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The Phillies were dealt a big blow to their bullpen with the news that Ryan Madson will miss the next 8 weeks with a broken right big toe.

Days after their impressive series win against division rival New York, where they took the last two of three, the only thing that has been getting the Phillies any attention was a 17-year old fan getting tasered in front of 45,000 fans, and now this. As you can see by the picture in the link (which by the way isn’t actually his toe), it can be a pretty gruesome injury, and it doesn’t help that it is the toe that Madson pushes off of from the rubber. You can add Madson to the list that already has Brade Lidge and JC Romero, of Phillie relievers that will miss significant time due to injury. All of a sudden, Jose Contreras may be the biggest X-factor on the Phillie pitching staff as his number will be called much more. Nelson Figueroa will also see significant playing time meaning that Philadelphia will put their trust in two aged castoffs, trying to make one last impact in the major leagues…this is certainly their time to make a final statement.

With a 0-5 record and a 5.47 ERA, one can rightfully assume that maybe Kenshin Kawakami just isn’t that good, but in this article Braves Blast defends the struggling right hander.

Braves Blast couldn’t have said it better. It doesn’t matter who you have out there; any starter that gets 1.25 run support will not win games (except if your name is Roy Halladay of course). You have to feel for Kawakami because the team leader in wins with 4 is Derek Lowe, who has an equally bad ERA of 5.18…funny how cruel baseball can be sometimes. Last season with a 3.86 ERA, Kawakami collected 7 wins and proved that he doesn’t have to be the type of pitcher that blows hitters away to be a quality starter in the league. There comes a point where a pitchers win-loss record is a reflection of his teams hitters, and right now, the Braves hitters are not looking too good.

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Burgess has always drawn some controversy among Nationals’ observers. Some believe that the outfielder was a good potential pick that could be a power hitter for a big league team one day, while others think the 2007 sandwich pick was wasted on a prep player that will never be anything more than a platoon player that strikes out too much.

He certainly provided some hope to his supporters a few years ago when he won the South Atlantic League’s home run derby and led the league in home runs and RBIs for a period of time.

On the other hand, he has fueled the flames of the detractors as he struggled to hit and struck out at an absurd rate last year with the P-Nats. Rumors have swirled that Burgess has changed up his long looping swing in order to hit for a better average and cut down on the strikeouts.

So far it seems to be working for him. This season, his walk-to-strikeout ratio is 15:17, while last year’s ratio was 54:135.

His current line—.292/.406/.416—is drastically improved from 2009’s line of .235/.325/.410. While he has been hitting for average, the power has not been quite as prevelant as in previous seasons. Incidentally, his first home run of the season came this past week, a blast to the small porch of Pfitzner Field.

In his last four games, Burgess is 7-for-14 with four doubles, six RBIs, three walks, and only two strikeouts!  What may be even more ridiculous is Burgess’s platoon splits. Burgess has mostly struggled against LHP for his career and his line against such pitchers is .238/.320/.368 (vs RHP – .262/.359/.496).

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NATS’ HISTORIC APRIL

With no game Monday evening, the Washington Nationals (13-12) can look ahead to their upcoming series with the Atlanta Braves (11-14).

While just one game above .500 now, the Nationals went 13-10 in April, posting a winning record in the month for the first time since the franchise moved to Washington.

With star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman returning after missing eight games so far, optimism abounds at Nationals Park.

EAST UP, A-TOWN DOWN

The Braves, on the other hand, are off to a rough start and currently are in sole possession of last place in the ultra-competitive NL East.

Prior to sweeping their most recent series with the Houston Astros, the Braves had lost nine consecutive games, including sweeps by the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves certainly hope that this three-game sweep of the Astros will help right the ship in Atlanta.

Based on preseason predictions, this team has been a disappointment to date. Chosen by many to finish second in the division and by others to win the NL Wild Card, the Braves are last in the division and 3.5 games back of the San Francisco Giants in the wild-card race.

The pitching staff—featuring marquee names like Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, and Billy Wagner—has been good but not great, with a team ERA of 3.97. The real struggle has been with the bats.

The Braves’ offense has been, well, offensive. The team is 24th in the majors with a .238 batting average, 28th in slugging percentage, and 25th in both home runs and runs scored.

While second baseman Martin Prado has been very good (.354/.414/.475) and right fielder Jason Heyward has played well, the rest of the club has sputtered. Offensive stalwarts such as catcher Brian McCann, first baseman Troy Glaus, shortstop Yunel Escobar, and third baseman Chipper Jones have struggled mightily, hitting .242, .238, .215, and .206, respectively, with six home runs between them.

Nowhere has the Braves’ offensive ineptitude been more pronounced than at the leadoff spot, where Atlanta ranks last in the league with a .195 average. The leadoff spot has primarily been manned by Melky Cabrera, Nate McLouth, Matt Diaz, and the aforementioned Escobar, none of whom is hitting than Escobar’s .215.

If the Braves expect to turn their season around, the offense will need to find its rhythm.

WHO’S HOT?

Jason Heyward: 5-for-10, two HRs, four runs, six RBI

Melky Cabrera: 3-for-6, two BBs, three RBI

Omar Infante: 6-for-12, two BBs, three runs

Braves’ pitching staff: four ERs in 27 innings

WHO’S NOT?

…

PROBABLE STARTERS

Tuesday, May 4: Kenshin Kawakami (0-4, 5.48) vs. Livan Hernandez (3-1, 0.87)

Wednesday, May 5: Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17) vs. Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25)

Thursday, May 6: Tim Hudson (2-1, 2.87) vs. Scott Olsen (2-1, 4.35)

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Jason Heyward appears to be coming down to Earth. After lighting the baseball world abuzz with a home run on the first swing of his Major League career, Heyward’s astronomical pace has slowed.

While he is still performing at an extremely high level for a 20-year-old rookie, it seems as if pitchers are beginning to adjust to the Braves star. Heyward has struck out 26 times in just 81 at-bats, so it will be important for him to increase his contact rate.

Despite these early hiccups, scouts have constantly raved about his plate discipline. In addition, he struck out less than half as frequently in the minor leagues (one per 6.34 at-bats) so it can only be expected that his performance will improve.

That said, Heyward is still batting .272/.388/.580 with seven home runs through his first 25 games as a major leaguer, no small potatoes for any player, let alone a 20-year-old. Braves fans can only hope he continues to “struggle” as he is.

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As we do each Monday throughout the season,  today we look at Accuscore’s playoff forecaster to see how the previous week’s games effected the NL playoff race. Despite the Nationals breaking even with a 3-3 record on the week, after taking two of three from Chicago then dropping two of three against Florida, Washington’s playoff chances dipped 3.4% from 13.9%-10.5%. The computer also shrunk the Nationals predicted chances of winning the NL East from 9.3% to 6.3%.

Around the division, Accuscore interestingly did not like the Mets despite the team’s 4-2 record last week. Stephen Oh explains:

“The team that AccuScore’s computers continue to disrespect are the New York Mets. They had a 4-2 week, but like last week their record vs winning teams and on the road continues to be sub-par. Until the Mets start winning a series or two vs a team like Philadelphia, St. Louis or even Florida on the road, they will continue to be stuck at the under 10 percent in playoff percentage club. The Mets did see a +5 percent improvement (4th best in the NL) and this represented a 2.5X increase in playoff percentage from last week.”

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Each month The Nats Blog will announce our Nationals Player of the Month as voted upon by our writers. This award will be determined on quality of performance as well as the impact of that performance.

The month of April was an exciting one for Washington. They had their best start to a season as a franchise since moving to D.C. and finished above .500 in a month for the first time since 2007.

This great start saw several outstanding individual performances. Ivan Rodriguez batted over .400 for the month, playing excellent defense. Ryan Zimmerman supplied some timely hitting and some good power despite injuries. Tyler Clippard posted an April ERA of 0.50 and notched 23 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.

But of all the great starts for the Nationals, the one that stuck out the most was that of Livan Hernandez. After not signing until late into spring training, Hernandez has supplied four excellent starts for the Nationals, going 3-1 with a 0.87 ERA. Hernandez pitched at least seven innings in each of his starts, recording one shutout and allowing only three earned runs in 31 innings pitched.

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The Washington Nationals attempt at four-straight wins, and a tie for first place in the division, was stymied by Chris Volstad and the Florida Marlins lineup.

Combining for only five base runners on the night, the Nationals had no chance to match the seven runs the Marlins put up on the board, and fell to 13-11 in a 7-1 Saturday night.

Apart from Volstad imposing his 6′ 8″ self on the Nationals lineup, Washington fans found themselves disappointed as the Nationals club seemed to take a step backward on the night, allowing six earned runs and committing two errors.

Volstad, 24, dominated the Nats line up through nine innings. The Marlins first round draft pick in 2005 struck out eight Nationals batters while only allowing one walk and four hits. His bread-and-butter pitch was his low-90s sinker which he through 55 times on the night for 55 strikes. He kept hitters off balance with his mid-80s change-up which he threw 27 times on the night for 14 strikes.

Throwing only 114 pitches on the night, Volstad did a good job painting the corners earning called strikes through all nine innings. It wasn’t his ability to get the Nationals batters to swing and miss that made him so successful on the night, but his ability to force them into weak contact. On the year Volstad has allowed an extremely low .237 Batting Average On Balls In Play, due to his strong sinker. This showed Saturday as he allowed only one line-drive on the night according to FanGraphs, forcing 11 ground balls and 10 fly balls.

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While the Mets are celebrating their ascension back into relevance with their eight-game winning streak and Phillies are floundering without their anchor, Jimmy Rollins, the Nationals are on a high of their own.

With the win over the Florida Marlins last night, the club earned their third win in a row, finished April above .500 for the first time in five years, and quietly slipped into second place in the National League East.

While the club has had to get by without him for most of the second half of the month, the Nationals welcomed back Ryan Zimmerman to slam the door on what has been an exciting April.

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Bill Ladson reported on twitter that Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman will be back in the lineup tonight as the club embarks on a three game series in Miami. Ladson also indicated that the weather has played a factor in the decision:

“Being in warm Miami has helped #Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman. The team did not want him to play in cold Chicago.”

Zimmerman, who is batting .326/.370/.628 with two homers and 10 RBI in 14 games, has missed seven starts as a result of hamstring woes. Despite the absence of their Gold Glove hot-corner and overall best player, the Nationals have gone 4-3 since he has left the lineup on a full-time basis, and have improved their record to 12-10. Zimmerman hasn’t been fully healthy since Apr. 10 when he initially injured his hamstring after going 0-3 against the Mets. Following his injury he was out of the lineup for five days before earning a game winning pinch-hit home run a la Kirk Gibson Apr. 15 at Philadelphia. Zimmerman returned to the line-up full time Apr. 17 before re-injuring himself Apr. 21.

Zimmerman was far-and-away the teams most valuable player in 2009 after batting .292/.364/.525 and registering 6.6 wins above replacement value. The hot corner also posted a 13.1 UZR last season.

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After a day off on Thursday, the Washington Nationals (12-10) will continue their road trip with three games against the Florida Marlins (11-11). The Nationals are coming off an extremely competitive three-game series with the Chicago Cubs in which they took the last two after dropping the opener.

The first game ended in painful fashion: With the score tied at three in the bottom of the 10th inning, reliever Brian Bruney walked Aramis Ramirez with the bases loaded to force in Ryan Theriot for the winning run. The Nationals took Tuesday’s game 3-1 on another dazzling performance by Livan Hernandez. The 35-year-old righty threw seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just six hits and one walk, while the offense was powered by Ian Desmond’s two-hit, two-RBI day. Wednesday’s win featured yet another phenomenal outing. In just his second start of the season, Luis Atilano held the Cubs to two runs on six hits over six innings.

The Nationals offense largely came courtesy of the Adams—Dunn and Kennedy both hit solo home runs, while Wil Nieves drove in the other run in a 3-2 victory. As April turns to May, the Nats find themselves two games over .500 and just one back of the New York Mets for the NL East lead.

The Marlins, on the other hand, enter this series after failing to reach the expectations many had for them entering this season. Armed with the best all-around player in baseball, Hanley Ramirez, and one of the best young pitchers in the National League, Josh Johnson, the Marlins have a strong core that is similar to the ones that helped lead Florida to their two previous championships. But if the young players want the Marlins front office to open their frugal wallets and spend to get them more support, they’ll have to prove that they are a young product worth investing in by having much more on-the-field success.

MARLINS FLOUNDER IN LATEST SERIES

Since starting the season 8-5, the Marlins have lost six of their past nine games, including three straight series to the Houston Astros, the Colorado Rockies, and the San Diego Padres. After blowing out the Padres 10-1 in their series opener, the Marlins dropped consecutive games by scores of 4-1 and 6-4. The offensive explosion in the first game was coupled with a 12-strikeout complete game by ace Josh Johnson (who had three hits and three RBI of his own); however, Jon Garland struck out 10 Marlins in Game Two and Nate Robertson struggled in Game Three, causing the Marlins to drop both. This will be the first meeting between the two NL East teams this season.

WHO’S HOT?
Jorge Cantu: 4-10, 1 HR, 3 runs, 2 RBI
WHO’S NOT?
Cameron Maybin: 2-13, 5 Ks, 0-6 w/RISP

PROBABLE STARTERS

Friday, April 30: Ricky Nolasco (2-0, 3.03) vs. Craig Stammen (1-0, 6.75)
Saturday, May 1: Chris Volstad (1-2, 5.79) vs. Scott Olsen (1-1, 6.14)
Sunday, May 2: Josh Johnson (2-1, 3.19) vs. John Lannan (1-1, 5.53)

THE BATTLE ON THE BASEPATHS

The Nationals are tied for the National League lead in stolen bases with 23, but are also tied for second in the National League in times caught stealing. The Marlins, on the other hand—while not a prolific running team (nine stolen bases)—have allowed 23 stolen bases with just seven runners caught stealing. Much of the Nationals’ limited offensive production this season (22nd in runs scored) can be attributed to their success on the basepaths, thus, when combined with the Marlins’ apparent propensity for letting runners advance, the Nationals appear well-positioned to exploit this weakness.

A COMEDY OF ERRORS

Speaking of defensive limitations, the Marlins are second-to-last the league with a .974 fielding percentage and lead all of baseball in errors committed with 21 in just 22 games. The team has been particularly weak up the middle, with shortstop Hanley Ramirez and second baseman Dan Uggla committing four and three errors, respectively. With a relatively average offense and pitching staff based on their early season numbers, the Marlins cannot afford to continue to play such poor defense and remain a viable contender in the increasingly competitive NL East.

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The Washington Nationals promoted right-handed relief pitcher Drew Storen to Triple-A Syracuse.

The move is considered the last step before the 2009 first-round pick makes his plunge to the majors for the second half of the season.

In seven appearances this season at Double-A Harrisburg, the 22-year-old has recorded four saves while posting a 0.96 ERA. In 9.1 innings pitched, Storen has struck out 11 while only walking one.

His latest placement was just one in a line of several successful stops since signing with Washington last summer. In 35 appearances as a professional, he has posted a 1.75 ERA while averaging 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

While the Nationals drafted Storen in an attempt to gain instant help for a floundering bullpen last summer, Washington has upgraded its relieving corps this winter and has had early success this season.

Perhaps most notably, Matt Capps has dominated as the Nationals’ closer this season, saving 11 out of 11 chances while posting a 0.68 ERA. As a result, Storen will likely have to wait his turn to become the Nationals’ full-time closer.

While the 22-year-old may have envisioned being Washington’s full-time closer by 2010, he will likely have to serve as a setup man along with Tyler Clippard to the 26-year-old Capps until he is traded or his contract expires.

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