I (and many others) predicted the Washington Nationals to win the 2013 World Series. Now, on June 1st, the Nationals are barley a .500 team (28-27), but still sit second in the National League East. Now, everyone is kicking themselves for not letting Strasburg pitch last postseason. But, could the Nats even get back to the postseason this year?
The Nationals currently have five players on the disabled list, while Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper will likely be added. Injuries have really hampered them all season, and now their top two stars will be on the DL as well.
But, even when the Nats are healthy, they still have some serious troubles to work out. The team has an OBP of .291, which ranks 14th of the 15 NL teams. They have only scored 193 runs (3.5 Runs Per Game), which puts them at 12th in the NL. The Nats have no offensive category (besides triples) that ranks in the top five in the NL.
The Nats pitching, on the other hand, has done very well. With a 3.58 ERA, they rank 6th in the NL. They have no category that is not in the top 10. Their pitching has been one of the best, and doesn't look to back down.
Last year, the Nationals averaged 4.5 runs per game, an entire run more than this year. Their ERA was 3.33, .2 earned runs less than this year. Both their offense and pitching was better, leading them to the NL East title.
The injuries don't help, but that's not the only reason the Nats are worse than last year. They can't hit, and even their pitching has been a tad worse than it was last year. It's hard to say, but I'm not sure that if the Nats keep this up, they'll make the playoffs.
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