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Nationals camp report
VIERA, Fla. -- Five things to know about the Washington Nationals:
1. Welcome to Camp What's Their Names, and $50 to even any major league executive who can name more than one starting pitcher here after John Patterson. Well there's ... uh ... ah ... and. ... Seriously, by new manager Manny Acta's count, there are 12 candidates for the rotation after Patterson, who never has been an ace before but is expected to be one now. Two of the more legitimate candidates, Tim Redding and Jerome Williams, went 0-8 the last time they pitched a season in the majors. Some of those other 12 names (even in cyberspace, we don't have room to list everybody): Shawn Hill, Billy Traber, Jason Bergman, rookie Matt Chico, rookie Michael Hinckley. ...
2. Don't think that just because the Florida Marlins competed so well with kids last year that it's easy to do. "I think they had a totally different situation because they had a mound of big league ready young arms, bigger than the (group) we have right here," Acta says. "Our hope is to develop one or two of our young guys here, and then move them into the new stadium next year with one year of experience. But (Marlins') Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez ... that's hard to find."
3. The goal of No. 1 starter Patterson: 30 starts and 200 innings pitched, reasonable expectations for any top-of-the-rotation major league starter. Scary thing is, Patterson, 28, had a terrific 2005 when he went 9-7 with a 3.13 ERA and worked 198 1/3 innings -- but aside from that, he's never pitched more than 98 1/3 innings in any single season. And coming off of a sore arm last year, Patterson made only eight starts and pitched 40 2/3 innings. "I feel great -- 100 percent," the right-hander said Tuesday.
4. An MRI of shortstop Cristian Guzman's sore shoulder came back normal. What that means: Guzman's soreness is just residual soreness following surgery a year ago and missing the entire 2006 season. "It's always a concern because you can't predict how a guy will bounce back from surgery," Acta says. "But everything was perfect with the MRI. And it's just a matter of working him into everyday shape." The Nationals are figuring that Felipe Lopez will play second base, though they also signed second baseman Ronnie Belliard the other day and could slide Lopez back to short if Guzman falters.
5. Yes, the Nationals really are counting on Nook Logan as their everyday center fielder. And part of GM Jim Bowden's theory in collecting veterans like Belliard, Dmitri Young and third baseman Tony Batista, in camp as a non-roster player like Young, is that those are the kind of pieces that could have value at the July trade deadline as the Nationals continue to collect prospects.
The Punisher 
