there were not extenuating circumstances, a dreadful spring would not be much of a concern.

With Braun however, a fallout from a long offseason fighting a PED suspension might have taken him out of his game.

Hopefully for the Brewers, Braun is back on the field sooner rather than later.

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