The Washington Nationals enter 2016 coming off a season of disappointment. After being expected by many baseball pundits to contend for a World Series title, the Nationals just could not seem to put everything together last season. The team finished with a 83-79 record and had a couple of issues that they needed to address in the offseason.
One part of their team that the Nats can be confident in is their starting rotation. Washington has one of the best pitchers in the game in Max Scherzer and a pitcher who could be one of the best in Stephen Strasburg. These two coupled with veterans like Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark, in addition to having a promising young right hander in Joe Ross, should make the Nationals excited about their starting pitching situation, even if they did lose Jordan Zimmerman this offseason.
The Nationals made a few changes to their bullpen this winter by adding quality relief pitchers in Shawn Kelley and Oliver Perez. The team also traded away Drew Storen to allow Jonathan Papelbon to work as the lone closer on the roster. Even without Storen, the Nationals pen seems to be in solid shape, especially with the additions they made. There is a risk in having Papelbon as the lone closing option, but that is something that could be addressed during the year if the fiery right-hander doesn’t perform the way the club expects.
When you look at the Nationals’ lineup, besides Bryce Harper it could be argued that there is no other dependable middle of the order hitter in the batting order. Here’s the batting order that the Nats will likely trot out on Opening Day…
- CF Ben Revere
- 2B Daniel Murphy
- 3B Anthony Rendon
- RF Bryce Harper
- 1B Ryan Zimmerman
- LF Jayson Werth
- C Wilson Ramos
- SS Danny Espinosa/Trea Turner
- Pitcher
Guys like Ben Revere and Wilson Ramos have put up consistent numbers throughout their careers but shouldn’t be due for a big jump in production. Veterans Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are getting older and really shouldn’t be expected to produce at the level they once did, especially after coming off career-worst seasons in 2015. It could be argued that Daniel Murphy is a wild card for the Nats in 2016 because of his breakout postseason, but he is also 30 years old and postseason numbers are generally very random as well. So if anything he is in his prime and last season probably should be looked at as the peak of his production.
This brings us to Anthony Rendon, who will officially be making the switch to the hot corner this coming season. Last year was not particularly kind to the former sixth overall pick in 2011. Rendon was only able to appear in 80 games last season due to knee and oblique injuries, and when he was on the field, his batting average dipped over 20 points to .264 while only hitting five homers. This was really disappointing because of the type of 2014 he had, when he hit .287 and flashed his power potential by hitting 21 home runs.
Rendon was a top prospect for a reason, he can be special with the bat. Not only can Rendon hit to all fields while not striking out at a high rate, he also has the ability to be a very good power hitter too. Being only 25 years old and already having a season like he did in 2014, Nationals fans should have high hopes for their third baseman next year. He will also be fully healthy coming into Spring Training, so he should be well prepared as well.
This offense is in need of another consistent middle of the order hitter in the lineup and Rendon is the best chance that Washington has at providing that. If he remains healthy, the 25-year-old should provide the Nationals with a consistent hitter who has a good approach at the plate and gets on base at a high rate as well, as you can see by his .344 and .351 on-base percentages the past two seasons.
If Anthony Rendon can be the middle of the order hitter that he is capable of being, it would help to protect the 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper, and it would make the Nationals offense a lot more feared. There is certainly some doubt about whether he can play the way he did a couple of years ago, but he certainly has the ability and potential to match or even improve on those numbers if his health isn’t an issue.
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