Nationals Start The Season 2-0 And Now Return To DC For The Home Opener
The Nationals and Stephen Strasburg grabbed a tight one in a 3-1 win over the Braves yesterday. Now I’ve been touting Stephen Strasburg up to be 2016’s insurgent ace for months now and yesterday’s performance while not great, was solid enough to get the win. Strasburg went 6 innings with 1 run allowed, but the three walks are uncharacteristic especially against Braves OFs Ender Inciarte and Hector Olivera, neither of whom are known to take a free bag very often. After Strasburg’s day was done, Dusty turned to Shawn Kelley who threw a pitch, got an out, and was pulled. Baker has treated Kelley like he’s the last Hershey’s Symphony bar you’ve got – with constant rationing (Kelley has thrown a total of 5 pitches in his two appearances). I’m hoping (and pretty confident) that Dusty will give Kelley a longer leash going forward.
Matt den Dekker coming off the bench to hit his 2-RBI double in the 7th
Offensively, there wasn’t a ton until the two-out rally in the 7th, but Ryan Zimmerman, Wilson Ramos, and Danny Espinosa all had solid multi-hit days. If I had to choose 3 batters that will be necessary for the Nats to succeed, it really might be them. Sure Harper, Rendon, and Daniel Murphy are all singularly more important, but if the Nats can get constant production from the bottom half of the order, namely Ramos and Espinosa, then the early success will be sustainable over a longer period of time. Additionally, a healthy Ryan Zimmerman is another all-star bat in the lineup that drastically improves the offense.
The bad news from yesterday was Ben Revere going to the 15 Day DL with an oblique strain. However the good news was Matt den Dekker, was called up, got to the ballpark right before first pitch, and then came off the bench to give the Nats the game with a 2 RBI double in the 7th. I love what den Dekker and Michael A Taylor bring to the Nats lineup, both of whom will be important pieces with Revere sidelined.
Advertisement
The home opener is today vs Miami. The Nats have been playing solid baseball and will get to avoid Jose Fernandez during the 3 game series, meaning the Nats very well could start out the year 5-0.
Follow @SAlaskaBarstool