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VIERA, Fla. -- Just about everyone associated with the Washington Nationals arrived in Florida 45 days ago with some preconceived idea of how the club's eventual starting rotation would look.
Everyone had John Patterson pitching on Opening Day. A good number had Shawn Hill making the squad, though not as the No. 2 man. A handful had Jerome Williams and Matt Chico but not nearly as many as had Tim Redding, Joel Hanrahan, Jason Simontacchi, Billy Traber or Colby Lewis. The next person who claims to have picked Jason Bergmann will be the first.
Amazing how much can change in six weeks. It would have been near-impossible to predict an Opening Day quintet of Patterson, Hill, Chico, Bergmann and Williams.
"Honestly, we didn't know it was going to come to these five guys," manager Manny Acta said.
No, but when the Nationals break camp this morning, those five starters will have major league jobs. Everyone else who had been involved in this wide-open rotation race won't.
The club's biggest question mark entering spring training might not have been resolved the way most figured it would, but few are upset with the finished product.
"I think the pitching staff ended up turning out real good," catcher Brian Schneider said. "I was happy with the way they threw. I know that's still the unanswered question, but I'm pretty happy with what we've got."
A rotation that had only one known quantity (Patterson) coming into camp worked itself out over the course of the spring, with several presumed front-runners pitching themselves out of the mix and other lesser-known candidates seizing the opportunity.
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Patterson was the only given coming into Spring Training, to make the rotation, although Hill and Chico were widely suspected to be favorites and almost guarantees most of the others are big surprises, especially Berggman.
There were not many that expected Berggman to be in this position with the season around the corner, myself included, i didn't consider him a serious contender for the rotation although i did think he had a slim chance but he proved me wrong. I figured that he would be on the team as a long or middle reliever but not in the capacity of the 5th starter.
I don't have any problems with it though. Im always one to want to give the young guys a chance and i think that is what the Nationals are trying to do here.
Berggman surpisingly makes rotation
Berggman surpisingly makes rotation
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