Washington Nationals team page

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BRYCE HARPER HITS HIS 3rd HR IN HIS 3rd AT BAT!!!
Well let's hope we get to hear that a few times in this lovely 82 game season. Goals this season is to make the playoffs and win it all it's simple enough. The key is to set the team up with some young guys who will step in to some big roles in a year or two. To do that we may need to unload a pitcher since we have more than enough. The scherzer deal creates problems since Strasburg is in the last year of his deal so look for one of those two to be dealt to create space for a contract or to avoid having to sign one.
This year we are hoping to ride Matt Williams no nonsense ball into the sunset!

 

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3 game series against the Braves, and 3 games given away by the bullpen. Another rough outing for the relievers of the Washington Nationals. Look for a potential call up to help alleviate the pressure on some of the bullpen guys.

 

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Oh boy, the trade of the past 5 years? Recent move by the Washington nationals just might be it. JOSE ABREU is a national!!! AL rookie of last season was brought over to Washington for Jordan and Ryan Zimmerman. Jordan was in the last year of his contract and the Nats wouldn't be able to afford his contract plus Strasburg's contract this next season. Look for Jose Abreu to bolster the middle of the lineup vs leftys and rightys since he brings power to both sides.

In other news the nationals have signed CF Andrew Toles to a 4 year 244k AAA deal.

Couple of call ups as well including Erik Davis and and pitching prospect Lucas Giolito. With call ups come send downs and the only player being sent down is prospect Trea Turner. He isnt getting his at-bats with the big club so he is being sent down to get some seasoning.

Look for the nationals to try and turn this horrific start around with some fresh blood in the clubhouse!

 

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0-6 before the the arrival of Abreu was pretty rough to look at. Since the trade the Nationals are 5-1 after a 3 game series against the Marlins which resulted in a sweep and winning 2 out of 3 in Atlanta. The power is also starting to come around off of some bats. Rendon and Abreu both found 2 HR's each over the past 6 games. Harper added a home run as well against some tough pitching including Jose Fernandez, Latos, and Teheran.

Other positive notes include Ramos and Werth bringing their averages up as well as their on base percentages. Both are around ,250 BA and 300 OBP. Desmond, Abreu, and Rendon all wish their averages were a little bit higher but nonetheless they are finding their way on base with OBP's of .360, .340, . and .320 respectively.

Pitching has improved especially out of the bullpen with Janssen picking up 3 saves over the last 6 games and Stammen and Thornton adding one each. Scherzer had another good start and remains 1-0 with a 2.74 ERA and 22K in 3 games. Doug Fister is struggling to miss bats as he sits at 8K over 13 innings of work. Gio Gonzalez and Strasburg both bolster 1-1 records 2.08 and 2.19 ERA's. The new comer Lucas Giolito who is considered by many the Nationals top prospect went out and got a win his first appearance. He gave up 3 hits and no earned while striking out 4 over 6 innings of work.

Look for the nationals to continue this recent line of success as they go to Miami for another 3 game series.

 

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Short and sweet update in the meantime while a bigger press release is being prepared. Just a couple of points that will be further addressed in the bigger update.

-Ben Revere trade and aftermath
-Recent success of Nationals organization
-The effect of the Scherzer injury and timetable for return
-Strategy going forward
-Upcoming opponents
-Breakdown of team stats

 

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The Washington Nationals are in a close race for first place in the division as we are a little past the halfway point in the season. Nationals are behind the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies in the division. The Phillies are the only concern right now as the Nationals still have a 3 game set against the Mets and the Mets still have a lot of baseball to play.

Since the Scherzer trade the Nationals have gone from 7 games below .500 to now 3 games above .500 and are looking for the division title. Max is expected to be back in 4 games as Tanner Roark just completed his final game from the starting rotation as Max will be taking his spot back. The Nats have really found success with Roark and Voth stepping up big for the rotation and the bullpen in the absence of Scherzer.

There has also been a name floating around Washington and that name is Ben Revere. He was acquired from the Phillies for 2 prospects including AJ Cole. Revere adds a speed element to the lineup which was not present before and looks to help a team in the bottom of the league in steals. Revere has also had great success in his career against rightys which is something the roster needed help with outside of Harper and Span. His .300 BA and 20+ steals will help the team tremendously.

Going forward the Nationals are looking to use that outstanding pitching staff to balance out the bullpen and hopefully the bats keep getting better and better as they have been in recent games. Look for the rise in team average to continue and team ERA to continue to drop as well.

Coming up there are only two teams left to play in the division and that is a 3 game set against the Mets and another one against the Marlins. There are also two 3 game series against the Padres and dodgers and a few games against the Giants and Rockies as well.

Here is how the team looks stat wise compared to the rest of the league
AVG-14th
HR- Tied for 8th
SB- 14th (revere=23 next highest =4)
Walks-12th
Strikeouts as batter-20th
OBP-17th
ERA-3rd
Strikeouts as pitcher-2nd

In conclusion, stay classy Washington =)