Nationals First Half Report Card
Harper
Bryce Harper: A+++
He has played out of this galaxy. Harper has been all we’ve yearned for and more. Bam-Bam. The Phenom. The Mormon. Harper deserves this A+++ grade and the 1st half NL (and MLB) MVP award. Harper has 5.7 wins above replacement already. That’s the most in all of baseball and more than a whole win over the next best NL batter. Whenever Harper comes to the plate, we anticipate a homer and when was the last time we could say that about a Nats player? maybe Alfonso Soriano’s 46 in ’06 or Dunn hitting 38 in both ’09 and 2010? Well Bryce is on pace for 48. Its not only homers, Harper has walked more this year (63) already than any other year in his career. He’s hitting .339 (2nd best in NL), is getting on base 46.4% of the time (most in MLB first half since 2012), has a .704 slugging%, and may be fucking Nina Agdal. Not too bad. NSFW
Agdal
Scherzer
Max Scherzer: A+
If I were walking down the street, minding my own business and I saw Scherzer kill somebody, I would just turn the other cheek and keep walking. Nothing this guy does will make me stop loving him. Scherzer is having a historic season and seems to have taken Clayton Kershaw’s crown as best pitcher in baseball. Scherzer would’ve started the all-star game but decided instead to throw 8.2 near flawless innings against the O’s on Sunday. Scherzer strikes out more than 10 per 9 innings, has a 2.11 ERA, a no hitter (that should’ve been a perfect game – Fuck Jose Tabata and his baby-stealing wife), 2 different colored eyes, and my heart.
Mets Offense/GM: A
The biggest reason that the Nationals are in 1st isn’t Harper. It isn’t Scherzer. Its the Mets’ offense. The Mets are 34-5 when they score at least 4 runs this season. That is absurd. Ridiculous even. We would be talking about the Mets as the best team in baseball… if only they had any offense. The Mets are hitting a worst in the majors .233 in the first half of the season and are in the bottom 3rd in virtually every single offensive category. If the Mets offense had performed even league average or if Mets GM Sandy Alderson had acquired an offensive piece or two, the Nats would probably be at least 2 games behind New York, not two games in front.
Advertisement
Escobar
Yunel Escobar: A
You know how when you were 12 you would go to the AOL lesbian chatroom and there were always a ton of horny girls there? In the back of your mind, you knew this was too good to be true but you suspended your disbelief to get your rocks off. Well, Yunel Escobar is kinda the same thing. We know he won’t hit .321 all season but why not enjoy it while it lasts?
Storen
Drew Storen: A
The Nats are 34-1 when Storen pitches so it’s difficult to give him a grade other than A. The one loss they have was not due to Storen’s pitching – in fact, he pitched a scoreless inning with 2 ks during that game. Storen’s 27 saves are 3rd most in baseball, his 1.89 ERA is very impressive, his 10.3k/9 is the best of his career, and his two blown saves on the season each resulted in a Washington comeback victory.
Zimmermann
Jordan Zimmermann: A-
Zimm is the forgotten ace of the Nationals. He has a 3.22 ERA (ERA has been below 3.30 each season for the past 5) and has 8 wins in 111.2 IP. I don’t have too much to say about Zimmermann aside from I sincerely hope that the Nationals look at re-signing him in the offseason. He is a young 29 and is one of the best pitchers in baseball right now. I expect a 2nd half very similar to the first half for this guy.
Span
Denard Span: B+
A lot of people laughed at the Denard Span for Alex Meyer trade at the time. A 6’9″ top 100 pitching prospect for a guy like Span? Welp, Rizzo was on to something. Meyer is now a reliever and just made his (very unsuccessful) MLB debut while Span is in his 3rd year of production and is hitting above .300 with a good on base%, 20 extra base hits, and 11 steals (in 11 attempts). Span isn’t and will never be a superstar but he’s a very valuable asset in the DC lineup.
Espinosa
Danny Espinosa: B+
Perhaps the key reason Espinosa is more or less back to his 2011 and ’12 performances is his increased walk rate. He’s garnered more walks in much fewer plate appearances this year than he received in the past 2 seasons. Espinosa isn’t a star but he did have a snazzy fu manchu and he has been a useful bat for the Nats.
Gonzalez
Gio Gonzalez: B-
Gio is slowly improving into what we expected him to be at the start of the season but he isn’t there quite yet. The lefty managed to sneak his ERA down below 4.00 (it’s 3.99) before the end of the first half but his strikeouts are still down and he’s given up some hits in big spots.
Taylor
Michael Taylor: B-
Taylor has been good defensively and has the tools to be an all-star level player but I have to be honest, I was expecting a bit more offensively from a guy who .304/.390/..526 with 23 homers and 37 steals in the minors last season than 6 dingers, a sub-.300 OBP, and 8 steals.
Ramos
Wilson Ramos: C+
I’ve always had a soft spot for Ramos after he was kidnapped by crazy Venezuelan socialists in 2011 but he just isn’t that great of a player. He isn’t bad. He’s got some power and has hit 8 bombs this year but he walks less than FDR did and hits a ton of grounders – not a good combo for a slow catcher. his average/on base/slugging (.255/.284/.390) are all worse than his career averages but he hasn’t completely sucked either, that’s why he gets a C+.
Fister
Doug Fister: C+
Fister’s 4.08 ERA should be closer to 4.50 according to ERA predictors such as FIP and xFIP but we can’t fault him for being lucky. Fister has, however, spent a lengthy stint on the disabled list and has struck out fewer than 4.5 batters per 9 innings. Fister is a shell of his former self and, though his first half wasn’t disastrous, if he doesn’t pick it up soon, he might not have much time left in his MLB career.
Advertisement
Nationals Bullpen: C
Tanner Roark performed excellently last season as a starting pitcher – a 2.85 ERA in nearly 200 innings. The performance hasn’t carried over into 2015 and the righty has an ERA of 4.43 through 22 games (6 starts). Blake Treinen and Casey Janssen have each been mediocre while Aaron Barrett has struggled but shown some potential. Matt Thornton has pitched well in limited innings and Felipe Rivera is a young bright spot in the pen.
Rendon
Anthony Rendon: C-
Rendon, the 6th overall pick in 2011, arrived as a superstar last season and compiled a .351 OBP to compliment a .287 average, a league leading 111 runs, and 21 homers at 2nd and 3rd base. Knee and oblique injuries during spring training were supposed to only sideline him for a short period but he ended up losing 2 months. In June, the only month that Rendon was healthy, he hit .290/.375 through 18 games to tease us into thinking he was back but, with the strain of a squad, he disappeared from our lives again. Rendon has dealt with injury issues dating back to his time at Rice University so, while it is difficult to keep him in one piece, he is a superstar when he plays. Here is to hoping Rendon playing more often in the 2nd half of the season (and at 3rd base only to protect his legs).
Strasburg
Stephen Strasburg: C-
Strasburg was not good throughout the beginning of the season despite his velocity and control holding up for the most part. The culprit seemed to be a fault in his delivery from the stretch because every batter was hitting him like they were Bryce Harper when there were runners on base. Upon Strasburg’s return from a neck injury, he was much better in 3 starts before landing on the DL yet again. I’m probably giving him too high a grade but he’s also one of the teacher’s pets.
Nationals Bench: D+
It might be a bit unfair to give the bench this grade when guys like Espinosa or Clint Robinson (who has done a fine job of filling in for Zimmerman; B rating) have been pushed to the everyday lineup because of injuries but, the bench does not have a single player with an OBP above .315 and just hasn’t been very good.
Werth
Jayson Werth: D-
The 21 million dollar man was arrested in the offseason for reckless driving and has since battled a myriad of ailments and has spent most of the season on the disabled list with shoulder and wrist injuries. In the 27 games he has played, he hasn’t been too good, hitting only .208 with 2 homers.
Zimmerman
Ryan Zimmerman: F
Where to begin with Z-man? lets start with the fact that he’s owed fucking 62 million from 2016-2019. A guy who does not know how to throw across the diamond from 3rd base is making enough to buy 3 massive yachts (this one comes with a free apple tv!). Zimmerman transitioned over to 1st base this year and, while he usually performs well before his yearly injury, this season he decided “fuck it, nah, they’ve got Harper and Scherzer.” So he hit just .209 with a .265 OBP in 56 games before hurting his foot.
Desmond
Ian Desmond: F–
Desmond has played like Harper but the exact opposite. He isn’t hard-nosed, he won’t make big plays, he’ll screw you. I thought contract years were supposed to motivate you? Maybe Ian just doesn’t understand economics, currency, or the game of baseball? Desmond has an abysmal .255 OBP (2nd worst among qualified batters in the NL) and has goofed 20 balls (most errors in NL). With that being said, Fuck Ian Desmond, Fuck his mom and her pornstar name, Fuck the city of Sarasota, FL, and fuck whichever dumbass team signs this kangaroo rat.
Nats Team Grade: B+
The Nats rank as the 5th best team in baseball which is pretty impressive considering Ramos has underperformed, Desmond has sucked, Strasburg has been injured and sucked, Fister has been injured, Gonzalez has struggled, Werth and Zimmerman have been injured and struggled, and Rendon has been hurt. Harper and Scherzer have shined like the super stars that they are and are pretty clearly the MVP and the Cy Young of the National League (and really, all of baseball). All in all, the first half wasn’t what we’d like it to be but when you are the 5th best team in baseball and all signs point to the team improving potentially drastically in the 2nd half, you can’t help but be pretty happy.
Advertisement
Hey guys, I’m the new Nats writer on this site. Please follow and contact me on twitter at @NatsBarstool