MLB Season Preview: Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals

Last Season's Standings: The Washington Nationals were 71-91, including .500 in their final ten games, to finish in the basement of the NL East Division.

In: RP Winston Abreu (prev. team: Baltimore Orioles); 2B Ronnie Belliard (prev. team: St. Louis Cardinals); SP Brandon Claussen (prev. team: Cincinatti Reds); RP Jesus Colome (prev. team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays); SS Melvin Dorta; C Robert Fick; SS Jiminez D'Angelo (prev. team: Oakland A's); RP Ray King (prev. team: Colorado Rockies); RF George Lombard; RF Michael Restovich (prev. team: Chicago Cubs); 2B Joe Thurston (prev. team: Philadelphia Phillies); RP Jerome Williams (prev. team: Oakland A's); RP Chad Cordero; RP Jason Bermann; RP Micah Bowie; RP Emiliano Fruto (via trade w/ Seattle Mariners); SP Joel Hanrahan; RP Jon Rauch; SP Tim Redding; RP Saul Rivera; SP Billy Traber; RP Ryan Wagner; SP John Patterson; CF Ryan Church; SS Josh Wilson; RF Austin Kearns; CF Alex Ecobar; 2B Felipe Lopez; 2B Tony Womack (prev. team: Chicago Cubs); 1B Travis Lee (prev. team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays); LF Chris Snelling (via trade w/ Seattle Mariners); 3B Ryan Zimmerman; C Brandon Harper; RP Chris Schroder; RP Chris Booker; SP Mike Hinckley

Out: 2B Jose Vidro (via trade w/ Seattle Mariners); LF Alfonso Soriano (new team: Chicago Cubs); SP Tony Armas Jr. (new team: Pittsburgh Pirates); CF Marlon Byrd (new team: Texas Rangers); RP Ray Corcoran (new team: Florida Marlins); RP Zach Day (new team: Kansas City Royals); C Wiki Gonzalez (new team: Chicago White Sox); RF Jose Guillen (new team: Seattle Mariners); RP Travis Hughes (new team: Boston Red Sox); C Matthew LeCroy (new team: Minnesota Twins); SP Ramon Ortiz (new team: Minnesota Twins); RF Mike Vento (new team: Toronto Blue Jays)

Starting Pitching: Staff ace John Patterson is looking to remain healthy this season after missing all but 8 starts to a right forearm injury. He must make his starts if the Nationals are to have any success in '07. Patterson was 1-2 with a 4.43 ERA last season. He struggles with getting over 100 pitches and yet still remaining effective. Rookie Jerome Williams is slated to be the number 2 starter for the Nationals. He struggled in his shot as a September call-up last season. Williams was 0-2 with a dysmal 7.36 ERA in '06. He needs to step it up if he wants to start the season as a National. Likely to be the third starter is mediocre rightie Tim Redding. Redding did not pitch a single game in the MLB last season, spending the entire 2006 campaign in AAA Charlotte. He was 0-6 with a terrible 10.57 ERA in 10 appearances, 7 of those being starts. He must make a huge impression and really perform in Washington otherwise, this squad is in deep trouble this season. Southpaw Mike O'Connor is almost certainly a lock to make this team as the 4th starter. He'll be looking to build on his decent 3-8 performance with a 4.80 ERA. Getting through the first inning will be key for O'Connor's success. Finally rookie Shawn Hill will be looked at in training camp, but he'll likely start in New Orleans until the Nationals need a fifth starter or until there is an injury. Hill was 1-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 6 starts in 2006.

Bullpen: Hard-throwing Chad Cordero is the anchor of the Natonals bullpen. He went 7-4, notched 29 saves and accumulated a 3.19 ERA in 68 games played last season. He does struggle with his command and appears to get bored unless he gets in trouble. Workhorse John Roach is slated to be the primary setup man for Cordero. He went 4-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 85 appearances last season. Look for him to take the hill primarily against righties. Emiliano Fruto is another option from the right side as a setup in the 7th or 8th. He'll likely only pitch 1 inning per outing, as he struggles after about 30 pitches. He must improve with runners aboard and in scoring position. Fruto was 2-2 with a 5.50 ERA in 2006. Luis Ayala's availbility is a question mark as he is just returning from Tommy John surgery and will likely be taken cautiously. Look for him to start as low as the A level and gradually work his way up to the majors. Middle-late man Saul Rivera is entering what is likely to be his first full season in the majors. He had a good year in 2006 going 3-0 with a 3.43 ERA in 54 appearances. Micah Bowie missed a good chunk of the 2006 season with a back injury (43 games) and will be looking to prove to management that he's healthy again. He'll likely be the left-handed specialist out of this 'pen. He went 0-1 with an impressive 1.37 ERA in just 15 appearances before the season-ending surgery. Rightie Chris Schroder is battling for one of the final spots in the bullpen. He stands a decent shot of making it, but it won't be handed to him on a silver platter. Schroder was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in 21 appearances last season. Ryan Wagner is auditioning for a middle reliever role. The biggest thing he's tinkering with is his delivery, as the coaching and training staff are concerned it may cause injuries. Must improve command of his arsenal. Wagner was 3-3 with a 4.70 ERA in 26 appearances last season. Look for him to be this team. Brian Campbell is also in training camp, but he's quite likely to start in AAA New Orleans for more fine tuning, especially considering his brutal 10.38 ERA as a September call-up last season. Long reliever Jason Bergmann will be given a close look as a possible fifth starter, but he's almost guaranteed a roster spot as a long reliever, especially considering how weak the National's starters are. He was 0-2 with a 6.68 ERA in 29 appearances in 2006. Finally, Billy Traber is looking to be a second long man or a middle reliever. This southpaw struggles when facing a hitter from the right side. He went 4-3 with a 6.44 ERA in 15 games played, 8 of those being starts, in 2006.

Catcher: Brian Schneider, one of the few remaining players from the Montreal Expos era will get the bulk of the starts as the backstop. Schneider hit .256 with 4 HR and 55 RBI last season. As long as he's healthy, Schneider will play between 115 and 130 games and will be the 8th man up in the Nationals batting order. Don't expect Schneider to rack up a whole bunch of home runs, but do expect him to contribute some on the offense and to be a solid receiver behind the plate. His plate discpline is nothing to write home about. Backing him up will be fresh-faced rookie Jesus Flores who will make his major league debut some time this season, unless the Nationals sign a back-up catcher in the next few weeks.

First Baseman: Nick Johnson is coming off a scary incident in which he broke his left femur in a collission going after a fly ball. He'll be looking to prove to management that he's healthy again. Expect Johnson to bat clean-up when he's in the line-up and to play any where from 135 to 155 games, as long as he's healthy. Johnson is very injury prone and he tends to strike out a ton (99 times in 2006). He hit .290 with 23 HR and 77 RBI last season. Backing him up will be Larry Broadway who should make his major league debut sometime this season, a;though he could spend a few games in the minors to start, but that's unlikely.

Second Baseman: The speedy Felipe Lopez will bat lead-off and play around 155 games if healthy. Lopez hit .274 with 11 HR and 52 RBI last season, as well as stealing 44 bases. He must improve his strikeout to walk ratio 126-81 in 2006 and that'll come with better plate discipline and more patience. Utility man Bernie Castro, ho is likely entering his first full season in the majors. He hit .227 with 10 RBI last season.

Shortstop: Average SS Christian Guzman is looking to return from rotator cuff surgery after missing all of last season. He hit .219 with 4 HR and 31 RBI in 2005. If healthy, Guzman will bat 7th and play between 135 and 145 games. Guzman does not have a good feel for the strike zone, thus the lower batting average, and he's not good at judging when to steal a base, thus the lower number of stolen bases. Castro and Lopez will provide the back-up.

Third Baseman: Entering just his second full season in the majors, Ryan Zimmerman has all the tools to be a future all-star, but for now he'll bat 3rd and play around 155 games this season. He hit .287 with 20 HR and 110 RBI in 2006. His only flaw, if you want to call it that is his running game, although he stole 11 bases last season. In his transition to big league-pitchers he struck out 120 times last season, he should reduce that number this season. Castro will be the back-up.

Left Fielder: Rookie Kory Casto is listed as the starting left fielder, but I disagree because he has never played a major league game and therefore he'll all but certainly start at AAA Columbus in 2007. This means that the injury prone Alex Escobar will likely bat second and play around 100 games after playing just 33 games out of the last 2 seasons to various injuries. Escobar hit .356 with 4 HR and 18 RBI in 2006. He struggles when facing a rightie and to stay in the line-up due to constant injuries. Ryan Church should also get some playing time in left field as the 4th outfielder on the team. He hit .276 with 10 HR and 35 RBI last season; must maintain his focus in the second half of the season; struggles with runners on and in scoring position and has almost no power when facing a southpaw. Finally, platoon outfielder Chris Snelling, when healthy provides a fourth option anywhere in the outfield. He missed all but 36 games last season to a torn ACL (100 games) and a shoulder injury (19 games). He hit .250 with 3 HR and 8 RBI last season.

Center Fielder: Rookie Nook Logan is entering what should be his first full season in the majors. He had an impressive month as a September call-up last season, batting .300 with 1 HR and 8 RBI. Look for him to bat 6th in the line-up and play around 100 games this season. A combination of Church, Snelling and Escobar will play whatever games Logan sits.

Right Fielder: Veteran Austin Kearns wilol certainly play around 150 games this season if healthy and he'll bat 5th behind Johnson. Kearns hit .264 with 24 HR and 86 RBI last season. Kearns is entering his third full season in the majors and because of inexperience, Kearns gets into bad slumps, he won't launch the ball over the wall that consistently. When hitting righties, Kearns is simply inconsistent at best. Michael Restovich will provide the primary back-up for Kearns. He hit just .167 last season; needs to get better. Church and Snelling can also play RF.

Season Prediction: The Washington Nationals do not have a lot of depth on the bench and their starting players aren't any better than average for the most part. Expect the Nationals to small-ball their way to a 4th place finish in the NL East, just ahead of the Marlins and well back of the Phillies.