Category Archives: Nationals
MLB: A Look Back and a Look Ahead
By James O’Hara
These are my midseason MLB award picks and playoff picks at the midpoint of the MLB season. Let me hear what you think deserves them.
AL MVP and Rookie of the Year – Mike Trout
What can I say besides the fact that the kid is a beast with a slash line of .341/.397/.562. Doing all this at the age of only 20 and being the main catalyst behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim getting to one of the best first half records in baseball after a lousy start.
AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander
The Tigers are my second favorite team behind the Nats and I own a Verlander jersey so there is a bit of homerism in this pick. But his 2.58 ERA and 128 strikeouts in a league leading 132.2 innings is nothing but impressive. Not to mention his insane .95 WHIP.
NL MVP – Joey Votto
Votto is probably the best hitter in the game right now and he’s doing it for a Reds team that is just one game out of first and on top of the NL Wild Card race. His slash line of .348/.471/.617 is absurd even for a first baseman.
NL Cy Young – R.A. Dickey
This is a clear case of first half recognition over a prediction of who will probably win it at the end of the year. Dickey had an amazing first half throwing back to back one hitters and exciting baseball fans everywhere with his mysterious knuckler. The only question is if he can keep it up with a notoriously fickle pitch.
NL Rookie of the Year- Bryce Harper
If a rookie is doing something that Hall of Famers didn’t even do then it’s a pretty clear cut choice of who to pick. Harper’s .826 OPS if it holds would be the third highest by a nineteen year old since 1900 ahead of the likes of Willie Mays and Ken Griffey, Jr. Pretty incredible.
Second Half Predictions
In the NL I have the division winners as the Nationals, Giants, and Reds in that seeding order. I love the Nats and Giants pitching and the Reds stars will carry them in a wild division. I think the two wild card winners will be the Cardinals and the Braves. The Dodgers and Pirates will be on the outside looking in as they are not yet ready for primetime. Look for all of these teams outside of possibly the Cardinals to be in playoff conversations for years to come.
In the AL I see the division winners as being the Rangers, Yankees, and White Sox again in seeding order. The Rangers and Yankees are the two best teams this year easily managing the few injuries they’ve had. While the White Sox have the most consistent production from their star players in the division. I’m going with the Angels and Rays to slot into the two wild card spots as both are simply more talented than their closest competitors.
3 and 3: Looking Back at the Giants, Looking Forward to the Rockies
3 Things on San Francisco
The Nationals played some of the best baseball we’ve seen them play all year in a thoroughly entertaining 3-game demolition of the San Francisco Giants, formerly the No. 2 team in the N.L. Here are five things to take away from the sweep:
1. The Back End
The Nats beat a very good team with the back end of their rotation. The Giants have one of the top pitching staffs in baseball, but even their top three starters couldn’t hang with the Nats. The combination of Jordan Zimmermann, Edwin Jackson, Ross Detwiler, and another stellar series by the bullpen allowed the Nats to post a very respectable 3.66 ERA in the three games.
2. Hitting the Best
When the Nats plated 35 runs in four games at Coors Field, it was easy to suggest that the notoriously thin air of Colorado was to blame. Not so, apparently. The Nats scored 24 runs against the Giants – good for an even eight runs per game – something that just doesn’t happen. San Fran came in to the series with a 3.37 team ERA, and left with an ERA 15 points higher.
3. No Fluke
Perhaps the most amazing stat of the series? In the last 2 years, the Giants were 74-1 in games in which they led by three or more runs. The Nats somehow managed to grab two such wins in two nights, an accomplishment that speaks to something very important: we may be beyond the point where we simply think the Nats’ bats are hot. Perhaps it’s just the potential finally coming through.
3 Things on Colorado
1. Home Cookin’
The Nats entered Colorado a few weeks ago with a 2.95 team ERA. In the four games at Coors Field, that pristine ERA, which had been under 3.00 for 63 of 70 games, shot up to 3.11, thus proving that no pitching staff escapes Colorado with good stats. What does that mean for the Nats? It means they get to face the Rockies at home, where the pitching staff is decidedly better. Sweep?
2. The Matchups
There really isn’t much to say here, except this:
Strasburg (2.81) vs Pomeranz (3.72)
Gonzalez (3.01) vs Francis (5.16)
Zimmermann (2.70) vs Guthrie (6.28)
3. Heading to the break on fire.
If the Nats manage to sweep the Rockies, as they are entirely capable of doing, they will be riding a 7-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break. Since you never know how a team will perform in the week or so after the break, going into the break with such confidence is critical. The Nats can’t get overconfident – falling in a series to the Rockies could be very detrimental to the rest of the season.
Ian Desmond: From Expo To All Star
April 5, 2012 was a very important day for Washington Nationals’ shortstop Ian Desmond. The 26-year old holdover from the Montreal Expos (the only other National who can claim that distinction is Roger Bernadina) was stepping to the plate against the Chicago Cubs in the season opener of the 2012 campaign. For all intents and purposes, it was the beginning of the most pivotal season in Desmond’s career, one that would decide whether or not he would make a career as an everyday player in the major leagues.
2012 was deemed a make-or-break year for Desmond. In 2011 Desmond’s second full year of starting he regressed significantly and posted thoroughly unimpressive stats. His batting average went down almost 20 points and his defense, while slightly improved, was still a major question mark.
In that first game against the Cubs, the 330th game of his career, Desmond started his quest to silence the doubters by banging out three of Washington’s four total hits, and driving in a game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning. It was a resounding start to a year that has seen Desmond go from a potential replacement player to a National League All-Star, and arguably the most important player in the N.L.-leading Nationals’ lineup.
You can take any position you want to describe Desmond’s sudden rise. It could be his slightly altered batting stance. Or maybe it’s the immense amount of hard work he put in during the offseason. While it could be any combination of factors, one stands out above all – for the first time in his major league career, Ian Desmond is the most confident player on the field.
“He’s doing things we all know he’s capable of doing,” says Nats’ manager Davey Johnson. Desmond’s confidence spurs from Johnson’s refusal to keep the rocket-armed shortstop out of the lineup. Even when Desmond wasn’t hitting well near the end of March, Johnson stuck with him and the results have been superb.
Ian Desmond
Through 79 games, Desmond has already crushed his career high in home runs (14, vs 10 in 2010) and with 47 RBI is only two off the total he had all of last season. His 11 errors put him on pace for a career low in the department that Nats fans have been grumbling about for his entire career. Though his defense is not yet sterling, it is well beyond the point where fans cringed every time he fielded a routine ground ball.
Through all of his improvement, the most amazing thing about Desmond has been his ability to hit in the clutch. While Adam LaRoche was the backbone of a struggling offense in the first part of the year, Desmond’s clutch hitting has been there since the beginning – and it’s gotten so good that you hope Desmond is up at the plate in any clutch situation.
Desmond’s newfound clutch gene was never more prominently on display than on June 5 against the Mets. Washington found itself down by one run in each of Desmond’s final three plate appearances, and the young shortstop promptly drove in a game-tying run in every single at bat, including two in extra innings. Thanks to Desmond’s heroics, the Nats moved nine games over .500 with a 7-6, 12-inning victory.
Another stat that proves Desmond’s clutch factor is his ability to drive in runs with two outs. More than half of his RBI come in these situations – 25. Think about that. With two outs, there are only two ways to score the runner when contact is made: by error, or by a hit. That means that Ian Desmond gets hits with two outs, and he gets them a lot.
That screams clutch.
All the stats and the accolades can only say so much, though. The best way to see Ian Desmond’s improvement is to simply watch him. He’s not a kid anymore. He’s a seasoned veteran who has learned how to play ball. He’s become a feared hitter who can hit for average, power, and has speed on the base paths. He doesn’t walk much, but he can hit the gap with the best of them (3rd in the N.L. in doubles) and he’s slugging almost .500.
Say what you want about Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, or Bryce Harper – Ian Desmond is the Original National, and he’s finally showing that he can play with the big boys.
Which Nationals pitcher would be the first to throw a no-hitter?
Matt Cain threw a perfect game the other day, in one of the greatest displays of pitching in Major League Baseball history. It was the third no-hitter in the last 13 days (counting the Seattle Mariners’ combined no-hitter about a week ago) and the fifth this season.
While being treated to yet another dominant display of pitching, the thought occurred to me: Which Nationals pitcher, on arguably the best staff in the game, would be the first to throw a no-hitter?
The Nats currently employ one pitcher who has a no-hitter to his credit – Edwin Jackson, who tossed the most tumultuous of no-no’s in a 149-pitch “gem” against the Tampa Bay Rays. The four others – Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Chien-Ming Wang – have yet to pad their resumes with a no-hitter.
From a pure “stuff” standpoint the obvious choice for no-hitter number one would be Strasburg, who, at just 23 years of age, as established himself as one of the best pitchers in the game. There is no pitcher in the league who can match Strasburg’s control over such a vast and deadly array of pitches.
The problem with Strasburg, though, is his lack of experience going deep into games. Obviously, the most basic quality of a no-hitter is that it comes in a complete game – something Strasburg has yet to do. And, as a strikeout pitcher, his pitch count could prevent him from having the stamina to go the distance, even in a few years when he isn’t staring at an innings cap. So as much as it may seem strange to say it, I don’t think Stephen Strasburg is the pitcher on this staff who is most likely to throw a no-hitter.
So that leaves us with Gonzalez, Zimmermann, Jackson, and Wang. Now remove Wang (let’s be honest here).
After taking out Wang, I’d focus on Jordan Zimmermann. Zimmermann is a workhorse. And he’s an excellent pitcher. But his abilities don’t lend themselves to pitching a no-no. He’s a fastball/slider guy who is as solid as they come, but who also finds himself in tricky situations late in games. Also, he has allowed about a hit per inning (8.8 hits/9 IP) in his career, which is the death-knell for no-hitters.
So now we’re down to Jackson and Gonzalez. Jackson has a no-hitter, and is in the midst of a career year. And sometimes, he comes out with nearly unhittable stuff. But Jackson isn’t necessarily what I’d call an elite pitcher (although that seems to be criteria for perfect games…here’s looking at you Dallas Braden and Phillip Humber), and while I can see him throwing another no-hitter somewhere down the road, I just can’t see him getting it before…
Gio Gonzalez. Until Matt Cain threw his perfect game, I would have put in my vote for Gio as the N.L. Cy Young of the season thus far (look at Cain’s stats and you’ll realize why he’s now the frontrunner in my opinion). The thing that Gio has going for him in terms of getting a no-hitter is this: opponents are hitting .168 against him, which to me is a trend that cannot be overlooked. He has allowed just 43 hits in 72 innings, and has the lowest WHIP of his career. The only way to get a no-hitter is to allow no hits – and that’s what Gio Gonzalez does best.
In an interesting twist, I’d put Gio down as the least likely to throw a perfect game, because while his control has been decent this year, I don’t think there’s any way he’d go nine innings without walking someone.
So there you have it. In my opinion, Gio Gonzalez is the pitcher most likely to throw the first no-hitter for the Washington Nationals.
As for who will have the most? I’ll take Strasburg – and I’ll take the over with and over/under of 3.
Let us know who YOU think will toss the first no-hitter in Washington Nationals history! (An aside: the Montreal Expos had 4 no-hitters, including one in just their 7th game as a franchise.)
Nats Enter Important Stretch
Michael Morse targets June 1st return.
(Image Credit SI
Article By James O’Hara
You will probably hear a lot about the coming stretch for the Nationals, but it’s just so important we cannot let it go by without comment.
The next 15 games, nine away, six at home, all come against teams within the NL East. A division that is currently shaping up to be the toughest in baseball; where every single team currently stands above .500 and there is only a 4 game difference between the first place Braves and last place Phillies (boy is that fun to say). So far the Nats have been excellent against their inner division foes with a 6-2 record, but nothing compares to the brutal back-to-back stretch they are about to embark on.
If the Nationals really want to be contenders they need to come out of this stretch at least 8-7 and probably need to do even better than that. To do well the rotation needs to be on the top of their game, which is worrying since, outside of Jackson and Gio, they had what was probably their worst run through the rotation so far this season. The starting staff needs to step up and cover for an offense riddled with injuries, they cannot get discouraged by the lack of run support they are currently getting.
Speaking of that offense, while the injuries to key contributors Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos hurt there is still room for optimism. Ryan Zimmerman has not been as good at the plate as he usually is, having been outslugged by Desmond, Ankiel, Bernadina, and Lombardozzi so far this season. Zimmerman is not going to hit like this all season, and if he can step up during this stretch that would be a huge boon to a struggling offense. In addition, Michael Morse has stated that he might be able to come back a week early, right smack in the middle of this 15 game stretch, which would instantly make this line up a lot more formidable.
Finally this stretch of games should provide some good feedback on some tough decisions between Wang and Detwiler, and Espinosa and Lombardozzi, as the Nats need guys who can stand up to the tough competition they have. At the end of these five series we should have a pretty good idea of exactly what to expect from this Nationals team for the rest of 2012.
James is a student at Virginia Tech studying Computer Science and Math. Baseball is his favorite sport as he has been playing it since the age of three. However he has a passion for nearly every other sport one can imagine as well and this has led him to attempting to contribute to a sports blog despite average writing grades in school. He is the main person tweeting behind the name @nextyeardc and gets way too excited whenever he sees he has a new mention.
What If the Nationals Injured Players Played the Healthy Ones?
Article By James O’Hara
Looking over the numerous players the Nats have had on the DL so far this season, I noticed something: they all play a separate position and together, you could field an entire lineup just from these injured players. So then I had an idea – in a hypothetical one-game scrimmage where everyone was healthy between Nats who have been injured and Nats who have not, who would win? To form the DL team I had two rules: the players must be a part of the 40 man roster and they must either be currently on the DL or have been on the DL at some point this season. Without further ado, here are the lineups:
Team DL Team Healthy
Rendon SS Desmond SS
Ankiel CF Lombardozzi 3B
Zimmerman 3B Harper RF
Morse LF LaRoche 1B
Werth RF Espinosa 2B
Ramos C Bernadina CF
Marrero 1B Flores C
DeRosa 2B Nady LF
Wang P Strasburg P
Bullpen: Kimball, Lidge, Storen Bullpen: Burnett, Clippard, HRod, etc.
The first thing that stands out is how much better Team DL’s lineup is than Team Healthy’s. The 3-6 spots are incredible while the other four guys are as good if not better hitters than their counterparts on Team Healthy. The three-man bullpen of Kimball, Lidge, and Storen for Team DL is quite excellent and should be more than enough for a one-game scrimmage. However, they are missing a left hander which could come back to hurt them against Team Healthy’s two lefty power hitters LaRoche and Harper. Really the only thing that Team Healthy has going for it is Stephen Strasburg, who is light-years ahead of Chien Ming Wang in the pitching department, but Strasburg still struggles to get deep into games and Team DL should be able to hit well against Team Healthy’s bullpen. Defensively Team DL has a significantly better outfield, while Team Healthy is a bit better in the infield despite not having Zimmerman. As Rendon is out of position and LaRoche is one of best defensive first baseman in the game. All in all, in spite of having Strasburg on the mound for Team Healthy, Team DL should be a heavy favorite because you need to score runs to win and Team Healthy just is not going to be able to do that.
In my opinion the game will start with a classic pitcher’s duel. As Strasburg will go out for Team Healthy and give them seven strong innings scattering three hits and giving up one run on a Michael Morse bomb while striking out 7 and walking none. While Wang will induce grounder after grounder from Team Healthy finishing with a bend but don’t break six innings, giving up seven hits but only one run on 4 strikeouts and a walk as Team Healthy just doesn’t get the clutch hitting needed to push more runs across. As the game turns to the bullpens Team DL’s Cole Kimball is able to craft a perfect bottom of the 7th shutting down the 9-1-2 hitters of Team Healthy’s order. In the 8th the bottom of Team DL’s order is helpless against All-Star reliever Tyler Clippard, while Brad Lidge uses his wealth of experience to hold down Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to the 9th tied 1-1. In the 9th the lack of an experienced closer comes back to bite Team Healthy as Henry Rodriguez is unable to escape without giving up two runs on Mr. Clutch Ryan Zimmerman’s two run homer making it 3-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth where Drew Storen shuts the door with little drama. Chien Ming Wang is the winning pitcher, while Henry Rodriguez gets the loss and Drew Storen the save. Player of the game is Team DL’s Ryan Zimmerman who drove in the game winning run in the top of the ninth.
James is a student at Virginia Tech studying Computer Science and Math. Baseball is his favorite sport as he has been playing it since the age of three. However he has a passion for nearly every other sport one can imagine as well and this has led him to attempting to contribute to a sports blog despite average writing grades in school. He is the main person tweeting behind the name @nextyeardc and gets way too excited whenever he sees he has a new mention.
Nationals Face the Prospect of the Dreaded “What If” Season
The Washington Nationals are like autumn leaves – they look pretty good, but are fragile to even the slightest touch. I know that’s an awful comparison (I’ve never been one for similes, and I never will be), but it’s a pretty good personification of a baseball team that simply can’t catch a single break.
That the Nationals are 21-13 is almost hard to believe. They’ve lost so many players to injuries, it’s entirely conceivable that they could field a winning team with their DL (tune in later for an interesting perspective on that). Among the names gracing the list of the fallen are C Wilson Ramos (torn ACL, out for the year), OF Jayson Werth (broken left wrist, 6-12 weeks), OF/1B Michael Morse (strained right lat), Closer Drew Storen (elbow), and SP Chien-Ming Wang (hamstring, close to return).
One can only imagine how good this baseball team could end up being when it’s entirely healthy. But until that glorious day arrives, we are faced with the question: Will this season turn into a “what if” year?
Photo Courtesy of buzzbox.com
How depressing would it be to see a Nationals team done in at the end of the year by one injury too many? In a game of inches, one injury could be the difference between making the playoffs and failing to do so. For all we know, Jesus Flores could be at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two on and two out in a 4-3 game – the 162nd game to be precise, a win-or-go-home situation – and strike out in a situation where Wilson Ramos could have brought home the winning runs. What if Drew Storen re-injures his elbow in September and Henry Rodriguez blows the save that could have won the division?
Injuries are something that every team has to deal with, but a team like the Nationals really can’t afford to have too many. Even with Werth, Ramos and Morse in the lineup last season, this was a below average offense at best. Without those players, the Nats have to be thankful for guys like Adam LaRoche, who has basically put the team on his back and is carrying it offensively.
One thing the Nationals have going for them is that their pitching is so dominant, they will be in almost every game no matter how banged up the batting order is. A heavily injured lineup should still be able to score 3 runs in a game (ironically, about what a healthy Nats lineup might average), and the pitching is so good that the Nats could probably get a win in a game like that.
But the fact remains: injuries are heavily impacting the Nats through 34 games. There are 127 games left. That’s plenty of time to either get healthy or to crowd the D.L. even more. At the end of the year, we will be faced with two possibilities – a team that used all it had to make the playoffs, or a team that missed the postseason simply because it was too banged up to be consistently competitive.
Top 10 Reasons Why It’s Awesome to Be Bryce Harper
1. He’s Bryce Harper, he can wear his hair however the hell he wants.
Photo courtesy of yahoo.com
2. He could have made the Nationals starting lineup in the inaugural season of 2005 at age 12.
3. You have to take final exams this week. HE DOESN’T.
4. He ignites Natitude simply by existing.5. Because nobody’s Sharper than Harper.
6. And it’s Nice to be Bryce.
7. He made more money at age 17 than you will for the rest of your life.
8. He plays softball on the Mall and makes national news.
9. The entire Nationals team has Ebola – except Harper, he is immune to all human plagues. (@JackoBeam)
10. He doesn’t have to live in Syracuse anymore.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Nationals’ Offense
It’s no secret that the Washington Nationals have struggled to hit the baseball in 2012. The team ranks near the bottom of the N.L. in nearly every offensive category, spoiling a legendary start to the season by the unflappable pitching staff they score for. Below are some interesting statistics chronicling what the Nats do well, what they don’t do well, and what they really suck at.
THE GOOD
4.6: Jayson Werth averages an excellent 4.6 pitches per plate appearance.
.314: Adam LaRoche has a batting average of .314.
And that’s about the extent of the good. Not much, is there? Just wait until you read the bad and the ugly:
THE BAD
3.8 %: Danny Espinosa, Xavier Nady, Mark DeRosa, and Rick Ankiel have combined to score 5 out of 131 possible base runners. That’s a success rate of 3.8%.
13: The Nats have 13 home runs. Matt Kemp of the L.A. Dodgers has 12 by himself.
.166: Opposing pitchers hold the Nats to a .166 batting average the first time through the lineup.
Slugging .323: The Nationals’ slugging percentage is 62 points lower than the league average, good for last in the league.
59.9: The Nationals hit one home run every 59.9 at bats. The league average is 40.4.
26: The Nats can’t score at the beginning of games. In 115 innings that encompass innings 1-5 this season, the Nats have scored a grand total of 26 runs.
2: Along the same lines, the Nats have scored 2 runs in the 1st inning this season. They have more runs in extra innings (3) than they do in the first.
.182: Batters in the three-hole for the Nats this season have a dismal batting average of .182. That’s the spot in the order that’s supposed to have the best hitting, people.
WTF: Batters in the 3rd, 6th, and 7th spots in the Nats’ lineup have struck out more times than they’ve gotten a hit.
45:15: This season, the Nats have a 45:15 strikeout to walk ratio when leading off an inning.
The Nationals rank last in all of the MLB in Slugging Percentage, and Total Bases.
If you want more information on the Nats’ offensive struggles, check out this piece by The Nats Blog.
Top 10 Reasons That Gio Gonzalez Can’t Stop Smiling
1. He doesn’t have to live in Oakland anymore.
2. He likes to imitate the trajectory of his curveball with the shape of his mouth.
Photo Courtesy of tumblr.com
3. He’s just too damn good.
4. Jordan Zimmermann hired him to smile for him.
5. It’s for his cameo on the cover of Nat Gio magazine.
6. He hasn’t seen a Wizards game this year.
7. He’s thankful he gets better run support than Jordan Zimmermann.
8. He works publicity for K Street.
9. Gio has serious Natitude (we think, still not 100% on what that means).
10. He watched Davey Johnson react to a fire alarm.
