Washington Nationals: Ranking The Past Opening Day Lineups
By Ricky Keeler
2011 – 12.6
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.