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Matt was nice enough to contribute to this blog for ranting and raving about baseball topics. A hot topic in the baseball world is located in our nation's capital. Strasburg returns to the Nats after a year off. In his rookie year, he took the baseball world by storm, captivating audiences across the country to tune in and watch him seemingly fan whole teams. Can the Nats ride this new found media attention wave to the top of the NL East...?
Yes they improved, I agree with all of that. Gio Gonzalez will compliment Strasburg and Zimmermann well in this DC rotation but it will not be enough. I have been saying that if they landed Fielder they would have a legitimate chance at challenging for the division but they fell short in the sweepstakes. Michael Morse is nothing to ignore but looking at Prince Fielder's production yearly, you realize he cannot be duplicated.
The Nationals will compete and improve on their 80-81 season from a year ago but they will not clinch a playoff berth. It won't be because of their shortcomings but mostly because of the talent in this division. There are 3 legitimate teams that could win the National League East and the Nats have to figure out Halladay, Lee, Josh Johnson, Jurrjens, Hudson and even Johan Santana more than other teams.
If they were playing their games in the National League Central, I think they would be a favorite to win but this division provides a tough task for a young team. They are growing and progressing in the right directions. Davey Johnson has the feel and pulse of the team. They will not be able to score enough runs to take over the crown in this division. They are making strides and will make baseball very relevant probably all the way through August in Washington but I see them falling short of their ultimate goal. I hope I'm wrong because we saw how electric Strasburg's starts were. Just imagine what a playoff game would be like in Nationals' Park.
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