Washington Nationals Ultimate Simulation: The Grand Final

The best Washington Nationals team is decided as the 2016 and 2017 Nationals face off in the finals of our simulation.

Eight Washington Nationals team started, but only two remain standing. Which team will be named the best Nationals team to date? We’re about to find out.

After the semifinals, we ended up with the two most recent Nationals teams in the bracket making it to the grand final. The 2016 and 2017 teams were great to watch under the stewardship of Dusty Baker and now they go head to head.

If this is the first article in this series you’re reading, remember to check out our introduction and follow from the beginning. You’ll meet the teams involved and see how we got down to the two teams in the grand final.

The final all starts with game one. Gio Gonzalez (’16) faced Gio Gonzalez (’17) in the first matchup. All was hunky dory for 2017 Gonzalez until Jayson Werth (’16) hit a three-run bomb to give his team the early edge.

The very next batter, Danny Espinosa (’16), hit a solo shot that gave the 2016 Nats a 4-0 lead, one which the 2017 Nats could not overcome. The game ended 7-3, in favor of the road team.

Game two was a rubber match as Max Scherzer (’17) hosted Stephen Strasburg (’16). Both pitchers posted quality starts, but Scherzer gave up three earned runs while Strasburg gave up two. That turned out to be the difference in a one-run game as the 2016 Nats took a commanding 2-0 edge in the series.

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The 2016 Nats stole two games of home-field advantage from the 2017 Nats, but the 2017 squad did not cower in the face of adversity.

In game three, Ryan Zimmerman (’17) hit not one, but two home runs off of Scherzer (’16) to prevent a series sweep as the 2017 Nats won the game, 5-1.

Once again, doppelgangers face off as Tanner Roark (’17) looked to even the series against Tanner Roark (’16). If you can believe it, Tanner Roark secured the win for his team. Ok, it was the 2017 Roark.

He allowed six hits and three runs over 6.2 innings as his counterpart could not make it out of the fifth inning. The series is now knotted up at two as the home team has yet to win a game in the series.

While the first four games did not have any fun, late inning action, a decisive game five changed all of that.

The 2016 Nationals scored one run in each of the first two innings and took that two-run advantage all the way into the ninth inning. Mark Melancon (’16) came in to close the game. The inning went as follows for the 2017 Nats offense:

Matt Wieters single, Anthony Rendon single (runners on first and second), Trea Turner grounds into fielder’s choice (first and third), Howie Kendrick walk (bases loaded). Manager Dusty Baker saw enough of Melancon. He brings in Shawn Kelley (’16) to get the final two outs.

And up to the plate comes Bryce Harper. He gets a pitch to drive and sends it down the right-field line. The fence in that corner is 335 feet from home plate. Harper’s batted ball goes a huge 347 feet. A grand slam puts the 2017 Nats up three games to two!

After a demoralizing loss, the 2016 Nats could not recover. Starter Strasburg (’16) only managed 4.0 innings, so the bullpen needed to keep the deficit manageable. However, Daniel Murphy (’17) delivered the dagger with a two-run home run off of Marc Rzepczynski to put his team up 7-3.

After 13 long real-life years and 38 hard fought simulation games, the 2017 Washington Nationals are the best Nationals team in history.