How do you solve a problem like Ramon?

Ramon Ortiz is the Nationals' #3 starter. Here is what Stats Inc. says about him:

Although Ortiz has good stuff, he continues to struggle to consistently get major league hitters out. Some scouts feel it's because he throws a relatively straight fastball, which generally is in the low to mid-90s. He is only 6-feet tall, so he has trouble getting downward tilt on his pitches. His slider can be very good, but it can also be mediocre.

Here is a portion of what Baseball Prospectus said about him last year:

His actual first name is "Diogenes," which was the club at which Sherlock Holmes brother Mycroft hung out, and also the name of a Greek philosopher from the 4th century BCE known as "The Cynic." Diogenes' writings do not survive, and so hardly does Ortiz.

Interesting. Anyway, Ortiz is hardly a pitcher in whom you'd like to entrust the #3 spot in your rotation. You'd do that only if you had no other choice, both because your minor league system hadn't yet produced a major-league-ready starter and you didn't have enough money or smarts to get a good starter via trade or free agency. That, dear readers, is where the Nationals are at this point in their history. That's OK, because there isn't much the team can do about it now and instead should be focusing on rebuilding for the future, but it's going to be hard to watch Ortiz go out to the mound every fifth day this season. In fact, we hope that Ortiz won't be in the starting rotation by the All Star Break.

To bring this all back to last night, the Mets hammered Ortiz in a 10-5 win. Ortiz gave up six runs in five innings and squandered a nice offensive output by the Nationals' hitters. Ortiz did what he does best: he got crushed by left-handers. Carlos Delgado hit an Ortiz meatball so hard the camera couldn't follow it as it left the yard. (Xavier Nady was 2-3; bad for the Nationals, good for my fantasy team.)

The big drama last night was Pedro Martinez hitting Jose Guillen twice, which caused Guillen to approach Martinez with a bat. Thankfully, Jose didn't use the bat on Martinez' person, but we can't blame Guillen for being angry. Martinez pitches Guillen so tight that the ball is never far from his neck. Unlike last year, when Esteban Loiaza didn't retaliate, Felix Rodriguez did and was promptly tossed. Why the umpires didn't toss Martinez after he plunked Guillen a second time is beyond us.

In any event, the Nationals lost 10-5, and they need a better rotation. That's a theme we'll keep coming back to this season, unfortunately.