ANALYSIS/OPINION:
The Washington Nationals picked the wrong year to have their pitching reservoir across the country.
Before this year, if the Nationals needed to call up a pitcher to the major league club, all they needed to do is put in a call to Syracuse, New York, so close that, in dire circumstances, a player could even make the 400 mile drive in six hours.
And even in the early days of the Nationals, it wasn’t a cross country trip when they needed help — just a 1,000 mile plane ride from New Orleans.