Washington Nationals Ultimate Simulation: Meet the Old School Nats

The “Old School” Washington Nationals are up first as we introduce the bottom four seeds in the Ultimate Nationals Simulation.

The Washington Nationals had to start somewhere. To kick this series off, we will look back upon the “best” of the early years of the Nationals and unveil the bottom four seeds in this tournament.

If you missed yesterday’s introduction to the simulation, you can check it out below.

The early years of D.C.’s newest baseball team were not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. From 2005-2011, the Nats totaled 492 wins, 640 losses, five managers, two general managers, zero seasons above .500, and six consecutive years of below average attendance.

Ironically, their inaugural season in 2005 was the best of the bunch. The Nats finished 81-81 and showed flashes of actual competence. They won ten straight games from June 2 to June 12.

In early July, the squad bolstered their lead in the National League East to 5.5 games before falling apart in the second half of the season, winning under 40% of their games.

The Nats lost 102 games in 2008, fired General Manager Jim Bowden, and hired Mike Rizzo. Despite this move, the Nationals finished with a worse record in 2009, losing 103 games.

Because of how awful the team was in 2008 and 2009, the Nationals selected #1 overall in the MLB draft in back-to-back years.

Those two picks yielded Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Also, in 2011, after an 80-81 season, the Nationals selected Anthony Rendon with the #6 overall pick.

While the overall picture is not pretty there are stand out performers, including one player joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez as the only members of the 40/40 club.

2007 Washington Nationals

The 2006 Washington Nationals were bad, and the next year’s squad didn’t prove to be much better. The 2007 Nats finished with 73 wins, earning them the seventh seed in our competition.

There is not a lot to like about this team, except for one player starting to come into his own. Ryan Zimmerman‘s true sophomore season provided fruitful results after a fantastic rookie campaign.

Zimmerman played in all 162 games, placing him on a list with names such as Jimmy Rollins and Grady Sizemore as players to play in each game.

Zimmerman, then at third base, clubbed 24 home runs, drove in 91 runs and recorded 174 hits, the third most of any year in his illustrious career.

In the bullpen for the Nats, Saul Rivera made himself a reliable option for rookie manager Manny Acta. Rivera only played five seasons in the MLB, but 2007 was his best.

Rivera pitched to the tune of a 3.68 ERA over 93 innings. His 115 ERA+ and 3.42 FIP shows he pitched above average during this season.

Much like the 2006 team, the 2007 Nats need a lot to break right for them to win this tournament. Despite their better record, this team might be worse than the 2006 Nats.

2011 Washington Nationals

We made it to the 80 win mark! The 2011 Washington Nationals finished with an 80-81 record, good for the sixth seed in our tournament.

This season, the Nats were led by three managers. Jim Riggleman, fired after going 38-37 to start the season, John McLaren, who took over for three games, and Davey Johnson.

Of the two bullpen arms mentioned thus far, neither can compare to right-hander Tyler Clippard‘s 2011 season.

In 88.1 innings, Clippard posted a 1.83 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP. He earned an All-Star bid, the first of his career. His performance this season led to him earning the closer role the following season, in which he saved 32 games.

Continuing the trend of powerful outfielders, Michael Morse‘s career year came in 2011. His 31 home runs were ten more home runs than the next best on his team as Danny Espinosa recorded 21. While he didn’t earn an All-Star appearance, he received down-ballot votes for MVP.

The 2011 Nationals will need their pitching to shine in order to win this tournament. The starting rotation will need to go deep enough into games to not tire out an elite bullpen, consisting of arms such as Clippard, Drew Storen, and Todd Coffey.

2005 Washington Nationals

These guys are the real “OG’s” as the kids say. The inaugural season of the Washington Nationals exceeded fans expectations despite the team finishing .500 on the nose.

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The 2005 Nationals place as the fifth seed in the tournament.

While most fans think of Livan Hernandez when reminiscing on this team, it was fellow starter John Patterson that led the team in WAR with 4.5.

Patterson finished five outs away from pitching 200 innings. His ERA of 3.13 and FIP of 3.46 are both higher than Hernandez’s marks of 3.98 and 4.33 respectively.

In the batter’s box, Nick Johnson proved to be a patient force. His .408 OBP was good for ninth in the MLB. He nearly finished with more walks than strikeouts, with 80 free passes and 87 whiffs. In fact, he did just that the following year with 110 walks to 99 strikeouts.

Johnson also hit the century marks in runs, placing him just outside of the top ten in the MLB. His OPS+ of 137 is also fantastic.

As the fifth seed, the 2005 Nationals have the best odds of the Old School teams to advance.

Outside of Johnson, this team has no outstanding bats. However, the pitching staff is quite good. This team will need to win low scoring games because its offense cannot keep up with the firepower of its opponents.

Tomorrow, we will preview the top four seeds of our Ultimate Simulation, the “New School” Washington Nationals.