Riggleman calls shortstop an "open competition"
All spring, Ian Desmond has made an impressive case for why he should be the Nationals' Opening Day shortstop, and it remains to be seen whether manager Jim Riggleman's comments on Friday afternoon acknowledge Desmond's surge in that race. But it was clear the 24-year-old is as least under serious consideration.
Riggleman called shortstop an "open competition" between Desmond and incumbent Cristian Guzman, who has been limited this spring after returning from shoulder surgery. Guzman has also been away while his wife gave birth to a daughter, and Desmond has made the most of Guzman's absence. He's hitting .387 this spring with a team-high 11 RBI and a 1.086 OPS.
"They're both such good offensive players that we're finagling a way around for both of them to get a lot of playing time," Riggleman said. "At this point, we've got two weeks to go. I don't want to get too ahead of myself and get too excited about two weeks of baseball, but Desmond has played great."
Guzman will start at shortstop tomorrow, and both Riggleman and general manager Mike Rizzo have said they'd need to see Guzman prove his shoulder has regained strength before declaring him the Opening Day shortstop. Guzman has made all the throws he's been asked to make this spring, but hasn't been tested with a close play or a ball deep in the hole.
"I'd like to see a couple plays that he has to make to his right," Riggleman said. "He hasn't had one ball hit to his right yet that you could make a play on. Everything has been at him or to his left. (To the right is) where you're going to get a better read on where his arm strength is."
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Categories (click for archive)Ben Goessling | Nationals News |
Every time I head a Nats official claim that Guzman is such a great offensive player, it makes me want to scream.
Ben, in your opinion, are they doing that because they a) believe it, b) are setting the fans up to accept Desmond being sent down, c) just think Nats fans are stupid or d) trying to keep face if they ever have hopes to trade him for more than a bucket of balls.
batting average is a lousy metric to evaluate a player's worth. Guzman has a lifetime .307 on base percentage and .386 slugging percentage. that's not the definition of a "good offensive player". in fact, much the opposite.
great work from Florida, by the way. wish we were there.
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Thanks, Dave. I'd say it's d), with a smidge of b) and just a pinch of a). I wouldn't go so far as to call batting average a "lousy" metric, but I agree it's incomplete, especially with the slugging percentage being what it is.
Ben
"They're both such good offensive players that we're finagling a way around for both of them to get a lot of playing time," Riggleman said.
Since when has Guzman ever been a good offensive player?
I'm kind of afraid for the franchise if their bar for being a 'good' offensive player is Cristian Guzman. Maybe that explains why Kearns was kept for so long.
... Adam Kennedy may or may not be a good pickup for the Nats. But I am reminded that last year, the management alerted Guzzy to the idea that he might have to move to second. Surely that idea can still be made active, and offer the best solution to this dilemma.