October Bound: Breaking down the Nationals’ ideal postseason roster
Sep 28, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher
Jordan Zimmermann(27) reacts after the final out of his not hit game against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit:
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
The Easy Part: Starting pitchers and everyday players
You have 25 players to put on the roster. The first playoff roster is only set for the first series. The manager can change the roster for the NLCS if the team gets past the first round.
The easy part of the game is putting on the everyday players and starting rotation. Here are the pitchers that will definitely be on the roster: Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister, Tanner Roark. Roark may not get a start and will be considered a bullpen contributor.
He will be valuable if one of the starters gets blown up in the first or second inning and someone needs to come in to take over the start. If one of the starting pitchers gets injured (not tempting fate here) or has a tough outing where they haven’t given up a lot of runs but have thrown 90 pitches in five innings, Roark is available to come in and go four or five innings and not have to burn up the bullpen.
The everyday players who will be on the roster are Jayson Werth, Denard Span, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Ian Desmond, Asdrubal Cabrera, Adam LaRoche, Wilson Ramos, and Jose Lobaton. Ryan Zimmerman will make the roster to be a right-handed pinch-hitter off the bench and to play left field or first against a tough left-handed starter.