During this past off-season, the Washington Nationals acquired outfielder Jayson Werth from the Philadelphia Phillies. This was a much-needed move, because the Nats had lost power hitter Adam Dunn to free agency, and they desperately needed a good bat in their lineup. So Werth agreed to a multi-year contract worth a bazillion dollars, and Nats fans got excited. Why? Because last year, with the Phillies, Werth batted .296, led the National League with 46 doubles, and had 27 hone runs and 85 RBIs. Who WOULDN'T want this guy on their team? Aside from his offensive numbers, he can play a mean right field, so surely Werth was going to be worth every penny. Now fast-forward to today, which is pretty much the halfway point of the 2011 season (give or take a game or two). Werth is batting .221 with only 10 home runs, 16 doubles, and 30 RBIs. Granted, he needs to actually have the guys betting in front of him in the lineup getting on base in order to get more RBIs, but overall, Werth has been an offensive disappointment. In last night's game, for example, Werth alone left 7 men on base! All kinds of excuses have been given by "experts" as to why Werth is playing so poorly - from the fact that he has no run support to the fact that his good defense and his presence in the clubhouse make up for his lousy year offensively - but honestly, I can't come up with any good excuses anymore. Even Nationals' manager, Davey Johnson, thinks that Werth needs to relax and not put so much pressure on himself. Others think that Werth himself has been coming up with lame excuses, saying that he had issues with former manager Jim Riggleman and that he needed a better lead-off man in front of him so he could hit better. Blah, blah, blah, Mr. Werth! Even my seven-year-old son rolls his eyes every time you come up to bat now; it's time you live up to that lucrative contract of yours and started doing some serious hitting! And be happy I'm not the current Commissioner of Baseball, because if it were me, I would fine you a hefty amount for every time you struck out looking!
Speaking of hitting, Nats' prospect Bryce Harper was promoted to AA Harrisburg, totally bypassing single-A Potomac. He seems to be right at home in the not-so-minor leagues, collecting two hits in his debut with Harrisburg earlier this week. It's nice to see Harper adjusting so well to life as a professional baseball player - now I feel bad for saying some not-so-nice things about him during Spring Training. Sorry, Bryce!
And those pesky Phillies...they beat the Marlins 14-2 last night; of course, I could beat the Marlins too, and I'm legally blind! But Cole Hamels got win #10, and the Phillies continue to reign in the NL East. And did you see that Albert Pujols is back to playing despite having broken his wrist just 2 weeks ago? He was supposed to be on the Disabled List for 4-6 weeks but surprised everyone with a speedy recovery. That's pretty remarkable! And the Orioles? They lost AGAIN, this time by a score of 4-2 to the Texas Rangers. Poor birds! And finally, the Yankees beat the Indians 9-2, with Derek Jeter hitting #2995 and 2996. History could be made as early as tonight, with Jeter soon becoming the first New York Yankee to reach 3000 hits. That still seems so hard to believe - that a team that had Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly and other greats did not have a previous player who reached 3000 hits! Go figure!
I guess that's all for now, my friends; let's hope that Jayson Werth gets a hit or two tonight (or at least doesn't strike out!), and may Derek Jeter reach his milestone tonight, before heading back to Yankee Stadium tomorrow night to face the Rays. Really, wouldn't it be nice for the Cleveland fans to witness history tonight? They would be nice and would give Jeter a well-deserved standing ovation; let them steal some excitement from Yankee fans for once! (Unless Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulls Jeter from the game if he gets 3 hits so he can get #3000 at home - sigh!)
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