Washington Nationals Editorial: 2015 Naughty Or Nice List

Mandatory Credit: H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

With today being Christmas Eve, which Washington Nationals’ players made the “Baseball Santa” naughty or nice list this year?

With Christmas Eve being today (even though it’s warm outside), Santa is getting prepared to pack the toys on his sleigh to bring to children all over the world. Before he leaves the North Pole, he is going to check his big list one more time to see who was naughty or nice this year and decide whether they get toys or a lump of coal.

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That got us to thinking about this question: What would happen if there was a baseball Santa? While the Washington Nationals’ 2015 season was disappointing as they did not live up to the World Series predictions people gave them for March, there were some players who still made the nice list even though the team failed in terms of reaching their ultimate goal.

So, for today, we wanted to give three players for both the naughty and nice lists respectively for this season. For the record, this is for strictly the 2015 season, so if a player has been traded or signed by another team, they are still eligible for this list since baseball Santa can deliever to their gifts to the current team that they play for.

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So, with that being said, here are the players that will be getting presents under their tree and which players will be finding some coal in their stockings on Christmas morning. First, let’s start with the nice list:

Next: Nice List #1

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Nice List: Max Scherzer

Last offseason, the Nationals waited until late January before they made the surprise signing of ace pitcher Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million deal. When a pitcher receives that much money, there are lofty expectations attached to that player. Scherzer lived up to the hype in his first year with the Nationals. He provided great moments for the fans by throwing two no-hitters and a one-hitter.

In 33 starts this past season, Scherzer went 14-12 with a 2.79 ERA in 228.2 innings pitched and finished fifth in the voting for the National League Cy Young award. He was second in the NL in strikeouts (276) and fourth in WHIP (0.92). The four complete games were impressive for Scherzer when you consider he had not thrown a complete game in his career coming into the season.

Out of the 33 starts he made, he had 10+ strikeouts in 11 of those games, including a 16- strikeout game against the Milwaukee Brewers back in May and a 17 strikeout game in his final start of the year against the New York Mets (second no-hitter). While he had a rough patch after the All-Star Break, he showed dominance during his first season.

Now, with Mike Maddux as his pitching coach in 2016, Scherzer will look to continue his dominance and stay on the nice list this time next year. However the expectations will continue to stay sky high on both Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg now that Jordan Zimmermann is in the American League, pitching for the Detroit Tigers.

Next: Nice List #3

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Nice List: Yunel Escobar

Back in January, Nationals fans were not sure if acquiring Escobar was a good thing, especially when they had to give up Tyler Clippard in the process. However, Escobar turned out to be a huge help for the Nats with all the injuries he had offensively. In 139 games, Escobar had a slash line of .314/.375/.415 with nine home runs, 56 RBI’s, and had 75 runs scored. His 1.9 WAR was third on the team behind Harper and Ian Desmond.

Escobar’s .314 average was the second highest batting average he has had in a single season (.326 with the Atlanta Braves in 2007). However, what adds Escobar on the nice list this season was that he was able to help the Nats out at third base. With Anthony Rendon hurting his knee in spring training, Escobar moved to third base after he was originally acquired to play second base.

Last week, the Nats dealt Escobar to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and added another reliever to their new-look bullpen in right-hander Trevor Gott. While he is now in Los Angeles, he still deserves some presents from the Baseball Santa this year for being one of the Nats’ best contributors on offense as he has had two five-hit games in the month of May and he was a team player as he played any role that the organization asked him to do in order for the team to win.

Even though the bullpen was a weak point in 2015 without Clippard, who knows where the offense would have been if they didn’t have Escobar to step up once most of the key players were out of the lineup?

Next: Naughty List #1

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Naughty List: Jonathan Papelbon

Just as Harper was an easy choice for the nice list, Baseball Santa makes the easy choice of putting Papelbon on the naughty list this year. The Nationals acquired Papelbon at the trade deadline this July from the Phillie for right-handed pitching prospect, Nick Pivetta. While Papelbon was 7-for-9 in saves with the Nats, that is not what he will be remembered for in 2015.

Of course, we all go back to September 27 against the Phillies when Papelbon put his hands on Bryce Harper’s throat in the dugout. Papelbon would end up not playing another game for the rest of the season. Now, the Nats are trying to find some way to trade him, but it doesn’t sound like anyone’s interested.

While it’s not fair to solely blame Papelbon for the team’s second half swoon, the acquisition of Papelbon did affect Drew Storen, who ended up being demoted to the setup man. After an All-Star caliber first half, Storen had a 5.82 ERA in his final 23 games and broke his thumb slamming it against a locker door in September, causing him to miss rest of the season.

Even though Papelbon has shown he still is a good closer, even at the age of 35, it would surprise me if he were on the Nats’ roster when the team opens Spring Training in Viera, Florida. Plus, it is safe to say that there will be plenty of coal in Papelbon’s stocking when he wakes up on Christmas morning.

Next: Naughty List #2

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Naughty List: Ian Desmond

A lot of pressure was on Ian Desmond to contribute in a contract year in 2015, but the Nats’ shortstop was unable to shake off his fielding woes. He made 27 errors in 2015, which was the most he has had in a single season and was three errors higher than his 2014 total.

Early on in the season, Desmond’s yips in the field translated to his offensive performance. The 30-year-old had a slash line of .211/.255/.334 with seven home runs and 24 RBI’s. He hit under .200 in June and July. In the second half, his numbers did improve in the second half when he had a slash line of .262/.331/.446 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI’s.

Ultimately, Desmond did finish the 2015 season with 19 home runs, but he snapped his streak of three straight 20 home run seasons. Plus, while his WAR of 2.0 was second on the team, it was his lowest WAR total since 2011 (1.1).

While the Nationals will miss Desmond’s leadership and he was the last player on the team to be picked by the Montreal Expos (1999 MLB Draft), Desmond’s struggles earn him a little bit of coal this Christmas. Currently, he is still a free agent and it doesn’t sound like he will sign anytime soon. Plus, the Nats are hoping the gift they acquired last December from the San Diego Padres, Trea Turner, turns out to be a very good shortstop in Washington DC for a long time.

Next: Naughty List #3

Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Naughty List: Wilson Ramos

While Ramos did stay healthy in 2015 and played in more than 100 games (128) for the second time in his career (113 games in 2011, his numbers left a lot to be desired. He had a slash line of .229/.258/.358 with 15 home runs and 68 RBI’s. The 15 home runs was tied for the most the Nats’ catcher has hit in single season, which also occurred back in 2011. Ramos had a good start to his season when he had a 20-game hit streak. However, just as Desmond got hot in the second half, Ramos got cold.

In 208 at-bats during the second half of the season, the 28-year-old hit a mere .197 with seven home runs and 30 RBI’s. While he drove in 13 RBI’s in September, which was tied for the most he had in any given month (June), his batting average was only .180.Ramos did throw out 44% of runners trying to steal against him, but he did have issues defensively in fielding throws from home plate.

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Heading into 2016, Ramos enters the final year of his deal. With young catchers Pedro Severino and Spencer Kieboom rising up the ranks in the Washington Nationals’ farm system, Ramos needs a great season at the plate and to remain healthy, which is what I’m sure he asked Baseball Santa for on his Christmas wish list. But, his disappointing end to 2015 gives him a small lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas.