The Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals made some very smart moves this off season. Those moves may have a very significant impact in the 2014 season. One big move they made was acquiring starting pitcher Doug Fister to add to an already steady rotation.

They added to their lineup by getting outfielder Nate McLouth to come in off the bench and play left field when needed. The two important parts to the Nationals' lineup are Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper. In 2014 they will be healthy and ready to drive in some runs. Second base may be a battle between Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa, because of Rendon's high expectations and Espinosa's recent struggles. The following is how the Nationals' lineup should look in 2014.

1. L. Denard Span         CF 94 OPS+
2. R. Jayson Werth        LF 154 OPS+
3. L. Bryce Harper        RF 133 OPS+
4. R. Ryan Zimmerman  3B 121 OPS+
5. L. Adam Laroche      1B 102 OPS+
6. R. Ian Desmond         SS 114 OPS+
7. R. Anthony Rendon    2B 99 OPS+
8. R. Wilson Ramos         C 111 OPS+

Bryce Harper and Stephan Strasburg 

The Nationals not only have one of the best lineups in the Major Leagues, they also have one of the best starting rotations. They departed with Dan Haren who pitched under a one year deal in Washington and performed terribly, and replaced him with Doug Fister. Anchored by once phenom, but now veteran Stephan Strasburg and followed by southpaw Gio Gonzalez and studs Jordan Zimmerman and now Doug Fister, the Nationals are in a very good position. Here is how the pitching rotation for the Nationals looks.

1. R. Stephen Strasburg   126 ERA+
2. L. Gio Gonzalez           113 ERA+
3. R. Jordan Zimmerman  116 ERA+
4. R. Doug Fister             115 ERA+
5. L. Ross Detwiler            94 ERA+

The bullpen for the Nationals is pretty solid in the late innings. Pitching the 7th inning is one time closer Drew Storen, pitching the 8th inning is strikeout prodigy Tyler Clippard, and closing games out is the emotionless Rafael Soriano. The Nationals do not have a good lefty in their bullpen besides a few young guns and veteran Jerry Blevins. If they were to make another move this off season they should get a lefty specialist. The other important part to the Nationals pen is Craig Stammen who makes his money pitching the middle innings.
 

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

What a busy Saturday April 21, 2012. A perfect game, a 9-0 comeback win, a double header between two powerful teams, and several great pitching performances.

Lets start off with The Humber Games. The 21st perfect game in MLB history goes to the 29 year old Phillip Humber. Collecting 9 strikeouts against The Seattle Mariners Humber enters baseball history as another pitcher to complete baseball immortality. A very exciting game for baseball fans all over the country and congratulations to Phillip Humber.

The next thing to talk about is the greatest rivalry in sports history. The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the first game of a 3 game set 6-2. In game 2 of the weekend series The Red Sox looked dominant through the first 6 innings. Starter Felix Doubront pitched 6 innings and gave up just 1 run, a solo home run to Mark Teixeira. Doubront was taken out after the 6th inning with a 9-1 lead. The problem for The Red Sox this season has been the bullpen and yes they did not perform well. A grand slam and a 2 run double for Nick Swisher and a 3 run homer and a 2 run double for Teixeira lead The Yankees to  an momentous 15-9 victory over The Red Sox.

A double header between The Tigers and The Rangers took place on Saturday as well. In the first game Rick Porcello got rocked pitching only 1 inning while giving up 8 runs. The Rangers got an easy victory in that game. In the night game Justin Verlander took the hill for The Tigers and Neftali Feliz took the hill for The Rangers. Feliz went 8 innings giving up 3 runs and Verlander went 6 innings giving up only 1 unearned run. The two teams split the double header.

AJ Burnett made his first start of the season after recovering from an injury in spring training. He pitched 7 shutout innings against The Cardinals. He was acommponied by Justin Verlander, Stephan Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw and Phillip Humber as starters to not allow a run on Saturday.





What will Sunday hold?

The Washington Nationals

In 2011 The Nationals had an improvement from the 2010 season. In 2011 The Nationals won 11 more games than the previous season, giving them a total of 80 for the 2011 season. The Nationals made a lot of noise in the 2011-2012 off season and definitely capitalized.

The Nationals added two new starting pitchers to their staff to give them one of the best in baseball. The 2012 starting rotation for The Nationals is going to look a little bit like this:

Using 2011 Statistics

*Stephen Strasburg(23) : 2.54 ERA
Gio Gonzalez (26) : 3.12 ERA
Jordan Zimmerman (25) : 3.18 ERA
Edwin Jackson (28) : 3.79
Ross Detwiler(26)/Chien-Ming Wang(32) : 3.00 ERA/ 4.04 ERA

* Combination of 2010 and 2011 ERA

The starting rotation is looking good, with Tyler Clippard, Sean Burnett and Brad Lidge anchoring the back of the bullpen, The Nationals' overall pitching is looking good. Clippard Posted a 1.83 ERA making him one of the best set up men in baseball. He has a high number of strikeouts and has a high RPC(Hayes Craze Stat.)

The Nationals started off the 2011 season without Adam Dunn, which proved to be a good thing, because Dunn would have one of the worst seasons ever. Instead The Nationals pulled through with their big sluggers. Mike Morse and Ryan Zimmerman. If these two players replicate the seasons they put up in 2011 and stay healthy, the rest of the NL East should watch out. If Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa, and Bryce Harper can do well in 2012 The Nationals may be the wild card winners or even the winners of the NL East.

Lets not forget the two top prospects The Nationals drafted and signed in the 2011 draft, Anthony Rendon and Mathew Purke. Both of these two guys are very promising and may be just another reason not to under rate The Washington Nationals in years to come.