The Nationals Need To Call Up Tom Milone

The Nationals have had one of the better pitching staffs in baseball this season, with a 3.53 ERA and 3.76 FIP. They’ve gotten a great season from ace Jordan Zimmermann, and Henry Rodriguez, Tyler Clippard, Todd Coffey, and Drew Storen have all turned in strong seasons out of the bullpen.

But the Washington pitching staff, like most units, has a couple of weak links. They have possibly the minors’ most dominant pitcher of 2011 waiting in Triple-A. So, as the Nationals look to build credibility with the Washington fans by finishing above .500 this season, why not give Tom Milone the shot he deserves?

On July 5, the Nationals needed a starting pitcher. They elected to call up Ross Detwiler.

Now, Detwiler isn’t a bad pitcher, as he pitched decently that day and owns a 4.59 ERA in his career.

But, seriously, Washington? There are two lefties in the Triple-A Syracuse, and their stats go like this:

Detwiler: 87 1/3 IP, 4.53 ERA, 98 H, 4 HR, 32 BB, 63 K
Milone: 103 IP, 3.15 ERA, 92 H, 6 HR, 7 BB, 107 K

You might think Milone’s some sort of Brian Mazone-type 30-year-old journeyman, but he’s actually a year younger than Detwiler, at 24 years of age.

Sure, Milone has a reputation as a soft-tossing strike-thrower, but clearly, his hits and homers allowed don’t reveal a pitcher who’s giving up lots of hard contact, and even if he was, it would take a lot for that minors-leading K/BB ratio to be nullified.

Given that Detwiler just has average stuff for a lefty, anyway, it’s difficult to see why the Nationals would call him up over Milone. Sure, Milone isn’t on the 40-man roster, but for one thing, he should be, and for another, the Nationals have enough roster filler that it shouldn’t be too hard to make room.

Even if the Nationals are sold on Detwiler (somewhat understandable, given that he’s performed decently and was a former first-round pick who they want to legitimize), they could at least move him to Sean Burnett‘s role as the lefty specialist, jettison the underperforming Burnett, and install Milone that way.

In any case, Milone has performed so well in Triple-A that he really should be on a major league roster at this point. It would be understandable if he was stuck behind a roster of quality pitchers, but with Burnett and Detwiler turning in questionable performances, it’s tough to argue that either deserves a spot over Milone.

Make it happen, Rizzo!