The 26-year-old lefty will join an already promising rotation and pitch between talented young right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg, both of whom recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery and still throw mad heat. Heat like Gonzalez, whose fastball is regularly clocked at 92-95 mph when he's not attempting to perfect his 10-4 curve and changeup.
Gonzalez went 16-12 last season seeing a career high in victories with a 3.12 ERA over 32 starts. He was also selected to his very first All-Star game, so there's that. He'll be a nice addition to a team that has made some major improvements since finishing dead last in the National League East three consecutive seasons from 2008-10. Last year they managed to finish third with an 80-81 record. Maybe they'll win their division some day and make the playoffs!
While the Nationals also received minor league pitcher Robert Gilliam, Oakland landed four players in the deal: catcher Derek Norris, right-handers A.J. Cole and Brad Peacock, and left-hander Tommy Milone.
[Washington Post]
2 comments:
It's gonna be a while before the Nats can win the NL East, but they have a good shot at winning the Wild Cards, especially after the expansion starts and there are two WCs!
Not if the Cardinals, Phillies, Giants, Braves, Diamondbacks or Dodgers have anything to say about it (and I'm a Mets fan).
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