Posted June 2, 200915 yr Posted at 1:49 PM ET, 06/ 2/2009 Pitching Coach St. Claire Fired The Nationals today fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire, the longest-tenured member of their coaching staff, and have replaced him with Class AAA pitching coach Steve McCatty. St. Claire, in his seventh year with the organization, was responsible for the staff that currently has a 5.69 ERA, worst in baseball. "That's life," St. Claire said. "I've been in this game for 31 years. I've been fired before. But it's a tough one... I would have liked to be around when the organization takes off." St. Claire said he was informed on Monday night about the decision. Today, he headed to Nationals Park to clear out his belongings. St. Claire said he didn't receive an explanation for his firing, but added that he didn't need one. "The pitching isn't performing up to where it needs to be to win, and I think a lot of factors go into it, but I guess I'm easier to replace than 12 guys," he said. "Easier to replace and cheaper to replace. But that's the game. When the team doesn't perform, they're bound to make changes." Washinton Post Wish they could have waited about another month.
June 2, 200915 yr Why do you wish they could have waited? Sorry if I missed something obvious. Cause we face them in a month. We loved their pitching last time around
June 2, 200915 yr I doubt this makes a difference. Certainly the manager is next on the chopping block, with a team that is ALREADY 23 games under .500
June 2, 200915 yr A big part of their problem is their defense. It doesn't help their pitching at all.
June 2, 200915 yr they have pretty good positional players with zimmerman, milledge, dunn, dukes, and guzman but they haven't built their pitching in the last couple years. hopefully for them they'll be able to sign strasburg and in a couple seasons pair him up with martis and jordan zimmerman.
June 2, 200915 yr The Nats can hit this year, but their pitching and defense hurt them so they lose games like 9 to 7 every night... I wonder if they would get anything good for Dunn if they trade him to the AL... Dunn is a DH, his fielding (if you watched the recent Nats-Phillies series) is really bad, but if he just hits all day, he would have some value in the AL. Assuming they drafted well, they should follow the same road as the Rays in that eventually some of those first round picks over the years have to start panning out...
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