The Nationals end the 9th simulation two games over .500, tying them
for the highest mark they've attained so far this season. This is
a good and bad news story and the next month will have a lot to say
about their playoff chances. The good news is the Nats are
playing the best ball of the season, and the bad of course is that they
are only 17-15 despite this recent run of good fortune.
The Nats currently ride a 3 game winning streak and need to continue
their momentum as they try to stake a claim to the second best team in
the Union Atlantic. This has been a road traveled before however,
as they recently followed up a 4 game winning streak in mid-April with
a not so hot streak that left them back at the .500 mark at the end of
Sim #8.
The Good
Their offense really, and it is not just a result of the bandbox the
Nationals reside in. As a team, they are batting .277 / .341 /
.495, quite impressive numbers no matter the park (and keep in mind
singles and doubles are suppressed in American League Park). Here
is where they stack up with the rest of the Union League:
2nd - AVG
4th - OBP
1st - SLG
1st - RC
2nd - RUNS
The team is led by both those who where expected to perform, as well as some mid-level surprises:
1B (Cash/Hodges): .260 / .384 / .625, 12 HR, 21 R, 17 RBI, 1.009 OPS
Charlie Keller: .305 / .383 / .585, 8 HR, 21 R, 20 RBI, .968 OPS
Cal McVey: .368 / .373 / .596, 4 HR, 17 R, 15 RBI, .969 OPS
Charlie Gehringer: .305 / .388 / .492, 5 HR, 25 R, 12 RBI, .880 OPS
Some pitchers have held their own in American League Park as well:
Rick Aguilera: 1-0, 2.01 ERA, 22.1 IP, 15 H, 5 BB, 14 K
Mike Henneman: 2-0, 3.22 ERA, 22.1 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 11 K
Red Lucas: 2-3, 3.47 ERA, 36.1 IP, 31 H, 10 BB, 18 K
The Bad
The balance of the staff has some issues to say the least. As a
team, the Nats sport a 5.39 ERA (12th), 13.7 R/9 (12th), 4.6 K/9
(10th), 1.5 K/BB (9th). The major culprits have been the starting
staff, and a glimmer of good news is that they are grossly
underperforming preseason expectations and it stands to reason their
will be at least some improvement by several of the key players.
The flip side of course is that Aguilera and Henneman will regress as
well.
Ellis Kinder: 1-4, 6.35 ERA, 34.0 IP, 43 H, 15 BB, 18 K
Babe Adams: 2-3, 6.21 ERA, 29.0 IP, 39 H, 5 BB, 9 K
Jim Whitney: 1-1, 6.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 30 H, 3 BB, 14 K
Some batters have left a lot to be desired, especially when considering expectations:
Lip Pike: .263 / .333/ .463, 2 HR, 16 R, 10 RBI, .796 OPS
Ron Santo: .233 / .298/ .350, 3 HR, 11 R, 10 RBI, .648 OPS
The Graph - Runs Scored/Runs Against
As you can see here,
since the middle of the last week in April or so, the Nationals have
finally showed signs of getting their pitching under control.
While this has not resulted in a steady diet of winning, it is a good
sign for potential consistency in the future.
The clear low point was the period of time between April 9th and April
15 where the squad yielded 15 runs against an astounding 3 times.
Of note has been the Nationals schedule, their only away dates have
been April 15, 21-23, and May 2-4 (as denoted by the blue
gridlines).
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