Battle of the Beltway Predictions

The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are going head to head for 4 games this season; twice at Nationals Park and twice at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The first game has concluded with the Orioles taking it 6-2 from 2 RBI from Nick Markakis and Yamaico Navarro as well as RBI from Matt Wieters and Adam Jones.  Manny Machado had 3 hits for the O's and he scored once while Chris Davis had 2 hits and scored twice.  Jason Hammel had a great showing, allowing 8 hits and 2 runs over 8 innings while striking out 4 men, 8 times including Stephen Lombardozzi 3 times and Tyler Moore twice.  For the Nats, Ryan Zimmerman and Tyler Moore had RBI and Gio Gonzalez pitched 5.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks.  He struck out 3.

Tonight at Nats park the pitching matchup is rookie Kevin Gausman for the O's making his 2nd career start, with an 0-1 record and a 7.20 ERA vs. Nationals rookie Nate Karns making his MLB debut.  Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Danny Espinosa are still out of the lineup for the Nats and Tyler Moore and Roger Bernandina don't do nearly the job that Harper and Werth do, giving the Nats a short hand.  I think Karns will have a hard time in the wet weather in his first start and the O's will take it.

Wednesday the matchup is going to Camden Yards in Baltimore.  Jordan Zimmermann is going against Chris Tillman in this one and Zimmermann has had an excellent year so far, 8-2 with a 1.71 ERA.  Tillman has also been productive this season but Zimmermann is going to deliver a great performance and the Nats will take game 3.

Thursday is the last day of the series.  Dan Haren is going up against Freddy Garcia.  Both pitchers have a losing record this year, Haren is 4-5 while Garcia is 1-2.  Both pitchers have an ERA higher than 4.50 with Garcia having a 4.61 and Haren holding a 5.43.  This will be a game with many runs but the O's are a better batting team and will jump on Haren early leading them to a victory.

Overall I think that the Orioles will win the series 3-1 over the Nationals.  The Orioles have too much firepower in their lineup and the Nats won't be able to matchup.

Ace on the Nats rotation? Jordan Zimmermann

  Stephen Strasburg.  Sports Illustrated has had him on 2 covers in his career, labeled "National Treasure" and "Mr. October."  Jordan Zimmermann.  No fame at all.  No Sports Illustrated covers and when he was 4-1 and Strasburg was 1-4, and Gio Gonzalez was 1-2, ESPN said that Jordan Zimmermann is pitching great and he is "only the third best pitcher on the Nationals".  Wrong.  Currently he is the best.  Of course, Gio and Stephen have more of an upside.  If I was starting a franchise I would take Strasburg.  Currently, however in the 2013 season, Zimmermann is #1.  There is no arguing about that.  I don't care if Strasburg isn't getting run support.  He is pitching worse than Zimmermann.  Gonzalez is itching worse than Zimmermann.

   You don't have to go beyond the stat book.  Complete games by Nats pitchers this year: 2.  Complete games by Jordan Zimmermann this year: 2.  8 innings pitched by a Nats pitcher: 3.  Jordan Zimmermann: 1.  Stephen Strasburg: 0.  The wins by Nats pitchers are as follows; Jordan Zimmermann: 5, Dan Haren: 3, Gio Gonzalez, Tyler Clippard and Craig Stammen tied with 2, and finally Ross Detwiler and Stephen Strasburg with one a piece.  In the starting rotation, Jordan Zimmermann has the best ERA followed by Detwiler, Strasburg, Haren and Gonzalez.  In the starting rotation Jordan Zimmermann has the best WHIP followed by Strasburg, Gonzalez, Haren and Detwiler.  In the starting rotation, Jordan Zimmermann has the best WAR followed by Detwiler, Strasburg, Gonzalez and Haren. Jordan Zimmermann is not only leading his team, but he is 2nd in the Major League in wins and 1st in WHIP.

  With all these stats is it fair to call Stephen Strasburg a bad pitcher.  No way.  He is still a good pitcher along with Gonzalez and they deserve to be in a rotation that has potential to be the best in the big leagues.  But is it fair to Zimmermann to not mark him as the ace of the rotation this season? No, as he is clearly the best pitcher on the Nationals and one of the best so far this year in the MLB.

Redskins Draft

   The Washington Redskins did not have any draft picks yesterday due to receiving Robert Griffin III last year.  They won't have any 1st round picks next year either.  This year however, they have 7 picks between the 2nd and 7th rounds.  They need some help in the secondary, and on the O-Line, and could use a WR aswell if someone lands in their lap.  Secondary is the main need and if they can get somebody like DJ Swearinger in the 2nd or third round that would be good as well as someone like Desmond Trufant, the Skins would have a successful day 2.  Lastly, if wide receivers, Justin Hunter, or Robert Woods drops to them at 51st I say grab him.  The Skins have good receiver but nothing spectacular.  Help RGIII all you  can!

Redskins Schedule Overview

  Today the Washington Redskins schedule was released.  They have a schedule on the easier end at 18th this year.  This is not too surprising as the NFC East wasn't too great last year.  I don't expect them to be too much better this year.  They also have to face the NFC North and AFC West.  The AFC West has one good team in the Broncos, as the rest of the teams are the Chiefs, Chargers, and Raiders.  The NFC North is very competitive and they have one primetime match up with the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, November 7th.  The Redskins have won their last two games on Thursday, last year on Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys and in the 2007 season against an NFC North team, the Chicago Bears.  The Redskins also have 4 more night games this year.  They are against their 3 division rivals and the San Francisco 49ers. The Skins are playing the Eagles on a Monday Night, opening week, at FedEx Field.  The last time these two met in a Monday Night party at FedEx, the Eagles blew the Redskins out 59-28 led by Michael Vick's 4 passing and 2 rushing touchdowns.  The Redskins played the Cowboys twice on a national stage last year, once on Thanksgiving day and one in week 17 on Sunday Night.  The Skins took both of those.  The Redskins also played the Giants once on Monday Night last year, coming away with a win.  The Redskins are also playing the San Diego Chargers this year.  Overall, the schedule is exciting and everyone is ready for another electrifying Skins team this year.

Nationals: 6-2 start, What does it mean?

   The Nationals are off to a 6-2 start.  What does that mean in the MLB? Absolutely nothing.  Last year at this time, the division leaders at the time were different than the division leaders at the end of the season in exception to one, the Detroit Tigers.  And the World Series Champions, San Francisco?  They were 1-4, at the bottom of their division coming off a 17-8 loss to the Colorado Rockies.  In fact the best team at the time, the Los Angeles Dodgers didn't even make the playoffs.  That shows something about the beginning of the season in the MLB.  With a 162 game season, 5-8 games into the season means absolutely nothing for all teams and fans.  Especially sorry to those fans in Kansas City as it would be a miracle if the season ended today and they were in the playoffs.  

Predictions for rest of NCAA Tournament

More predictions for the rest of the tournament.

Elite 8:

Duke Blue Devils vs. Louisville Cardinals--I picked Duke to lose in the last match up against Michigan State but they proved to be dominant winning by 10.  Seth Curry lit it up with 29 and they shutdown the Spartans. The Cardinals won by 8 in their Sweet 16 matchup against Oregon a 12 seed.  They proved to be good but not dominant unlike Duke was against a 3 seed in Michigan State.  Another classic coaching match up is in place with Coach K against Rick Pitino and this one is going to be a treat.  VERDICT: Duke by 7

Michigan Wolverines vs. Florida Gators--Adrenaline.  That is the key to this game.  Michigan has too much behind them and in the last game, the Gators played sloppy against, luckily, a sloppier Florida Gulf Coast team.  Trey Burke will put his team on his back and solidify his case for POY.  VERDICT: Michigan by 11

Final 4:

Wichita State Shockers vs. Duke Blue Devils--Coach K is going to prepare for this game like his life depends on it.  (He will do this for the National Championship too but that is besides the point.)  This is going to be exciting in the first half as the Shockers will lead early but Duke will complete what Ohio State was so close to doing.  VERDICT: Duke by 5

Syracuse Orange vs. Michigan Wolverines--Syracuse is going to play incredible defense.  We all know that. The question is whether Michigan can shoot on their zone and not put up numbers like Marquette.  This I am shaky about and I think that Syracuse will score early with Brandon Triche getting hot and then their defense will prevail for the rest of the way to put the Orange in the National Championship game.  VERDICT: Syracuse by 9

National Championship:

Syracuse Orange vs. Duke Blue Devils--For the 3rd time in 4 games, Mike Krzyzewski will be in a classic coaching match up.  Duke won't be able to go inside to Mason Plumlee all game, and they will result to they will start shooting.  I can easily see Duke getting cold and therefore the athleticism of Syracuse will prove too much for Duke.  VERDICT: Syracuse by 4


NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: SYRACUSE ORANGE

Predictions for NCAA Tournament

   I am taking a bend off of DC sports and making my predictions for the Sweet 16 games in the Indianapolis and Texas region as well as the Elite 8 in the Los Angeles and Washington DC regions.

SWEET 16:

Louisville vs. Oregon--Oregon has made a great run up to this point, upsetting Oklahoma State and Saint Louis.  They have convincingly beaten those 2 teams.  However, Louisville has been steam rolling as well beating North Carolina A&T and Colorado State by a combined 57 points.  I don't see Louisville dropping this one either.  VERDICT: Louisville by 12

Duke vs. Michigan State--Duke are back in Indianapolis where they have won 2 National Championships in the past.  Probably the best coaching match-up so far in the NCAA Tournament with Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo.  Michigan State has a great offensive rebounding team, a team which Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly are going to have a hard time containing.  I take Michigan State with Plumlee and Kelly getting into foul trouble early.  VERDICT: Michigan Sate by 7

Kansas vs Michigan--Michigan had a hard time towards the end of the season, dropping to a 4 seed when they were expected to be a 1 or 2 throughout.  Kansas has played relentlessly in their comeback win vs North Carolina and Michigan blew by VCU in the round of 32.  They both have extremely solid teams but I think Jeff Withey is going to take over in this one and Kansas will slip by.  VERDICT: Kansas by 4

Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast--No one expected FGCU to be in this situation in the sweet 16.  Just about every one's brackets have been busted.  FGCU, is making it look like they are a top 5 seed.  They have been winning rwally well, winning by 10 vs Georgetown and San Diego State.  Florida has had considerably easy games and they have blown by them.  I think Florida is going to take an early lead and the clock is going to strike 12 on FGCU.  VERDICT: Florida by 13

Elite 8:

Ohio State vs. Wichita State--The Shockers are looking great.  They have blown by Pittsburgh and La Salle and they beat Gonzaga by 6.  They are playing great.  On the other hand, Ohio State has beaten both Iowa State and Arizona on final second shots, with both games almost going to the opponent.  Ohio State has a great will to win and they are the better team but watch out for the Shockers as they are a win away from the Final Four.  VERDICT: Wichita State by 2

Marquette vs Syracuse--The Golden Eagles slipped by Davidson and Butler but they convincingly beat Miami and they have finally hit their stride at  the perfect time.  Syracuse has been dominant throughout.  They beat Montana by 47, and they beat California by 6.  Then they beat a favorite, Indiana by 11.  That was a good score for Indiana.  Syracuse dominated from the start and they are looking way too strong.  VERDICT: Syracuse by 9