Washington Nationals Countdown To Spring Training: 1 Day
By Jared Book
The off-season is almost over. Less than three weeks until Washington Nationals pitchers and catchers report to Viera. To celebrate this fact, we here at DistrictOnDeck will commence a countdown of sorts pointing out interesting facts about numbers.
18 Days
17 Days
16 Days
15 Days
14 Days
13 Days
12 Days
11 Days
10 Days
9 Days
8 Days
7 Days
6 Days
5 Days
4 Days
3 Days
2 Days
Finally. Tomorrow isn’t really a *huge* deal. In reality it’s just that pitchers and catchers who have been throwing are now doing so in a team-organized setting but baseball is baseball and given how last season ended, I think almost everybody involved with the Washington Nationals is excited to get things going and every day is one day closer to Opening Day.
September 19, 2012; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Steve Lombardozzi (1) is congratulated by Ian Desmond (20) after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park. The Dodgers defeated the Nationals 7 – 6. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
We’ve already talked about the best pitching performances so today we will look at another number ‘1’. The top rookie performances.
Best Pitching Seasons
1973 Steve Rogers: 4.9 WAR- 10-5, 1.54 ERA, 134 IP [2nd in Rookie of the Year voting]
1970 Carl Morton: 3.6 WAR- 18-11, 3.60 ERA, 284.2 IP [1st]
Rest of the Top Five: Dan Warthen (1975) 3.3 WAR, Joe Hesketh (1985) 3.1 WAR, Tim Burke (1985) 2.8 WAR.
Best Washington Rookie Season: John Lannan (2008) 2.5 WAR 9-15, 3.91 ERA, 182 IP (7th in franchise history by WAR)
Best Hitting Seasons
2011 Bryce Harper: 5.0 WAR .270/.340/.477, 22 HR, 59 RBI [1st in Rookie of the Year voting]
1977 Andre Dawson: 3.7 WAR .282/.326/.474, 19 HR, 65 RBI [1st]
Rest of the Top Five: Tim Raines (1981) 3.4 WAR, Larry Walker (1990) 3.2 WAR, F.P. Santangelo (1996)/Gary Carter (1975) 3.1 WAR
Best Major League debuts:
Ian Desmond, September 10, 2009
2/4, 1 R, 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Brandon Watson, August 9, 2005
2/5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 1 RBI
Delino DeShields, April 9, 1990
4/6 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Tommy Milone (yes, a pitcher), September 3, 2011
1/2 1 HR, 3 RBI
Best Major League debuts (pitcher):
Stephen Strasburg, June 8, 2010
7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 14 K, 0 BB
Dan Smith, June 8, 1999 (Exactly 11 years prior to Strasburg’s debut)
7 IP 3 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 0 BB
Kirk Rueter, July 7, 1993
8.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB
Carl Morton, April 11, 1969
9 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 3K, 3 BB (Lost 1-0)
The best performance from a hitter in the leadoff spot in terms of total bases is held by Alfonso Soriano who had 14 on April 21, 2006 (4/5, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI). Tim Raines is in second spot with 12 on August 16, 1987. Andre Dawson is 3rd with 11. Brad Wilkerson had 10 total bases three times including once when he hit for the cycle and Ron LeFlore also had 10 once on June 18, 1980.
Notable players to wear 1 with the Expos/Nationals: Gary Sutherland, Willie Davis, Tyrell Godwin, Willie Harris, Nyjer Morgan, Steve Lombardozzi