2011 Washington Nationals Predictions
The Washington Nationals improved considerably from the disastrous 2009 where they had 59-103. They managed to get up to 69-93 in 2010 but this still wasn’t good enough as they were in the bottom of National League East once again. They brought about a few
changes on the team this year like Jason Werth and Adam LaRoche. Stephen Strasburg would be returning as well after his injury. Let’s evaluate whether any of these changes would turn around the Nationals fate.
LaRoche, Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are the only power hitters and the National are definitely relying on them to perform. While this year would be the first for LaRoche and Werth as a National, we can expect above average results from Zimmerman who finished
last year with 85 RBIs and 25 home-runs. LaRoche hit 25 home-runs as well and 100 RBIs when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks. When playing with the Philadelphia Phillies, Werth hit 27 homers and had 85 RBIs. While this line-up seems good enough, the rest
cannot be expected to do anything and in case of an injury to either of the three, things could be troublesome for the Nationals.
It looks like the Nationals took chances on players this year, which means that they may pleasantly surprise everyone or they might sink like a ship. Ivan Rodriguez is more of a leader figure in the team and at the age of 39 he can’t be expected to hit home-runs
or pitch like Cliff Lee. Nyjer Morgan didn’t quite live up to the expectation of the Nationals when he hit .253 compared to his last .307 in 2009. Rick Ankiel could be one of the biggest surprises of the season, if only he can manage to not get injured. The
young talent that is on team needs to pull up their socks, Ike Desmond had a good rookie season, with 65 RBIs he hit 10 home-runs, but a lot of work still needs to be done. Danny Espinosa is another such example.
Even though their offence is better than what it was last year, no one can say with surety that they would be remotely close to winning the division. Sadly Livan Hernandez doesn’t have it in him anymore to be a top level starter even though he finished last
season with a 3.66 ERA and 10-12. Once again, the Nationals only saving grace would be if the youngsters in their team like John Lannan and Jordan Zimmerman continue to improve, preferably at a faster pace than they do now. Tom Gorzelanny and Jason Marquis
are at the back rotation and are a possible cause of concern for the team. Neither of them has managed to impress anyone and sadly, aren’t too good at what they do.
The biggest blow was perhaps when the Nationals lost the best and most reliable hitter they had, Dunn and their best pitcher, Strasburg. Without these two it’s hard to imagine the Nationals going any further in 2011 than they went in 2010 or even before
that. By itself all the teams in the National League East are talented and very competitive, so with the best people gone from the Nationals team, there isn’t much chance of them winning against other teams who have one big name after another on board.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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