May 24, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; General view of Nationals park during the game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park. The Washington Nationals won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
May 29, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; General view of Nationals Park during the game between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
We dig into the archives and figure out which Washington Nationals Opening Day lineup was the best in team history by WAR
Opening Day is finally upon us. Tomorrow afternoon, the Washington Nationals will take the field at Nationals Park for a game that counts in the standings. They will be taking on Edinson Volquez and the Miami Marlins (1:05 p.m ET, MASN).
In the short history of this franchise being in Washington D.C., the Nats have played 12 games on Opening Day. This will be the sixth time the team has opened the season at home since Nats Park opened in 2008.
While Opening Day is a day of hope amongst all baseball fans, it hasn’t been quite kind to the Nats. The team has won four of their last five games on Opening Day, which has improved what is now a 5-7 record since 2005.
Since this is a great day in the baseball calendar, we thought it would be a good day to take a look back at the past Opening Day lineups since 2005. In the course of a 162 game season, your first lineup isn’t always going to be the lineup you put out there in September or October or even the best lineup.
Using Baseball Reference’s WAR stat, we are going to rank which Washington Nationals team had the best Opening Day lineup. Share with us your Opening Day memories in the comments section below.
We are going to go from worst to first, so let’s start with a team where we have profiled certain players over the last month or so:
The 2008 Washington Nationals were one of two teams that finished with only 59 wins in franchise history. The other we will get into later on our countdown. In Manny Acta’s second season as manager, the Nats only had three players on the team that finished with a WAR above two.
Those three players were shortstop Cristian Guzman (4.6), third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (2.7), and left fielder Elijah Dukes (2.3). Zimmerman ended up being tied for the team lead in home runs (14), Dukes led the team in on-base percentage (.386), and Guzman led the team with a .316 batting average.
As for the negatives, the Opening Day lineup had three players finish with a negative WAR. Those were catcher Paul Lo Duca (-0.9), left fielder Lastings Milledge (-0.2), and right fielder Austin Kearns (-1.2). Lo Duca and Kearns each played in fewer than 100 games while Milledge finished the year with 14 home runs.
The starter that night against the Braves was Odalis Perez, who went 7-12 with a 4.34 ERA in 30 starts that year (1.4 WAR). It took Perez till May 12th to get his first win that year, but he had a good Opening night against the Braves in the inaugural game at Nats Park (five innings, one run, four hits, two strikeouts, one walk).
Of course, everyone remembers that night for the walk-off heroics by Zimmerman. After a passed ball allowed the Braves to tie the game in the top of the ninth, Zimmerman’s solo home run in the bottom of the inning against Peter Moylan sealed the team’s first Opening Day win.
While there weren’t many happy moments that season for the fan base, at least they always have Opening Day to fall back on.
In Acta’s first season as the manager in D.C., the Nats finished with a 73-89 record, which was a two win improvement from the prior season. Acta’s Opening Day lineup that year was led by Zimmerman, who had a 4.6 WAR and led the team in home runs (24) and RBI’s (91).
After Zimmerman, the two other Nats that had a WAR higher than two that year were left fielder Ryan Church (3.3) and Austin Kearns (2.6). Church had 15 home runs that season (career high) and Kearns hit .266 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI’s. Both of them were also in the top three in on-base percentage.
Three Washington Nationals in that lineup had a negative WAR, including the opening day starting pitcher, John Patterson (-0.5). Patterson appeared in just seven games that season due to injury and went 1-5 with a 7.67 ERA. As for the other two, infielder Felipe Lopez hit a mere .245 and catcher Brian Schneider hit .235 with six home runs.
That afternoon, Patterson gave up seven runs in a 9-2 loss to the then Florida Marlins at RFK stadium. Miguel Cabrera had four RBI’s, including a two-run home run against Patterson in the fourth inning. The Nats offense only managed two runs against Dontrelle Willis over the course of six innings.
The weirdest part of that season was that no starting pitcher finished the season with ten wins. In fact, the team leader for wins that year was a reliever (Jon Rauch had eight). However, no starter had ten losses either.
Frank Robinson was in his third season managing the Expos/Nationals in 2006 when the team went 71-91, a ten win decrease from the team’s inaugural season in Washington D.C. You wonder if the team hadn’t traded for Alfonso Soriano before the ’06 season, would this team have the worst Opening Day lineup in franchise history?
Soriano was acquired from the Texas Rangers and the left fielder had 46 home runs, 95 RBI’s, and stole 41 bases. His 6.1 WAR was the fourth highest in the National League in 2006 (Baseball Reference).
The other standout on this team was first baseman Nick Johnson (5.0 WAR). Johnson hit .290 with 23 home runs, 77 RBI’s, and had a .428 on-base percentage (fourth in the NL). After Soriano, Johnson, and Ryan Zimmerman (2.9), there weren’t many positives.
In total, the Nats had four players that year with a negative WAR, which is the most in any Opening Day lineup in the team’s history. It was a mixture of veterans and a rookie in center fielder Brandon Watson. The veterans with a negative WAR were second baseman Jose Vidro, shortstop Royce Clayton, and right fielder Jose Guillen.
On the mound was Livan Hernandez, making his second Opening Day start (0.1 WAR). Hernandez went 9-8 with a 5.34 ERA in 24 starts before being dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks in August. Hernandez and Clayton would both be traded before the end of the season.
Hernandez did pitch well at Shea Stadium that Opening Day as he gave up three runs over six innings, but David Wright’s solo home run in the sixth was enough to give Tom Glavine and the New York Mets a 3-2 win.
2010 was the first and only full season that Jim Riggleman got to manage the Washington Nationals. That year, the team went 69-93, but it was a ten-win improvement from the two prior seasons.
For the third time in his career, Zimmerman led the team in WAR that year (7.2) thanks to setting a career high in home runs (33) and driving in over 100 runs (106) for the second time in his career.
After Zimmerman, Adam Dunn moved over to first base after opening the 2009 season in left field and had a 2.4 WAR. Dunn had a second straight 38 home run season and drove in 103 runs. As for that year’s left fielder, Josh Willingham made his only Opening Day start in D.C. He would end up having the second highest WAR of his career (2.8).
This lineup that day did have a Hall of Famer behind the plate in Ivan Rodriguez, but he finished with a negative WAR (-0.1) that year. Besides Willingham, the outfield struggled as center fielder Nyjer Morgan (-0.6) had 88 strikeouts that year to go with a .253 average. Plus, right fielder Willie Harris (-0.7) hit below .200 for the season (.183).
John Lannan (0.1) took the mound at Nats Park that afternoon for the second time in his career. The 25-year-old finished second on the team in wins (eight) and innings pitched (143.1) that year to Hernandez.
Lannan and the Nats didn’t have a great Opening Day that season as they were blown out 11-1 by the Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings in the loss. The only run scored by the Nats offense that day came courtesy of a Zimmerman RBI double against Roy Halladay in the bottom of the first.
While the Washington Nationals had three different managers in 2011, Riggleman was the skipper for Opening Day. Despite multiple managers, the Nats did end up finishing a game under .500 that year (80-81).
During this season, the team leader in WAR wasn’t Zimmerman, but it was Michael Morse (3.4). Morse got the start in left field that day, but spent the bulk of the season at first base. The then 29-year-old had a career year as he hit .303 with 30 home runs and 95 RBI’s.
The only other player with a WAR of two or higher was second baseman Danny Espinosa (2.8). In his first full season, the 24-year-old hit 21 home runs and stole 17 bases.
Unlike the previous teams listed, there were many negative WAR’s in the 2011 Opening Day lineup. The only two were new first baseman Adam LaRoche (-0.2) and that year’s starting pitcher, Livan Hernandez (-0.1).
In his final season with the Washington Nationals, Hernandez went 8-13 with a 4.47 ERA in 29 starts. If you look past the ERA, Hernandez was second on the team in innings pitched at age 36.
Hernandez had a good outing at Nats Park that year on Opening Day against the Atlanta Braves. He gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but he was able to keep the team in the game with 6.1 strong innings. But, the offense managed only three hits against Derek Lowe over 5.2 innings in a 2-0 loss.
Manny Acta began the 2009 season as the manager, but ended up being fired midseason and was replaced by Jim Riggleman. The Nats ended up winning 59 games that year for the second consecutive year.
Before Bryce’s Harper historic 2015 season, the player with the highest WAR in a single season in Nats history was Zimmerman in 2009 (7.2). He hit .292 that season with 33 home runs and 106 RBI’s.
After Zimmerman, there was no other position player in the starting lineup that had a WAR over two. In fact, the entire starting outfield that year (Adam Dunn, Lastings Milledge, and Austin Kearns) had a combined WAR of -1.3. This is even with Dunn hitting 38 home runs (team high).
The starting pitcher for Opening Day that season was John Lannan (3.4). The right-hander led the team that season with nine wins (four more than any other starter). While he threw over 101 innings more than any other pitcher, he had the most losses on the staff as well (13).
Lannan had a bad outing on Opening Day that year against the Florida Marlins at LandShark Stadium. He went three innings, gave up six runs on six hits, and a pair of home runs in a 12-6 loss.
If there was one positive from Opening Day in 2009, it was Dunn. The left fielder drove in four of the six runs. This included a three-run home run in the sixth inning against Ricky Nolasco that at the time cut the Nats deficit to 8-5.
The team that pops up in the middle of our countdown is the inaugural Nats team in Washington D.C. On a team that went 81-81 that year, the team added two notable players before that season in third baseman Vinny Castilla (0.8 WAR) and right fielder Jose Guillen (3.8).
This was a unique season in terms of the lineup because two positions shared the same WAR of 3.6. It was Guillen and first baseman Nick Johnson. Coincidentally, those were the two players that were the top two on the home run list (Guillen had 23 and Johnson had 16).
One of the players who had a negative WAR in that lineup was left fielder Terrmel Sledge (-0.2). But. Sledge is a part of history. His two-run home run off Phillies starter Jon Lieber in the top of the sixth on Opening Day was the first home run by a Nats player. He drove in three of the team’s four runs that day.
The first starter in team history was Livan Hernandez (3.0 WAR). He went 15-10 that season with a 3.98 ERA in 33 starts that season. His 15 wins were tied for the second most he had in a single season and he ended up making the National League All-Star team that year.
At Citizens Bank Park that day, the Phillies ended up winning the game by a final score of 8-4. Hernandez did not make it out of the fifth inning as he gave up seven runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings in the loss. Kenny Lofton’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth that afternoon turned a 4-1 deficit into 7-1.
This is the first of three Washington Nationals playoff teams to make the countdown. In Davey Johnson’s first year as manager, the team won 98 games, which is still a record for the most wins by any Nats team.
Bryce Harper did make his debut during that season, but not on Opening Day. The leader in WAR for the Nats that season was actually first baseman Adam LaRoche (4.1). LaRoche led the team in home runs (33) and RBI’s (100) and was third in on-base percentage (.343).
Outside of LaRoche, there were three other players (Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond) that finished with a WAR over two. Zimmerman and Desmond each hit 25 home runs while Espinosa stole 20 bases that season. The only negative WAR in that lineup was left fielder Mark DeRosa (-0.7).
Stephen Strasburg got his first Opening Day start that season. Of course, everyone remembers what happened with Strasburg at the end of the year, but he was second on the team in wins (15) and strikeouts (197) that season. Of course, the pitcher he trailed in both categories happened to have a career year in 2012. That would be Gio Gonzalez and his 21 wins.
On Opening Day, Strasburg gave up one run over seven innings at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He didn’t get the win that day, but the Nats did thanks to a game-tying walk by Jayson Werth in the eighth and a game-winning single by Desmond in the ninth.
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (40) and right fielder Bryce Harper (34) react after defeating the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. The Nationals defeated the Braves 4-3 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
2016 – 19.5
Last year’s team ended up winning 95 games and won the National League East for the third time in five years. There were several additions to the lineup in center fielder Ben Revere and second baseman Daniel Murphy.
For the first time in franchise history, a Opening Day WAR leader for the season ended up being the starting pitcher. Max Scherzer (6.2) got the start on Opening Day last year and ended up having a season in which he won his second Cy Young award.
From a position player standpoint, Murphy (4.6) had a fantastic season as he hit 25 home runs, finished second in the batting title race, and second in the NL MVP race. For a time last year, Murphy and catcher Wilson Ramos (3.3) carried the offense.
On a negative note, the two players with negative WAR’s that year in this lineup were Zimmerman (-1.1) and Revere (-1.2). Revere ended up injuring his oblique on Opening Day and just could not get into a rhythm during the year. Eventually, his center field spot ended up going to Trea Turner.
Last year, Opening Day was at Turner Field as the Nats took on the Braves. Both Harper and Murphy ended up hitting home runs that afternoon, but the Nats found themselves in a 3-2 hole after the bottom of the eighth.
But, the Nats would rally back and tie the game in the ninth on a Michael Taylor sacrifice fly. One inning later, it was Murphy’s RBI double to left that ended up sealing a 4-3 win for the Washington Nationals in Dusty Baker’s first year as manager.
When looking back at the Washington Nationals 2015 season, one of the themes from that year was injuries in the early stages of the season. On Opening Day that year, the Nats didn’t have center fielder Denard Span, left fielder Jayson Werth, and third baseman Anthony Rendon.
In the end, the Washington Nationals ended up underachieving that year as a team that was picked by some to win the World Series ended up finishing with 83 wins.
Out of the 21,5 total WAR by that lineup, a combined 17 WAR came from two players. Right fielder Bryce Harper had a 9.9 WAR and the starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, was at 7.1
Of course, Harper ended up winning the MVP that year with a .330 average, 42 home runs, 99 RBI’s, and an on-base percentage of .460. As for Scherzer, he ended up leading the staff in wins (14), innings pitched (228.2 innings), and strikeouts (276).
Without Span, Rendon, and Werth, their three replacements (Michael Taylor, Dan Uggla, and Tyler Moore) combined for a -2 WAR. Uggla had to play second base because new acquisition Yunel Escobar ended up moving to third base.
The Nats hosted the Mets that year on Opening Day and Harper had the team’s lone run with a solo home run in the fourth inning against Bartolo Colon. Scherzer took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but a Lucas Duda two-out, two run single gave the Mets the lead and New York ultimately won the game 3-1.
In the second of their three NL East titles, the Nats won 96 games in Matt Williams’ first year as manager before losing in the NLDS to the San Francisco Giants.
During this season, the Nats had five of their nine Opening Day starters with a WAR over three and nobody had a negative WAR in that lineup. The best player in that lineup that season was second baseman Anthony Rendon (6.6).
Rendon ended up finishing the season in the top five in MVP votes. He was third on the team in home runs (21), RBI’s (83), and on-base percentage (.355). Plus, he was second in .OPS (.824).
Right behind Rendon on the WAR leaders for that team were Jayson Werth (4.1) and his .394 on-base percentage, Ian Desmond (3.9) and his 24 home runs and 24 stolen bases, and Denard Span (3.7), who had a team high 31 steals.
That year, Stephen Strasburg made his third Opening Day start. In 2014, the team had five starters with double digit wins (Strasburg was fourth with 14). He had the most strikeouts (242) and innings pitched of any starter that season (215).
On Opening Day at Citi Field, Strasburg struck out ten New York Mets over six innings, but gave up four runs in the first two innings. Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, the Nats rallied as Span hit a game-tying double against closer Bobby Parnell.
One inning later, it was a Desmond sacrifice fly and a three-run home run by Rendon against former Nats starter John Lannan that helped the organization get a 9-7 win over New York.
Now, to the number one team on the countdown, which may come as somewhat of a surprise:
It is somewhat surprising that the 2013 Washington Nationals had the highest regular season WAR in the team’s history because this was another team that underachieved and ended up missing the playoffs with a 86-76 record.
When looking at the numbers, one thing that might helped the 2013 team get to that number was no player in the Opening Day lineup had a negative WAR that year and only first baseman Adam LaRoche (0.8) had a WAR under one.
But, at the same time, injuries did play a factor that year as catcher Wilson Ramos and second baseman Anthony Rendon both played in fewer than 100 games.
It was another Opening Day start for Stephen Strasburg (3.5). That season, Strasburg went 8-9 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 starts. That season, the three starters who had more wins than him were Dan Haren (ten), Gio Gonzalez (11), and Jordan Zimmermann (19).
However, Strasburg’s 3.5 WAR ended up being the highest he has had in any season in his career. Last year, his WAR was at 3.3, so he might’ve past the 3.5 total if he did not get injured at the end of the season.
For Opening Day that season, the two main stories were Strasburg and Bryce Harper against the Miami Marlins. On the mound, Strasburg went seven innings and gave up only three hits while striking out three. At the plate, both of the Nats runs were scored via two solo home runs from Harper against Ricky Nolasco.
