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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

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Today we will take a look at the best catchers in the organization and obviously it starts and ends with Gary Carter. Carter has the best five seasons by OPS+ when looking at catchers with at least 250 plate appearances. He also has eight of the top 11 and only three other catchers in Montreal or Washington have put up above league-average numbers: Darrin Fletcher, Mike Fitzgerald and Wilson Ramos. To put that into perspective, 167 different players have had at least a 100+ OPS+ since 1969 in Major League Baseball: only four were part of this organization.

Aug 26, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Roger Bernadina (2) in the on deck circle during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Nationals 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

I also looked to see who were the oldest and youngest players in franchise history to have two home runs. The youngest, not surprisingly was Bryce Harper last year who did it for the first time on August 29 (19 years, 318 days). The oldest was Todd Zeile who did it on September 5, 2003 at 37 years, 361 days.

The best performance from a hitter in the two spot in terms of total bases is held by five different players. Cristian Guzman, Mike Lansing (twice), Tim Raines, Andre Dawson and Mack Jones have had 10 total bases in a game. Guzman did it while hitting for the cycle on August 28, 2008. Lansing did it two different ways, with two doubles and a homerun and with two home runs and a double. The other three players did it with a double and two home runs.

Notable players to wear 2 with the Expos/Nationals: John Bateman, Vance Law, Jamey Carroll, Damian Jackson, Felipe Lopez, Roger Bernadina

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First base is always known as an offensive position and with this franchise is no exception. Of the 25 players who played at least 50 per cent of their games at the position and qualified for the batting title, only two had a season that was below league average, Cliff Floyd and Andres Galarraga. Both of those players would end up as pretty good players regardless. In fact, the best season by a first baseman by OPS+ was by Galarraga and Al Oliver with an OPS+ of 150. Oliver was first, in his first year with the Montreal Expos in 1982 where he ended up as the league batting champion. Galarraga’s best season with Montreal came in 1988. He hit .302/.352/.540 and despite a league-leading 150 strikeouts, had one of the best seasons from the first base spot in Expos history.

March 08, 2012; Melbourne, FL, USA; Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (3) at bat during the spring training game against the Houston Astros at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Of the top 10, six were actually since the team moved to Washington. Nick Johnson in 2005 and 2006, Dmitri Young in 2007, Adam Dunn in 2010, Mike Morse in 2011 and Adam LaRoche last season. The other two in the top 10 with the Expos were David Segui in 1997 and Warren Cromartie in 1981.

The best performance from a hitter in the three spot in terms of total bases was by Andre Dawson in 1985. He went 4/6 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. In second is a three-way tie, including the best performance from a National. Johnson had a 4/4 game with a double, two home runs and three RBI on April 20, 2006. He tied the mark first set by Rondell White on June 16, 2000 (4/5, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and Vladimir Guerrero on July 18, 2001 (4/4, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI).

Also notable, is the fact that yesterday mentioning Rodney Scott, Mike Lansing and Jose Vidro: They all wrote the number three.

Notable players to wear 3 with the Expos/Nationals: Bob Bailey, Scott, Lansing, Vidro, Jesus Flores, Wilson Ramos