Washington Nationals: 5 to watch in second half start against Reds

Zack Cozart

Out of all the good shortstops in the National League, the one that was given the All-Star nod was Cozart. While he missed the last series against the Washington Nationals due to being on the disabled list, Cozart should play a factor in these next four games.

Right now, Cozart is sixth in the National League in batting average (.316) and has five hits in 14 at-bats over his last seven games. He’s not going to hit for much power (nine home runs), but he puts the ball in play. His 78 hits in 66 games are the fifth most on the Reds roster.

While the Reds are in rebuilding mode, Cozart has the chance to be one of their franchise players. The question for their front office is whether or not they will be able to sign him to a long-term extension. He will be a free agent at the end of the year.

In 28 games against the Nats in his career, Cozart is a .255 hitter with three home runs and 14 RBI’s. He has never faced Max Scherzer and his numbers against the other three starters he will face in this series aren’t good either (3-for-39 against Gonzalez, Roark, and Strasburg).

The 1-2 combination of Billy Hamilton and Cozart is something to keep an eye on in this series. Now, let’s take a look at one of the players in this series that had a compelling case to make the All-Star team, but was snubbed.

Anthony Rendon

With third base being a strong position across the National League this year, Rendon wasn’t given the opportunity to play in Tuesday’s game in Miami. With that being said, hopefully the time off did not slow his game down.

Rendon enters the second half on a seven-game hit streak. During this streak, he has multi-hits in three of those games and has four doubles. If you extend the sample size to the last 22 games, he’s hitting .365 with five home runs, 15 RBI’s,and has an on-base percentage of .478.

Heading into the second half, it will be interesting to see what changes Dusty Baker makes to the starting lineup, if at all. With Trea Turner and Jayson Werth on the DL, does Rendon move up to the top of the order due to his ability to take pitches and draw walks?

Last month, against the Reds, Rendon was 3-for-9 with a home run, two RBI’s, and drew four walks. That one home run came against Castillo (Saturday’s starter) and he has a RBI against Bailey (Sunday’s starter).

While it had to disappoint Rendon that he didn’t make it to his first All-Star Game, maybe he uses that as a chip on his shoulder to have a great second half.

Now, we move onto the pitchers and we start with one of the few veterans left in the Reds rotation.

Scott Feldman

In last month’s series against the Washington Nationals, Feldman was the only Reds pitcher to pick up a win. Back on June 25, he went seven innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out five, and walked two on 119 pitches (season-high).

At age 34, Feldman is by far the oldest healthy starting pitcher left on the Reds and could be a possible trade option for a contender if he has a good couple of starts in the next week. He is only making $2.3 million this year.

Feldman only went five innings in his last start, but that shouldn’t take away from the great June that he had. In six starts, he was 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA and opponents hit .246 (.272 in the month of May).

While Great American Ball Park is not a good pitcher’s ballpark, Feldman seems to have success there. In nine starts in that ballpark, he is 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA and has averaged six innings per start. Meanwhile, on the road, his ERA in nine outings is 4.99.

If you are looking for a Nats player to watch in this game, it might be shortstop Stephen Drew. In his career against Feldman, Drew is 7-for-16 with two triples, two home runs, and five RBI’s against him. He did not get the start in last month’s outing.

Since Feldman is pitching on a getaway day for the Nats, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he has another good start. Plus, the microscope will be more on the opposing pitcher than him.

Stephen Strasburg

Strasburg is coming off of one of the worst outings of his career against the Braves on July 8. He went three innings, gave up six runs (three earned runs) on seven hits, walked two, and didn’t strike anyone out.

For a pitcher that has the sixth most strikeouts in the National League (128), its always concerning when he goes without striking someone out. Early in the week, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post tweeted out what might’ve been bothering him:

While it would’ve been good to see Strasburg pitch the All-Star Game, the extra rest should help him for a second half where the Nats will need him healthy. Over the last two years, he has made a total of 18 second half starts (eight last season).

The Reds are one of the teams Strasburg tends to struggle against. In seven career starts against them, he has a 5.00 ERA and has only thrown a total of 36 innings. A hitter to watch in this game will be second baseman Scooter Gennett (4-for-8, three home runs, six RBI’s).

You don’t want to overreact to one outing, especially when the Nats have as big a lead in the NL East as they do. However, a dominant start on a Monday afternoon would go a long way in setting up a good second half.

Finally, let’s take a look at a possible trade target for the Washington Nationals that will be pitching this weekend

Raisel Iglesias

With the bullpen struggles that the Washington Nationals have had this season, many eyes will be on Iglesias this weekend as he tries to save games for the Reds. This season, the 27-year-old is 16-for-17 in save chances and has 52 strikeouts in 36 innings.

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Out of the eight runs he has given up this season, four of them came in his lone blown save on June 11 against the Dodgers. Despite only one blown save, Iglesias did give up a walk-off single in the tenth to Bryce Harper on June 23.

As Ron Juckett wrote last week, Iglesias doesn’t give up many home runs (two) and the former starter has done a good job in his transition to being a reliever. However, the question the Washington Nationals have to answer is how he would handle D.C.?

Since coming to the Reds, Iglesias hasn’t played in many big games because they haven’t been in postseason contention. Now, there aren’t many big game closers on the market this year, so that might not be a big priority for the Nats this year.

However, the Reds aren’t exactly going to give him away for nothing as Jon Heyman of Fanrag Sports reported yesterday:

“The Reds are believed willing to listen on Raisel Iglesias, but word is it would take a “blow them away” type deal. “He could shake up the relief market,” one NL exec not with the Reds said. The Reds understandably love Iglesias and have him under contract for three more years.”

Iglesias would give their Washington Nationals a closer for the present and the future and a good late-inning combination with Koda Glover. However, is it worth giving up Victor Robles?

Next: Top 5 2nd half storylines

Who are the players you are watching in this first series of the second half? Let us know in the comments section.