All season long, Nationals manager Manny Acta has warned anyone who would listen about the growing pains his younger players would endure this season.
That lack of experience is the same reason general manager Jim Bowden has said his trade last winter for 23-year-old outfielder Lastings Milledge would be a short-term victory for the New York Mets and a long-term win for his club.
Recommended Stories
But Milledge is doing his best to make the deal for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church pay off for the Nats sooner rather than later. Plugged into the No. 3 spot in the lineup by Acta 15 games ago after Ryan Zimmerman’s shoulder injury, Milledge has more than held his own. He batted 6-for-14 in the weekend sweep of Seattle with a double, an RBI and two stolen bases. Milledge has reached base at least once in 23 of the last 26 games and seen his average slowly climb to .258.
“I’m seeing the ball a lot better. I’ve been able to track it [out of the pitcher’s hand],” Milledge said as the Nats prepared for the nine-game road trip that continues tonight against the Minnesota Twins. “Right now, I get an extra at-bat a game. And I just have to take it for what it’s worth because this is still [Zimmerman’s] spot when he gets back.”
The numbers aren’t necessarily eye-popping. But for a team that is still hobbled by injuries and remains 13 games under .500, the development of players like Milledge and fellow outfielder Elijah Dukes, 23, trumps anything in the win-loss column.
As late as May 18, Milledge was batting .234 with an unsightly on-base average of .305. He had walked just 12 times with three stolen bases. Add in some trouble adjusting defensively to center field and it was a difficult start.
Milledge still doesn’t walk much, drawing only five in June. And seven strikeouts over his last four games show a tendency to over-swing at certain pitches. But he’s also produced four multi-hit games over the last eight.
“[Milledge] has been having better at-bats,” Acta said. “Is he going to chase sometimes out of the strike zone. Yes. They all do, especially when they’re that young. But he’s been making better contact.”