Washington Nationals: Ranking The Past Opening Day Lineups
By Ricky Keeler
2009 – 13.0
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.