I've got a serious World Baseball Classic hangover—is there anybody in the world but Davey Johnson who thinks Rollins at DH, Jeter at short, Dunn in right, DeRosa at first was the optimal defensive set-up with these parts?—so consider this the game thread while I recover enough to ruminate re: the regrettable cut of Tyler Greene and Blake Hawksworth, two ex-prospects for whom I harbor irrational expectations.
(Yesterday afternoon, incidentally, was the first time this year I got to see Hawksworth—he really does have an extra something on his fastball, or at least a little of the old something, and I liked his confidence in the changeup.)
So: Chris Carpenter. Today. I went over to sister blog Federal Baseball to see if I could divine who was pitching for the Nationals, but no such luck. I recommend clicking on the link anyway, because over there, number one pick in hand, they're particularly focused on one starter: Stephen Strasburg.
(A few months ago I wrote a long short story about a college pitcher who can throw 120 miles an hour and becomes, for a week or two, a folk hero, before he's crushed by the 24 hour news cycle. I thought I was being unrealistic with the fastball, but right now Strasburg is striking out 20 batters per nine innings. He sits at 100. I'm going to have to dial up the folk hero's fastball to stay relevant.)