Washington Nationals: 5 To Watch Against Colorado

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The Washington Nationals end a long road trip with a four-game stop against the Colorado Rockies. Here are five players to keep an eye on.

The hard part of this long road trip for the Washington Nationals begins Monday night with their lone visit to Denver this regular season to face the Colorado Rockies.

The red-hot Nats will arrive drowsy after a Sunday night game against the New York Mets, a sweep. Although the first two legs of this 10-game road trip have been a success, nothing says letdown as a night game following another night game and cross-country flight.

When the Nationals settle at Coors Field, they find a Rockies team atop the National League West division and winners of four straight. Colorado made noise this offseason signing Ian Desmond, but a finger injury will keep him off the field until next month.

With new skipper Bud Black—you remember him—the Rockies are 6-3 at home and 7-3 on the road. Going into Sunday, Colorado had a team ERA of 3.79. Good enough for fourth in the NL and amazing considering their home park.

Colorado depends on the home run for offense. As of Sunday morning, the Rox swatted 24 homers but have a collective batting average of .238. The 24 dingers is third-best in the league while the batting average is ninth.

Oh, they swept the San Francisco Giants this weekend. This is probably not the best time for Washington to call. At least it should not snow. Denver expects that next Saturday. Tuesday night, we will dodge rain drops.

Before giving you the five players to watch, we will tell you Stephen Strasburg is not with the team as he is now a father a second time. Best wishes to the Strasburg family on their bundle of joy.

NOLAN ARENADO

For most of us, the last time Nolan Arenado graced our television screens was his less than stellar performance during the World Baseball Classic.

As with Daniel Murphy, Arenado’s poor performance was not a prediction for his immediate future. After 18 games, he has resumed his slaughter of baseballs along the west coast. He leads the Rockies with 12 runs, six doubles and six homers. The slash line of .328/.400/.687 is why Colorado leads the pack.

Arenado’s OPS of 1.087, a career-high, adjusts to 170. Let’s see how many times Nats pitchers give a hitter performing 70 percent above league average something to hit.

Power and production are not new for Arenado. He led the NL the last two years both in home runs and RBI. Slugging 42 and 41 homers, he drove in 130 and 133, respectively. With an average around .290, those All-Star trips and Silver Sluggers are deserved.

He can play a little third base. Arenado has four straight Gold Gloves.

Last year against the Nats in six games, he slugged one homer, drove in seven while hitting .333. Arenado scored an average of a run a game.

Captain Obvious says keeping him off the bases is a good idea. Because of how the schedule works, just enjoy watching one of the better players in the game do his thing.

DANIEL MURPHY

No, we are not playing up a non-existent rivalry between Murphy and DJ LeMahieu. The two battled to the wire for the NL Batting Title before a hamstring injury sidelined Murphy the last couple weeks.

Instead, Murphy’s legs are an issue again. After two flying weeks at the plate, the second baseman cooled. Over the last seven games heading into Sunday night, he is 3-for-21 hitting .143. He is not striking out much, just twice, but he is not reaching base either.

Add his three walks and the on-base percentage jumps to .250. As the rest of the offense feasted on the Atlanta Braves and Mets, Murphy took time off. He looked better in the raw dampness of Citi Field Saturday, but keep an eye on his wheels.

The Nats can ill afford him to be out of the lineup long. Remember last year that the legs bothered him long before he was forced to sit.

Murphy still leads the team with seven doubles, but trails Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman in batting average at .329. The grand slam off Zach Wheeler helps too.

The Rockies did a decent job holding Murphy to a slash line of .292/.370/.458 last year. Better yet, in six games they surrendered only one double and home run. Watch how comfortable he is this week.

ANTONIO SENZATELA

When you think of good pitching, the Rockies staff rarely come to mind. The thin air of the Rocky Mountains causes free agent pitchers to shy away from the friendly confines of Colorado.

We might need to rethink that as Antonio Senzatela is off to a great start. A pure rookie, he is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts. In 26 innings, this 22-year-old from Venezuela has scattered 18 hits and four walks while striking out 17. That gives him a WHIP of 0.846.

Not bad for a pitcher who made seven total starts in Double-A all on the road as his Hartford Yard Goats never had a home last year. Senzatela went 4-1 with an ERA of 1.82. Eastern League managers sleep better at night with him in the show.

The one game this year where Senzatela drew no decision? A five-inning effort against the Milwaukee Brewers where he did not allow a run. The Giants are sick of him as he beat them twice, not allowing a walk over 14.1 innings.

Slated to go in the series finale Thursday afternoon, the Nats and us will get a good show. FanGraphs does not paint him with a great scouting report. They say Senzatela throws a 94-mph fastball mixed with a slider and changeup.

JOE ROSS

After starting the season at Triple-A, Joe Ross turned lemons into lemonade.

Make no mistake, if Jeremy Guthrie had not coughed up a hairball against the Philadelphia Phillies, Ross would have had a few more starts in Syracuse. The Nats wanted to send the young hurler a message. By his second start on the farm, it was received.

When Washington needed a fifth starter again against the Braves, Ross was ready. Not only did he get a win, he threw seven innings and 100 pitches, giving rest to a bullpen still searching for answers. Colorado figures to be tougher than Atlanta, but the Nats are on fire.

Ross has command issues. He needs pitches to move to fool hitters. Because of that, he is not pitch count efficient. That is one reason his Braves start was successful. They got seven strikeouts and a walk from him. From a fifth starter that is gold.

What makes him key is how will Ross follow up? Expected to start Tuesday, if he can command his pitches and go six deep, it will be a success. What Dusty Baker saw last week had to impress him.

Ross has never pitched against the Rockies. Not at home or Coors Field. Something to keep an eye on.

MARK REYNOLDS

When you think of Mark Reynolds, strikeouts come to mind. Sure, he can launch baseballs into orbit, but you need to make contact first. With the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009, he whiffed 223 times. Only Tim Lincecum and Javier Vasquez threw more strikeouts in the NL that year while teammate Dan Haren punched out 223 hitters.

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Times have changed.

Lincecum is no longer in Major League Baseball and Reynolds does not fan so much. Last year, he struck out a “moderate” 112 times in 441 at bats. Although the power numbers are down, 14 in 118 games in his first Colorado season, the batting average is up.

In 2010, he hit .198. Last year, .282. This year, .339. His focus on production instead of going for the downs every time is one key to the Rockies success.

The power is back, hitting five on the young season. Along with it, Reynolds has 16 RBI and five doubles. At 33, he is as close to the ideal hitter as he has ever been.

In 44 career games, Reynolds hits the Nationals well. His .280 average is not his best against another team, but it is close. With 10 home runs, he has whiffed 47 times. Again, good numbers over the years.

Next: Harper Earns Player of the Week Honors

Would you believe the San Diego Padres struck him out 124 times in 92 games? They have held him to a .219 average.

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