Nice performance from Fister on sunday. Photo via wp.com
So, after destroying the ball in Atlanta (30 runs in 3 games) and getting what feels like an early “turn around the ship” 13-12 epic come from behind win, the team goes to New York and takes 3 of 4 from the Mets (who were theretofore undefeated at home and had the best record in the game). Even if you don’t think the Mets are really that good, it was still a statement series to go to a divisional rival ahead of you in the standings and take 3 of 4.
They couldn’t beat Matt Harvey (who can these days?), not even with Max Scherzer going, but beat Jacob DeGrom and got the kind of shut-down performances from their #4 and #5 starters (Gonzalez and Fister) that practically no other team in the league can depend on. It isn’t a good sign having to depend on untested rookies and fortunate bounces to get one-off runs that lead to 1-0 victories, but then again, its a great sign that you have a team that *can* win these kinds of games.
Now Miami comes to town; they’ve been hot (8-2 in their last 10), but the pitching matchups favor the Nats. I’ll take Zimmermann, Strasburg, Scherzer (the best 1-2-3 in the majors) over what Miami’s bringing to the table this week (Phelps, Latos and Koehler). Anything less than a sweep of Miami will be a disappointment. The Nats have clear, inarguable pitching matchup advantages, and Latos/Koehler sport ugly ERAs that should help the Nats offense get healthy again quick.
Are we backed away from the ledge yet? There’s still areas of improvement of course. Per Fangraphs today, the team ranks:
- 23rd in team WRC+ at 86 (my favorite all-equaling offensive stat measure)
- 23rd in team Batting Average at .235, which sounds awful but there’s seven teams worse right now.
- 7th in Starter ERA … but 2nd in Starter FIP and 1st in Starter WAR (Scherzer leads the league in fWAR despite being just 1-3)
- 12th in Bullpen ERA and 11th in bullpen FIP
So, the bullpen we’ve fretted about is holding on but could use improvement, the Starters are holding up their end of the bargain, and the offense needs to improve. About where we expected the team to be?