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.

Struggling Phillies open mid-June series with resurgent Nationals

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Many fans in both towns now conflicted over Werth and Harper

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies (39-32) continue with their road show, this time opening a four-game series with the rejuvenated Washington Nationals (33-38) on Monday night in our Nation’s Capital.

The Phillies are coming off a humbling Father’s Day experience in which they were dismantled by the division-leading Atlanta Braves in a 15-1 rout. They enter D.C. having now dropped five of their last seven games, and 10 of 16 going back to May 29.

After suffering through a horrendous 19-31 start that buried them in fourth place, 10 games out, the Nationals have begun to right their ship. The club has gone 14-7 since that point. Still in fourth place, but they are just six games behind the Phillies for the final NL Wildcard spot, and would love to cut into that deficit this week.

They enter the series fresh off their own 15-run experience. Only in their case, the Nats were the team scoring all the runs in a 15-5 win at home yesterday over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Nationals offensive attack ranks seventh in the National League in both runs scored and OPS, and they are third in stolen bases. On the mound their pitchers are tied for sixth in batting average against and seventh in OPS against, and the staff ranks first in strikeouts.

A big reason they are at the top of those strikeout rankings can be found in their starting rotation, and the Phillies will see the Nationals best this week. Washington will throw lefty Patrick Corbin in the opener, young Erick Fedde in the second game, and then finish up the series with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg for the final two games.

These two teams have already met three times this season. They split a two-gamer in Washington back in early April. The Nationals then took two of three in Philly a week later, but saw the Phillies take two of three at Citizens Bank Park in early May. They will meet yet again in a four-gamer right after the MLB All-Star break back in Philadelphia, but then do not see one another until the first day of Fall, on September 23.

Of course, there is added intensity when these two clubs meet, at least from the Washington fans perspective, with star right fielder Bryce Harper having left town. In eight games between the two clubs this year, Harper has slashed .321/.472/.643 with two homers, three doubles, eight walks, seven RBIs, and six runs scored.

Harper was the Nationals pick at first overall in the 2010 MLB Draft and played his first seven seasons with them, winning the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year Award and the 2015 National League Most Valuable Player Award, and making the NL All-Star squad six times.

Defending NL East champion Braves stay right on Phillies heels in mid-May

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Ronald Acuna Jr and the Braves are defending NL East champs

One week ago today, the Philadelphia Phillies (27-19) were seven games over the .500 mark in first place in the National League East Division standings. They led the second place Atlanta Braves by three games, and were four up in the loss column over both Atlanta and the New York Mets.

Following a week in which they went 4-3, the Phillies are now eight over that .500 mark. But the Braves also fared well, cutting into that lead. Atlanta now trails by 2.5 games, three in the loss column. Meanwhile, the Mets have fallen six back in the loss column, with the Washington Nationals even further in the rear view mirror at eight games out.

After dropping three of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies rebounded to sweep out the Colorado Rockies in three games over the weekend at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are now 4-3 during what was a tough 23-game stretch of their schedule.

Now comes the most difficult part of that rough stretch, with 13 of the next 16 games on the road. It all starts with a seven-game road trip this week. Four games at Wrigley Field against the NL Central Division-leading Chicago Cubs followed by a three-game series next weekend with the Brewers at Miller Park.

During this series against the Cubs, fans of the Phillies will experience a first. On Wednesday night, Chicago will send lefty Cole Hamels to the mound. It will mark the first-ever career start for Hamels against the team for whom he broke into the big-leagues, won 114 games over 10 seasons, and captured both the World Series and NLCS MVP awards during the 2008 postseason championship run.

As always, my NL East Beat report reveals how each of the Phillies divisional rivals fared over the course of the past week: games scores, pivotal performers, key injuries, and other important updates on each team are included.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

EAST DIVISION

East Division

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	27	19	.587	--
Atlanta Braves	25	22	.532	2.5
New York Mets	20	25	.444	6.5
Washington Nationals	19	27	.413	8.0
Miami Marlins	13	31	.295	13.0

Data courtesy Baseball-Reference.com.

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.

2019 MLB preview and predictions

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Paul Goldschmidt powers up the Saint Louis Cardinals for 2019

With the 2019 Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules drawing to a close this week, all eyes are now squarely focused on Opening Day. All 30 teams in Major League Baseball will be playing in the regular season on Thursday.

How will superstars such as Bryce Harper with the Philadelphia Phillies, Manny Machado with the San Diego Padres, and Paul Goldschmidt with the Saint Louis Cardinals fare in their new homes? Which teams will become surprise contenders? Which major injuries will derail a team’s postseason hopes?

Each new MLB campaign comes with its own unique storylines. This year will be no different. Over the coming six months there will be excitement, drama, heartbreak, and controversy as each club plays out its 162-game schedule.

For years now I’ve been looking into my own personal crystal ball to make predictions for MLB’s division winners and individual award winners as well as my picks for the postseason.

A year ago in my 2018 MLB Preview and Predictions piece, I got four of the six divisions correct. I missed out on the Milwaukee Brewers edging my Chicago Cubs pick for the NL Central, as well as the Atlanta Braves, who I had for third place in the NL East.

My NL Wildcards were those Brewers and the Colorado Rockies. So the Braves were the only NL playoff team that I missed. In the AL, I had the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels as those Wildcard teams. Right divison, wrong team, as the Oakland Athletics actually captured an AL Wildcard spot instead of those Halos.

For the Fall Classic, I predicted that the defending champion Houston Astros would repeat by downing the Cubs in five games in a match-up between the two previous World Series titlists.

Those Cubs would end up losing a thrilling 2-1 NL Wildcard Game to the Rockies at Wrigley Field. The Astros returned to the ALCS, but were eliminated in five games by the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Since I am writing for a Phillies-centric site, a bit of a disclaimer: this piece is not Phillies-centric. There will be plenty of times here at Phillies Nation where we cover the wider story of Major League Baseball. As for our favorite home nine, well, you are going to have to look elsewhere if you want to find a “homer” World Series prediction. At least this year.

Now time to reveal my predictions for the upcoming 2019 season. As always, I would love to hear your own picks in the comments section or on social media. Play ball!

John Middleton will prove to be the key should Phillies quickly return to contention

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(Controlling owner Middleton needs to open the pocketbook wide)

For much of this past summer the Philadelphia Phillies appeared to be a team and an organization on the rise. The club bolted to first place and sat atop the National League East Division standings for more than a month. The teams within their minor league organization were also enjoying success.

But in the end, the Phillies collapsed to finish in third place with a losing record for the sixth consecutive season. And though three of the organization’s minor league affiliates reached the postseason, none were able to capture a title.

It was a disheartening ending to what as recently as early August seemed to be shaping up as a summer full of promise. Still, you might be excused for feeling that the Phillies organization was making positive strides and was now primed to contend for years to come.

Slow your roll.

By the failed stretch run, the Phillies were regularly starting a lineup where half the players were over 30 years of age. And in their most recent organizational rankings, the respected analysts at Baseball America had dropped the Phillies from sixth to 18th place. Just as importantly, the Phillies division rivals were on the rise.

The Atlanta Braves ran away with the National League East Division crown. The Braves are led by 28-year-old Freddie Freeman and feature a pair of dynamic young talents in second baseman Ozzie Albies (21) and left fielder Ronald Acuna (20) in their everyday lineup. Atlanta also has a boatload of talented young pitchers both at the big-league and minor league levels.

The Washington Nationals bolted past the Phillies to finish in second place. They may lose superstar Bryce Harper to free agency, possibly even to the Phillies. However, the Nats are likely to remain serious contenders thanks to the emergence of shortstop Trea Turner (25) and outfielders Juan Soto (20) and Victor Robles (21) along with their returning solid pitching.

Baseball America put the Braves at #5 and the Nationals at #12 in their organizational rankings. And it isn’t just those two teams that the Phillies appear to need to focus upon with concern.

The New York Mets suffered through an extremely disappointing campaign, one marred seriously by injuries. By the end of the year, New York had pulled within just three games of the Phillies in the standings.

The Mets lineup includes emerging young talents in shortstop Amed Rosario (22) and outfielders Brandon Nimmo (25) and Michael Conforto (25), while their talented young pitching features Noah Syndergaard (25) among others.

New York was rated at #19, just one place behind the Phillies, in the Baseball America organizational rankings. That was a jump up from 27th place on their previous list, revealing that the Mets organization appears to be on the rise.

There is no doubt that things are looking up for the Phillies as far as their own possibilities are concerned. There are a handful of talented young players and pitchers, and a few well-regarded minor league prospects. The club is positioned well financially to add impact free agents.

More the point for Phillies fans is that whether their team actually develops into a true contender for the next handful of seasons is not simply a matter of what their own team is doing. It is not simply a matter of whether Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Nola are joined by two or three more young players stepping forward to impact the on-field talent at Citizens Bank Park.

Jayson Werth Has Been Worth the Nationals Investment

The Washington Nationals finished at the bottom of the NL East standings in the 2010 season. It was a familiar finish for the former Montreal Expos franchise. 

The team had ended the season in last place in four of the previous five years since relocating south to the U.S. capital city.

That 2010 campaign wrapped up the third season for the team at Nationals Park, and team management was looking to turn around the fortunes of the franchise.

During the off-season, GM Mike Rizzo looked over his youthful roster and believed that he saw things about to change.

Players like Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Danny Espinosa were beginning to emerge. In June, the club picked at the top of the MLB Amateur Draft, selecting mega-hyped teenager Bryce Harper.

Rizzo saw the beginnings of better days ahead in the near future. But he wanted a veteran, proven, run-producing bat to help the club take the next step.

Just in time, star right fielder Jayson Werth of the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies was becoming a free agent.