Washington Nationals
Record: 69-93 (Last place in NL East, 28 games behind Philadelphia)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Ryan Zimmerman (.307)
Home Runs: Adam Dunn (38)
RBIs: Adam Dunn (103)
On-base Percentage: Ryan Zimmerman (.388)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: Tyler Clippard (11)
Strikeouts: Livan Hernandez (114)
Innings Pitched: Livan Hernandez (211.2)
ERA: Livan Hernandez (3.66). Bullpen- Joel Peralta (2.02).
WHIP: Livan Hernandez (1.32). Bullpen- Joel Peralta (0.80).
Saves: Matt Capps (26)
Highlight of the Season: On June 8, rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his much-anticipated debut before a crowd of 40,915 at Nationals Park. Many wondered whether the hype was worth it (and plenty still do), but there was no question that he dazzled even the most skeptical observers on this night, striking out 14 and walking none in a 5-2 victory over the Pirates.
Lowlight of the Season: The excitement over Strasburg was unfortunately short-lived, as he went down with an arm injury on August 21 in Philadelphia. He had already struck out six Phillies hitters through 4.1 innings when the injury occurred. Shortly thereafter, the team announced that he needed Tommy John surgery, shutting down his 2010 season, and possibly 2011 as well.
The Lowdown:
The Nationals weren’t a national embarrassment in 2010, as the team improved by 10 wins over last year to 69. Although not spectacular by any means, their win improvement still serves as a big step forward for a franchise that’s trying to become relevant. They did gain some relevancy once they called up their star pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg on June 8, placing the Nationals on something they haven’t seen since early 2005: the national spotlight. Each one of Strasburg’s starts received incredible amounts of press coverage, and he was making himself a worthy candidate for NL Rookie of the Year before going down with an injury on August 21. By that point, Strasburg was 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts, featuring a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 92-17, which gave Nationals fans plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the team’s future. Also giving Nats fans hope for the future are the team’s bevy of young talent waiting to mature into stardom, including second baseman Ian Desmond, reliever Drew Storen, and their number one overall draft pick waiting in the wings, Bryce Harper. Even though the last few years have been lean for the Nationals, brighter days are certainly ahead should they continue to draft and scout well.
Offense:
The Nationals as a team ranked near the middle or bottom of MLB in many of the major offensive categories, including runs (25th), batting average (20th), on-base percentage (22nd) and home runs (18th). While they didn’t collectively hit well, they did feature some good individual performers. The club’s mainstay at third, Ryan Zimmerman, put together a solid year at the plate, hitting .307, with 25 home runs and 85 RBIs, while slugging at a clip of .510. These numbers were good enough for “Zim” to earn his second-consecutive Silver Slugger award at third, giving him more recognition as of the elite hitters of the National League.
Zimmerman wasn’t the only player in the Nationals lineup to produce power numbers, as teammate Adam Dunn put together one of his prototypical seasons at the dish, hitting 38 home runs while driving in 103. The only blemishes on his season were- as you might have already expected- his batting average and his strikeout totals. Dunn hit only .260, while striking out 199 times, finishing second in the majors in strikeouts to the free-swinging Mark Reynolds. While those two stats could be tolerated in a better overall lineup such as the Phillies or the Rangers, they can be crippling on a team struggling to score runs every night like the Nationals. Left fielder Josh Willingham was expected to serve as a complimentary power bat to Dunn and Zimmerman, and he unfortunately saw a drop in his numbers due to injuries, hitting just 16 home runs while driving in 56 in 114 games.
There are certainly some good pieces in this lineup as I have already mentioned. However, they do not make up for the lack of hitting throughout the rest of the order.
Final Grade: C-
Pitching:
Even though Washington improved their pitching in 2010, they still have more work to do in order to contend. The staff lowered their team ERA by nearly a full run, going from a pathetic 5.00 in 2009 to 4.13 this year, good for 19th in MLB. The main workhorse in their rotation this year was Livan Hernandez, as he would be the only starter to log over 200 innings on the team. He also put together some solid numbers on a staff that desperately needed a leader, going 10-12 with a 3.66 ERA, setting a good example for some of their younger starters to follow: make sure you are healthy enough to be out there on the hill every fifth day, and go deep enough in ballgames to give your team a chance to win. The rest of the rotation (sans Strasburg) was pretty unimpressive, as John Lannan had an ERA of 4.65, while the rest of the starters that had a minimum of 15 starts featured ERAs over five.
Nonetheless, the bread and butter of this staff is in the bullpen. The Nationals saw more improvement in their bullpen than any other team in baseball, as they went from having the worst bullpen ERA in MLB last year (5.09) to the fifth-best this year (3.35). Their fans certainly had to feel confident if the team held a lead late into ballgames, because unlike last year,, the Nats probably weren’t going to cough it up. The ‘pen was led by long-relief man Tyler Clippard, who ended up leading the team in wins with 11. He would make 78 total appearances, throwing a total of 91 innings while earning 23 holds, 112 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.07.
Another impressive arm in the Nats bullpen was lefty Sean Burnett, who featured an ERA of 2.14 in 73 appearances. He would also earn 20 holds as a set-up man this year, giving the Nationals a great one-two, lefty-righty punch in the seventh and eighth innings of games. Doug Slaten and Joel Peralta were also terrific out of the ‘pen, garnering ERAs of 3.10 and 2.02 respectively. Closer Matt Capps was rock solid closing out games before getting traded to the Twins, earning 26 saves and a 2.74 ERA.
The pitching staff improved altogether this year, and took a giant leap forward toward becoming respectable. While the starting rotation could use more improvement, their bullpen was fantastic.
Final Grade: C
Wild Card: Stephen Strasburg
Strasburg came along at just the right time for the Nationals, who desperately needed a boost in ticket sales at their box office. Wherever and whenever Strasburg would pitch, games would either sell-out or come close to it, as fans wanted to see what the hype was all about. The odd thing about all of the hype Strasburg received though, was that he was actually living up to it, putting together great numbers before getting injured. Many people were impressed with not only how effortlessly he would hit triple-digits on the radar gun, but also with the control of his fastball. He also complimented his fastball with great off-speed pitches to keep hitters off balance, making any at-bat against him seem almost hopeless. Even baseball legend and former rookie phenom Bob Feller had very complimentary things to say about him after watching him pitch in Cleveland against his Indians. It is very unfortunate that Strasburg had to suffer the injury he did this year, and hopefully for baseball’s sake, he can return to his dominant form once he recovers.
Final Grade: A
Overall:
The Nats are finally beginning to make their climb toward respectability, especially with their influx of young talent they have that will likely get better. Their recent signing of Jayson Werth, as extravagant as it might be, will only help them out with getting better as well. This year may not have been all that great, but it was still light-years better than last year, and they finally won’t have the number one overall pick in next year’s draft, either.
Final Grade: D+
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Chicago Cubs!
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