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Washington Nationals: Mr. Walk-off Ryan Zimmerman does it again

By Blake Finney

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 22: Ryan Zimmerman #11 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning at Nationals Park on August 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 22: Ryan Zimmerman #11 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning at Nationals Park on August 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Mr. Walk-off Ryan Zimmerman continues to have a flair for the dramatic. With a two-run deficit in the ninth, he walked it off for the Washington Nationals.

When the Washington Nationals have a walk-off home run, it usually seems to be Ryan Zimmerman. He came up with a huge one on Wednesday night in a dramatic 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was Zimmerman’s 11th career walk-off homer that takes him just two off the all-time lead in that category. And his latest blast is just another example of how good he’s been of late for the Nats.

Since coming off the DL after the All-Star Game he’s hitting .325 with seven home runs, 23 RBI, and a 1.106 OPS. He’s right back to where he was during a phenomenal 2017 campaign where he started for the NL at the ASG.

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Now with Matt Adams no longer in the picture, Ryan Zimmerman figures to get most of the starts at first base moving forward. While he’s been a streaky hitter in his career, he can carry the team on one of this streaks, like he’s doing right now.

While the Nats chances are the playoffs are still slim-to-none at this point, it was still a great win for the team. A true feel-good moment in a season that hasn’t had too many. Thank you, Zimm.

Bryce’s bat refuses to cool down

Bryce Harper and his sluggish first half of the 2018 season are firmly in the rearview mirror now. With a 3 for 5 performance, he managed to eclipse the .250 batting average mark and .900 OPS mark.

His BABIP luck finally appears to be correcting itself, after he posted an incredibly low .226 figure before the All-Star break. Since then, it’s an MLB high .458 since the break to bring his season total to .286.

The league BABIP is at .296 so you could argue there’s still a bit more positive regression to come for Harper. But right now, the best thing Nats fans can do is admire one the games most exciting players swing it at his very best.

Strasburg’s abbreviated outing

Nats starter Stephen Strasburg made his long-awaited return on Wednesday night. However, the outing didn’t really go to plan and was more concerning than promising.

The right-hander could only go four innings, striking out five, but his velocity kept dipping all night. He started the night at around 94 mph, but finish the fourth at 91 mph, and appeared to keep shaking his arm.

After the game, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reported that Strasburg was just fatigued. But if there is some kind of injury at play, it would be best for the Nationals to rest him, and get an extended look at Jefry Rodriguez, Erick Fedde and Joe Ross down the stretch.

Next. Five players who could depart via waiver trades. dark

Thursday sets up to be a doozy between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies. Two NL Cy Young Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola square off against each other in the series finale.

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