Kelvin Herrera had to be removed from the field on a cart after suffering a potentially serious left foot injury in the ninth inning of the Nationals’ 15-0 win over the Mets today. Herrera took a bad step while fielding a ground ball, and fell down on the ground after completing the out at first base. Manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters that Herrera’s foot was the issue, not the right-hander’s Achilles. Results aren’t yet known from x-rays taken on Herrera after the game, though he was seen in the clubhouse on crutches and wearing a protective boot. Herrera ranked sixth on MLBTR’s recent list of the top 20 August trade candidates, though today’s unfortunate news may make it unlikely that Herrera returns to the field at all this season. [UPDATE: X-rays were negative, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports. Herrera will undergo further tests tomorrow to check for any ligament damage.)
Here’s more D.C. baseball chatter…
- Reports indicated that the Dodgers’ claim of Bryce Harper was meant to block other NL contenders from obtaining the star outfielder, though ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the Dodgers “also placed some expensive veterans on the waiver wire” when they put in their claim for Harper. Clearly, L.A. had to prepare itself for the possibility, however remote, that the Nationals might’ve simply let Harper go on waivers without a trade, which would’ve left the Dodgers over the luxury tax threshold. Since the Nats seemingly had no intention of parting ways with Harper, though, it ended up being a moot point. While it isn’t unusual for teams to put most, or even all, of their players on waivers as a matter of procedure in August, it is interesting to speculate who the Dodgers could’ve tried to deal or simply let walk on a waiver claim if they had been forced to make room for Harper — Yasiel Puig or the slumping Matt Kemp come to mind, given that Harper would’ve stepped into an everyday outfield role.
- Also from Olney’s column, he takes a broader look at the Nationals’ disappointing season, and speculates about the club’s unusual transaction strategy over the last month. If the Nats weren’t going to sell at the trade deadline, it would’ve made more sense for Washington to buy, particularly to address a bullpen that has been a season-long issue. When the team did decide to sell (i.e. the trades of Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams), rival executives were reportedly curious about the timing, since there’s still time before August 31 and the Nationals aren’t totally out of the race. Beyond the past month, however, Olney also believes the Nats have a bigger-picture issue to solve, as “it would be helpful if they work to figure out why so many players have left the organization speaking of an unusual and sometimes counterproductive clubhouse culture.”
xabial
Will Dave Martinez make it past Year 1? Owners rarely fire first-year managers, at or before Year 1, I think
nats3256
If they can get joe Girardi to commit.
xabial
They would need to commit more than 1M per annum
majorflaw
“They would need to commit more than 1M per annum.”
Right. Girardi was making ~$4M per with the Yanquis. The Nats have never spent anywhere near that on a manager. Otherwise Girardi would have been a great fit.
driftcat28 2
Girardi would be a great fit but I doubt the Nats will spend a lot on a manager. They might as well stick with Davey. I think they’ll start selling assets at the 2019 deadline. Girardi will end up in STL
bobbyk 2
Girardi to Anaheim. That’s my guess.
We’re_Pham-ily
I think Schildt has the job. He’s changed the culture of the team.
CardsNation5
Girardi wants the Cardinals job badly. He’s even said that he’ll take less money just to get the job. This is 12 years in the making. Even though Shildt has impressed, its not a guarantee that he will be named permanent manager
majorflaw
“Will Dave Martinez make it past year 1?”
Do you hold the manager responsible for the Nats mediocrity this year, xabial?
imgman09
Fire Rizzo
dimitrios in la
Martinez goes at year’s end.
Backup Catcher to the Backup Catcher
There is something very dysfunctional about the Nats. Dusty Baker wins 95 and 97 games the past two years and gets fired! Their medical staff can’t keep Strasburg healthy for a full season! They haven’t addressed the lack of production out of the catcher position ever since Ramos left! And their most glaring weakness the past few years; lack of a shut-down closer, is still without a solution! JMHO, but I think Rizzo is the problem and ownership should let him go. Finally, Nats will get better defense with Difo at 2B but they are gonna miss Murphy’s bat..
yankeemanuno23
Nats are my NL team. Been watching them since the came to DC. Team isn’t the same since Werth left clubhouse wise. Once again I repeat what I’ve said:Rizzo continues to misplay hand as GM. Ditto to Olney’s point on Murphy & Adams move, & screw ups on not getting a closer since 2016, still a sore point.
not moving past division no NLCS or Hope if a WS. Time for a change – Lerner’s what’s up?
bjsguess
They haven’t gotten a “closer” in either 2017 or 2018?
I’ll set aside the silliness of fixating on a “closer” and instead just point you to Sean Doolittle who had 2 20+ save seasons under his belt prior to the trade to Washington. He has another couple 20+ saves seasons since.
Then you have Ryan Madson, he of 2 30+ save seasons prior to heading to the Nats. And finally, you have Herrera. The guy who has saved 55 games over the past 3 years.
And the obsession with being booted from the playoffs … Not sure why this has to be repeated so often but people still don’t get it. The playoffs are a total crapshoot. The “best” team often isn’t the WS champs. A good GM gets their team to the playoffs. Once there anything can happen. The Nats have had a great run of late, consistently one of the best teams in baseball. Scratching my head at Nats fans who are dumping on Rizzo. He’s not perfect but he has done an outstanding job rebuilding this franchise.
holecamels35
So fans should celebrate having a good season and never winning a playoff series, brilliant.
I’ll bet you approved of the stupid banner the Indianapolis Colts displayed for 2014 AFC finalist.
bjsguess
I don’t care what you celebrate. That’s completely up to you.
Playoff rounds are either 1 game, 5 games or 7 games. If you believe that a GM can significantly impact a team’s ability to succeed once they are in the playoffs, then power to you. Just know that you are in the distinct minority. Those that have studied this have shown time and again, that randomness in baseball playoffs makes predicting outcomes nearly impossible. Don’t trust me? Google it. You will find papers written by Harvard research or 538. Want something more accessible, try the great article written by Eno Sarris at Fangraphs. Over and over again you will see statements like this:
“So you might have guessed their conclusion — baseball is, indeed, the sport with the most amount of luck involved. The teams are packed in the closest, they have the smallest advantages from their parks, and the so the games are closest to coin flips among the sports.”
They aren’t just making this up. They use actual data. Data that includes wins/losses. Data that includes baseruns. This has been studied over and over again and the results are always the same. It is a flip of the coin.
reneaguerra
Nice copy & paste.
Carrington Spensor
Randomness? Data?
Very few playoff games are blowouts. Series are won by fundamental play – defense, pitching, hitting (including moving runners up when making outs), and base-running.
Rizzo’s teams seldom have chemistry where players work off one another. Most of the pitchers just try to K guys; most batters swing from the heels and try to power the ball over the shift. The playoffs have always favored teams that can string hits together and manufacture runs. The Nationals don’t do that with any consistency.
Yesterday the Mets telecast put up some team hitting and pitching stats. The Nationals finished from 5th to 8th (depending on category) in the 15 team NL. Yet their record was slightly under .500. The manager changes the line-up and defense daily after looking at stats. The players play for their stats to get their next contract. They don’t know how to win. The organization figures if the players stats are good, winning follows. Sorry, it’s the opposite. Yes, they miss Jason Werth.
usafcop
Exactly….the best teams usually win the most games during the regular season barring injuries….but in a short series anything can happen….the Giants in all 3 WS titles are the best example….the Royals a couple years ago also….neither team were the best in baseball….hell there were several teams better than both of those teams each year but the Giants won (3) and Royals won (1) world series…hell the Giants got in as a wild card behind the much better Dodgers and were underdogs in each series in each year they made it….they were facing elimination several times….but still overcame the odds and won 3 titles….but believe me when I say this….the Dodgers and Phillies were much better teams than the Giants….the Nats are a powerhouse team with a stacked roster but they can’t seem to put it together in the playoffs much like the Dodgers of recent memory….I think the GM gets a team to the playoffs but the Manager gets them to the WS….Bochy is the Belichik of MLB….without Bochy the Giants win 0 WS….truth
Deke
@bjsguess and @usafcop you are both absolutely right. Playoffs are a crap shoot and there are a bunch of articles and studies that back that up.
To add to that there’s a bunch of situations where good players seem to play badly in playoffs and average players excel. I have no data to back this up but the Giants WS are a good example. They had great contributions from players like Cody Ross who just seemed to turn it on during the playoffs. But yeah the point about SF not being the best team (on paper) those years is absolutely correct. They just got hot and lucky at the right times and I say this as an SF fan.
jdgoat
Yes, the Nationals have proven that they lack character and chemistry by not advancing in the playoffs because Drew Storen couldn’t get an out…
usafcop
Exactly Deke….the Giants on paper were barely a top 10 team in maybe 2 of their 3 WS runs….maybe a top 5 team in one of those years to be fair….but still they weren’t even the best team in their own division or the NL…they had timely hitting by the unlikeliest players that no other team wanted….Ross…Moore….Ishikawa to name a few….duds all year and heroes in the playoffs….Bochy is or at least was the best Manager in the game during that span….and I stand by this….without Bochy the Giants win 0 titles….furthermore people act like they had a dynasty….3 WS titles in 5 years is great….but it’s not like they were stacked and had a stacked farm system on top of that to replenish their lineup/rotation….to me that is not a dynasty….the Dodgers were better and had the better farm system….the Giants had Bochy and tons of luck and timely hits….Bochy as the Dodgers Manager would have been exciting….or even the Phillies…I called this years ago….I said that the Giants win their titles by pure luck and that it would eventually run out and they will be stuck with a high priced aging OF etc and no help coming from the farm….they thought they were just gonna compete every year….no team does first of all even the teams far better than the Giants….here is an example….the Astros are absolutely stacked and have a pretty good farm system also….the A’s are pretty good but nowhere near as good as the Astros and should be 10-13 games begins the Astros….due to injuries to the Astros they have allowed the overachieving A’s to stay on pace with them but now that the Astros are getting healthy I think they will or should pull away from the A’s….but even if we all know that talent wise the Astros are far better than the A’s….anything can happen in the playoffs and the A’s could be playing the Cardinals or the Braves in the WS….highly doubtful but no more so than anyone predicting the Giants would win any of their 3 WS titles….because in this scenario the Astros are the Dodgers and the A’s are this years Giants….scrappy overarching team that can be dangerous in the playoffs….maybe not with Manaea out though….I see the A’s having an early exit….but who knows….
bravesfan88
Well, to be fair, it isn’t like the Nats have had a ton of competition in the NL East the past several seasons..Other than the Mets for a season or so..It definitely helped their record, and seeding for that matter, being able to play against predominantly 3 rebuilding teams the past 3-4 years..
Facts are though, there has been no continuity in the clubhouse, in terms of a constant leader/manager..And they’ve just simply been outplayed in the playoffs…
They need to correct the ship though, and quickly; otherwise, their window for contending just might be closing, especially with Atlanta and Philly finally starting to finish up their respective rebuilds…
bradthebluefish
Rizzo keeps winning in trades, free agent signing, and player development so he should stay.
However, the new manager is working out and neither is trading for a closer every year in the middle of the season. Resolve this and Rizzo is an excellent GM.
oldleftylong
Uh, … keeps “winning”trades? Says who?
RedRooster
Says Trea Turner for Steven Souza
tharrie0820
Says Eaton for Giolito, dunning. and Reynaldo Lopez? last dude’s name is completely escaping me
2012orioles
How does “blocking” a team work?
bjsguess
Short answer – there is a waiver wire priority. By putting in a claim you prevent the teams lower than you (on the priority list) from having an opportunity to work out a deal with the claimed player.
In this example, the Dodgers had higher priority than the DBacks. If the DBacks wanted an opportunity to trade for Harper they would need all teams before them to pass. In this case, the Dodgers placed their claim. That gave them the exclusive right to negotiate a deal with the Nats. When they couldn’t reach an agreement, Harper is stuck on the Nats until the end of the season. The DBacks never got the opportunity to negotiate with the Nats.
2012orioles
Thanks
bjsguess
The Dodgers strategy is pretty baffling. They would need to be 100% sure that Harper was going to be pulled back. Simply putting Kemp on waivers does nothing. No chance he was going to get claimed. And even if he passed through and a trade was worked out, who is touching anything close to his 2018 salary (to say nothing of what he is owed in 2019)? They would have needed to include Kemp + a pile of prospects not on the 40 man roster to make a deal work.
That seems to be an awful lot of risk to simply block a trade. Worked out in the end but that could have gone sideways real fast.
sidewinder11
Harper was never going to be let go for nothing by the Nats. At least now they’ll get a draft pick for him.
tylerall5
I doubt the dodgers would complain about having to carry Harpers salary though.
RedRooster
They were 100% sure that Harper was going to be pulled back. Everyone was. It was no risk because the Nats weren’t just going to let Harper go for nothing and forfeit the right to QO him.
Kenleyfornia74
Why would the Nationals even consiser giving him away for free when they will get a higher comp pick in next years draft when he gets a QO and leaves in free agency.
Cam
They were 100% sure. Everyone was 100% sure.
BlueSkyLA
If everybody was 100% sure he’d get pulled back, then what was the point of blocking a waiver claim? The reality is, the claiming team wins the opportunity to work out a trade for that player, so the Dodgers were blocking the very real possibility that another team (presumably the D’backs) would do just that. All we can be certain about is the Nationals were not going to simply ship Harper’s contract to the maker of a waiver claim, they’d expect something back, and that the Dodgers were never going to offer anything, because they weren’t interested in actually making a trade. But the D’backs, they might have. What they might have offered the Nats, we’ll never know.
frankiegxiii
They are saying Harper was guaranteed to be pulled back if the claiming team wasn’t offering anything for him, not that he was guaranteed to be pulled back no matter what.
majorflaw
“Clearly, L.A. had to prepare itself for the possibility . . . that the Nationals might’ve simply let Harper go on waivers . . . which would’ve left the Dodgers over the luxury tax threshold.”
So the Dodgers plan, had the Nats let Harper go on waivers, was to waive Puig and Kemp and hope that somebody claimed them? That’s a mighty optimistic plan.
RedRooster
Puig would have been claimed. But not Kemp.
Anyway, there was never any chance of the Nats letting Harper go on waivers so they didn’t need a “plan.”
philmccrevice
Well said : BJ’sguess and bradthe bluefish.
jints1
Interesting that none of this clubhouse stuff materialized with Dusty at the helm. I think the players really liked Dusty and felt he got s bad deal. The result is an unhappy team. Dave Martinez inherited issues. In addition, the pressure of having to win in Harper’s last year contributed. Orioles had same disease with Machado.
ccharkey
I’m pretty sure Harper got choked in the dugout with Dusty at the helm.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
That was under Williams.
Phillies2017
I dont think theres a manager in the game that can deal with Papelbon. Great pitcher though.
chippahawk
Here come the expos 2.0
driftcat28 2
No reason Herrera should’ve been in a 15-0 game
blovy8
Hererra asked to pitch before the game because he hadn’t in 5 games.
Phillies2017
On the real, Rizzo needs to be fired and I would hire Ron Washington or Joe Girardi as manager.
I would have to take a look at the roster as a whole to give a full opinion, but they have the core pieces but need to fill out the periphery
blovy8
All the public statements seem disingenous from the Nats’ front office. I suspect the return Rizzo was going to get on his free agents wasn’t near enough to what he wanted in late July, so they just rolled the dice on playing better for a few weeks, and that didn’t happen. If a deal for Harper couldn’t be made, the idea of getting under the luxury tax this year was going to be difficult with the bullpen injuries. Gio probably should have been let go for peanuts just to be rid of the 4 million. It’s going to be very hard for them to compete next season without going over again.