John Lannan was demoted to the minor leagues for a number of reasons, not the least of which his inability to get past the fifth inning, which put a tremendous strain on the Nationals' bullpen. At this point, he really owes Tyler Clippard dinner. He's doing a better job in AA, lasting a full seven innings in two of his three starts, and six in the other. So that's good.
It's the other stuff - namely getting guys out and preventing runs - that continues to be a concern. In his third start Monday, Lannan gave up four earned runs on nine hits over seven innings, which earned him his second straight loss. So far, this AA assignment isn't going so well, and it started out so good too.
More alarming stats after the jump.
In Lannan's first start for AA, he looked like ... well ... like someobdy who made the opening day start for a major league team should look like in AA. He went seven strong innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run, while striking out five.That was very promising. "Maybe he just needed to get his confidence up, and once he does, let's get this guy back to the show," I continued to tell myself.
Whatever confidence he had in his first start has to be seriously shaken now.
In his last two starts, Lannan has allowed a disheartening 10 runs in only 13 innings, which is good for a healthy ERA of just under seven. But what is even more troubling, if that's possible, is that he has allowed 19 hits, and batters are hitting at just about a .365 clip against him. Forget the runs, he can't seem to get anybody out.
But he went seven innings. At least that's something.
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