District Daily: Stacking the Nationals’ new rotation against history
By Pablo Roa
Oct 3, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher
Stephen Strasburg(37) pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of game one of the 2014 NLDS playoff baseball game at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit:
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning DoD readers, start off your day with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web in today’s District Daily:
Stacking the Nats’ new rotation against history
With Max Scherzer apparently on board, the Nationals have added to an already stacked starting rotation.
Scherzer joins Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Doug Fister in what is arguably baseball’s best collection of starters, and a group that compares favorably to some of the best rotations in recent memory.
To get a sense of just how good the Nationals’ rotation is, we decided to compare it to the best starting rotations of the Wild Card era as ranked by Wins Above Replacement according to FanGraphs.com. Before we can even talk about how the Nats’ group stacks up against the all-time best, it has to exceed its modern peers. Read full article here.
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Span, Werth excited about ‘big pickup’ in Scherzer
WASHINGTON — A day after Max Scherzer agreed to terms with the Nationals on a seven-year, $210 million contract, center fielder Denard Spansaid he is excited to play behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Scherzer joins a rotation that includes Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Doug Fister.
Scherzer, arguably the best free agent this offseason, joins a pitching staff that led the Major Leagues with a 3.03 ERA in 2014. Scherzer is familiar with general manager Mike Rizzo, who drafted the right-hander in the first round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft when Rizzo was the scouting director for the D-backs. Sent to Detroit as part of a three-team trade in December 2009, Scherzer went on to blossom with the Tigers, winning 82 games over five seasons and capturing the American League Cy Young Award in ’13. Read full article here.