Washington Nationals off to Very Slow Start
By Steve Benko
Although it’s early, the Washington Nationals have had a very slow start to the season. So far, they have only driven in a total of 17 runs through the first seven games. The team batting average is an MLB worst .185, and they’ve only had 43 hits in 223 at-bats.
So, things aren’t going well in Washington, but why? Well, for starters, Ryan Zimmerman is hitting .154, and Ian Desmond is hitting .115. Zimmerman and Desmond are two bats in the lineup that are largely relied upon, especially this season, so when they start off slow, the team’s record is bound to suffer.
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The departure of Adam LaRoche may also have something to do with the slow start. LaRoche hit .259 last season, but had an OBP of .362 to go along with 26 home runs and 92 RBIs. Jayson Werth was recently activated from the 15-Day DL, as he was recovering from the shoulder surgery he got in January. Werth missed the first six games of the season, and his absence is just another reason for the sluggish start.
Bryce Harper has been alright so far this season, below average, but above average for the Nationals. The main problem he’s having this season, which may follow him are his strikeouts. In 27 at-bats, Harper has three walks, six hits, two home runs and 11 strikeouts, bringing him to a batting average of .222 with an OBP of .300. Problem is, Harper is tied for sixth in the MLB in strikeouts, once he cuts down on those, only then can the Nationals offense get better.
The bright spot of this Nationals lineup has been Yunel Escobar, who is hitting .296 with an OBP of .367. Clint Robinson is another guy who has done well with the chances he’s getting, hitting .357 in 14 at-bats.
Not that the slow start should be an area for concern for the Nationals, but it’s always worrying when teams have big off-season signings, and start off 2-6. They have had to deal with injuries, and departures to big parts of their lineup, this was to be expected.
Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez have had mediocre starts to the season as well, overall the Nationals aren’t playing solid baseball. Max Scherzer, who signed a seven-year/$210 million deal with Washington in the off-season has been phenomenal to start the year.
Scherzer has a .66 ERA with 16 strikeouts in two starts. His K/9 is ranked 14th in all of baseball at 10.54, and his ERA is better than ten of those 14 players.
Nationals fans should not worry about the slow start, they were picked to win the NL East, they have a better chance of doing so than any other team in the division.