You can't stop us, you can only hope to contain us...

The Nationals did something they haven't done all season and may not do again: they swept a series, this time against the Florida Marlins.

As amazing as it is to say, the Nationals' starting pitching is the best thing about this team right now, even though John Patterson and Chad Cordero have pitched like Manny Acta. Who would have thought before the season began we would say that at any time this season? But it's true: Jason Bergmann and Shawn Hill have pitched very effectively, and, with Jason Simontacchi's victory yesterday....

Wait a minute! Let's not get carried away here. Simontacchi gave up 10 baserunners and 3 earned runs in only 5 1/3 innings. It's not like we're talking Sandy Koufax here. And the Nats are 12-25, only one-half game ahead of the worst record in baseball.

Still, if you're a discerning Nationals fan, you can see at least some small glimmer of hope. The Nationals' pitching staff shows that it's possible for this team to develop some pretty good starting pitchers--back of the rotation guys--and most of a bullpen this year without having to make any trade or sign any free agents. Bergmann, Hill, and Jon Rauch can all be productive pitchers. Matt Chico and Ryan Wagner are projects, but there is enough talent there to warrant a team like the Nationals taking a risk on them. If Patterson and Cordero ever get their act together, we can have something to trade. That's looking less and less likely this year though, so our best hope probably is that Patterson and Cordero anchor the rotation and the bullpen next year, respectively.

That's not the beginnings of a World Series team, but our point is that we have to be realistic about what is possible in the short term, meaning not a whole lot. Stan Kasten and the Lerners have embarked on what is at best a three-year plan to build a competitive team. Let's have some patience and good sense in evaluating that plan.



Speaking of amazing, how about Cristian Guzman's two-run triple? You can see it here. Notice how far over toward center Borchard was playing in right field. That tells you a lot about the Marlins' view of whether Guzman can get around on a fastball.



A guy who is still slow on the uptick is Ryan Zimmerman. He's been making more contact in the last ten games--he's hitting .308 over that span--but without much power. Of course, his one home run over his last ten games was a walk-off grand slam this weekend. (Zimm hit that off Jorge Julio, who was supposed to be one of the closers on my fantasy team. Doh!) We've said this before, but it bears repeating: this is going to be a tough year for Zimmerman. He's got virtually no help in the lineup, and he's unlikely to see a lot of good pitches. So, like everything else with the Nationals this year, we need to have a lot of patience with him.



All in all, a great weekend for the Nationals. Coming up tonight are the Braves, with Bergmann starting against John Smoltz. We'll learn a lot about Jason in games like this.