Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, July 6, 2007, Washington Post

Nats' News Is Not All Bad

The Baseball All-Star Game is next week, and that means the major league season is more than half over. It's a good time to check in with our Washington Nationals.

So far this season there has been good news and bad news for Nats fans. The good news is that the Nats are not terrible. Before the season started, some baseball experts predicted the Nats might be as bad as the 1962 New York Mets. That sad-sack team was the worst in modern history, with 40 wins and 120 losses.

While not as laughable as the 1962 Mets, the Nats still are not very good. Washington is in last place in the National League East Division, and only the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Devil Rays have worse records than the Nationals.

There is the good news that some Nats are having surprisingly solid seasons. First baseman Dmitri Young is batting better than .330 and will represent Washington in Tuesday's All-Star Game in San Francisco, California. The bad news is that Young is not very young (33 years old) and probably will not be around when the Nats become a winning team. Washington might even trade the hot-hitting Young for younger players before the end of the season.

Washington needs its young players, such as third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (age 22), to lead the way. After a terrific rookie season last year, Zimmerman is struggling. His batting average is stuck around .250. Worse, Zimmerman is striking out about one of every six times he comes to the plate. Other younger players who are supposed to be a big part of the Nationals' future, including outfielder Austin Kearns (27), infielder Felipe Lopez (27) and relief pitcher Chad Cordero (25), have been just okay.

The good news for the Nats pitchers is that they are better than last year's crew. Believe it or not, the no-name Nats hurlers are giving up fewer runs this year. And left-hander Matt Chico (24) looks like he might develop into a solid major league starter.

The bad news is that the pitchers keep getting hurt. Starting pitchers John Patterson, Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann and Micah Bowie have all done time on the disabled list this season. Recently, reliever Jesus Colome could not pitch because he had an infected buttocks. Don't laugh, Colome's hurt heinie put him in the hospital.

Still, there are a lot of games left. The Nats have plenty of time to get healthy and get better before they move into their shiny new stadium next season. And that would be good news for Nats fans.