30 Clubs in 30 Days: No. 21 Washington Nationals

The team I call the Ratty Nattys will certainly be less ratty in 2011. However, the hype that’s been generated in DC will come to fruition at some point, just not now. Big name acquisitions and young talent are the highlights of the Nationals going into the new season, but they’re not quite developed enough to justify a prediction any higher than 4^th place in the NL East.

No. 21 Washington Nationals

Projected Rotation

1. Livan Hernandez-RHP
2. John Lannan-LHP
3. Jordan Zimmerman-RHP
4. Jason Marquis-RHP
5. Tom Gorzelanny-LHP

Projected Bullpen

1. Drew Storen-RHP
2. Sean Burnett-LHP
3. Tyler Clippard-RHP
4. Henry Rodriguez-RHP
5. Todd Coffey-RHP
6. Doug Slaten-LHP
7. Collin Balester-RHP

Projected Lineup

1. CF Nyjer Morgan
2. SS Ian Desmond
3. 3B Ryan Zimmerman
4. RF Jayson Werth
5. 1B Adam LaRoche
6. LF Roger Bernadina
7. 2B Danny Espinosa
8. C Wilson Ramos

Analysis

There will be no Stephen Strasburg sightings this season as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery, and number one overall pick Bryce Harper will be in the minors, for now. An underrated commodity the Nationals’ acquired last year was Catcher Wilson Ramos who they acquired when they sent Matt Capps to the Twins.

Ramos has a lot of respect amongst current Major League stars. Fellow Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera said that Ramos would become the greatest Venezuelan of all time at some point in his career. He only appeared in 22 big league games last year but he’s too talented for the Nats to keep him off the field and will be their full time catcher come May.

Dynamic Center Fielder Nyjer Morgan was in the headlines for a lot of the wrong reasons in 2010. There’s no doubt in the talent that Morgan possesses but it is dire for him to have a good year as the Nats have no other legitimate hitters to bat leadoff.

Ryan Zimmerman will team up with the newly acquired Jayson Werth to be one of the most powerful 3-4 connections in the National League. Together they hit 52 home runs and 170 RBI in 2010 and should put even better power numbers this year. The Nats will go as far as their big time duo can take them and even if they don’t go too far in the division there will certainly be a lot of balls flying over the fences at Nationals Park this season.

Another good sign for the Nats is the strength of their bullpen. The pen had a good season in 2010 and the additions of Coffey, and Rodriguez make this unit even stronger. The wildcard will be Storen at closer. Storen is a young gun with a lot of potential, but with Capps getting most of the save opportunities before he was shipped to Minneapolis, Storen only managed five saves in 2010. He’ll have to prove he belongs in the closer role and it won’t be easy, as the Nats will be playing in the toughest division in the National League.

The starting rotation will be the biggest question for the Nationals this year. Hernandez had his best season in years after signing a minor league deal with the club last year, Livo was a great story last year but some drop off has to be expected. After that there’s not much of a sure thing as there are no proven veterans in entire rotation and Zimmerman will be in his first year back from Tommy John.

It’s going to be a long season where a lot of Nats fans will be wishing for Strasburg’s health. I understand the urgency Nats fans but wait patiently your team will contend for a division title in a few years (strong emphasis on a few years).