Tuesday morning Nats thoughts and observations

Some thoughts and observations on this Tuesday morning before hitting the road for Pittsburgh (with a mandatory rest stop in Breezewood, Pa., of course) ...

* Trea Turner is proving to be a far better shortstop than most of us probably figured he'd be, at least in his first big league season there.

Nearly one-quarter of the way through the season, Turner has been charged with only one error. He joins the Padres' Erick Aybar as the only big league shortstops with fewer than two errors to date. He has a Defensive Runs Saved rating of +2, which ranks ninth among all major league shortstops.

And, as we saw in the last week, Turner has the ability to make some impressive plays from deep in the hole at shortstop. No, he doesn't have Danny Espinosa's arm (few, if any, do). But when he needs to, he's able to dial it up and fire the ball across the diamond.

Turner also proved quite heady during Sunday night's game, when after making a diving stop on a grounder up the middle, he recognized that he had no chance to retire the batter but instead threw behind the runner at third base and wound up getting him in a rundown for a key out.

"Trea saved a big run, or more, with that play up the middle," manager Dusty Baker said. "Then he had the wherewithal to throw it."

There's a long way to go, and defensive stats notoriously are unreliable without a very large sample, but the Nationals have to be pleased with Turner's performance at shortstop so far.

Think about it this way: If I asked you on opening day if Turner would be more likely to reach May 15 with one error or four double plays grounded into, what would your answer have been? (They're both correct, by the way.)

* The pitching matchups for this week's series at PNC Park include Stephen Strasburg vs. Chad Kuhl in tonight's opener, a to-be-named Nats starter vs. Gerrit Cole on Wednesday night and Tanner Roark vs. Tyler Glasnow in Thursday afternoon's finale.

Who will that Wednesday starter be for the Nationals? Well, A.J. Cole can't be recalled yet unless he's replacing an injured teammate. The club could go with Jacob Turner, who should be fine to return to the mound three days after throwing 19 pitches in relief.

Or if the Nats still view Turner as more valuable at the moment in the bullpen than in the rotation, they could summon somebody else from the minors. Somebody like ... Erick Fedde.

Fedde, the organization's top pitching prospect, just so happens to be on schedule to make his next start Wednesday after allowing two runs in seven innings for Double-A Harrisburg on Thursday. The 24-year-old is 2-3 with a 3.16 ERA in seven starts overall, with a 35-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 42 2/3 innings.

Perhaps the Nationals don't want to throw Fedde into the fire just yet. But if they do, the stars are aligned well for it to happen this week.

* If you're frustrated watching every member of the Nationals bullpen take the mound and grumbling that the organization didn't do a better job assembling that group this year, you may not want to watch this week's series against the Pirates.

That's because Pittsburgh currently has a promising young left-hander with a triple-digit fastball, an 0.87 ERA, an 0.823 WHIP and a 22-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio so far this season. His name is Felipe Rivero.

Yes, the same Felipe Rivero who was traded by the Nationals last July (along with minor league pitcher Taylor Hearn) for Mark Melancon.

Now, everybody in D.C. knew at the time how much the Nats needed Melancon. And he was great for them down the stretch and in the playoffs. He certainly wasn't the reason they lost to the Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

But once Melancon spurned Washington and took a larger contract from the Giants over the winter, the price it cost to get him for two months suddenly looked really steep. The Nationals didn't want to get rid of Rivero; sources at the time said they were trying to convince the Pirates to take Blake Treinen in that deal instead. But boy would Rivero be nice to have in this bullpen right now.

I've asked this question many times over the years: Who is the best player Mike Rizzo has ever traded away as Nats general manager? There's never been a great answer to that question. Maybe Derek Norris. Maybe Steven Souza Jr.

It's too early to say this with 100 percent confidence, but you wonder if Rivero might wind up taking that title.