Desmond to DL, Alaniz Joins Senators

Most of you know this by now but for those that don’t….I also added my thoughts on this move.

UPDATED

“The Harrisburg Senators announced today just their second player transaction of the season with INF Ian Desmond being placed on the disabled list and RHP Adrian Alaniz joining the Senators.

Desmond has been placed on the disabled list after having had surgery on Thursday to remove his Hamate bone. He is expected to be out four to six weeks. Desmond was batting .346 in seven games with the Senators and had a home run with four runs driven in.

Alaniz joins the Senators from extended spring training. He is expected to join the Sens rotation and make the start on Sunday afternoon in Erie. He was 0-5 with the Senators last season but had a solid 3.97 ERA. This is his third professional season after having been taken in the 8th round of the 2007 draft.”

This is a big blow to the Senators. Ian Desmond seemed to have put things together toward the end of last season. Then during spring training there was concern raised during a physical, which was later calmed after a scan came up negative. Early on it was looking like Ian was going to be one of the Senators offensive leaders and now he is sidelined for 4-6 weeks. If all goes well he should be ready to return the end of May or beginning of June.

The Senators continue to struggle offensively hitting .224 as a team through the first 15 games. As I had pointed out, over the first two weeks of the season the team is leaving way to many runners on base and in scoring position The Patriot-News followed with a full article on this topic in yesterdays Sunday paper (sorry no online link available).

The Senators have no true shortstop on the team. They have been trying to fill the gap left by Desmond’s injury with Michael Martinez (a second baseman). The Senators have been using outfielders Leonard Davis and Jemel Spearman as infielders. 3rd baseman, Ofilio Castro has been playing second base. The juggling of players has really shown in the on-field play as the team at times looks lost (not turning double plays, commiting errors and not hitting the cut-off man). The heart of the infield is usually the shortstop and with no true shortstop on the team I’m afraid that Senators fans will continue to sloppy play.

At a time when the Senators are struggling to score runs, losing games by leaving to many runners on base, and juggling players around, the Nationals promote pitcher Adrian Alaniz. Alaniz struggled in his first stint with the Senators in 2008 (as mention above). Before joining the Senators in 08 he was 9-0 with a 2.62 ERA at Potomac. He was a mid-season All Star in 2007 and 2008. While I projected Alaniz to start the season at Harrisburg, and later changed that to he would join the team after O’Connor’s expected promotion to Triple-A. The only way this move makes sense to me is if O’Connor does end up getting promoted and the Senators receive a shortstop in return (Seth Bynum or someone else).

UPDATE, Link to Patriot News article: Harrisburg Senators' statistics tell tale