Potomac rides Detwiler to victory

By Dave Utnik

Published: May 15, 2008

It’s all probably a coincidence. At least that’s the way Potomac Nationals pitcher Ross Detwiler looks at the strange and unlikely path his professional career has taken.

Pfitzner Stadium, the Washington Nationals’ 2007 first round draft pick insists, has no influence whatsoever on his ability to throw a baseball.

“There’s not a hex here or anything like that,” Detwiler said following a milestone 5-4 victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Wednesday that resulted in his first home Carolina League win as a starter.

So don’t pay any attention to the statistics that suggest that Detwiler is a much better pitcher on the road. They are irrelevant, at least when it comes to gauging the lanky left-hander’s progress.

“I don’t even want to go down that road,” P-Nats manager Randy Knorr said. “He’s really starting to believe in his stuff now. Every time out now he’s making progress.

“This is a great league for him because these guys can hit in this league and he’s learning how to make his pitches and trust his stuff.”

Detwiler has pitched well enough to win several times at the Pfitz and just because it took seven starts doesn’t mean that his star power has diminished since he first put on a minor league uniform last summer. 

“I had no idea this was my first win here, but it’s not really about that. It’s about going out there and giving our team a chance to win,” said Detwiler, who is 1-3 with an ERA close to 7.00 at home dating back to last summer but 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA on the road.

While former teammates Cory VanAllen and Jordan Zimmermann have already moved on to Double-A Harrisburg, Detwiler is still attempting to establish himself in pro baseball. At 22, he has plenty of time and the Nationals have no intentions of rushing him.

Just the same, every time he steps onto the mound the expectations are elevated. Fair or not, Detwiler is viewed and scrutinized differently than the majority of his teammates. He is a prospect with ace potential who has already appeared in the big leagues and his development is an important part of the Nationals’ plans to put a contending team on the field in D.C.

So, coincidence or not, Detwiler’s first victory at Pfitzner Stadium was a significant accomplishment in that regard.

Backed by solo home runs from Michael Martinez, Seth Bynum and Matt Rogelstad, the former Gateway Athletic Conference player of the year overcame a 32-pitch third inning – during which he allowed three runs on four hits – to pitch five effective innings against Myrtle Beach.

He allowed five hits in all, struck out six and turned a 5-3 lead over to the bullpen, showing all the while that he could throw strikes on both sides of the plate and bounce back from a rough inning to give the P-Nats their fourth win in 12 games.

“I was just hitting spots. When you work both sides of the plate it opens everything else up,” Detwiler said. “As long as I’m throwing strikes and giving my team a chance to win everything will be fine.”

The P-Nats (23-15) have been in first place for 34 consecutive days, but their lead over second-place Frederick is only two games.

By snapping the Pelicans’ six-game winning streak on Wednesday, Potomac gave Detwiler a career boost and switched their slumping offense back into power mode by pounding out 10 hits. 

The Nationals began the night with a collective .221 batting average over their previous five games and they nearly accomplished a humiliating feat on Tuesday – coming within a strike of joining Kinston as the only Carolina League team since 1967 to be no-hit twice in the same season.

Francisco Plasencia saved the P-Nats from that fate with a single up the middle that was as symbolic as it was necessary given that the 23-year-old outfielder has been Potomac’s best hitter since he arrived from Class A Hagerstown last week, going 7 for 18 (.389).

Knorr has given his players a month to establish themselves offensively and, now, with no regular other than Plasencia even close to batting .300, he is shaking things up a bit. Last night, that meant putting Martinez in the leadoff spot for just the fifth time.

The 25-year-old reserve infielder responded with two hits, including his second career home run, and a stolen base.

Bynum, who homered in the second, drove in two runs and Frank Diaz had an RBI double as the P-Nats tied a season high for runs scored in nine games against Myrtle Beach. 

“These guys here, they can hit,” Knorr said. “We’re trying to get them to buy into a program that we like and it’s taken longer than we thought but hopefully with results like today they’ll by into the plan a little more and we’ll get better.”