Rest Guzman; start Harris

shaw — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:36:24 -0000

Cristian Guzman is hitting .186 over the last ten games. He was looking great (in the .330s) until a couple of weeks ago, but now he's beat-up and struggling. But Alberto Gonzalez isn't doing any better lately (.188 over his last ten games). The solution: Willie Harris to the rescue! He's been relegated to the bench since the trade (and rightly so, since Nyjer Morgan is awesome in center field), but remember how well the Nats were playing when Harris was in the starting lineup? It could be that way again -- give Guzman a few days off, and give Harris (who is hitting .375 over his last ten games) some at-bats. Harris has started at short before. It seems so obvious.

And for heaven's sakes, don't vote for Guzman for the All-Star Game; he clearly needs some time off.

Bring back Luis Ayala?

shaw — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:54:47 -0000

Sure, he wasn't good enough for a contender in Minnesota (which is why the Twins designated him for assignment), but he did throw more innings than any Nationals reliever, with a better ERA than most of them. Maybe Minnesota just wasn't the place for him; there's a huge difference between his home and road ERAs (5.59 vs. 2.08). His ERA over the last 30 days is 3.00. I'd take that coming out of the bullpen.

SB Nation User Blog: shaw

Rest Guzman; start Harris

Bring back Luis Ayala?