Here's Jim Bowden's explanation for the stunning release of John Patterson today:

After watching Patterson pitch for the last month, Bowden (and the club) became convinced he just wasn't going to regain his velocity and command to a point where he was a better option than some of the other younger pitchers in camp (ie. John Lannan, Matt Chico). Patterson insisted he was healthy all along, but the fact his fastball never surpassed 87 mph was a sign to the Nats that things weren't going to improve for a long time.

"We believe he had better stuff last season [when he was 1-5 with a 7.47 ERA]," Bowden said. "We hoped we could get him back, and it just never came."

"We've done everything we could possibly do. He just never got the stuff back."

So what does this mean about the Nats' Opening Day rotation? Well, how do the following five look to you?...

1. Odalis Perez
2. Tim Redding
3. Jason Bergmann
4. John Lannan
5. Shawn Hill (if he's healthy) or Matt Chico.