Washington Nationals: 10 greatest individual seasons
There have been remarkable seasonal performances over the short history of the Washington Nationals. Here are ten which stand out.
As the Washington Nationals prepare for their 14th season in the nation’s capital, it is time to review the best individual seasons in team history.
Since the move from Montreal, the Nats have created their own success. Yes, the postseason failures loom large. But, they have four National League East crowns the last six seasons. To get there, a handful of players put in historical seasons and became legends.
From Livan Hernandez’s complete game gem at RFK on baseball’s official return to Washington to Victor Robles making the postseason roster before he became a rookie, the Nats are creating a rich historical tapestry. As Walter Johnson and Frank Howard are revered figures in DC, new names will join them in the future.
When you limit players to one individual season, selecting 10 years to highlight is a difficult task. Some are easy, but picking which Ryan Zimmerman campaign to recap is tough. When you have carried the run of recent success Washington has, you appreciate what a team effort this is.
Because the team plays down milestones, certain players do not get the credit due for having fantastic years and breaking the mold. With Washington still on the new side, the concept of history seems strange for a squad still writing an early chapter.
Yes, time flies as the Nats write history.
Still, we give it a go. In chronological order, here are the best individual seasons in Nats history by hitters and pitchers. A list surely needing revision come next fall.
CHAD CORDERO 2005
Once the dust settled and the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals, a relief fell over the club.
Orphaned no more—remember, the old Expos split their time between Montreal and San Juan their last two years up north and were owned by Major League Baseball—the new Nats surprised everyone by contending for the playoffs until late-July.
Although the Atlanta Braves won the division, Washington finished their first season at a tremendous 81-81. A key figure came out of the pen to slam the door 47 times in Chad Cordero.
Cordero earned the job at the end of the 2004 season, nailing down 14 games while posting a 2.94 ERA and 1.343 WHIP. As fans and team settled into their comfy digs at RFK Stadium, he blossomed.
Over 74 games, Cordero set a franchise record with 47 saves as the Nats and fans bonded. He finished fifth in the NL Cy Young vote, made the All-Star Game and finished 14th in the MVP race. Not a bad opening act.
With a 1.82 ERA, Cordero baffled batters. His WHIP dropped under one at 0.969. In 74.1 innings, he scattered 55 hits and 17 walks while fanning 61. Yes, balls flew when contact happened as he surrendered nine home runs. But, his pinpoint control helped win games. His SO/BB ratio was 3.59.
Cordero remained the closer through 2007, saving 37 that year, but injuries derailed his career after. By 2010, he was out of top-level baseball.
His record remains intact and no other reliever has notched over 43 saves since in Washington.
ALFONSO SORIANO 2006
Alfonso Soriano came to Washington as a salary dump. By the time the 2006 season ended, Nats fans considered him a housewarming gift from the expansion Senators. You know, the Texas Rangers.
As free agency loomed for Soriano, Texas dumped him and his $10 million salary for three players highlighted by Armando Galarraga. Blessed with power and speed, there was a question how that would translate into the old cookie-cutter at RFK.
Just fine. Thanks for asking.
The Nats had the slick fielding Jose Vidro at second and sent Soriano out of the infield and into left. If it bothered him, his performance failed to show it.
As the Nats settled in the back of the NL East, Soriano put on an offensive show for the ages. He smashed a franchise-record 46 home runs, a number he never matched again. On top of his Frank Howard imitation, he stole 41 bags. The fourth, and most recent, player to join the 40-40 club. His 46 bombs are the most of anyone pulling it off.
On a quiet September Saturday night, Soriano made history in the bottom of the first. A single then his 40th swipe came off Milwaukee Brewers starter Dave Bush.
Soriano would sign that winter with the Chicago Cubs, but was never able at Wrigley to reproduce his numbers in Washington.
We still appreciate the thoughtful gift from the Metroplex.
RYAN ZIMMERMAN 2009
Although perhaps Ryan Zimmerman’s best work came last year, his 2009 is historic too.
As the Nats stabilized the front office by hiring Mike Rizzo as General Manager, Zimmerman led the charge on the field.
Remember, this was a team in dead last with a 59-103 record. Manny Acta got canned after a 29-61 start. No pitcher won 10 games and Mike MacDougal led the team in saves with 20 while sporting a 3.60 ERA. Fun times.
However, at third, Zimmerman had his breakout season.
He smashed 33 homers while driving in 106. A slash line of .292/.364/.525 earned a .888 OPS, an OPS+ of 133 and an All-Star bid. Toss in a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and you have yourself a tremendous year.
The first player drafted by the Nationals organization in 2005, Zimmerman was a conscious decision to be the first face of the franchise. In 2009, his stellar performance repaid Washington for their confidence.
If you are looking for his best game, a two-homer and four-RBI effort at San Francisco on May 11 answers your question. The first shot came off Randy Johnson, a solo blast in the sixth. A three-run blast to deep right in the ninth off Osiris Matos followed in the ninth. (Yes, they lost.)
In a career remembered forever in Washington, 2009 holds a special place for Zimmerman.
GIO GONZALEZ 2012
Expectations were high when the Nats traded for Gio Gonzalez before the 2012 season. Washington shipped four prospects to Oakland for him, A.J. Cole, Tommy Milone, Derek Norris and Brad Peacock. In search of their first postseason trip, they hoped Gonzalez would make the difference.
With the Athletics, Gonzales won 15 games in 2010 and 16 the next year. He came to DC as the ace.
Gonzalez delivered.
With a 21-8 record, Gonzalez anchored a pitching staff that brought playoff baseball back to Washington for the first time since 1934. He led the league in wins and set the franchise record.
He earned an All-Star nod, his second. A third-place finish followed in the Cy Young voting and his performance netted Gonzalez a 20th place finish in the MVP race.
Although he had two 10-strikeout games on his ledger, his best start of the season came on September 5. In a 9-1 pounding of the Chicago Cubs, Gonzalez scattered three hits over seven innings. He whiffed nine and kept the Cubbies off the scoreboard to earn his 18th win.
His resurgence in 2017 was crucial to the Nats returning to the playoffs, but his first season in Washington will go down as special.
DOUG FISTER 2014
After missing the playoffs in 2013, the Nats knew they needed another front line starter. In December, they shipped off three players to Detroit for Doug Fister.
Fister was a deadline deal for the Tigers in 2011 with the Seattle Mariners. Behind his 8-1 record, Detroit won the American League Central. In 2012, his 3.45 ERA matched with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to propel the Bengals into the World Series.
By 2013, Fister wore out his welcome. How a 14-9 pitcher does that is a mystery, but his 1.308 WHIP earned him a trade.
The match between Washington and Fister worked, for one year. Behind his 16-6 record and 2.41 ERA, he propelled the Nats back to the playoffs while finishing eighth in the Cy Young vote.
A fly ball machine, allowing 18 homers over 164 innings, his ability to pound the strike zone into submission worked wonders. Fister walked a scant 24 hitters while fanning a mere 98. That year, he was the ultimate pitch-to-contact player.
His opus came in his last regular season start, a doubleheader opener against Miami on September 26. As he entertained those watching at Nationals Park, Fister twirled a three-hit shutout. He struck out a season high of nine without allowing a walk. Donovan Solano had all three hits, including a triple.
Fister won his lone playoff start that year tossing seven scoreless in Washington’s only win against the San Francisco Giants.
His 2015 was poor and Fister moved on to Houston and, later, Boston. Never the same pitcher, his 2014 goes down as a legendary season.
BRYCE HARPER 2015
There are a handful of players in baseball history who enter the majors as legends. Some, like Ryne Duren, do not pan out. Bryce Harper has.
When he won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2012, it was a matter of time before Harper would win an MVP. Turns out 2015 was his time. The season before, 2014, was an injury-racked year. Limited to 100 games, HE struck out 104 times while hitting 13 homers and 32 RBI.
Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Harper destroyed the NL in 2015. In May, he slugged 13 homers. June saw him hit .370. In September, cheered on by his best friend Jonathan Papelbon, Harper slammed 11 dingers while scoring 26 runs. He never had a month when his on-base percentage dipped below .440. His worst OPS came in August at .909.
With 42 homers, Harper also led the NL in runs scored, a .460 OBP, a .649 slugging percentage and a whopping 1.109 OPS. Toss in a Silver Slugger and 9.9 WAR.
On May 6, Harper took Tom Koehler deep three times on a businessman’s Wednesday special at home versus Miami. No word of anyone choking in Philadelphia that afternoon.
This was the year when potential turned into superstardom. A status Harper relishes and continues to chase.
TREA TURNER 2016
Considered a solid prospect, Trea Turner got the permanent call to Washington halfway through the 2016 season.
The Ben Revere experiment in centerfield turned into a FEMA disaster by August with Revere battling .200 and an OPS+ of 47. With Danny Espinosa’s solid glove holding court at short, the decision came to try Turner at center for Revere.
With a week of games in center under his belt in Triple-A Syracuse, Turner got the call. Although his defense was shaky, his bat caught fire. He could turn a single or walk into an immediate double, swiping 33 bases. His eight triples led the team. Not bad for 73 games.
Oh yeah, Turner popped 13 homers and 14 doubles. His slash line nearly stole the Rookie of the Year from the Dodgers Corey Seager. When you hit .342/.370/.567, you turn heads. Turner twisted necks from College Park to Richmond with a .937 OPS and 142 OPS+.
His offensive injection helped the Nats pass the New York Mets and return to the playoffs. Against those Dodgers, he stole two bases while hitting .318 in their series loss.
Any question of where Turner would play in the field was answered when Espinosa fumed at a potential benching. He went to Los Angeles while Turner moved in at short.
DANIEL MURPHY 2016
When the Nats signed Daniel Murphy away from the New York Mets prior to 2015, some considered the move a small coup in a tight division. By October, Murphy became a household name in Washington.
Although a late-season hamstring injury cost him the batting title, Murphy’s hitting was sensational. A true student in the art and science of batting, his .347 was his highest average in five years. His 47 doubles led the league, earning him a runner-up behind Kris Bryant in the MVP race.
Murphy slugged a career-high 25 home runs and 104 RBI. His .985 OPS led the league. He terrorized the Dodgers in the NLDS hitting .438 with 6 RBI.
Those above numbers alone are worthy of a slide here. When you consider what he did to his old friends in Queens? That takes you into another dimension.
Murphy hit safely in all 19 games against New York, a trick never done by a player versus an old team. In 81 plate appearances, he torched them for a .413/.444/.773 slash line. An OPS of 1.218! He pounded the Mets for six doubles, seven homers and a stunning 21 RBI. Overall, he went 31-for-75.
He followed it up with another Silver Slugger and .322 average in 2017. But, Murphy’s legacy forever belongs to Washington with an opening act for the ages.
MAX SCHERZER 2017
Picking the best Max Scherzer season is the same as selecting a favorite vintage wine. You cannot go wrong with any year, but 2017 topped his three in DC.
His three seasons in Washington bought him a day in the Cooperstown sun five years after his retirement. Two Cy Young awards, a 50-25 record and two top-10 finishes in the MVP vote are outstanding. Toss in a 20-K game and a pair of no-hitters and you hit legendary status.
How does his 2017 top that? Start with a career-best 0.907 WHIP. Add an H/9 rate of 5.7 and a 2.51 ERA and you begin to understand. Scherzer was flat-out dominant in 29 of his 31 starts. You could say he was “immaxxulate.”
There are seasons when pitchers find a comfort level where they reach another level. Scherzer might face the New York Mets on a given night, but his biggest opponent in 2017 was history.
From stalking the mound to grunting after a pitch as if he was serving match point at Wimbledon, Scherzer intimidated hitters and coaches like no other. The slash line against him? Try .178/.247/.319. His ERA+ was 177 while the OPS+ against him was 51.
In 15 games, Scherzer whiffed double-digits. May 26, a warm night at home against the San Diego Padres, he struck out 13 over 8.2 innings. He scattered three hits and a walk with the lone run coming off a solo shot from Ryan Schimpf.
Forget October, Scherzer’s starts in 2017 were must-see.
STEPHEN STRASBURG 2017
This was the year Stephen Strasburg put it all together.
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Sure, he earned an All-Star bid in 2016. Between arm surgeries, Strasburg led the NL in strikeouts with 242 in 2014. Ever since his 2010 debut, the signs were there that Washington had an ace.
With a new contract in hand, Strasburg owned 2017. He went 15-4 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.015 WHIP. Although he matched his 2016 record, his ERA was a career-best. His 2.72 fielding independent ERA and 0.7 led the NL. Those 204 strikeouts over 175.1 did not hurt.
The change? A decision over the off-season for Strasburg to work only from the stretch. He ditched the windup and simplified his delivery.
The results? Five consecutive starts without allowing an earned run. No one scored off him from August 24 through September 10. When the streak finished on September 17 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Strasburg pitched 35.2 innings of shutout baseball. A franchise record.
He saved his best work for October. Strasburg carried a no-hitter in Game 1 of their NL Divisional Series against the Cubs into the six inning. In Game 4, with the season on the line, he shut down Chicago over seven. Fanning 12, and reportedly ill, he silenced Wrigley Field.
In his two starts, he struck out 22, walked three and did not allow an earned run over 14 innings. Remarkable work.