Washington Nationals: 3 players poised to make the leap in 2018

The Washington Nationals will return essentially the whole team in 2018. Who will step up their game and boost the Nats towards a title run?

November: the time of year when every baseball team, player, and Washington Nationals fan has hope for the future. The offseason is ramping up, the Winter Meetings are around the corner, and everyone is optimistic their team will fill its requisite holes.

A big part of improving year-to-year is establishing which players can ‘make the leap’ from one season to the next. If a player can jump from a bit piece to a role player, a starter to an All-Star, or an All-Star to an MVP candidate, the team will reap the benefits. The progression of Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Marwin Gonzalez were crucial to the Houston Astros World Series run.

The leap is not necessarily limited to young players – remember Daniel Murphy’s explosion at age 31 in 2016? – but youth does provide more variability, and therefore a greater chance the younger player will take a step forward in their career.

Although the 2017 Washington Nationals were a relatively stable ball club, they were buoyed by several ‘leaps’ across the roster. Anthony Rendon posted career-highs in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, home runs, and RBIs. Michael Taylor, Wilmer Difo, and Brian Goodwin were more than adequate in extended fill-in duty. Stephen Strasburg put together the best stretch of his career. Even veteran Ryan Zimmerman took a mini-leap, bouncing back to near-peak levels after moribund seasons from 2014-16.

So as the Nationals push for the 2018 title, who are the unfinished products to get them over the NLDS hump?