Chris Archer discomforts Washington Nationals’ offence and reveals loopholes - MLB Update
Rookie starter Chris Archer for Tampa Bay Rays unsettles Washington Nationals’ hitters with his off-speed pitches. In turn, he unveils the most troubling aspect of their offence. That is their inability to show patience for finding right at-bats. During
the game, three runs given up in the first apart, Archer retired batters cheaply and tricked them time-and-again.
Perhaps, he took the first inning to understand as to where the batters are more likely to surrender, only to exploit them with this throughout rest of the innings.
Despite winning, Nationals manager Davey Johnson cannot rest and be complacent. Frailties which were so hopelessly exposed by Archer will keep him in business with batters, during practice sessions.
One of the areas of concern that came out on Wednesday was early swings batters choose and walks they throw away. Instead of taking the pitcher to a point where he errs and releases a loose throw and hence gives an ideal at-bat, hitters show impatience and
end up being struck-out.
Johnson is aware of this. He will be delivering special sermons to the players on this. He maintained that while being aggressive is great, not bringing intellect into play and reading throws properly more often than prove counter-productive.
“We’re still a little overanxious,” Davey Johnson said. “Trying to get an opposing pitcher come into the strike zone, look for a little better pitch to drive. I like them being aggressive, but I like them being a little more selective aggressive.”
Furthermore, some of the players like Ian Desmond are not making the most of their hits. Less than the number of bases that otherwise can be covered from a hit is resulting into a fewer number of batters reaching home plate and thus affecting overall performance
of the team.
Similarly, Ryan Zimmerman is costing double plays more often. Not watching where the ball is landing and whether he can make to the base or not, he is allowing unnecessary opportunities to the fielders.
Hegemony being maintained by the Nationals in the National League East Division is mainly due to their powerful arms. For attaining sustainability, sooner or later, offence will be supporting the pitchers in every game.
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