The First Game At Nats Park

The Braves and Nationals blessed us with a good ballgame last night--a 3-2 Nats victory on Ryan Zimmerman's game-ending home run--to start the North American portion of the 2008 season. Here are a few thoughts on the first ever game at Nationals Park, which received plenty of praise from ESPN broadcasters Jon Miller and Joe Morgan....

Nick "The Stick" Johnson looks terrific, showing few ill effects from the broken leg that kept him out all of last season. With a slimmed down physique, Johnson stretched a single into a double as he successfully challenged Jeff Francoeur's throwing arm. In contrast, Johnson's backup, Dmitri Young, came to camp weighing in excess of 33 pounds. If Johnson continues to play well, Young won't see much more than an occasional start at first base against left-handed pitching. That won't help Young's trade value. Perhaps the solution will involve trading Johnson, whose trade value is already on the upswing...

Manny Acta drew rave reviews for his managing in 2007, but one has to question his ability to make out a lineup card when he employs Cristian Guzman, of all people, as his leadoff hitter. Guzman, who is annually among the league's worst in on-base percentage, shouldn't even be in the starting lineup, let alone the leadoff spot. Lastings Milledge would be a far better choice, as would Ronnie Belliard. Heck,just about any of the Nationals' starters would be a better fit at leadoff than Guzman...

The Braves had to be thrilled with Tim Hudson's performance; his sinker looked to be in mid-season form, at least from the second inning on. Hudson will also benefit from having Yunel Escobar as his starting shortstop. With his superior range, he'll be a big improvement defensively over Edgar Renteria...

On the down side, the Braves are not going to be satisfied with Mark Kotsay for long. At one time a fine player, Kotsay has been worn down by a series of injuries over then last three seasons. He looked overmatched at the plate, makings outs with three lazy fly balls in his Braves debut. I wouldn't be shocked to see Jordan Schafer patrolling center field for the Braves by June.