Off-season acquisitions and home grown talent lead Washington Nationals to splendid first half-MLB
An incredible success in the first half by the Washington Nationals is a result of meticulous planning and timely off-season acquisitions by the club. The likes of Ian Desmond, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Gio Gonzalez have been the most critical
link behind their victories.
Furthermore, before the season began, Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson planned the right combination in their line-up. He foresaw events and prepared effective contingency plans. Bringing all his experience into play, he rightly exploited the talent of young
players sitting on the roster.
For example, knowing that Desmond has what it takes to become a consistent performer, Johnson spent extra time with him during Spring Training. Not only did he help him work out an appropriate technique, he strengthened Desmond mentally by putting faith
in his ability and making him feel comfortable.
While Johnson remained engaged with young players for most of the time, he did not attend to veterans much, believing that they knew their job and thus would deliver themselves. In this way, he utilised his time to draw maximum results from the youngsters.
Furthermore, Johnson was lucky to have found a roster which featured new acquisitions that neatly befitted the requirement of the team. For example, Gio Gonzalez was included in the roster through an off-season trade.
Fortunately, this move worked favourably as Gonzalez turned out to be one of the best pitchers in the National League. Certainly, his contribution added immensely to the success of the Nationals in the first half.
Meanwhile, Johnson talks about Desmond and the way he has led the Nationals’ offence this year. For him, witnessing Desmond put up a stand-out performance is not a surprise as he knew his talent.
"He's still learning about himself and learning his happy areas," Manager Davey Johnson said. "He's being a better hitter as he gets more experience and knows more about where he's real successful in the strike zone. I don't think it's really a surprise
to him or anybody, because everybody that I know has seen the talent since he first came here three years ago."
As the second half of the season starts, the Nationals will be hoping that their players continue with their winning momentum and lead them to glory this year.
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