Washington Nationals: How the NL East was won

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The Washington Nationals are your 2017 NL East champions. How did this team make the season look easy? Here are five reasons they repeated.

The Washington Nationals repeated as National League East champions for the first time.

With a 20-game margin, they closed out the Miami Marlins Sunday with a win against the Philadelphia Phillies and a Marlin blown save in Atlanta versus the Braves. For the fourth time in six years, the Nats make the playoffs becoming the first team in Major League Baseball to punch a ticket for October.

It was difficult, despite the eventual winning margin, and sometimes the postseason road carried too many unexpected bends. Yet, the road to the World Series will run through Washington. As the Los Angeles Dodgers wheeze to the finish line, the Nats have an outside shot at securing the NL’s best record.

So, how did the Nats crush the East and win? Is this the first squad in 49 franchise years to win 100 games? They are on pace for it with only three games against the Dodgers left against winning teams.

Forget October. Those pressure-packed nights will happen soon enough. Instead, go back to the end of the 2009 season. The Nats finished at 59-103 with a .364 winning percentage, their worst season in DC and in franchise history since 1976. Could you imagine that October the success three years away?

With four division titles, these Nats are more successful in six years than the old Senators were in two different franchises over 72 seasons. Yeah, this IS the golden age of baseball in Washington.

How did the Nats do it? Let’s take a closer look.

DIVISION WAS TERRIBLE

Most experts expected the Nats and New York Mets to lock horns in a tight battle all year before the season began. The Mets were the last team to get within ten of Washington on July 3. After that, no one got within single digits.

Philadelphia and Atlanta did as expected. Both teams have bright spots in the future, but they knew as the season dawned anything this year was not realistic. Freddie Freeman’s broken wrist ended what limited chance the Braves had. The Phillies are a plucky team who are in full transition and hardly any payroll obligations.

Miami was the proverbial wild card. They started the season coming together after the horrific loss of Jose Fernandez last fall and hung in there most of the year. Not able to crack .500 until late-August, Giancarlo Stanton nearly put them in the Wild Card hunt with his ability to smash home runs. Their year fizzled with back-to-back sweeps by the Nats.

New York spent the year hampered by injuries to everybody. From starting pitching to David Wright, the burden to stay with Washington was not there. A crushing 23-5 on April 30 was the statement game of the year. There was no challenge from Queens.

By clinch day, the Nats compiled a 41-23 record in the division. Only the Mets are .500 in the NL East. Given the chance to feed off bad teams, Washington pounced. Against teams with losing records, they are 60-30.

A HISTORIC OFFENSE

By a steady margin, Washington leads the NL in runs scored with 748.

Think about that. They lost Adam Eaton in April for the year. Jayson Werth, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper lost significant chunks of the season with injuries and the Nats averaged 5.1 runs a game.

Although the Dodgers own a higher OPS+ of 103, The Nats OPS of .791 leads the NL and adjusts to 102. With an on-base percentage of .335, they are tied with the Dodgers and Cubs for second behind the Colorado Rockies.

Despite losing Werth and Harper’s power bat, Washington slugged 195 homers heading into Sunday. Good for fourth in the NL, the Nats never lost a beat.

Two key reasons for their continued success is their ability to grind out at-bats and aggressiveness on the bases. Turner has 39 steals while Washington has 95. Only the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds have more.

Led by Daniel Murphy, the Nats have slashed 277 doubles. Another league high. Although a statistic not held in high esteem, their .270 batting average trails Colorado by two points and is 15 above league average. There are no easy outs when the regulars play. From Turner to Michael Taylor, this team will outlast you.

By 13 points their slugging percentage tops the NL and the .456 mark is a whopping 31 points above league average. With 15 more runs, this year’s squad will set the franchise record set last year. They have 19 games left.

PITCHING WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Although the focus most of the year on the mound was on the bullpen and injuries, the Nats carry the best ERA in the NL outside the Pacific Time Zone. At 3.84, the margin is a half-run better than the rest of the league. The difference between the Mets and Braves is nearly a full run.

Max Scherzer started the year as the reigning Cy Young Award winner. He is the odds-on favorite to repeat. Stephen Strasburg owns the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings with 34. Gio Gonzalez—well, what can you say about him—has thrown the season of his life.

Despite tight forearms, cranky necks and leg cramps, the Nats support their starters and they deliver. The main rotation has contributed 73 wins to the cause. Three starters carry an ERA under 3.00 and WHIP’s under 1.150.

Once Washington traded for bullpen help, the team relaxed. Leads—precarious as a mountain road in dark fog—stabilized with the addition of Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. Where would the Nats be without Mat Albers and his steady presence?

There is an outside chance Washington has four 15-game winners with Tanner Roark joining the big three. Poo-poo wins all you want, that is a huge deal.

You knew this staff was good, and they delivered in spades.

WEEBLED, WOBBLED, BUT NEVER FELL DOWN

At one point in August, 13 players were on the disabled list. There were games where none of the Opening Day outfielders were on the active roster. Bryce Harper’s knee injury made fans gasp and weep. Five players remain on the 60-day disabled list.

Washington clinched the division with the biggest margin and the earliest time in franchise history. How can any team lose so many players and win going away?

When pressed into signing players to fill depth, credit general manager Mike Rizzo for grabbing players flying under the radar and a minor league system good at developing players. A whopping 49 players wore a Nats uniform this season and all of them played a part of this championship, even poor Jeremy Guthrie.

Wilmer Difo and Michael Taylor answered the call and critics by delivering outstanding play on offense and defense. Ryan Raburn filled in left field effectively. The July trade for Howie Kendrick was pure genius and who will ever forget Brian Goodwin’s constant electric smiles.

With superstars such as Harper, Scherzer and Murphy grabbing headlines, clutch plays by Alejandro De Aza and Andrew Stevenson kept the Nats in games. Adam Lind’s pinch-hitting abilities are so good, they merited an individual sentence.

Injuries to the Mets, particularly their pitching, destroyed their season. Under the immense pressure of trying to repeat and the sheer number of players hurt, Washington easily could have gone the same way.

The resilience of these Nats is the story of the year. If we were at the end of the season battling for October, you could understand. To wrap everything up with three weeks left is stunning.

TRUE TEAM PLAYERS

You cannot quantify what a good team playing as one can do. There are no sabermetrics for good clubhouses and coaching.

More from District on Deck

There are plenty of nights you would see the lineup Dusty Baker assembled and scratch your head. As good as Anthony Rendon is why in the world would he hit sixth. Why? Because it worked.

In 2017, everything worked. Even when the bullpen gave games away like the Summer Steam Sale, the lead never shrunk. Twice this year the Nats lost four straight, but not a fifth. The last time they were a game out of first was April 12. A 3-1 win in Atlanta put them in first the rest of the way on April 18 after 13 games.

From Ryan Zimmerman’s comeback year to Victor Robles’ speed, the Nationals approached this season in lock step. The goal from February when Washington gathered in West Palm Beach was to return to the playoffs. Well, they are back.

Except for a pair of nameless quotes complaining about the bullpen early, not one bad peep came from the clubhouse. You can, and should, credit Baker and his veterans for keeping the peace. Whatever egos clashed in the heat of Summer stayed quiet.

The challenge of keeping a team motivated as the lead and injuries mounted, yet Washington excelled. When Hunter Strickland plunked Harper on Memorial Day, the team responded as one smashing the San Francisco Giants off the field.

The statistics show a superb team in all phases of the ball. Although not tremendous fielders, their .698 defensive efficiency is third in the NL. They never beat themselves.

Yet, the story of the regular season goes beyond a page on FanGraphs. Washington never believed they were out of any game. The tenacity was off the charts. Every night, they grew as a team.

Next: Taylor peaks at right time

How it ends is a story for another day. For now, enjoy the ride.

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