thurdl sports

Nats 6, Phils 3. Credit and Debit where due

Let's talk Preston Wilson. Seems like a good subject to discuss tonight.

Preston seems to be someone who manages to divide Nats fans cleanly into the pro-Wilson and anti-Wilson camps. I'm more in the latter than the former, though probably not as firmly as some. He just seems to be exactly what's wrong with the way the Nationals have been acquiring players this year. We've overstocked the outfield to the point that a former candidate for rookie of the year has been demoted to pinch hitter. And not even F-Rob's first choice for pinch hitter.

He was supposed to be a Big Bat. He's not been. He was supposed to be a defensive powerhouse that could take over center from Wilky. He's not been. He's just another mid-level player who has been wedged into an already crowded outfield situation. I'm not entirely sure if it's Preston Wilson I'm against, or if I'm just against what he represents.

One thing he does do, at least, is tend to clear the wall on a roughly weekly basis. Which isn't bad, since weekly homers mean 26 in a season, which is more than many people can swat. Plus, he doesn't seem to have RFK on the mind, like some of our other hitters (cough-cough-guillen-cough-cough), so has even managed to clear the walls at home.

So tonight is credit where credit is due. In his first two at-bats, Preston Wilson swatted a pair of two-run homers. Good on ya. When solo shots by NJ and Schneider are added into the mix, the Nats managed 6 runs on 4 homers scattered among 10 total hits. After the 21-4 series in Colorado, this is looking like the Nats might be turning around.

Or...or the Nats are just taking advantage of some hitters parks, since their offense has sparked at the same time we started a road trip to the hitter friendly confines of the Juice Box, Coors, and CitBank. So I'm going to withhold any final judgement until I see whether this carries over when we return to RFK against the Reds. However, if we can keep it up, I smell revenge series after what they did to us in Cincy.

posted by thurdl @ 9:57 PM