Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. The Nationals get great pitching from their starter, hold the opposing team to two or three runs, and still lose.
Sound familiar?
The Nationals have been unable to replicate their offensive success from last season, despite the addition of Denard Span and continued development of Bryce Harper. Last season, the Nationals had the ninth best batting average in the MLB. This year, they are currently ranked 28th. They are also 28th in runs scored, 29th in hits, and 23rd in home runs.
The fact that the Nationals have a .500 record is a testament to how good the pitching (except from poor Dan Haren) has been. With that sort of offensive futility, their record could easily be worse.
Obviously the team's injuries have taken their toll on the offense. Harper is still recovering from running into the wall in Los Angeles and Werth has returned to the lineup only recently.
Danny Espinosa was pretty much a guaranteed out every time he stepped up to the plate. He has been dealing with a torn rotator cuff and fractured wrist, though he stated neither injury was contributing to his struggles at the plate. With a .158 batting average, however, I think you can safely assume it was affecting him more than he was letting on.
The Nationals also continue to struggle with leadoff hitting. Span teased fans with what he could contribute at the start the season, but he has since struggled to get on base. He currently has an OBP of only .307. Not only is that low among other leadoff hitters, its low among the Nationals. He’s behind Harper, Werth, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche, and Ian Desmond. It is hard to score runs if your leadoff hitter cannot even get on base.
Pinch-hitting is an often-overlooked aspect of the game unless you are not getting any production. Clearly that is the case for the Nationals. Steve Lombardozzi leads the reserve corps with a .227 batting average. Chad Tracy was a major weapon last season and he is hitting only .149 with 5 RBIs. Tyler Moore struggled so much that he was optioned to AAA Syracuse. There just has not been enough production to help out the starting nine.
There is still hope for the Nationals. Harper is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday or Thursday and will likely return one or two weeks after that. Desmond has returned to all-star form as well and has been unstoppable of late and Rendon has played very well in place of Espinosa. Harper’s return will make this lineup much deeper than it has been all season.
As of now, the Nationals are one game over .500 despite being one of the worst offensive teams in the league. They currently sit five games behind the Braves, by no means an insurmountable hole. Even if they get average offensive production for the rest of the season, they should shoot up the standings.
There is still time for the Nationals to wake up some offense and plenty of reasons to expect them to do so.
For the latests sports news, check out CSNWashington.com or follow me on Twitter @TheDC_Sportsguy
No comments:
Post a Comment