BOTTOMFEEDER BASEBALL BLOG

Dedicated to the constructive criticism of the Washington Nationals.

ALL ARTICLES AND PICTURES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED ARE (C) DAVID W. NICHOLS

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

LoDuca Activated, Clippard Sent Back to Columbus

According to CBS Sportsline.com, Paul LoDuca was activated and P Tyler Clippard was returned to Triple-A Columbus. I mention the source of the report for two reasons: 1) MLB.com transaction page has no mention of it; and B) Neither the WaPO, WaTi or ESPN.com have anything on it.

Various media sources have speculated that was going to be the case, but there has been no official press release or word from the Nats themselves as of this writing. I will post the Press Release when it becomes available.
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ed. (2:41 pm) The move has been posted at MLB.com now, but still no word from The Post.
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LoDuca's activation brings with it much speculation about how he will be utilized and what role he'll play going forward. He was signed in the off-season as a stop-gap, basically to allow Jesus Flores a full season in the minors to work on his defense and to get a full season of at bats. But to this point, LoDuca has been a spectacular mess and Flores the brightest spot on the Nats, a team full of darkness right now, despite the weekend sweep of the Mariners, the worst team in baseball.

Manager Manny Acta went on record over the weekend saying LoDuca will get some at bats at DH during interleague play, and afterwards, will play some first, some left and some catching. In his 1035-game career, LoDuca has played 37 games in the outfield, 76 at first and one at third. And exactly NONE anywhere but catcher since 2004.

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