Streaking Nationals come to Citizens Bank Park on a roll

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Red-hot Juan Soto leads the streaking Nats into South Philly

The Philadelphia Phillies (47-43) and Washington Nationals (47-42) return to play following four days off for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game break with a Friday night contest at Citizens Bank Park.

These two NL East Division rivals currently control the two National League Wildcard playoff positions in the league standings. However, for nearly two months they have been travelling in opposite directions.

On May 29, the Phillies were 33-22 and held a 3.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East standings. That same day, the Nats were 24-32 and 9.5 games behind the Phillies.

But since May 24, Washington has forged a 28-11 mark. That is the best record in all of Major League Baseball since that date.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have slumped to a 14-21 record since their May 20 high-water at 11 games over the .500 mark. That is the same record in that time frame as the last place Miami Marlins have fashioned. Only the 13-22 record of the New York Mets over that period has been worse in the division.

All of that – the Phillies hot start, the Nationals recent hot stretch – is now in the rear view mirror. The ultimate story of the 2019 season for these two division rivals is going to be written over the next two and a half months. If the Phillies want to begin to turn their season back around, it has to begin this weekend.

For more than three weeks, the Phillies have faced nothing but NL East Division rivals on the schedule. The club has gone just 9-13 in those games. That stretch ends with this three-game weekend tilt with the Nationals.

The Phillies are going to come out of the stretch with a losing record. But winning this series would still mark a big step forward. It would also move them past the Nationals in the standings heading into a very tough four-game series to open next week with the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

Both teams have a middle-of-the-road offensive attack. The Nationals rank 14th in all of baseball with their average of 4.94 runs scored per game. The Phillies are right behind, their 4.91 runs per game ranking 15th among the 30 MLB ball clubs.

There is a big difference on the mound. Washington’s pitching staff ranks 5th in the National League with a .247 batting average against, and their .720 OPS against is 3rd in the league. Their pitchers collectively rank 4th in MLB in strikeouts.

June bug Nats beginning to prove major pests in NL East

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Anthony Rendon has led a Nationals charge back into the race

The Philadelphia Phillies begin the month of July in a far different position than they started out the month of June.

When the calendar made the flip from May to June, the Phillies were on top of the National League East Division standings. Their 33-24 record had the club three full games ahead of the Atlanta Braves to that point.

The month of June was not kind to the Phillies, as the club stumbled to an 11-16 mark. Now, the Phillies begin July in second place, staring up at the Braves through a five-game deficit in the loss column.

The Phillies went 5-2 over this past week, though it was a bit of a mixed bag of results. It began with an uplifting four-game sweep of the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. But this past weekend saw the Marlins capture two of three in Miami to take some wind out of the Phillies sails.

This week’s upcoming games will lead into a four-day break for the MLB All-Star Game.

As always, my NL East Beat report reveals how each of the Phillies divisional rivals fared over the course of the past week with a presentation of the standings, last week’s results, and the upcoming schedules for each club.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

EAST DIVISION

East Division

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
Atlanta Braves	50	35	.588	--
Philadelphia Phillies	44	40	.524	5.5
Washington Nationals	42	41	.506	7.0
New York Mets	38	47	.447	12.0
Miami Marlins	32	50	.390	16.5

Data courtesy Baseball-Reference.com.

ATLANTA BRAVES (4 – 3)

Summary: Atlanta split a four-game set at Wrigley Field with the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, then moved on to Citi Field where they took two of three from the struggling New York Mets.

While the Phillies were stumbling through their losing June, the Braves went 20-8 to put themselves firmly in control. Now this young and talented ball club will to capture a second straight NL East crown.

For Nationals it's win now, or possibly lose two superstars

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The Nats already lost Harper, could Rendon be next star to go?

The Washington Nationals, who play host to the Phillies in a four-game series this week, have spent the better part of the last seven seasons dominating the National League East Division standings.

In 2012, the Nationals ended the Phillies five-year grip on the division by capturing the franchise’ first-ever NL East crown. Their direct predecessors, the Montreal Expos, were considered to have finished in first place back in 1994, but that was the strike-ended season that was never completed.

From 2012-18, the Nationals registered a winning season each year. They captured division titles four times in that span: 2012, 2014, and 2016-17. In each of the other three years, the Nats finished in second place.

The club was always in the hunt for a playoff berth until suddenly falling into a deep funk from June 10 through September 6. They struggled all summer at 32-46 during that stretch, falling from first place to finish 10 back of the Atlanta Braves in the east and nine games out of a Wildcard.

In the off-season, the Nationals lost the player who had arguably become the face of the franchise over those seven seasons. Bryce Harper left the team at age 26 to sign as a free agent with the rival Phillies.

The Nationals brain trust believed that it could cover for the loss of Harper. They had a pair of exciting young Dominican outfielders ready to make an impact on an everyday basis in now 20-year-old Juan Soto, who was the runner-up for the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year Award, and 22-year-old Victor Robles.

But when the season opened, things didn’t go as planned in our nation’s capital. Injuries and inconsistent play resulted in a horrendous first two months. The Nationals woke up on Friday, May 24 back home after getting swept in four games at Citi Field by the division-rival New York Mets. They were a disheartening 19-31, and were already 10 games off the pace in the NL East.

Since that time, the Nationals have begun to regain some of their lost mojo. They have fashioned a 14-7 record over the last three weeks, and though still 8.5 out in the division, the Nationals are now just six games behind the Phillies in the race for the final NL Wildcard spot. Of course, there are also five other teams ahead of them in chasing that spot.

Max Scherzer stands in the way of Phillies continuing unbeaten start to 2019

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Max Scherzer presents a big hurdle for unbeaten Phillies

There has been much warranted hoopla surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies (3-0) visit to the nation’s capital for two games against the Washington Nationals (1-2) this week.

Much of the talk and excitement is understandably focused on the return of Bryce Harper to face the team for whom he played over the first seven years of his career.

However, this is also a big early series for the simple fact that these two teams are rivals in the National League East Division. For the very first time in the history of the two clubs since the Nationals franchise moved to Washington for the 2005 season, both are expected to be contenders.

This is just the first of 19 games between the two teams this season. While it certainly will decide nothing on its own, getting off to a good start with a big victory at Nationals Park in front of a hostile crowd would make a nice statement for the Phillies.

It will not be an easy task. In order to make that big victory happen the Phillies are going to have to find a way to overcome Nationals ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The 34-year-old has won three Cy Young Awards and finished among the top five in voting a half-dozen times over his previous 11 big-league seasons, including as the NL runner-up last year.

Scherzer has fashioned a dominating record over the course of 17 career appearances against the Phillies. The veteran right-hander has faced 445 Philly hitters and held them to a .200 cumulative BAA (batting average against) and .586 OPS. He has struck out 138 of those hitters, the fourth-most that he has registered against any team.

It has to be mentioned that Scherzer has done the vast majority of that damage over four seasons from 2015-18, when the Phillies were transitioning during a major rebuilding program. The team that he will face tonight bears no resemblance whatsoever to those recent groups.

After finishing 22nd in Major League Baseball in OPS a year ago the Phillies are now second in that key gauge of offensive proficiency. Sure it’s only after three games. But the improvement in the club’s offensive attack is plain to see.

National League East report: 3/28 - 3/31

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Freddie Freeman and Atlanta start defence of their NL East crown

I’ll be providing a weekly update scheduled to release every Monday during the regular season, highlighting the happenings within the National League East Division.

The Philadelphia Phillies swept the defending division champion Atlanta Braves in the 2019 season-opening series for both teams over this past week at Citizens Bank Park.

I will be presenting those game and series results, but also will be letting you know how each of the Phillies division rivals fared in the prior week of play while supplying important updates for each club.

The NL East beat reports will also include top producers for each team in the division, interesting statistics, the upcoming schedules, and the ramifications on both the divisional and National League Wildcard playoff races as the season unfolds.

ATLANTA BRAVES

Last week: 0-3

The defending NL East Division champion Braves came to Citizens Bank Park with a number of questions regarding their pitching staff. Those questions found few answers as the Phillies pounded the staff for eight homers en route to scoring 23 runs over three Atlanta losses.

By far the biggest offensive producer for the Braves was veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman. He slashed an unreal .600/.692/.800 with two doubles and two RBI. 22-year-old second baseman Ozzie Albies had three hits and two walks. Shortstop Dansby Swanson had Atlanta’s lone home run and scored three times.

Phillies young ace Aaron Nola named as a Cy Young Award finalist

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Phillies young ace Aaron Nola named a Cy Young Award finalist for first time

Major League Baseball announced the finalists for its 2018 major awards today, and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola was named as one of the three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award.

The 25-year-old Nola enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Phillies this past season. Becoming the team’s ace, the young right-hander went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA, 0.975 WHIP, 175 ERA+, and 3.01 FIP.

Nola allowed only 149 hits this year in 212.1 innings across 33 starts with a 224/58 K:BB ratio. His 10.5 WAR mark was the best by any pitcher in the game and the second-highest in all of baseball, just ahead of Mike Trout and just behind Mookie Betts.

The other finalists announced for the award were Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals and Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.

Scherzer went 18-7 with a 2.53 ERA, 0.911 WHIP, 168 ERA+, and 2.65 FIP. Over 33 starts the 34-year-old allowed 150 hits in 220.2 innings pitched with a 300/51 K:BB ratio and 8.8 WAR mark.

The right-hander already has three Cy Young Awards on his mantle at home. Scherzer won the American League Cy Young Award with Detroit in 2014 before taking home the honors for the National League in each of the last two seasons with Washington.

The 30-year-old deGrom went 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA, 0.912 WHIP, 216 ERA+, and a 1.98 FIP. He yielded 152 hits across 217 innings over 32 starts with a 269/46 K:BB ratio and 9.6 WAR mark.

A two-time NL All-Star, deGrom was the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year. The righty finished seventh in 2015 and eighth a year ago in previous NL Cy Young Award voting results.

Philadelphia Phillies

✔@Phillies

.@AaronNola027 finished this season 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 224 strikeouts over his 33 starts.

Thank you, Ace, for one heck of a 2018!

9:20 PM - Sep 29, 2018

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MLB awards: my 2017 IBWAA ballot

IBWAA members submitted 2017 MLB Awards ballots

With the four Major League Baseball Division Series each heading towards their climactic moments, this marks a good time to take a quick look back at the regular season.

As a lifetime member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America), the end of each MLB regular season means that my awards ballot is due.

The IBWAA asks each of its members to vote on five categories in both the National and American Leagues. Those five are the MVP and Cy Young, as well as each league's top reliever, rookie, and manager.

As with the vast majority of voters in the IBWAA, my own selections were certainly based on performance. However, also as with every other voter, subjectivity comes in to play.

There are almost always multiple individuals deserving of awards consideration. That was most definitely the case this season. I found this past 2017 MLB season to be one of the toughest ever for which to fill out an awards ballot.

NLDS Prediction: Washington Nationals over Chicago Cubs

Nationals fans believe that this will be their year - so do I

This isn't necessarily a now-or-never situation for the Washington Nationals, as some pundits have claimed.

The Nats are likely to again be favorites to win the NL East crown in 2018, and will have the talent again to be a serious championship contender.

However, it is getting to be time for the Nationals to prove that they can actually win a postseason series, let alone make a deep October run.

This is the sixth consecutive season of contention in our nation's capital. Washington captured the NL East crown in four of those six seasons, and finished second in the other two. This is their fourth shot at postseason play.

In their three previous October series, the Nationals dropped a hard-fought NLDS. In 2012 it was a 3-2 series defeat at the hands of the Saint Louis Cardinals.

The Nats won the opener of that series, and held a 7-5 lead with two outs in the top of the 9th in the decisive Game Five before a Cardinals rally killed their dreams.

In 2014, the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants took out the Nats in four games. Each of the three defeats came by a single run: 3-2 and 2-1 in the first two games, and then a 3-2 defeat in Game Four where the Giants clinching run scored via a wild pitch.

Last season, Washington was a clear favorite against the LA Dodgers. A 3-2 loss to Clayton Kershaw in the opener was nothing to be ashamed of, and the Nats bounced back to capture the next two games.

Then in Game Four, the Dodgers tied the series with a two-out, nobody on rally in the bottom of the 8th in which a Chase Utley RBI single drove in the winning run of a 6-5 game.

In Game Five, Max Scherzer was tossing a gem, shutting out the Dodgers for six innings. But in the 7th, LA erupted for four runs, ultimately holding on for a 4-3 victory that again eliminated the Nationals.

This history matters, because if the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs get out to a series lead, or even take it to a decisive game, that history of playoff losing could work on the Nationals collective heads.

Anthony Rendon deserves NL All-Star 'Final Vote'

Nat's Anthony Rendon deserves NL All-Star Final Vote 

The Washington Nationals have led the National League East Division for all but three days this season. 

To the victors traditionally go the spoils, and one of those spoils is that a number of Nationals players have been selected for the NL All-Star team.

In fan voting, three Washington stars have already been selected. Outfielder Bryce Harper will start in the NL outfield. The 24-year old superstar finished with over 3.6 million votes, more than any other player in Major League Baseball.

Second baseman Daniel Murphy will be appearing in his second consecutive All-Star Game. It will be the third career all-star honors for last year’s NL MVP runner-up.

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman is enjoying the best season of his 13-year big league career. He was voted to his second All-Star team. His only previous honor came way back in the 2009.

The Nationals also had two pitchers named to the NL roster, starters Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.

Even with that fine representation, there is still one more member of the Nationals lineup also deserving of the honor, third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Rendon has been named as one of five candidates for what MLB promotes as a “Final Vote” process. Fans can go online and vote for their choice until Thursday, July 6 at 4:00pm EDT.

Top Ten MLB active starting pitchers based on career WHIP

There are many ways to evaluate the top MLB players of recent years, as well as down through the history of the game.

The statistic of WHIP, or "Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched", has become one of the more popular tools to make such evaluations. It is one of my personal favorites.

WHIP is fairly simply to calculate. You simply add the number of hits and walks that a pitcher allows, then divide that total by the number of innings pitched by the hurler.

This afternoon out in Los Angeles, two of the best current starting pitchers in baseball will be facing off. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for the host Los Angeles Dodgers. For the visiting Washington Nationals, it will be right-hander Stephen Strasburg who toes the rubber.

This premier matchup got me to thinking, who exactly are the best starting pitchers of recent vintage? I have my opinion, but what do the stats show?

MLB Spotlight Series: Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers

The top two National League ball clubs in my current MLB Power Ranking are about to clash. The Washington Nationals visit Dodger Stadium this week to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This will be a rematch of last year’s NLDS, won by the Dodgers in the full five games. The Nats held a 2-1 lead in that series, but LA won a pair of taught thrillers to capture the series.

Skipper Dusty Baker‘s Washington squad sits on top of the NL East Division with a 35-20 record, best in the league. Manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers are 35-23, a half-game behind the Colorado Rockies in the NL West Division standings.

The Nats have captured the NL East crown three times in the last five seasons. The Dodgers have won four consecutive NL West titles. Consequently, these have been two of the best teams in baseball for years now.

The pitching matchups for the series are as follows:

Monday – Gio Gonzalez (Was) vs Hyun-Jin Ryu (LA)

Tuesday – Max Scherzer (Was) vs Brandon McCarthy (LA)

Wednesday – Stephen Strasburg (Was) vs Clayton Kershaw (LA)

The Nationals jumped out to a 21-9 start, then lost eight of 12 games. But coming into this series, Washington has won 10 of 13 to open up a 10.5 game lead in the division.

The Dodgers were struggling to stay above the .500 mark for the first month of the season. But LA has taken 27 of 40 games since April 22, and has spent four days in first place over the last week.

Nationals 2016 POY: Max Scherzer

In 2016, the Washington Nationals won the National League East Division crown for the third time in the last five seasons.

There were just four early May days in which the Nationals did not lead the division. Winning 14 of 18 from late May through mid-June, the club opened a healthy lead that it would never relinquish.

In the end, Washington finished at 95-67, eight games ahead of the second place New York Mets. This left them with the second best record in the National League, and gave them home field advantage in their NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In that NLDS, the Nats dropped a tough 4-3 opener, but then captured the next two games to move within a game of advancing.

But then a clutch RBI single by Chase Utley in the bottom of the 8th inning broke up a Game Four tie at Dodger Stadium, giving the Dodgers a narrow 6-5 victory to tie the series.

In the decisive Game Five back at Nationals Park it was another former Phillies star who helped do them in. Carlos Ruiz‘ RBI single in the top of the 7th broke a 1-1 tie. Ruiz then scored on Justin Turner‘s two-run triple.

The Dodgers would go on to a 4-3 win, their third one-run victory, and advance to the NLCS. The Nationals thus again came up short in their drive to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Nationals Have Pitching to Deal

The Washington Nationals have great starting pitching depth and could move an arm or two to shore up a couple of other problem areas.

The NL East Division champion Washington Nationals had until yesterday afternoon to decide whether or not to exercise the 2017 contract option on left-handed starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

Picking up the $12 million option on the 31-year-old southpaw would have been a slam dunk for almost every team in Major League Baseball. 

Gonzalez went 11-11 this past season with a 4.57 ERA and 1.342 WHIP. He also allowed 179 hits over 177.1 innings with a 171/59 K:BB ratio.

Those are certainly not “ace” numbers. And they also don’t measure up to the strong five-year stretch that Gonzalez registered from 2010-14.

And it’s not as if the Nats don’t have other options. While most teams are searching high and low for quality starting pitching options, Washington has an embarrassment of riches on the mound.