03 Apr 2013

The Nats can win it all…. IF…

Guest post by Richard Holwill

Photo by Claudia Holwill

Photo by Claudia Holwill

As Monday’s 2-zip win over the Marlins demonstrated, the Nats are rock solid.  The pitching rotation starts with Stephen Strasburg, who retired 19 straight batters in that game.  The offense is led by 20-year old Bryce Harper who thrilled the opening day crowd with two home-runs in his first two at-bats.

Pitchers Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Ross Detwiler all back from last year.  Dan Haren fills out the starting five.  The bullpen may be the best in baseball strengthened now with Rafael Soriano as the closer.  Last year, Soriano stepped in for legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to save 42 games.

The offence is strengthened by Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and Jason Werth – three guys with long-ball power. To that crew, add Denard Span as the lead-off hitter.  Span has all of the qualities needed for that spot.  He gets on base and has the speed to steal bases.

Still, defense may be the strong suit of this team. Ian Desmond at shortstop and Danny Espinosa at second base can turn a double play better than most.  Zimmerman at third has an uncanny ability to field both the hard hit line drives and bunts that die closer to home than third.   LaRoche at first just won the Gold Glove award as the best first-baseman in the National League.  ‘Nuf said. 

Then top that off with two first-rate catchers, Kurt Suzuki and Wilson Ramos and challenge the opposing team to find a hole in the infield.  That was evident in the opening day game when, in the eighth inning, the Nats recorded a double play that seemed improbable at best.  Scoring that play was a challenge.  The ball went from Harper to Ramos to LaRoche then Espinosa and finally back to Ramos.  I won’t detail the play.  Just watch it on the Nats website.  It was a thing of beauty.

Yes, this team can win it all IF the players can stay healthy.  You can’t judge a team by one game or one series.  The season is 162 games long.  Players that look great on opening day can seem like the walking dead at 140 or 150 games into the season.  Injuries are common.  Just last year, each of the four infielders was out with injuries at one time or another, fortunately not at the same time.

Teams picked to “win it all” have an uncanny record of falling apart when several key players wind up on the disabled list.  For all the excellence on the field, the most vexing challenge can be keeping the players healthy.

The guys responsible for that seldom if ever make the news but they should.  So, while pulling for the Nats this year, listen for the name Wiemi Douoguih.  He is medical director for the Nats and is backed up by physical therapist Angela Gordon and strength and conditioning coach Landon Brandes.

If the Nats go all the way they will deserve as much praise as the guys on the field.

Tags: , , ,


What's trending

Comments are closed.

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
Add to Flipboard Magazine.