Milledge not Lasting

The Washington Nationals have optioned outfielder Lastings Milledge to their Triple-A ball club in Syracuse on Tuesday. The Nationals are off to an 0-7 start to the season and Milledge has performed just as poorly. He was hitting .167 (4-24) with 1 walk, 10 strikeouts, and just 1 RBI thus far. Assistant General Manager Mike Rizzo said the demotion of Milledge was “…to get more comfortable with his swing, to get more comfortable with the position and to do it in a less stressful situation than the National League East.”

I have to say I was a little surprised by this move. To start Milledge performed very solidly in his first full season in 2008, showing why he has once considered one of the top prospects in the game, In 138 games last year he clubbed 14 home runs and stole 24 bases while batting .268 with a .330 OBP. These definitely aren’t All-Star caliber numbers but they certainly are encouraging for a young player still adjusting to the big league level. Secondly, at only 24 years old Milledge ideally is part of the future of the Nationals organization. Even with the logjam in the Nats outfield I would think they might give him more time to work out his struggles than just 7 games. Also the two outfielders behind Milledge, Austin Kearns and Josh Willingham definitely are not part of the Nats future and I don’t expect either to outperform Milledge over the course of the season.

I understand the Nationals can’t just keep penciling in any player who is struggling just because of his potential and hope for future growth,. For the fans sake they have to attempt to put the winning combination on the field. Honestly though the Nats are headed for the basement in the NL East and even the most optimistic Nats fan knows this. That is why the quick hook for Milledge was so surprising. Being only 24 years old and coming off such a promising ’08, I thought he’d get more than 24 at bats to work through his struggles. I guess that’s why my phone never rang when the Nats were looking for a replacement GM for the recently departed Jim Bowden.
-Robb Lennahan