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Wire Taps: Washington Nationals’ September Call-Ups: 2B Danny Espinosa, C Wilson Ramos and RHP Collin Balester.

I thought it was a little odd that Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell stated unequivocally in his recent article entitled, "For Washington Nationals' real fans, September call-ups hold much promise", that, as he wrote, "Later this week, the Nats will call up catcher Wilson Ramos and middle infielder Danny Espinosa," since it hadn't officially been announced but only whispered about, until now...

MLB.com's Bill Ladson (@washingnats) just reported the following via his Twitter account:

"Breaking news: 2B Danny Espinosa and C Wilson Ramos were called up by the #Nats today."

(ed. note - "Further notes included RHP Collin Balester's name on the list of players called up to the Nats.")

Danny Espinosa, an '08 3rd Round pick out of Long Beach State University, aka "The Shortstop Factory" as DC GM Mike Rizzo and others have referred to it, is a 6'0'', 190lb infielder out of Santa Ana, California, who was hitting .295/.349/.463 at Triple-A Syracuse after being called up from Double-A Harrisburg where he started the 2010 campaign and hit .262/.336/.462 with 16 doubles, 18 HR's and 54 RBI's in 99 games during his third season in the Nats' system. The second-highest ranked infielder behind his future middle infield partner Ian Desmond in the most recent Baseball America rankings of the top prospects in the Nats' system, Espinosa is expected to move to second, as noted in Mr. Ladson's tweet, since Desmond's already established himself as the Nats' SS. 

Wilson Ramos, acquired in the Non-Waiver deadline deal that sent former Nats' closer Matt Capps to the Minnesota Twins, was the second best prospect in their system before the trade (again according to Baseball America). Upon acquiring the 22-year-old backstop, the DC GM, Mike Rizzo, told a group of reporters that, "The odds are you'll see him in September, or maybe before depending on what happens in the major leagues." In 20 games and 79 at bats with Syracuse, Ramos hit .316/.341/.494 with 3 doubles and 3 HR's. On the year, the catcher's thrown out an even 50% of basestealers who've attempted to run on his arm. 

Collin Balester, an '04 4th Round pick from the Montreal Expos' last draft class, gets another shot in the Majors after having been called up and down several times already this season. In an earlier stint he struggled with control but showed signs of the stuff that keeps the Nats interested in what he could potentially bring to the bullpen. 

As Mr. Boswell accurately points out in the article linked above, in spite of the absence of Stephen Strasburg, the future is now for the Washington Nationals. And if Rizzo's focus this past offseason was on strengthening the Nats up the middle, the addition of the second part of the middle infield duo of the future along with the top catcher in the system and the emergence as Roger Bernadina as a reliable option in center with Nyjer Morgan confusing a lot of folks these days, it's going to be interesting to see just what the Nationals have in these young players as they get their chance to impress over the next month-plus...In Rizzo We Trust. Now time to verify some of his moves. 

Nationals Daily Evolutions 9/1/10

Let's start off with something only slightly non-baseball related. Brian Oliver has been one of the best at what he does, and that is writing about the Nationals farm system. I have certainly learned a lot from him and his site about prospects in our system and prospects that we had just drafted. His contributions will certainly be missed. --Brian Oliver natsfarm.com 

The big story from last night's game should be Jordan Zimmermann, but it is going to be Nyjer Morgan, and things could get ugly today and the Marlins might be out for blood. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com

Last nights game was also a tale of two plays at the plate. One player slid and the other didn't, and the sliding player's team won. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com

In case you want a different take on the game that focusses a little bit more on Jordan Zimmermann's good night. --Dave Nichols from natsnewsnetwork.com  

Yet another look at last night's game with an even more detailed look at Nyjer's exploits and his promise to slide the next time. --MissChatter from csn.com 

And let us not forget that today is September first. That means excitement and fun for us diehard Nats fans. --Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post

Strasburg's surgery is scheduled for Friday. I know we all hope that everything goes smoothly not just for the baseball career of Stephen Strasburg, but for his healthy and well being as well. --Mark Zuckerman natsinsider.com

More news and notes about the Nationals and baseball after the jump.

I am not the only person trying to get people to appreciate Ryan Zimmerman. This is a great read on a great player from a very good beat writer (sorry Adam not ready to call you great just yet). --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com 

The Nationals have had a different looking line-up for the past few days, and it has worked out pretty well. I was actually really wondering about this the other day. Since I have been doing this link post it seems at times that some of the writers are reading my mind, and answer my questions with out even knowing I have them. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com

This is another column that goes along with my line of thinking. I know other people don't agree with it, and I think it is an interesting discussion to have. The discussion is really the important thing here. Any debate I can spark with the links I post is good. Good healthy debate is one of the best parts of a community like this. The column itself is how the Nationals owe the fans a loud off-season due to the Strasburg injury. --David Aldridge from tbd.com

Here is something I don't agree with. I think the Nationals can get better next year even without Strasburg. --Brandon C at mlbdailydish.com

Maya is a player to watch this September. I sure hope so. Having him and Zimmermann might be just the tonic we all need. --Joe Lemire at si.com

Bryce Harper was left off the AFL roster for now, but here is a look at the players that are going. It isn't as exciting of a list as last season, but i am very interested to see how Burgess does. --Mike Prada dc.sbnation.com

Bryce Harper might have left school a year early not just to get into the draft earlier, but to avoid losing the ability to become a super two. --Ben Goessling from masnsports.com

Adam Dunn's rumored request of 4 year $60 million seems more than reasonable. Vote here on what you actually think Dunn could get if he hits free agency. --Dave Cameron fangraphs.com

I might be a day late and a dollar short on this one, but I am doing a links column. In order for me to mention something there has to be a story on it. So a belated happy 75th birthday to Frank Robinson. --Cheryl Nichols at natsnewsnetwork.com

DC Media News

As far as I am concerned this thing is over. Mike Wise might have believed he had a point, but he didn't try and defend it and dig himself a deeper hole, he simply apologized and now we can all move on. This may not restore all his credibility, but it does make him look like a class act. --Dan Steinberg from The DC Sports Bog

Around the NL East

Jason Heyward is a great player, but did you know he was walked the sixth most of any player in a season when they were 19 or 20 years old. --Keith Law via Twitter 

Of course this begs the question of exactly how many position players have their been at this age and what it really means. Heyward's 67 walks are good for any rookie. It is higher than both Zimmerman and Hanley in their rookie season, and it is currently two behind Albert Pujols in his rookie year, but none of those players were 19 or 20. I looked up some players and what I found was interesting, but it also doesn't tell me much without more research. Both Robin Yount and Johnny Bench hardly ever walked in their age 19 and 20 seasons. Heyward is also ahead of both Griffey Jr. and A-Rod, but not by as wide a margin, and he is far behind Ted Williams and Mel Ott. Now I don't know if this says something about the different eras or the different positions that these players played, because Bench and Yount did not play offensive positions. It is a great jumping off point for even more meaningful baseball discussion, and it also makes me realize how little I look forward to having to watch the Nationals deal with Heyward on a yearly basis.

The other day we read about why the Braves will make the playoffs, and here is the Phillies viewpoint in typical brash and cocky Phillies attitude. There is nothing wrong with this attitude (I hope one day we can be a brash and cocky fanbase) with all their success they deserve it. --Pat Gallen at yahoosports.com

General Baseball

Did I need to mention again that Joe Posnanski is my hero. Not only do I think that he is the best baseball writer going right now, I think he might be one of the best writers period. He can critize players and viewpoints without coming across as overly harsh and outright negative. He has knowledge, tact, and can paint a picture with his words. He also has an understand of advanced stats, but at the same time has never lost the pleasure for watching baseball. Seriously his column on Mike Jacobs is one of the best reads ever. Yesterday he wrote about how much we love the homerun, and how sometimes we as fans judge a good season based entirely on the number of homers a player hits. --Joe Posnanski at joeposnanski.com 

The path to the playoffs and then The World Series won't be fun for left handed batters. People better not tell this to Chase Utley though. He has always hit lefties well in his career. He might have been on the losing team, but he may have had the best World Series of any player, and a lot of it was just killing lefty pitching. If the Phillies make it to the play-offs they can be very dangerous. --Ed Price aolfanhouse.com 

The game today will be interesting for many reasons. Olsen pitches again for the Nationals, and we will find out if he can continue to get better and stay healthy, we might see a little bit of fallout from the Nyjer situation, and the Nationals will try to win their first road series since May.