Washington Nationals: 5 To Watch Against Colorado
By Ron Juckett
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.