Balester shines in Nats’ loss

By Dave Utnik

Published: July 29, 2008

WASHINGTON – Collin Balester reached such a comfort level Tuesday night that the pitcher’s mound at Nationals Park almost felt like the crest of one of those fabulous Pacific Ocean waves he loves to surf.
The wind was at his back, the sun on his face and there was a rhythm to his delivery that was something akin to carefree. When Balester is in that type of groove, strikes are plentiful, his fastball zips toward the plate at 93 mph and outs come just as quickly.
“As the year goes on, I’m learning so much and I’m just trying to put it into every start,” Balester said. “I feel a little more comfortable now.”
He’s still a rookie, a prospect on the verge of anchoring a major league rotation and, right now at least, progress isn’t being measured in wins and losses.
So giving up a two-run homer to Chase Utley like Balester did in the third inning of a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies is all part of the maturation process.
“This is the first night where everything was just rolling,” said Balester, who has been ranked by trade magazine Baseball America as one of Washington’s top minor league players for three consecutive seasons. “I ran into a little bit of trouble that one inning and he made me pay for a mistake but for the most part all of my pitches were working.” 
When the Washington Nationals are ready to compete for a National League East pennant, the expectations will be greater and the margin for error less forgiving.
But for the time being, what matters – to Balester and the Nationals, if not the 34,039 fans who showed up for the first game of this homestand – is that the 21-year-old right-hander from Huntington Beach, Calif., is beginning to fulfill his potential as one of the organization’s future stars.
“He pitched a very good game for us. He looked outstanding out there. He threw every one of his pitches for strikes,” Nationals manager Manny Acta said.
Forget for the moment that Balester is 1-3. Last night, against a contending team with a scary batting order, he looked – and threw — like a pitcher capable of winning a whole lot of games in years to come.
Since arriving in the big leagues for the first time on July 1, Balester has done one thing particularly well – throw strikes. Sometimes he gets hit, sometimes he doesn’t but opposing batters aren’t getting many freebees when he’s out there.
On Tuesday, arguably his best start of the season and certainly his finest since he defeated Florida in his debut nearly a month ago, Balester allowed two runs on six hits – all the damage coming on Utley’s 26th homer. He struck out five and did not issue a walk.
Had the Nationals been able to produce anything at all against the Phillies’ Brett Myers, who by the way is now 4-9, Balester might have earned his second win.
Only they couldn’t. After getting shut out three times in six games against the Giants and Dodgers on the West Coast, the Nationals managed only four hits against Myers, who hadn’t won since May 30. He began the day with a 5.82 ERA but left with two on and nobody out in the eighth with a shutout intact.
“We got the leadoff guy on a couple of times,” Acta said. “We just couldn’t get anything going.”
The Nationals finally scored for the first time since Friday when Willie Harris delivered an RBI groundout against J.C. Romero. But that was the extent of the rally.
But even as their losing streak reached seven games, the Nationals (38-68) found at least one silver lining in Balester’s performance, possibly two if Garrett Mock’s perfect inning of two-strikeout relief is factored into the equation.
Charlie Manning and Joel Hanrahan also combined for two more scoreless frames of relief – another promising development – and only magnified what might have been if the offense could have pushed a couple more runs across for their rookie starter.
“I’m very proud of our starting pitching and the relievers have out together 10 scoreless innings in a row,” Acta said. “They’ve given us a chance to win.”
And that includes Balester. Just five starts into his major league career, he has a mound presence that is equal parts confidence and surfer cool. He doesn’t back down from anyone – not even slugger Ryan Howard, who struck out swinging in the second inning – and that’s the biggest reason that Balester and lefty John Lannan are considered the foundation of the starting rotation, along with Jason Bergmann.
“He threw over sixty percent of his pitches for strikes,” Acta said of Balester. “Usually that will get you somewhere when you have the stuff he has. He pounded the zone with the three pitches he has.
“I don’t think any of those guys are worried about winning or losing individually. What hurts them the most is that the team is not winning.”