Anthony Rendon stayed hot at the plate last night, hitting his first career grand slam in a win over the Braves. Could he be the key to postseason success for the Washington Nationals?
When the Washington Nationals got off to a red-hot start to the 2016 season, the keys to their success was a better-than-ever Bryce Harper and a dominant pitching staff. Now, with three weeks to go until the postseason, the Nationals keep winning — though their formula for winning is a bit different.
Recently, the Nationals have been relying more on key offensive production from a few unexpected sources and the continued success of their starting rotation.
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Harper hasn’t been the same in recent months, as he’s struggled to snap out of one of the worst slumps of his career. Ryan Zimmerman continues to struggle at the plate, and Wilson Ramos and Danny Espinosa haven’t come close to matching their first-half production.
For the Nationals, the struggles of those three players means an increased reliance on youngster Trea Turner and, perhaps even more so, on the reemergence of Anthony Rendon. And both players have delivered, becoming stalwarts for the offense over the last few weeks.
Rendon in particular has been a welcome sign for the Nationals. After his first-half struggles, the third baseman has quickly turned his season around, batting .311 with four home run and 23 RBIs over his last 30 games. He hit .324 in August and is batting close to .300 in September, this after batting .242 in April and not much better in May and June.
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The Nationals have never questioned Rendon’s abilities at the plate, but they desperately needed him to get going given the struggles and injuries that have plagued the rest of the lineup this season. In a sense, it’s as if the Nationals acquired a .300 hitter at the trade-deadline since Rendon has provided them with production they weren’t getting before he turned it around after the all-star break.
And just as Rendon has been the surprise key to a successful second half, he could be the key to postseason success as well for the Nationals.