Okay, so Washington Nationals right-hander Livan Hernandez probably isn't going to retire after losing to the New York Mets, 1-0.
Mets vs. Nationals: Livan Hernandez Attains Perfection, Retires
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Sure, it’s Hernandez’s second straight 1-0 loss. Which has to hurt, but not enough to cause Adjustment Disorder, Depressive Mood, or Premature Retirement. Definitely not Premature Retirement.
Nor should Hernandez retire because of his diminishing skills, since there’s no real indication that his skills are actually diminishing. Last year, his ERA was 3.66; this year it’s 3.44. This year he’s striking out and walking almost exactly the same numbers of hitters that he did last year.
No, Hernandez should retire because by losing to the Mets Thursday afternoon, he became The Perfect Livan Hernandez.
Livan Hernandez has never been a great pitcher. But for a long, long time he's been an innings-eater. How long, and how many innings? This is his 17th season in the major leagues, and Tim Wakefield is the only active major leaguer who's pitched more innings.
With the loss to the Mets, Hernandez’s record is exactly even: 169 wins, 169 losses. His career ERA+ is 97; not exactly average, but close enough for government work (and half-assed baseball analysis). There’s only one other pitcher with more than 100 wins and a .500 record: Charlie Hough, but he doesn’t qualify as “average” because he threw knuckleballs.
Granted, 169-169 wouldn’t be as memorable as 170-170 or (if you wanna dream a little) 200-200 ... but do we really want to take that chance? Should Livan Hernandez take that chance?
My survey says no. Granted, it’s just me and the dog but I’ve got the dog’s proxy so it’s unanimous. It’s been a brilliantly average run for Livan Hernandez. But it should end now, because it probably isn’t getting any better.
Meanwhile, there was a game in Our Nation's Auto-Body Shop Capital and it could easily have gone a different way. The Mets scored their lone run in the fourth, when Justin Turner's two-out single plated Josh Thole. New York's rookie starter Dillon Gee didn't allow a hit through five innings, which led to all sorts of idle speculation. But with two outs in the sixth, Livan Hernandez -- of course, because he's not an average hitter (for a pitcher) -- broke up the bid with a bingle up the middle.
Gee was lifted with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Francisco Rodriguez took over in the ninth. Ian Desmond led off with a ground-out, but Laynce Nix doubled into the left-field corner. Jayson Werth followed with a screaming one-hopper toward third, where Turner made a nice snag, double-clutched, and finally threw wide to first base, pulling Daniel Murphy off the bag.
Which was all well and good (for the Nationals), except first-base umpire Phil Cuzzi didn't notice and called Werth out. Jim Riggleman argued for a while, which probably made him feel a little better but changed not a thing. After a welcome breather, Rodriguez retired Adam LaRoche on an easy grounder, sealing his 14th save and the Mets' second straight team shutout.
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