Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
In the words of the illustrious F.P. Santangelo, “If it’s free it’s me and I want three.” (Seriously, he said that, now my kids say it, still pretty funny too…and true) Well, Jayson Werth is anything but free, but if Game 4 wasn’t enough, this year Jayson Werth has gone from Werth-less to Werth it! The artist formerly known as Larry Leadoff has re-emerged as Charlie Cleanup.
Tuesday night in New York, Werth did it again, going 3 for 4 with a double, a homerun and another double to go along with 2 RBI’s for those of you who hate math. Sir Laurence raised his batting average to .328 and is now threatening to win a batting title at the youthful age of 34. Yup, 34, made me think of going gluten-free, then I remembered that I love bread and don’t hate myself, but I’m happy for him.
Meanwhile, the Nationals are trying to keep hope alive and moved to 6 games back of the Reds with a 6-3 win over the Mets. The Nationals are either going to need to win virtually every single game for the rest of the season or hope for an epic collapse. That being said, if I’m drawing straws for an epic collapse, I hope that I draw a straw for a team that either hasn’t had a winning season since “Major Dad” and “Murder, She Wrote” were considered entertaining or one managed by Dusty Baker.
Adam LaRoche also moved closer to being league average and away from replacement level by hitting a homerun and Jordan Zimmermann’s struggles continued as he seemed to cruise until being unable to find his way out of the 6th inning. Zimmermann seemed to have taken the next step earlier this season into the elite level of starting pitchers, but has looked very hittable over the last few weeks. Of course, given the Nat’s crack medical staff I’m sure he’s fine. I mean they probably asked him if he was fine and he was like, “Yeah, of course I’m fine.” No MRI’s required.
Still, the story was Werth. Werth is 4th in the Major Leagues in wOBA and currently leading the National League. In other words, he’s on the verge of winning the Nerd’s Batting Title of the Interwebs. Werth’s 22 dingerz are the most he’s had since his 2010 walk year in Philthadelphia. The Nats may be clinging to a glimmer of hope in their playoff quest, but it’s going to be fun to see where Werth finishes up and what the Werewerth can accomplish between now and then. Hopefully, it involves going all WWE with a metal folding chair on Jimmy Rollins, but a batting title would be cool too. Either way, Jayson Werth is proving he’s Werth It.