Washington Nationals News and Notes: Davey Martinez on Ryan Zimmerman; Juan Soto and that nudge; Tanner Rainey back + more …

CHILDREN CALL IT ZIM !! :

There is a old saying in baseball about natural hitters saying they could get out of bed and hit a lineman or double down on anything, and it came to my mind after Ryan Zimmerman arrived late in Friday night’s game and doubled one Colorado Rockiesreliever, then Zimmerman scored on his second trip to plate.

We mentioned getting out of bed telling Washington Nationals‘director Davey Martinez by asking a question about Zimmerman’s ability to step in and swing him in any situation.

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“I don’t know if he gets out of bed,” Martinez joked. “He’s spending about four innings trying to prepare, but hey, he did it again tonight. He goes up there, he’s aggressive, gets a first pitch, doubles down the line, then he works great at batting, takes a single the other way around. He’s just a professional hitter, he’s been that guy, and he understands the strike zone really well, so he hits well.

The two-hit game left Zimmerman 5 for 10 with a double and two homers in the last five games leading up to Saturday’s game with the Rockies, and he got off to a first base start against lefty Kyle Freeland, and, of course, chose the first time …

Soto’s elbow:

Going back to Friday night once again, Juan Soto walked to charge the goals with a late eighth strikeout and the score tied at 7-7, but Josh Bell kicked a ball to the ground towards second in the next at bat, and Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers lined it up and went to touch Soto halfway between first and second, but as he did, Soto lifted the elbow and knocked the infielder off balance enough that his first pitch was late, and a run scored to give the Nationals an 8-7 lead, which ended in a 9-8 loss.

Rockies manager Bud Black lobbied unsuccessfully for the referee team to re-examine the game to see if Soto was interfering with the infielder, so clearly they saw something be on the game, either on a replay, but nothing came of the conversations and the game continued with a two-end rally early in the ninth that decided the first game of the series.

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What did Soto’s manager see in the room? Did he think Soto had lifted his elbow a little too much?

“No, honestly for me he ran, he tried to back up, then he froze,” Martinez explained.

“To me, if someone tags you, you still want to put your hands up to protect yourself, and that’s what I saw.” I didn’t see him try – if he had swung with his elbow it would have been another story, I didn’t see him do that.

Bullpen Shuffle – Rainey Up, Suero Down:

Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game, the Nationals decided to bring Tanner Rainey back to the nation’s capital, as Davey Martinez had hinted he wanted for weeks, so the hard-throw right-hander, who struggled against injuries all season, could return to the mound in the majors and hopefully end 2021 on a high note.

Rainey, 28, completed his last stint at Triple-A Rochester with back-to-back outings this week, the last step that Nationals officials wanted him to take before calling him again, after a problem with his team persisted. him off the mound for a while from mid-August to late.

“We’ve taken a step,” Martinez said in his pre-game Zoom call on Saturday. “[Rainey is] go back on. Wander Suero is optioned at Triple-A. Rainey was in good health and he threw the ball well. So I wanted to bring him back here and have him finish strong here. “

Rainey, still seen as a near-future potential, got injured at the end of his 2020 season in early September, and a series of issues this season has taken him away from the mound at several points, so grab him back and give him back. confidence is a big deal for the fourth-year Nats skipper.

“I want to put him on the right track, I want him to start this year off on a good note and know he is healthy and can start his winter program,” Martinez said. .

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“The big problem for me was that he worked really hard to get back and like I said before he didn’t want to go and go into the winter injured so he worked diligently to come back, and he’s really having some great outings last week. So the most important thing, I told him, I don’t wanna take you back unless you do consecutive days, and he did, he came here this morning, he had a day off yesterday, I asked him how he was feeling, and he said he was feeling good, so I hope he ends the season strong for us.

As for Suero, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday? He also went to Triple-A in early August, with a list of things the Nationals wanted him to work on, and after just 7 ²??₃ IP on six outings with the Nats, in which he allowed five hits (two home runs), two steps and four races, (three of them won), he went back to the club’s best minor league affiliate to work on some of the same things.

“We want him to keep working,” Martinez explained.

“The most important thing for him is his cutting location. Work on his spot, work on his brittle ball again. It was better, but we want him to keep working on it, and like I said before his change, again we want him to throw it a little slower, he’s still like 88-89 MPH, we want him to get it down to around 86, and I know Hick [pitching coach Jim Hickey] told him a little bit about his hold, and he’s going to come down and work on it.