Carlos Marmol was on the mound; he of the league leading 7 blown saves. He had faced three batters in the ninth inning and had scarcely gotten a ball close enough to the strike zone to call a cab for it. The bases were loaded thanks to two walks and a single and there was nary an out. The Nationals were trailing the Cubbies 4-2 in the top of the ninth and once promising shortstop Ian Desmond positioned himself within the batter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s box to face Marmol.<\/p>\n
Desmond had but to put the ball in play and a run would score. As one of the fastest players on the team, doubling him up would be tough. In many ways, Davey Johnson had one of the better options at the plate. But in oh so many ways, he had the worst.<\/p>\n
Desmond has turned himself into one of the better fielding shortstops in the National League and with Danny Espinosa is one of the best double-play combinations in the league. Mike Rizzo wanted a plus infield so that his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pitch to contact\u00e2\u20ac\u009d staff might fare reasonably well in 2011. Yet for all of the improvement in Desmond\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glove work in 2011, for the many dazzling plays and the scant errors committed since May\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhis bat has regressed to disturbing levels.<\/p>\n
At one point in the season he was on a pace to strike out more than 150 times by October. He swung at pitches so far from the strike zone that they were sharing a cab with Carlos Marmol. And if he swung at a pitch off the plate for strike one, pitchers learned to keep throwing it there because Desmond would keep swinging–as if to prove the forces of nature wrong.<\/p>\n
We share a common friend, someone that Desmond met in the minors and I have learned much about the young man. He is a fine human being, one of the first to take maternity leave to be with his wife when his first child was born. In an era of inflated egos among players, he is remarkably sane and normal.<\/p>\n
But unfortunately Marmol was perfectly paired with Desmond in the ninth inning yesterday. The pitcher who cannot throw strikes, trying desperately to hold onto his closer role, faces the batter who cannot lay off bad pitches, trying with equal determination to prove that he still deserves an everyday gig in the majors.<\/p>\n
Marmol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anxiety was evident. He missed the zone and then was forced to put the ball over the plate to Desmond. Ian could manage only to foul off numerous pitches. They were hittable pitches, pitches Desmond should have been able to put in play and drive in a run even if they had been caught. But with two balls and two strikes Marmol could afford to waste one. <\/p>\n
So there it was: the pitch so dramatically far from the plate that swinging at it truly was a fool\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s errand. It was six inches off the plate horizontally and low enough that it might have gotten away from the catcher\u00e2\u20ac\u201da good three inches below the strike zone. Desmond swung at it and missed it by so much that only my geometry teacher in high school could calculate the distance ( six-squared plus three-squared = the square root of 45), almost seven inches.<\/p>\n
It was a magic moment for me. It was when I quit being an Ian Desmond fan. Suddenly all of the MLB Rumors insinuations that the Nationals were in the mix for Jose Reyes took on new meaning. Reyes is one of the more flamboyant players in the league with a persona that has a touch of the Manny Ramirez. But Reyes has none of the lackadaisical air that infuriates many with Ramirez.<\/p>\n
Jose Reyes could bring an excitement to Washington baseball that only one other player has. He is a Stephen Strasburg who plays every day. For all of the great play that Ryan Zimmerman provides, Reyes would provide more. He could fill the huge hole at the top of the Washington batting order in a way that no one else can in the National League. Bill James gives Reyes 24-28 win shares a season in his prime. The same analysis gives 21 win shares to Ryan Zimmerman at his peak performance several seasons ago. So the Nationals would have a shortstop who would do more to improve the team than Ryan Zimmerman.<\/p>\n
There is only one concern. How long would he last and how much would he cost? <\/p>\n
Atlanta let Rafael Furcal walk at exactly the same point in his career. Furcal and Reyes are excellent Dominican shortstops and Furcal was twenty-eight when he left the Braves for Los Angeles\u00e2\u20ac\u201dexactly how old Reyes is now.<\/p>\n
Although Reyes is a better player than Furcal, the chances are that the Nationals would get similar longevity from the Mets middle infielder. He still has a couple of seasons at the premier level. So when the pundits start comparing the Nationals pursuit of Reyes to Jayson Werth, bring it on. Werth was last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s man, the player we needed to add a level of seriousness to the franchise, to show that we mean to be competitive. Reyes will actually take the team to that level. With Jose Reyes at the top of the order and Zimmerman, Morse and Werth hitting in the middle of the order, the Nationals become a formidable lineup. He will cost as much as Carl Crawford, but the chance that he will continue to perform at premium levels make him a better risk.<\/p>\n
There are six weeks left in the season. It hardly seems enough time for Ian Desmond to turn it around. But I am still pulling for him in the same way that a St. Louis Cardinal uniform brings a hint of nostalgia for the teams of my youth when Curt Flood and Lou Brock played the same outfield, Bob Gibson was on the mound and Kenny Boyer was at third. It is a funny game and what makes it great is how full of surprises it always turns out to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carlos Marmol was on the mound; he of the league leading 7 blown saves. He had faced three batters in the ninth inning and had scarcely gotten a ball close enough to the strike zone to call a cab for it. The bases were loaded thanks to two walks and a single and there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t