Home » 2006 Baseball
Predictions
Washington Nationals Preview
The former Montreal Expos were one of the most improved teams in the majors
last season, improving 14 games. The now, Washington Nationals boasted their
highest attendance in franchise history and fans are anxiously waiting to see if
they can continue to improve into a playoff caliber team in 2006. The Nationals
play in a pitcher-friendly ballpark which allowed them to stay in a lot of games
last season despite having trouble producing runs. They averaged just 3.56 runs
per game at home as opposed to the 4.32 they averaged on the road. They also had
the worst batting average of any team in the National League. This is
unmistakable proof that pitchers have the advantage in D.C. This undeniable
pitcher-friendly ball park also gives us a great opportunity to cash in on the
Washington Nationals in 2006.
The big hype heading into the season surrounded the addition of all star second
baseman Alphonso Soriano. Only time will tell if Soriano can fit into this
team’s plans in left field. He will provide some much needed punch to the lineup
with his speed and power, and just as I expected, he’s not getting a lot of help
in the early going as Washington just doesn’t have a whole lot of offensive
options. Guillen and Nick Johnson pose somewhat of a power threat, but that
isn’t saying too much. The Nationals are definitely going to have to make sure
they play well defensively and get a lot of quality starts out of their staff in
order to stay competitive in this talented National League East. Good news is
that they’ll get plenty of games against the hapless Marlins. They’ll need to
take advantage of their home park, by winning as many games in D.C. as possible.
Because of their difficulty producing runs at home, which is the opposite of
most teams, the Nationals developed a reputation of a poor hitting team. But
because they scored nearly a run more per game on the road, overs were a solid
gold play on the Nationals. On the season, they scored about the same number of
runs as their opponents when on the road, but they got taken to school at home.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking a team is a poor hitting team all the time.
It’s important to differentiate between how a team hits against lefties and
righties and at home and on the road.
The Nationals do have a couple decent starting pitchers who allow them to stick
around in games without getting many runs across home plate. Livan Hernandez,
who went 15-10, and John Patterson, who posted a respectable 3.13 ERA will need
to be solid again in 2006 and they will need some help from Tony Armas as well.
Lawrence and Ramon Ortiz join this rotation and can hopefully provide solid
options to shore up the rotation. Chad Cordero really helped this team come
through with one-run games and saved 47 games while posting a 1.82 ERA.
2006 Baseball Previews
MLB Free Picks by
Jimmy Boyd
|
