ST. LOUIS — John Lannan made six big league starts last season, so the Washington Nationals left-hander had no overt reason for being nervous yesterday when he took the mound for his 2008 debut.
Lannan, though, admitted he was a bit frazzled early in his outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, which may explain why he gave up two runs and walked three batters in the first three innings.
“There’s no reason for it,” the 23-year-old said. “Just coming up here for the first start, you’re always nervous a little bit and trying to get comfortable. I haven’t thrown to live hitting in over a week.”
Lannan hadn’t pitched in a competitive game since March 27, when he faced the Baltimore Orioles in the Grapefruit League finale. He made one more appearance against hitters in an intrasquad game at the Nationals’ spring training complex and was in line to start Thursday’s opener for Class AAA Columbus before learning he was being called up.
Despite the shaky beginning yesterday, Lannan wound up allowing only those two runs over 62/3 innings, earning praise from his manager and teammates.
“He did a great job for us,” manager Manny Acta said. “He gave us a good quality start. Actually he gave us a chance. What more can you ask?”
Catcher Paul Lo Duca was impressed with Lannan’s ability to shake off his early struggles and battle into the seventh inning.
“He’s tough,” Lo Duca said. “That kid’s going to be a good pitcher in this league for a long time if he throws like that.”
Colome’s control
Pitching coach Randy St. Claire is working with Jesus Colome, trying to get the struggling reliever to tweak his mechanics and ideally hit the strike zone with more regularity.
Colome has issued seven walks in four innings this season, including a game-ending free pass Thursday in Philadelphia and two straight two-out walks in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game.
St. Claire believes Colome’s problem stems from a mechanical glitch: He has dropped his arm angle down a bit and is throwing across his body instead of over the top.
The two watched video of Colome yesterday morning and worked on the side trying to correct things. St. Claire also wants the right-hander to ease up a little and not try to overthrow everything.
“He’s trying to throw real hard from back here,” the pitching coach said. “He just has to shorten it up a little bit. He may be a little slower, but I’ll take 93 [mph] with location rather than 97 and not knowing where it’s going.”
Extra bases
Dmitri Young, who received an injection in his ailing lower back Saturday, will be restricted from any baseball activities for another two days. Young will take batting practice and field grounders before Wednesday’s game against the Marlins, at which point team officials will decide on a further course of action. …
Felipe Lopez was back at second base yesterday after starting the previous three games in left field. Acta wanted to give starting second baseman Ronnie Belliard the day off while also getting outfielder Rob Mackowiak into the lineup for the first time. …
Acta doesn’t believe the Nationals’ offensive struggles are evidence the club is starting to miss the presence of injured sluggers Wily Mo Pena and Elijah Dukes.
“We didn’t say that when we went 3-0,” the manager said. “So we’re not going to start saying that now.”
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