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

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.