Nationals.mlb.com

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Nationals manager Manny Acta raved about reliever Jon Rauch on Wednesday. The skipper said Rauch's confidence is sky-high and his fastball has more behind it.
But Rauch doesn't take anything for granted. In fact, he feels like he's fighting for a spot on the Nationals' 25-man roster. It's sounds silly coming from a guy who was arguably the team's best reliever in 2006.

"When you start relaxing on your laurels and thinking, 'I have it made,' you lose sight of things," Rauch said. "I still want to go out there and still try to show them that I can still do the job."

As a setup man, Rauch, 28, did the job in a big way last year. He appeared in team-leading 85 games, had 18 holds and a respectable 3.35 ERA. Most important, it was the first time Rauch stayed on a Major League roster for a full season and the first time since the 2002 season that he avoided the disabled list.

Rauch also finally found his niche in the game. During the first seven years in professional baseball, Rauch was considered a starter with great potential, but injuries and inconsistency stood in the way of him staying in the big leagues for a long period of time.

But Rauch found out that pitching a couple of innings per game was better than throwing six or seven.

"[It was a relief] to know that I was available every day, and [it was a relief] to compete and not have to worry in the back of my mind that I might do something to my arm," Rauch said. "It was kind of calming to just concentrate on pitching."

Rauch's success as a reliever didn't stop general manager Jim Bowden from asking him to be part of the rotation during the second half of the '06 season. The Nationals desperately needed starters because staff ace John Patterson was out with a pinched nerve in his right forearm and Livan Hernandez, Ramon Ortiz, Tony Armas Jr. and Mike O'Connor were inconsistent on the mound.