Comments on: Washington: Not The Worst?

By: JRoth

JRoth — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:59:20 +0000

Boy, this comment hasn’t held up well over the past few days….

Oh, and the comment above was right: how are you guys not talking about the abysmal Pirates? Due to rookie rawness, they’re underperforming even their meager talent level. The next clean game this lineup plays will be its first.

By: Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:22:22 +0000

I’m guessing that if you adjust for superiority of the league the Royals might still be a bit better, but they are horrible…

By: Longgandhi

Longgandhi — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:56:03 +0000

Acta was a good man – and that’s one of the reasons people liked him and the Nats were reluctant to fire him – and he’s a good coach. But like Ray Miller and many others before him, just because you’re a good coach does not mean you’ll be a good manager. And Acta was one of the worst. Sure, the Nats had some bad luck at the end of games early on, but this team was undisciplined, they ran the bases poorly, they were sloppy on defense (even the good glovemen), Acta was brutal when it came to managing the bullpen and did little to build the confidence of his players. In fact he often blamed them for losses that were due in large part to his poor judgment. As for the offense, they were in the top 5 in the NL during much of his tenure so it’s not as if they’ve discovered some new run scoring magic. Changing two guys on the roster is not the reason the Nats went from playing .320 ball to playing better than .500; they were 3-8 under Acta even after “the trade”. Dumping Acta, even for someone as mediocre as Riggleman, is.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:53:21 +0000

Acta refused to change the lineup. It was always the same stagnant one. Riggleman changed it towards the end of last month, and their run total shot back up to nearly 6+ runs a game.

Morgan, Guzman, Zimm, Dunn, Johnson, Willingham.

Guzman was always batting late in the order, even when his hot under Acta. He consistently showed he could get on base and now that he is batting 2nd, makes for nice RBI totals for Ziimm.

It is currently Morgan, Guz, Zimm, Dunn, Willingham, Dukes. That makes for an excellent batting order and has showed it this August.

By: Bellylard

Bellylard — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:59:43 +0000

I think this is likely the high point of the season for Riggleman’s record.

By: JH

JH — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:00:25 +0000

Or nobody’s pitching to him because he’s Bryce Harper.

SSS isn’t even an issue. It’s high school stats. They’re meaningless regardless of sample size.

By: Jim M.

Jim M. — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:24:35 +0000

Honestly, in a pretty similar sample size, Alberto Gonzalez (getting the bulk of the playing time at 2b for the past month) has hit lefties even better than Anderson Hernandez has:

Gonzalez: .356/.412/.533 in 49 PA
Hernandez: .292/.358/.458 in 53 PA

Admittedly, the return for Hernandez (Veloz) doesn’t look like a whole lot. Still, I think it’s a positive moving forward. One of the big things Riggleman said he wanted to do when he took over the club was give Gonzalez a closer look and see if he had a future. He’s been roughly as good with the glove (though most of his defensive numbers for the year are at SS…. simply put, he doesn’t have a SS’s arm) and a little better (.269/.312/.363 vs. Hernandez’s .251/.310/.320) with the bat. He has a little less service time under his belt, and his minor league production indicates that he could stick as a solid defensive middle infielder who’s a slight minus with the bat. Ideally, he’s a utility man down the road, but he’s better than Anderson Hernandez.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:24:13 +0000

Point taken. I attribute some of his flaws more to managerial growing pains than the blissful ignorance of other currently unsuccessful managers, though, like Dusty Baker and Jerry Manuel (Ozzie just keeps on winning, even though I don’t think he sucks as much as the FJM guys did. He’s never had Thome bunt in a close game, right?)

By: Jim M.

Jim M. — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:05:04 +0000

I realize Acta had a lot of supporters, including both fans of the Nats and people who could honestly care less. As a fan, watching his game and bullpen management (and seeming lack of passion) day in and day out for the past two and a half years, I was both waiting for and calling for him to be canned since the end of April. It’s an extremely small sample size, but it’s certainly worth noting that the Nats’ performance under their two managers this season are as follows:

Manny Acta: 26-61
Jim Riggleman: 11-11

Now, admittedly, Riggleman has had the benefit of having Morgan in CF for his entire tenure. He’s had the benefit of seeing the bullpen implode enough times so that some of the problem areas (read: Hanrahan, Joel…. Tavarez, Julian…. Cabrera, Daniel [even if he did only make 1 relief appearance... the fact that he's gone is a plus], Wells, Kip to name a few) in the later innings are history. Some of the keys to the improved bullpen play are Sean Burnett (whose actual performance continues to defy his indicators a bit), Tyler Clippard (who was looking like a failed prospect, but has found new life in the bullpen both in Syracuse and Washington all year), and Mike MacDougal (who hasn’t been stellar, but has converted 10 of 11 save opps).

The Nats won their fifth straight today, coming back from down 6-0 against the Marlins (who had beaten them ten straight times prior to the Nationals’ sweep… coincidentally, Nick Johnson has now lost the past 13 Nats-Marlins games). Yes. Chances are that the luck was going to even out at some point, both against the Marlins and against the rest of the league after having underperformed their run differential as badly as they have. Still, I think Riggles deserves some credit here.

My main complaint with Manny Acta was the lack of accountability:

- The Milledge incident at the start of the year, where he missed the team meeting and was still the leadoff man on Opening Day. His poor play to start the year wasn’t taken care of by Acta (dropping him in the order… benching him… etc.). It had to be handled by Rizzo.

- The Dukes incident when he was late for a game may not have been Acta’s fault (he benched him, but replacement Roger Bernadina was hurt in the second inning), but Dukes should probably have been benched the next day.

- The constant non-chalant efforts in the field (particularly by Cristian Guzman) where players would either fail to try to get to a ball or try and make it look effortless (yes… again, Guzman) and turn an easy play into a two-base error.

As for Guzman, the Nats comeback win today was completed when that noted hacker came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the eighth in an 8-8 game. After quickly falling behind Luis Ayala 0-2, Guzman actually did something I’ve never seen HIM do in years of watching the Expos/Nats franchise. Guzman worked the count, eventually taking it from an 0-2 count to his eleventh walk of the season. After Morgan moved him over to second, Belliard singled him in, and that was it. I doubt Riggleman has had nearly enough time to help get his players to improve their approach at the plate, but I don’t see Guzman having that good of an AB under Acta. I just saw him give too many AB away when Acta was running the show, knowing that Acta would just shrug it off like he did everything else.

I bear no ill will towards Manny Acta, and wish him the best. I’m sure he’s a very smart baseball man and a fine person. The fact of the matter is that it looked like he had lost the team. It was absolutely the right call for the club to let Acta go, and the results have shown on the field.

By: Stickler

Stickler — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:45:21 +0000

“reversal of fortune… HAS”
“Gil Meche and Coco Crisp HAVE”
“current version… IS”