Washington Nationals starting pitcher Dan Haren might lose his job. Why? Take a look at his 7-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies on June 22.
Haren (4-9) is having the worst statistical season of his career. The former All-Star might lose his spot in the starting rotation because Haren is leaving the ball up in the strike zone.
"I don't want to speculate on what I'm thinking about right here," Nationals Manager Davey Johnson said. "But I do have some concern. When he leaves it up, it's real flat."
When asked if Haren thought about if he could lose his job, he was extremely honest.
"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it," Haren said. "This is a performance-based business, and obviously I'm not getting the job done."
Haren's inability to keep the ball down is giving opposing hitters fantastic pitches to hit hard. His stats reflect it. Haren leads baseball in home runs and hits allowed in addition to having the highest ERA with 15 or more starts in the major leagues at 6.15.
The game against the Rockies was a nightmare matchup for Haren. Colorado leads the National League in home runs and hits. The Rockies pounced on Haren early. He didn't make it out of the fourth inning. Fans booed Haren off the mound after pitching 3.1 innings and giving up six runs while striking out five.
"No one wants to get booed," Haren said. "But I'd probably boo myself, too. It's just, I'm not doing well."
The bewildered pitcher's teammates are trying to help him find answers.
"We're all looking. Trying to see if we can see anything," first baseman Adam Laroche said. "See if he's tipping a pitch, or falling into patterns, and I don't see any of that. I think right now it's just bad luck. He cannot miss up in the zone, or it's getting smoked."
Johnson said he would evaluate Haren during a June 25 throwing session.
Once the struggling Haren left, the Rockies lineup also struggled. Ross Ohlendorf came in for relief and pitched marvelously for 4.2 innings, only giving up one run.
"He pitched great," Johnson said of Ohlendorf. "I think he hadn't pitched in eight or nine days, but he threw the ball great. He saved my pen."
Washington only needed to use Fernando Abad after Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf saved his team's bullpen for days to come because it didn't have to use multiple pitchers to end the game.
The Nats' offense also scuffled. The lineup managed only six hits, and it didn't score its only run until the ninth inning when Ryan Zimmerman hit his ninth home run of the season.
The Nationals, who lost its three game win streak after the loss, will look to start another winning streak behind starting pitcher Ross Detwiler (2-5) June 24. Colorado ended its five game losing streak with its win over the Nats and will send starter Jorge De La Rosa (7-4) to the mound against Washington June 23 to try to start its own winning streak.
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