Ryan Zimmerman Among 5 National League Players Who Need a Good Week

Of the five National League players we singled out last week as needing to have a good week, one didn't make it through with his job.

The Atlanta Braves designated pitcher Livan Hernandez for assignment after he allowed nine runs and 13 hits (three of them home runs) in his past two outings. Actually, Hernandez was DFA'ed without even pitching last week. Prior to that, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez hadn't used him in two weeks. So maybe it wouldn't have mattered if he had a good week or not.

New York Mets reliever Jon Rauch, on the other hand, pitched three scoreless appearances last week. He likely wasn't in any danger of losing his roster spot, but he may have been taken out of his setup role had he continued to pitch badly. But Rauch obviously responded when he needed to.

Are any roster spots at stake among this week's quintet of struggling players? Here are five NL players who really need a good week. 

Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves

Jair Jurrjens won't make an appearance until the end of the week—he's scheduled to pitch for the Braves against the Boston Red Sox on Friday. 

After Jurrjens compiled a 9.30 ERA in his first four starts of the season, the Braves were left with little choice but to demote him to Triple-A Gwinnett and make room for another pitcher who could get big league hitters out. 

However, with Brandon Beachy going on the disabled list with an elbow injury, Jurrjens will get another chance to show he can be the pitcher who won 13 games and posted a 2.96 ERA last season. He wasn't outstanding in Triple-A, going 3-4 with a 5.27 ERA in nine starts and striking out 28 batters in 56.1 innings.

But the Braves once again don't have much choice. They need a starting pitcher.

How much of an opportunity Jurrjens will get to win his old job back is certainly a question. Will he only get one shot? Kris Medlen and Julio Teheran give the Braves another two options to fill Beachy's spot in the rotation.  

Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs didn't have much else to do with Carlos Marmol if he wasn't going to be the team's closer.

Since May 3, Marmol hadn't pitched in the ninth inning while Rafael Dolis and James Russell were tabbed for save opportunities by manager Dale Sveum. He also served a stint on the disabled list, due to a strained right hamstring. 

But Marmol was back in his old role on Friday to close out a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. He didn't pitch a clean inning, loading the bases and bringing the winning run to the plate. But Marmol got Dustin Pedroia to hit into a game-ending double play and saved his first game since May 2. 

Sveum said he put Marmol back as closer to "solidify the bullpen somewhat," but his qualifier gives away that he doesn't have total confidence in the move. Marmol has pitched three consecutive scoreless innings with four strikeouts in 2.2 innings versus two walks. 

More than providing the Cubs with a closer, Marmol showing he can close successfully would give team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer another chip to deal at the trade deadline.

He'll have to pitch far better to convince a team to take on his $9.8 million salary for next season, though.

Brad Lincoln, Pittsburgh Pirates

After fighting their way to a first-place tie for the NL Central lead last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates fell off the pace and slipped to four games behind the Cincinnati Reds. The Bucs also got some bad news with the revelation that Charlie Morton will require Tommy John surgery.

With Kevin Correia also struggling (allowing eight runs in his past two starts), the Pirates need someone to stake a claim to one of the last two spots in their starting rotation. The hope was that Brad Lincoln could transition from reliever to starter and fill one of those openings.

But Lincoln hasn't performed well in that role thus far. In three starts, he's allowed 13 runs and 23 hits over 11.2 innings. Lincoln surely needed to stretch himself out after pitching out of the bullpen, but not being able to pitch through the fifth inning isn't what the Pirates needed from him. 

Lincoln's next start is scheduled for Friday against the Detroit Tigers. He faced them earlier this season, making two scoreless appearances and striking out four batters in 1.2 innings. But how will he perform against the Tigers as a starter? 

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum's struggles have been a recurring storyline all season long.

The questions about how much longer the San Francisco Giants can keep putting him out there to pitch get louder each time Lincecum has a bad performance. With Lincecum and the Giants winless in his last nine starts, the volume on those questions is getting uncomfortably loud. 

In his latest effort, Lincecum gave up five runs in five innings to the Seattle Mariners. That gave him 10 runs allowed in his past two starts, and 14 allowed in his last three appearances. 

But Giants manager Bruce Bochy insists he won't take Lincecum out of his rotation for one turn and give him a rest. Lincecum wants to pitch and Bochy likes what he's seen in terms of velocity. So Lincecum is scheduled to start this coming Friday against the Oakland Athletics. With the Giants' off-day on Thursday, he'll get an extra day to work on his delivery.

As CSN Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly writes, Lincecum has had success working exclusively from the stretch, rather than a full wind-up, when he's had trouble in the past. Fewer moving parts in his delivery helped him smooth out his mechanics. But that hasn't worked this season. 

However, if Lincecum gets blown up in yet another start, the Giants may have to make a decision for the benefit of their team and at least consider skipping his next turn. 

Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals enter this week with a four-game lead in the NL East. But suffering a three-game sweep at home to the New York Yankees showed that it might be premature to consider the Nats one of the best teams in baseball.

Not helping the Nationals' cause over the weekend was Ryan Zimmerman, who continues to scuffle at the plate. He went 1-for-13 in the three games against the Yankees, dropping his slash average to .229/.300/.323. That .229 batting average and .624 OPS are the lowest for Zimmerman since April 17. 

Zimmerman's poor performance compelled CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler to ask if the Nationals third baseman was hurt. He did spend some time on the disabled list earlier this season with inflammation in his right shoulder.

But Zimmerman said he's not hurt, and his excellent defensive play at third base—including several nice grabs on hot grounders against the Yankees—would seem to confirm that.

But it's difficult to imagine the Nationals staying on top in the NL East and getting into the playoffs without a meaningful contribution from their third baseman. Frankly, it's amazing that the Nats have played as well as they have without Zimmerman providing much offense. 

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