Washington Nationals have an ideal opportunity to win World Series Championship – Part 2
Recent decline by the Nationals can make one believe that they will head into the playoffs with momentum absent from their ranks. Demoralised by the defeats in the last couple of weeks, they may continue with poor shows and end up making a mess and in turn
destroying their chances to win the glory.
One needs to see how Johnson has operated his players in the season before making a grand conclusion about the fate of the Nationals.
For number of times the Nationals came across the same situation that they face now but they came through successful. The uncanny way of planning and executing it in a similar fashion has been the characteristic of Johnson throughout the season.
He knows what to do when and on whom to rely on when things go awry. He knows how to get rid of the decline and convert it into lengthy winning streaks.
During the season, a scenario developed which could easily be considered the demise of the Nationals’ quest in the season.
When Ryan Zimmerman lost his form with Michael Morse disappeared from the line-up due to injury. Similarly catcher Ramos Wilson was undone by the injury and in turn faced the season ending stint on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang, as soon as he entered
the season saw his confidence dented badly by the batters. As a result, Johnson was left with an arm on rotation which was always prone to leaking many runs.
Against all the odds, Johnson proved that he has prepared for almost every possibility that can occur in the season.
He let his contingency plans get implemented as soon as the original one back-fired and kept it on his side in this way. He deployed Bryce Harper at a time when doing so was the most plausible action a manager can take. Harper immediately rewarded faith
of his manager. In a matter of games, he became the regular component of the line-up. No wonder he was not pulled out when the injured players recovered and joined the line-up.
Against this backdrop, stating that Johnson has made something hidden from the fans which he will bring forth only when the playoffs start will not be wrong. Those who question his current strategy of resting the regular starters will be silenced with a
sarcastic smile by Johnson as and when he lets his troops step on the field and deliver splendours in the big matches ahead.
Those who negate his logic of using John Lannan in place of Stephen Strasburg basically ignore the very strategy Johnson has pursued in the season. He seems to be taking into account factors that relate with long-term planning while making sure that the
Nationals perform well in the season.
He is eyeing on the future as much as he is getting things to pan out favourably for the team in the on-going season. It will be interesting to see if Lannan becomes their top pitcher next year after gaining some experience of the pressure cooker games.
He clearly is intent on making the Nationals a kind of team which cements a spot in the playoffs for a number of years from now on. Just like the way the Philadelphia Phillies carried the crown in the National League in the last five years, he is looking
to help the Nationals maintain similar kind of dominance.
The opposition that is underestimating the Nationals for their chances for moving ahead from the playoffs until the World Series is making a fatal mistake. Overlooking the Nationals will be like strengthening their plan further and hence rendering it the
potency for wreaking the bulk of the damage for the opposition. As there is a greater likelihood that the opponents take the Nationals for granted in the crucial matches ahead, Johnson’s plan is set to thwart them.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 3
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