Welcome New Starting Catcher Kurt Suzuki

The Washington Nationals have traded for Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki.  Suzuki has been struggling this year at the plate but should be an improvement over Jesus Flores, especially throwing out runners.

The Nats moved from the 2nd worst catcher in baseball to a guy in the top 10

The key for this trade was that Suzuki this season has caught 38% of runners stealing while Jesus Flores is at 10%.  Flores' numbers are awful in that category and teams have been stealing bases uncontested for the past several weeks.  Catcher play like that would not be good in clutch games where a runner moving from first to second can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Suzuki's 2.18 batting average is only a few points below Jesus Flores 2.25

As you can see, Suzuki is struggling on offense.  He has been a much better hitter in the past and has the potential to get his average up.  However keeping the bases clean and having a solid catcher in the field could be more important than having a catcher who can hit at this time.

Jesus will most likely backup and possibly pinch hit late in games.

And he is on Twitter

According to Mark Zuckerman, Suzuki was Traded For David Freitas, Class A Minor League and will be under contract for the rest of this year, and for next year.  Next year's contract is almost $6.5 million

The contract situation means that next season if Wison Ramos returns as the #1 guy, then you have a lot of money tied up in backup catcher.  But that can be dealt with later, the key was fixing up the position for a World Series run.

Stat of the Trade: (from Baseball Reference)

• Suzuki is top 10 in the MLB in Caught Stealing % (Must play 20 games)
• Jesus Flores is 2nd to last in the MLB in Caught Stealing % (Must play 20 games)

More on Kurt Suzuki:

• Suzuki & His Father, a heartwarming story
• Suzuki jumps out of a pool (hard)
• Kurt Suzuki's Painted Fingernails

Player Pick 'em: Mid Week Update

One series in the books and a 4 game series coming up.  It's time to check on the player pick 'ems.

Out Front:

• Jordan Zimmermann: 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 4 strikeouts. Win. 
• @Yop1963

In the Hunt:

• Danny Espinosa: .364 with 1 RBI.
• @meganreio

Best of the Rest:

• Ryan Zimmerman: .300 with a homerun. 
• @SCviaDC
• @turtlezoot

The Rest:

• Jesus Flores: .111.
• @Natsgirl19 

Standings: 
@turtlezoot (1)
@Sc0ttieDoesntNO (1)
@meganreio (1)
@Natsgirl19 (0)
@SCviaDC (0)
@Yop1963 (0)  

Player Pick 'em

With the All Star break in the rearview mirror we are starting back up with the player pick'em challenge.  It will run during the until the end of the Braves series (7/22).  Here is the slate of choices:

• Jordan Zimmermann (Dru):  He has had great stuff all season along with some bad luck.  Well his luck is going to change this coming week with 2 starts on the schedule.  
•  @Yop1963
• Danny Espinosa (Chris):  Espy has been hitting well.  I am picking him because the way he is running around the bases.  A stupid way to choose, but whatever.  I do what I want.
• @meganreio
• Jesus Flores (Cammy):  Cammy is picking Jesssssssus this week because he shares a number with Washington Capitals forward Matt Hendricks.  He is like her favorite or something.
• @natsgirl19
• The Field:  All other players.  A Decent bet, unless we are really smart.
• @turtlezoot
• @SCviaDC

So tweet @TheDugsSports with your choice for the week.  If you haven't played before, don't worry, you can catch up.

Standings: 
@turtlezoot (1)
@Sc0ttieDoesntNO (1)
@meganreio (1)
@Natsgirl19 (0)
@SCviaDC (0)
@Yop1963 (0) 

Player of the Week: Mid-Week Update

This week we added a new contender to our competition.  Here is how everyone is doing with 1 series in the books:

• Danny Espinosa (Dru):  Hitting .364 with 2 RBIs and a homerun.  Great defense as well.
• Jesus Flores (Camilla):  Hitting .143 and sat out the middle game of the Jay's series.
• Ryan Zimmerman (Chris):  Hitting .154.

At the moment Espinosa is clearly in the lead, but with a three game series left to go against the Yankees anything could happen.  Don't forget, YOU could join our competition next week by leaving us a comment or sending us a tweet.

Standings:
Chris: 1
Dru: 0
Camilla: 0   

Weekly Player Pick'em

 Last Week's Result:  Chris Won.

• Dru:  Steven Lombardozzi "the man who never strikes out", went 1 for 14, had 0 RBIs and struck out a bunch.  He didn't even play in 2 of the 3 games against the Red Sox!   

• Chris: Tyler Clippard recorded 4 saves over the course of the week.  He owned Boston and crushed any hopes of me winning this week.

This week we will have to contend with a new challenger entering the race...

Chris:  Ryan Zimmerman.  Zimmerman is having a blah year.  Every game the announcers say he is starting to "heat up" but he really isn't.  But I'm going with him because of the 3 game home series against the Yankees.  That is going to be his series, and it is going to lead me to victory again.

Dru:  Danny "No Beard" Espinosa.  I've been a harsh critic of Espinosa's and his tendency to strikeout all the time, but this week I just have a good feeling about him.  Maybe it's his ability to make ridiculous plays in the field.  Maybe it's because his bat came to life during the Boston series.  Maybe it's because he shaved his beard.  All I know is, this week I am all aboard the Espinosa band-wagon!

Camilla:  Jesus "Jeus" Flores.  Camilla is picking Jesus this week because he's a catcher and she likes catchers.  Also Jesus is cool.  She doesn't seem worried that Flores didn't get a single hit against Boston last series.  She is only starting to learn about baseball, but she will probably end up winning.


Standings:
Chris: 1
Dru: 0
Camilla: 0


Think you could do better?  Leave a comment or send us a tweet and maybe YOU can be the one beating us next week.

Nats Injury Update

The injuries keep piling up...let's take a look at what is going on at Nats Hospital...

At The Exits

Michael Morse: (Rehab) Lat - Morse is starting his rehab assignment today in Potomac.  He hit 2 homers in his previous rehab game in "extended spring training".  Back Soon


Mark DeRosa:  (15 Day DL) Oblique - Recently took batting practice - Back This Week


Jesus Flores:  See Below

Mid-Term

Ryan Mattheus:  (15 Day DL) Foot - A few weeks in a boot - Back- Mid-Late June


Drew Storen:  (15 Day DL) Elbow - Back Mid-July


Brad Lidge:  (15 Day DL) Hernia - Recently threw some bullpen sessions - Back Mid-July


Chad Tracy:  (15 Day DL) Groin - Reports had him out for the year, FP Santangelo said Tracy texted him and said 6 weeks - Out For 6 Weeks...or the year...


In The Distance

Jayson Werth:  (60 Day DL) Wrist - Surgery from broken wrist, now just waiting to heal.  Just transferred to 60-day.  Back Early August


Chris Marrero:  (60 Day DL) Shoulder - Having problems in rehab.  Back Late Season

Catchers Ward

Wilson Ramos:  (Doneski) Torn ACL - Starting catcher out for the season.  Never Coming Back

Jesus Flores:  (Day to Day) Hammy - With Ramos out, Maldanado a poor hitter, a new catcher coming up, Flores needs to play through tight hamstrings.  While he does let's hope they don't get worse.  Could Play This Week

Sandy Leon:  (60 Day DL) Ankle - One Game, One At Bat, One Strikeout, Done.  Back Mid-July At Earliest


Carlos Maldanado isn't injured, but he is a poor hitter, so Nats brought up the next guy Jhonatan Solano just in case.

Next Up, Carlos Maldanado

On Monday night there was a lot of joking around in a half serious way about playing Bryce Harper in the catcher position.  The reason that it was half-serious is because for the second time in 3 days, the Nationals lost a catcher to injury.

On Saturday night the Nats lost starting catcher Wilson Ramos for the season with a torn ACL and just 2 games later AA-call-up Sandy Leon found himself laying on the ground in agony as well.  Leon's injury was a sprained ankle caused by a collision at the plate.  Four innings of a Major League career, 1 strikeout looking, and down to the DL, his Major League chance possibly washed away.

While Bryce Harper could put on the catcher's gear, that is the last thing the Nationals want.  In their mind Harper never played catcher and never will again.  Especially after watching all these violent collisions around the league, and within the organization where catchers careers are ruined, you'd have to be insane to put Bryce there.

So the organization has made the decision to bring up Carlos Maldonado.  He is the AAA catcher that was overlooked on Saturday night for the likes of AA Sandy Leon.  Maldonado played a few games in 2006 & 2007 for the Pirates (21) and a handful for the Nats in 2010 (4), but has been a career minor leaguer since 1997.

At 33 years old Maldonado is being brought up just to fill in.  Not as exciting as Leon, who at 23 years old is 10 years younger and was somewhat of a "prospect".

So for the Nationals not much changes.  Jesus Flores is the everyday catcher and Maldonado will be around to back him up...here's hoping these guys can stay healthy and can we ELIMINATE the home plate collision from the game already?

By the way, I've heard Pudge Rodriguez's name mentioned by fans...

Season Preview: Defense: The Nationals Infield

The Nats may finally start opening day with a lineup that they want.  The infield appears healthy for opening day with some guys who could be in town for a few seasons to come:

(3B) Ryan Zimmerman:  Zim is the anchor of the infield and after this winter's contract extension he should find himself at the hot corner until 2019 in DC.  Ryan has one gold glove (back in 2009) and is a pretty solid guy to have in the field for almost every game if he can stay healthy.

(SS) Ian Desmond:  Dez has been an every day shortstop for the past two years.  However, he has committed 57 errors in that time.  The Nationals like having him in the lineup and they think he has the potential to become a good shortstop.

(2B) Danny Espinosa:  Last season was technically Espinosa's rookie year and he really came out of nowhere at the plate.  In the field Espy helped turn over 100 double plays last year, and did a solid job at second starting in all but 7 games.

(1B) Adam LaRoche:  Roach only made it through 42 games last season before tearing his labrum and had a terrible offensive season.  However on the defensive side, Adam didn't commit a single error and Morse was a little less reliable as a fill in.  The Nats also had Chris Marrero to fill in, but he is out for a long time with a torn hammy.

(C) Wilson Ramos:  WilRam like Espinosa was technically a rookie last season and he threw 32% of runners stealing which was good for 3rd in the majors.  Let's see what he can do in his 2nd season.  Jesus Flores will be filling in to give Willy a rest.

The Nats also have a few guys around that are going to fill in at any position they can.  Mark DeRosa will be starting in left field but when Morse comes back he can play some infield.  Steve Lombardozzi and Chad Tracy will also be on the roster to start the season as utility guys.