Washington Nationals’ Ian Desmond talks about 2012 Major League season - MLB Update
Shortstop for Washington Nationals, Ian Desmond, has talked extensively about various events that happened in the last season.
He has discussed amazing success that he as a hitter enjoyed and how he helped the Nationals make it to the playoffs.
Desmond is one of those players that performed exceptionally well in the last season.
What makes his achievements surprising is the fact that it was not expected from him, because generally he is not effective, to the extent of being relied upon throughout the season for consistent shows at the plate.
Among the reasons behind this overwhelming success of Desmond is the manager of the Nationals, Davey Johnson. Skipper Johnson spent special sessions with him, trying to help Desmond improve his technique.
As a result, he saw Desmond become the most reliable batter of the Nationals in the line-up. Apart from hitting home-runs, Desmond was efficient in stealing a great number of bases.
Commenting on the National League Division Series, which the Nationals lost against the St. Louis Cardinals, Desmond stated that they were undone by the inexperience of some of their young players.
“I think our youth might have been a little bit exposed. Up to that point, I think we played some outstanding baseball. I think in the end, we lost focused. ... [Game 5] was a total team loss. We had opportunities to score runs. We should have kept piling
on runs. Earlier in the game, I could have made a play that I thought I should have made. The defense wasn't completely there like it normally was throughout the year. In that last game, we didn't play the way we knew how to play,” Desmond said.
The Nationals failed to defeat the Cardinals in Game 5, despite the fact they were ideally poised to win. They almost had the Cardinals on the ropes, before they bounced back by hitting their relievers late in the innings for plenty.
That defeat resulted in the exclusion of the Nationals from the season, which made it even more painful for the players. Desmond was equally disheartened.
However, he is upbeat to see his team reach the heights of success during the upcoming season.
It will be interesting to see how he can contribute toward this.
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