While perusing the raft of preseason baseball publications, it seems that many national baseball scribes aren’t that impressed with what the Nationals did this past offseason.
Almost every one I’ve looked at still has them finishing last in the NL East. It’s as if the injury and resulting Tommy John surgery of Stephen Strasburg rendered their roster impotent.
There’s no doubt Strasburg’s initial foray into the major leagues was impressive, even electrifying. His absence this year, though, isn’t looming over the club like a dark cloud. If the current rotation — Livan Hernandez, John Lannan, Jason Marquis, Jordan Zimmermann and Tom Gorzellany — pitches to even their previous second-best seasons, and the bullpen shows any degree of consistency, they should exceed last year’s 69-win total with some to spare. They’d surely prefer not to have a dozen-plus different pitchers start games in 2011. They have the luxury of some depth with Chad Gaudin in the bullpen — he’s made 75 big league starts — and some young reinforcements at Syracuse like Ross Detwiler, Yunesky Maya, Craig Stammen and the still-rehabbing-and-somewhat-mysterious Chien-Ming Wang. I’m not suggesting these guys are the Phillies’ staff in disguise, but it’s far from dire.
I read another guy’s assessment of the Nats who essentially said that Jayson Werth was terrific as a complementary player in Philadelphia, but he’s not good enough to be “the guy” in Washington. Due entirely to his salary, Werth has been anointed as the face of this franchise by many observers, though his role would seem to be quite similar to the role he played in Philadelphia. As the No. 2 hitter — at least currently — in Jim Riggleman’s lineup, he’s another table-setter, albeit one with 25-plus home run power. When the Nats signed him, one of the gripes by reporters who didn’t quite get it was that he’s never driven in 100 runs. He reached 99 RBI in 2009, but hitting behind Ryan Howard in that lineup the past four years didn’t present as many opportunities as hitting lower down in the order might have afforded.
As for who “the guy” is in Washington? I believe he’s still wearing No. 11 and playing third base.
Coming off a season in which they won 69 games, the Nationals overspent to get a premium free agent as much to gain some respect in the marketplace as anything else. It’s clear in speaking with other baseball executives that they accomplished that. The idea that their victory total will somehow stagnate in the high 60’s, low 70’s, doesn’t really ring true to me. Their bench is stronger, their defense is much better, they should score more runs than a year ago, and their starting pitching doesn’t stink. If that doesn’t result in a win total higher than 75, I’ll be amazed.
I won’t eat my hat, but I’ll be amazed.
Examiner columnist Phil Wood is a baseball historian and contributor to MASN’s Nats Xtra. Contact him at [email protected].
