Countdown to Opening Day - 11: Nationals poised to take next step in 2015
In this 30-day series, theScore's MLB editors will preview the 2015 season with an in-depth look at some of the significant numbers - statistical milestones, jersey numbers and general miscellanea - poised to pop up throughout the campaign.
When Bryce Harper learned this winter that his team had signed Max Scherzer to a seven-year deal, his reaction was both characteristically brash and entirely appropriate.
"I just started laughing," Harper recalled in February. "I was like, 'Where's my ring?' You know what I mean? It's stupid. It's absolutely stupid how good our staff is."
He's right.
Nearly 11 years have passed since Major League Baseball was revived in the national's capital, a development that ended the game's turbulent, exceptionally meaningful tenure in Montreal. Over that time, the Nationals have followed a popular path to the top, with much of their recent success predicated on the draft picks accumulated through the failures that colored those forgettable few years after inception.
Never before, however, have the Nationals fielded a roster so uniformly impressive. Devoid of any obvious defects, Mike Rizzo's gang appears poised to exorcise the postseason demons that have plagued the club in recent seasons. Though Harper and company have secured two division titles in the last three years, the Nationals didn't advance beyond the division series in either trip to the postseason. Last season's defeat was especially devastating, though, as a questionable tactical decision from rookie manager Matt Williams in Game 3 of the NLDS contributed to the club's defeat at the hands of the eventual World Series champions.
However, the club's dubious postseason record should change in 2015. With Scherzer slated to join baseball's strongest rotation from one season ago - the Nationals' starting corps led the majors in WAR, ERA, and fielding independent pitching in 2014 - and a lineup bereft of weakness, no team is better equipped for October glory than Washington.
| Player (2015 ZiPS Projections) | ERA | FIP | K/9 | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Scherzer | 2.64 | 2.67 | 10.35 | 5.1 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 2.93 | 3.00 | 10.10 | 3.9 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | 3.07 | 3.18 | 7.40 | 3.9 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 3.28 | 3.35 | 9.04 | 2.7 |
| Doug Fister | 3.27 | 3.62 | 6.37 | 2.1 |
Time is of the essence in Washington, though. A number of the club's principal characters - namely Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Doug Fister and Denard Span - are destined for free agency at season's end. With significant roster turnover expected next winter, the Nationals can no longer rest on their laurels. Earning only a division title this season will constitute a failure in Washington.
Earlier this spring, after pitchers and positions had settled into their pre-season routines, Harper stated the obvious when he noted that "people want to see us fail" in 2015. In less than two weeks, Harper and his teammates will get their first chance to deny their detractors that satisfaction.
If the Nationals can keep doing that through the final week of October, though, the 22-year-old would really have something to chuckle about.