MLB: Nice Writeup

[cybsball20]

The Official Site of The Washington Nationals: News: Switch to relief relaxes Hanrahan

Nice little write-up about my little bro, gotta brag a little bit, you know... I love the first quote,

"Now you want to talk to me. You haven't talked to me all spring,"

A little background before that quote. He had been having a great spring but has been kinda getting pushed around by management. They wanted to send him to the minors this year but he has no options. Because of that he would have to clear waivers to get sent down. The team has obviously asked the media not to mention him before now. They hadn't listed him as a probable pitcher or mentioned his outings outside of the box score. After last night he now leads the team in almost every statistical category they have. He is also second in all of baseball in strikeouts despite only throwing 7.2 innings.

 

[clonerules]

thata kid!!! i will b pulling for him all year!!! (except against the braves)

 

[Iastfan112]

Perhaps he merits a pickup in my deep 20 team league of fantasy baseball.

 

[cybsball20]

FYI, Joel is pitching today against the Tigers, likely to go in the 6th, game is on ESPN and ESPNHD at noon.

 

[clonerules]

FYI, Joel is pitching today against the Tigers, likely to go in the 6th, game is on ESPN and ESPNHD at noon.

thanks!! u already answered my question!!! rep to you:yes:

 

[isucyfan]

I'm definitely going to be following him this year. I just hope he doesn't pitch against my Mets!

 

[cybsball20]

He's also going to be on Marty and Miller after the game. I think Ken is actually at the game.

 

[isucyfan]

Man, he blazed through that inning. He made Sheffield and Pudge look pretty ordinary.

 

[superdorf]

I wish they would put him on waivers... The Cubs need a good long relief guy... and a potential #5 starter!

 

[Iastfan112]

Looks like he made the 25 man roster

 

[cybsball20]

Looks like he made the 25 man roster

Yup, he had a great Spring
2-0 0.00ERA 13IP 2H 0R 2BB 15K

Here are a couple of write-ups from Washingtonpost.com

The Braves ended up winning this one 10-2 after tagging Ray King for five runs in the 1/3 of an inning he pitched. The left-hander picked a good time to have a bad outing, though, because as expected, he's on the final roster.

That leads us to more important news: The Nationals' Opening Day roster is set. The team made the following moves to get to 25:

- Placed catcher Johnny Estrada (right elbow) on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 21.
- Outrighted Ryan Langerhans, who cleared waivers, to Triple-A Columbus
- Optioned starting pitcher John Lannan to Triple-A
- Reassigned infielder Pete Orr to minor league camp
- Optioned relief pitcher Chris Schroder to Triple-A

Langerhans, Orr, Schroder, catcher Wil Nieves and pitchers Garrett Mock and Mike O'Connor will join the team for its Saturday exhibition against Baltimore at Nationals Park.

Here is the Opening Day roster:
INFIELDERS (7)
Aaron Boone
Ronnie Belliard
Cristian Guzman
Nick Johnson
Felipe Lopez
Dmitri Young
Ryan Zimmerman

OUTFIELDERS (5)
Elijah Dukes
Willie Harris
Austin Kearns
Rob Mackowiak
Lastings Milledge

STARTERS (4)
Odalis Perez
Matt Chico
Tim Redding
Jason Bergmann

RELIEVERS (7)
Luis Ayala
Jesus Colome
Chad Cordero
Joel Hanrahan
Ray King
Jon Rauch
Saul Rivera

No big shockers, although Hanrahan and Perez have to be the biggest surprises of camp. Perez will start Opening Day against the Braves, while Hanrahan looks like he could be a valuable arm out of the bullpen after spending his whole careeer as a starter.


Season Preview

No bullpen in baseball threw more innings than the Nationals? 5902/3 last year? an average of 3 2/3 innings every night. That they posted a 3.81 ERA ? fourth best in the NL ? means there were several effective pieces. No one in baseball has more appearances than Jon Rauch over the past two seasons (173), and he is clearly comfortable in his setup role. After missing all of 2006 following elbow surgery, Luis Ayala has more zip on his fastball this spring. Saúl Rivera had a 3.68
ERA and allowed only one homer in 93 innings last year but this group is deep enough that the club had to consider sending Rivera to the minors to start the season. Even given the stalwarts, no one had a more impressive spring than Joel Hanrahan, a converted starter who was consistently in the mid-90s with a devastating slider. "If he keeps doing that," one official said, "he's your closer. He has to be."

The Bullpen Other Relievers
2007 STATISTICS MEMBERS
Games: 345
Wins: 25
Losses: 17
Saves: 9
Chances: 21
Innings: 373 1/3
Hits: 360
Homers: 33
Walks: 158
Strikeouts: 267
ERA: 4.02
Runs: 174
Earned: 167
HB: 6
WP: 16
Luis Ayala
Joel Hanrahan
Jon Rauch
Jesús Colome

 

[Drizzle]

That is very neat... I am sure you are very proud of your little bro!

 

[4429 mcc]

So does your bro want to be a starter or is he really converting to a reliever? If you could provide some insight that'd be great. I've always wonder how the conversion from starter to relief works as far as workouts and training.

 

[arganbright2]

That is your brother???? Man oh man. We played Spring League baseball against Norwalk when i was a Freshman. Anyway, Hanrahan's curve ball was the first one I had ever seen in my life. I of course was way late on his two fast balls and then he through a 12-6 curveball that broke off the table. I covered my face and fell down in the batter's box only took look up at the ump ringing me up after a perfect strike. I still get teased about that.

 

[cybsball20]

I think he is really liking the releif role and likes the longevity that goes with it. Closers have been getting $8mill + in arbitration so if he can earn a Closer role at some point he will be really happy. I haven't really talked about the workouts and day to day with him yet, but I'll keep ya posted...