Post by Strategist on Jan 4, 2020 5:06:51 GMT
2018 Review:
Record: 96-66 Won NL East. R/G Scored: 3rd(NL) R/G Against: 6th (NL). Had the 3rd best run differential in the NL. Won Division Series 3-1 over San Diego. Won NLCS 4-2 over Milwakee. Won World Series 4-3 over Toronto.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Marcel Ozuna, Aaron Hicks, and Andrew Benintendi gave the Nats one the best OFs in the game. Yulieski Gurriel and Chris Taylor provided a strong left side. C because of Tyler Flowers FA needed to be filled, along with an upgrade at 1B and 2B. He ended up moving Ozuna to fill his catcher spot with Austin Barnes. A solid lineup but not a major strength of the team.
Rotation: Corey Kluber, Zach Wheeler, Yu Darvish, Brandon Woodruff and Alex Reyes made up a pretty dominant rotation. Traded for Micheal Wacha and had Wade Miley as depth. A top 5 rotation to start the season. The major strength of the team.
Bullpen: Jeremy Jeffress and Joakim Soria were the only above average arm in the bullpen. Their ace reliever David Robertson was a FA
Early Season/Midseason:
Started off the season pretty well with a 31-23 record after the first 2 months. Stumbled a bit in Jun but bounced back in July with a 16-9 record but still had them in 4th place in the NL East. He did make a trade trying to keep the moment towards a playoff spot trading for Jackie Bradley Jr., Adam Eaton, Jon Edwards, and Mike Ford.
End of Season Thoughts:
Lineup: 4th (NL) in runs scored. It was mainly a team effort as no one really stood out with the bat. Their best hitter being Gurriel with 19 HRs and a 111 OPS+. Overall it was a good lineup and I don't think the Nats would complain about the results.
Rotation: 8th (NL) in starters' ERA. Kluber pitched very good not great, Wheeler pitched good. Darvish pitched great but missed some starts due to injury. Alex Reyes pitched great but got hurt after 13 starts. Brandon Woodruff pitched ok but only got 14 starts. Wacha struggled mightly with a 6.03 ERA in 28 starts. Miley likewise was pretty terrible with a 5.50 in 12 starts and 32 relief appearances.
Bullpen: 11th (NL) in bullpen ERA. Pretty much collectively the bullpen struggled. And it hurt the team.
In conclusion:
Team just faded a bit posting losing records in both Aug and Sep. Played in the toughest division with 3 90+ win teams. Probably could have really had a shot at the division if they would have had another solid starter or 2 and some more bullpen depth. Still has a top 10 rotation to build a winner around. Also has a good OF still just needs to upgrade at C, 1B, and 2B. Bullpen will need a lot of work but with the Nats farm system they should be able to makeover their pen quickly as their are always RPs available.
Trades Overview:
LF Marcell Ozuna for SP Micheal Wacha and C Austin Barnes - As we had an owner change and Ozuna was signed to a 5 yr 74 Mil contract by the old owner this felt more like a salary dump of Ozuna's contract than anything. As noted earlier Wacha pitched really bad for the Nats. Barnes was a decent starting catcher but most of his value came from his defense.
CF Aaron Hicks for RF Adam Eaton, CF Jackie Bradley Jr., Jon Edwards, and Mike Ford - This trade helped fill the hole in the OF left by Ozuna. Eaton had a .292/.346/.398 for a 102 OPS+ with the Nats with 2 more years left on his contract should be a solid value. JBR actually hit really well with a .248/.324/.478 slash line with 15 HRs and a 114 OPS+ in 62 games. Jon Edwards was the lone bright spot in the pen with a 2.63 ERA in 28 games.
Free Agency Overview:
Only signed 2 players to major league contracts and neither player played for the Nats. They should have had atleast 20 Mil or so to work with that I think they should have looked at adding to their roster with. F Mainly because no participation in FA.
Record: 96-66 Won NL East. R/G Scored: 3rd(NL) R/G Against: 6th (NL). Had the 3rd best run differential in the NL. Won Division Series 3-1 over San Diego. Won NLCS 4-2 over Milwakee. Won World Series 4-3 over Toronto.
Starting the Offseason:
Lineup: Marcel Ozuna, Aaron Hicks, and Andrew Benintendi gave the Nats one the best OFs in the game. Yulieski Gurriel and Chris Taylor provided a strong left side. C because of Tyler Flowers FA needed to be filled, along with an upgrade at 1B and 2B. He ended up moving Ozuna to fill his catcher spot with Austin Barnes. A solid lineup but not a major strength of the team.
Rotation: Corey Kluber, Zach Wheeler, Yu Darvish, Brandon Woodruff and Alex Reyes made up a pretty dominant rotation. Traded for Micheal Wacha and had Wade Miley as depth. A top 5 rotation to start the season. The major strength of the team.
Bullpen: Jeremy Jeffress and Joakim Soria were the only above average arm in the bullpen. Their ace reliever David Robertson was a FA
Early Season/Midseason:
Started off the season pretty well with a 31-23 record after the first 2 months. Stumbled a bit in Jun but bounced back in July with a 16-9 record but still had them in 4th place in the NL East. He did make a trade trying to keep the moment towards a playoff spot trading for Jackie Bradley Jr., Adam Eaton, Jon Edwards, and Mike Ford.
End of Season Thoughts:
Lineup: 4th (NL) in runs scored. It was mainly a team effort as no one really stood out with the bat. Their best hitter being Gurriel with 19 HRs and a 111 OPS+. Overall it was a good lineup and I don't think the Nats would complain about the results.
Rotation: 8th (NL) in starters' ERA. Kluber pitched very good not great, Wheeler pitched good. Darvish pitched great but missed some starts due to injury. Alex Reyes pitched great but got hurt after 13 starts. Brandon Woodruff pitched ok but only got 14 starts. Wacha struggled mightly with a 6.03 ERA in 28 starts. Miley likewise was pretty terrible with a 5.50 in 12 starts and 32 relief appearances.
Bullpen: 11th (NL) in bullpen ERA. Pretty much collectively the bullpen struggled. And it hurt the team.
In conclusion:
Team just faded a bit posting losing records in both Aug and Sep. Played in the toughest division with 3 90+ win teams. Probably could have really had a shot at the division if they would have had another solid starter or 2 and some more bullpen depth. Still has a top 10 rotation to build a winner around. Also has a good OF still just needs to upgrade at C, 1B, and 2B. Bullpen will need a lot of work but with the Nats farm system they should be able to makeover their pen quickly as their are always RPs available.
Trades Overview:
LF Marcell Ozuna for SP Micheal Wacha and C Austin Barnes - As we had an owner change and Ozuna was signed to a 5 yr 74 Mil contract by the old owner this felt more like a salary dump of Ozuna's contract than anything. As noted earlier Wacha pitched really bad for the Nats. Barnes was a decent starting catcher but most of his value came from his defense.
CF Aaron Hicks for RF Adam Eaton, CF Jackie Bradley Jr., Jon Edwards, and Mike Ford - This trade helped fill the hole in the OF left by Ozuna. Eaton had a .292/.346/.398 for a 102 OPS+ with the Nats with 2 more years left on his contract should be a solid value. JBR actually hit really well with a .248/.324/.478 slash line with 15 HRs and a 114 OPS+ in 62 games. Jon Edwards was the lone bright spot in the pen with a 2.63 ERA in 28 games.
Free Agency Overview:
Only signed 2 players to major league contracts and neither player played for the Nats. They should have had atleast 20 Mil or so to work with that I think they should have looked at adding to their roster with. F Mainly because no participation in FA.