It was cold again today in Florida, but at least it was sunny. We spent our afternoon watching the Nationals dominate the Georgetown Hoyas at Space Coast Stadium. The game was free so we headed over a bit early to score some good seats and catch any interesting warm ups. We got to watch Ross Detwilers’s bullpen session. Randy St. Claire was working closely with him; Detwiler seems to be looking more comfortable by the day.
As we headed into the stadium we commented on how nice it looks. The seats are navy blue while the railings and trim are bright red; it really looks sharp. Our seats for the game were a few rows behind the Nats dugout. It was easy to s
ee how excited the guys from Georgetown were to be at the game. It must have been a pretty cool experience for them. The Nats starting line up was a bit intimidating I’m sure. With Bergmann pitching, and Belliard, Kearns, Young and Zimmerman all starting, these young guys really got a chance to square off against the big leaguers. The Nats sure rocked the first inning scoring five runs. Bernandina, Belliard, Zim, Young, Flores, and Whitney all had nice hits.
Bergmann pitched well for two innings getting a couple strikeouts and giving up only one walk. After the first inning, the starters were taken out, and the Nats still dominated. We watched the Nats hit line drive after line drive. One of those line drives went right at third base coach Tim Tolman. He quickly jumped out the of the way to avoid being hit, but that ball was moving fast so I’m sure his heart was pounding a bit. Before we knew it the score was 14-0, and the Hoyas were cheering for a comeback. The Georgetown guys were clearly having fun, grabbing for foul balls and taking pictures of the game from the dugout.
We saw Josh Smoker pitch three innings today he looked solid and composed. Prospect Colin Ballaster pitched a couple innings. He didn’t look as comfortable on the mound, and had some trouble with the location of his pitches. An awful lot of his stuff was really high. Mike Hinckley pitched also. His stuff had some great movement and he did well. Barry says that Manny said earlier today that Hinckley will be converted into a reliever. The role seems to suit him well. While it wasn’t too exciting watching another team be so sorely defeated (final score was 15-0) it was great to be at a baseball game and get a look at some upcoming guys.
Jesus Flores played in most of today’s game. He had a pretty good game, caught a pop-up, hit
a couple line drives and even attempted to throw a runner out at first. His comments over the past few days indicate that he thinks he is ready to be a big league catcher, and better yet his actions are proving it. With Estrada admitting today that his recovery is taking longer than he expected, and with Lo Duca still rehabbing, it sure makes it easier for Flores to make his case. He looks comfortable on the field and is clearly working hard. Pat Corrales is a fan of Flores and it would be hard to continue to bolster that mentorship if Flores is in Harrisburg. I guess the catcher situation is still unclear.
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