What do
you do with a team that finished the regular season with the best record in
baseball? You get better, and that’s
just what the Washington Nationals have done this offseason. Now the Nationals look to be the favorite to
repeat as the champion in the NL East and make another strong push in the
postseason.
The
biggest headline for Washington is the prospect of an uninhibited Stephen
Strasburg this year. The 24-year old
phenom will not be under an innings limit and will head up a rotation that is widely
regarded as the best in baseball. Gio
Gonzalez led the NL with 21 wins and struck out 207. Jordan Zimmermann posted a career-best 2.94
ERA in his age-26 season. The Nationals
did lose starters Edwin Jackson and John Lannan from last season. They were replaced with free agent veteran Dan
Haren, who has top-of-the-rotation stuff when he is healthy, but will fill into
the bottom part behind Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan Zimmermann.
The
2012 Nats bullpens was deep and effective, posting a 3.23 ERA in 515 1/3
innings which was good for 3rd in the NL.
That bullpen became even better when they added one of the top free
agent relievers – Rafael Soriano. Along
with Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen, and Henri Rodriguez, the
Nationals will once again tout a fearsome group of firemen. Storen missed the beginning part of last
season coming off elbow surgery, but had 43 saves in 2011. Clippard was the primary closer for the
Nationals in 2012, posting 32 saves and holding hitters to a .204 average. Stammen led the Nationals relievers in innings
pitched with 88 1/3 and finished the season with a 6-1 record and an impressive
2.34 ERA.
Wilson
Ramos was projected to have a breakout year in 2012. Last spring he was kidnapped in his home
country of Venezuela and then tore his ACL on May 13th ending his season after
only 25 games. Jesus Flores took on the
bulk of the catching, but only managed to hit .213 and was let go in free
agency. Kurt Suzuki came over in an
August 3rd trade with Oakland and took over as the primary backstop. He will compete with Ramos for the starting
job in 2013. Youngster Jhonatan Solano
was impressive in his 12-game cup of coffee.
Solano hit .314 and threw out 3 of 8 attempted base stealers. He will provide depth behind Ramos and Suzuki
in the case that either of them falter or are hit with injury.
Washington
boasts one of the best infields in baseball.
Adam LaRoche was re-signed this offseason after popping 33 homers, 35
doubles, and driving in 100 runs along with his Gold Glove worthy campaign at
first base. Ryan Zimmerman is among the
best in the game at third base, and despite missing some time with injury still
managed 93 runs and 95 RBI. Ian Desmond was
the only Nationals position player elected to the All Star team, but did not
compete due to injury. Desmond battled
an oblique injury and a hamstring injury that limited him to only 130
games. Desmond came on strong toward the
end of the season including hitting .314 with 14 XBH and 15 RBI in 27 games in
September. The big change for Desmond
came when he was dropped from the first and second spots in the order to sixth
where he put up a slash line of .316/.362/.532 in 66 games. The only Nationals player to appear in all
162 games was Danny Espinosa, and he put up solid numbers with 82 runs, 17
homers, 20 stolen bases, and led the team with 37 doubles. The news this offseason is that Espinosa played
the latter part of 2012 with a rotator cuff injury and intends to go into 2013
playing through it without surgery. His
health will be one to monitor throughout the spring.
The
Nationals also saw injuries plague the outfield last year. Mike Morse, recently traded to Seattle, only
played in 102 games and Jayson Werth only managed 81. Bryce Harper actually played the most games
among Washington outfielders despite starting the season in AAA. His 2012 campaign consisted of a
.270/.340./.477 slash line, 26 doubles, 9 triples, 22 homers, and 98 runs
scored that were good for Rookie of the Year honors in the NL. Werth hit .300 in his limited time and will
benefit from moving out of the leadoff spot with the addition of Denard
Span. Span brings a much needed speed
element to the top of the Nationals lineup and is a true stolen base threat. If they can stay healty, the expectations are
lofty for the Washington outfield.
With
all of the injuries in 2012, the bench played a big role in their success. Roger Bernadina played in 129 games with a
very impressive .291/.372/.405 and did not commit an error. Steve Lombardozzi played in 126 games between
second, third, shortstop, and left field and hit .273 while posting a .987 fielding
percentage. The Nationals also got 75
games from Tyler Moore between first base, left field, and right field and 73
games from Chad Tracy at first and third base.
The
Nationals were the best team in baseball in 2012, despite injuries to Desmond,
Morse, Storen, Werth, and Zimmerman.
With an outstanding performance from their pitching and very strong
bench play, they won 98 games and came within one out of advancing to the NLCS. This winter they addressed the need for speed
at the top of their lineup with Span.
They upgraded their starting rotation and their bullpen that were among
the best in baseball in 2012. They are definitely
primed to make another postseason run in 2013.
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