Welcome back, everybody. I apologize for my prolonged absence, as I was incredibly bogged down with school and work during the last couple of weeks. In order to make sure I'm on here everyday (or close to it), I will be giving you report cards on all 30 MLB teams this month. My analysis will cover pitching, offense, and a Wild Card category, which will feature whatever I thought a team did exceptionally well (or spectacularly bad) in. Grades will be issued to all three categories, with a final overall grade issued to the team. I will also provide you with a highlight and a lowlight of the year for each team, just to be more fair.
Also, since the end of the decade is upon us, I will be giving you my "best of/worst of" lists over the course of this month. The lists will range anywhere from the best games of the decade, to the worst teams of the decade. Make sure you come back to check my lists out!
Anyway, without further adieu, let's hand out our first report card of the month. Today's recipient: the Washington Nationals.
Washington Nationals:
Record: 59-103 (Last place in the NL East [34 games behind the Phillies], last place in the National League, last place in MLB).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Depends on how you look at it. Nyjer Morgan finished with a .307 batting average on the regular season, but he played in only 49 games with the Nats (he also played in 71 games for Pittsburgh). In his 49 games in Washington, he hit a whopping .351. For players who played the whole season with the team, Ryan Zimmerman is your leader. He finished with a .292 average.
Home Runs: Adam Dunn (38)
RBIs: Ryan Zimmerman (106)
OBP: Adam Dunn (.398)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: John Lannan (9)
ERA: John Lannan (3.88). Bullpen- Tyler Clippard (2.69)
Strikeouts: Jordan Zimmerman (92)
Innings Pitched: John Lannan (206.1)
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched): John Lannan (1.35). Bullpen- Sean Burnett (1.11).
Saves: Mike MacDougal (20)
Highlight of the Season: Tie between Ryan Zimmerman's 30 game hitting streak during April and May and Josh Willingham's two grand slams against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 27. Willingham was only the 13th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat.
Lowlight of the Season: The team's craptacular 24-57 record through their first 81 games, which put them on pace for 114 losses. Fortunately (for the ten Nationals fans that do exist) the team "rallied" to finish 59-103.
The Lowdown:
Many moons ago, when the Washington Senators were still in existence, it was often said that Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League." If you had to do a 2009 update to that quip, you could easily substitute "Senators" with "Nationals" and "American League" with "National League." It was another long season for the Beltway nine, as they recorded their second consecutive 100-loss season. This season also marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Nats have finished in last place (they managed to avoid the NL East cellar in 2007 by two games). There were hardly any bright spots on the team in 2009; their offense hit a collective .258, which was only good for 21st in the majors, and their team ERA was a horrid 5.00, which was 28th in the majors. What good could have possibly come out of either of these? Let's take a look:
Offense:
Even though the team's batting average was pretty weak, there were some bright spots in the lineup for the Nats. One surprising team stat that I found was that their collective on-base percentage was .337, which ranked 12th in the majors. Their guys are drawing walks and are getting on base at a decent rate, which is promising. Ryan Zimmerman had another great season at the hot corner for Washington, hitting .292, with 33 home runs, 106 RBIs and 37 doubles. Those stats would be good enough for him to earn his first career Silver Slugger award, and the second in Nationals history (joining Alfonso Soriano who won it in his 40/40 season in 2006). Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham also put together solid seasons at the plate as well. Dunn led the team with 38 home runs, and Willingham hit a solid 24 round-trippers for the Nats.
Outfielder Nyger Morgan, who they acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh on June 30, put together a pretty good season for Washington, hitting .351 in just 49 games, with 24 steals. His season was unfortunately cut short on August 27, when he broke his wrist sliding into third base during a game against the Cubs. This was without question, a big blow to their offense since their catalyst at the top of the lineup was no longer there to get on base and disrupt pitchers. Christian Guzman was a good compliment to Morgan in the lineup, hitting .284 in 135 games. However, Guzman's on-base percentage was a dismal .306, which needs to be higher if you want to set up more RBI opportunities for the big boppers like Zimmerman, Dunn and Willingham.
After taking a look at the five people I just mentioned, their lineup does not seem nearly as bad as many perceive it to be. They do not have an outstanding lineup; however, their lineup is not exactly a pushover, either. Their only weakness is that their lineup can be inconsistent at times. My final grade on the Nationals' offense: C+.
Pitching:
Despite putting together a decent offense, their pitching did not even come close to resembling anything remotely good. Not only were they one of only three teams to record an ERA of at least 5.00 this season, they also led the major leagues in walks, with 629. Figuring out the Nationals' pitching woes is not rocket science. When your pitchers aren't throwing strikes, you are giving the opposition extra chances to score. When you are walking more people than any other major league team, that can create long innings and long games in which a lot of runs are given up. You might be able to give them the benefit of the doubt for the walk total if they had strikeout pitchers, but the team finished dead last in the majors in Ks with 911. It's no wonder why their team ERA is 5.00.
The only real bright spot I found in their pitching staff was John Lannan. Don't let the 13 losses fool you; he was the only pitcher on the team to throw for over 200 innings, and he finished with a solid 3.88 ERA. This season was a slight improvement over 2008 for him, when he finished with a 3.91 ERA, with nine wins and 15 losses. This was also the second consecutive season in which he made at least 30 starts, which is also good for a young, developing pitcher. The highlight of Lannan's season had to be on June 17, when the Long Island native shut down the Yankees' offense in the Bronx by limiting them to only four hits in 8.1 innings. The Nationals would go on to win the game, 3-2. He is by no means a true "ace," but in a staff that features the likes of Sharion Martis (15 starts, 1-5, 5.25 ERA), Garrett Mock (15 starts, 3-10, 5.62 ERA) and Ross Detwiler (14 starts, 1-6, 5.00 ERA), he stands tall amongst his peers. With guys like that following Lannan, it's no wonder why the team is licking their collective chops about Stephen Strasburg.
Closer Mike MacDougal was fair out of the 'pen for the Nats, recording 20 saves in 21 opportunities. Nonetheless, his ERA was 3.60, which is conspicuously high for a closer. That is also exacerbated by the fact that his strikeout-to-walk ratio was an even 31-31 in 50 innings pitched. The team pays you to put out the fire at the end of the game, not to stoke it. Their best reliever had to be Tyler Clippard, who put together a sparkling 2.69 ERA in 60.1 innings pitched. He also recorded 67 strikeouts in that time span as well.
When you have a staff that is this bad, it would be very easy for anybody to give them a "F." However, Lannan's presence in the rotation and Tyler Clippard's exceptional season out of the bullpen keeps me from giving them a failing grade. My final grade on the Nats' pitching staff: D-.
Wild Card: Fielding
The Nationals led the majors in errors this season with 143, which was a whopping 19 more than the next worst fielding team (Arizona). When you have a pitching staff with a 5.00 ERA that gives up more walks than anyone in baseball, committing a ton of errors obviously does not help anything. Put all of those three things together, and it is no surprise that they are the worst team in baseball. Fielding grade: F.
Overall
Even though the Nats have a decent offense, it is nowhere near being good enough to save their abysmal pitching and defense. Their record before the All-Star Break was truly pathetic, as they finished 26-61. However, they fought back to record a modest 33-42 record in the season's second half to at least avoid 110 losses. Their spirit in the second half, plus their offense, keeps me from giving Washington a big, fat "F." My final grade on the 2009 Nationals: D.
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Pittsburgh Pirates!
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