Fansided
District On Deck

Washington Nationals: 3 keys to winning 2019 World Series

By Jake Mastroianni

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: Trea Turner #7 of the Washington Nationals leaves the field after fielding the third out in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: Trea Turner #7 of the Washington Nationals leaves the field after fielding the third out in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: Patrick  Corbin #46 of the Washington Nationals delivers a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: Patrick  Corbin #46 of the Washington Nationals delivers a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during game four of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Starters have to go deep

This one is pretty obvious, as are most of these keys, but there is no denying that if the Washington Nationals are going to win this World Series it’s going to happen on the backs of their starting pitchers.

Nationals starters have pitched 56.2 of the team’s 81 postseason innings so far averaging 6.2 innings per postseason start.

Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required) breaks it down even further showing that Washington Nationals starters have pitched in 75 percent of the innings in the postseason.

That’s obviously by design as the Nats have had one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball this season, which we’ll get to in a second.

But if the starters can average over 6 innings a start in the World Series, I like the Nationals chances.

On the flip side, if the starters get knocked out after five innings then Washington is going to be in trouble.

I know that’s not shocking or breaking news, but that’s the reality.

This postseason is very different then the past couple where teams were eager to get to their bullpen with a lead.

Both the Nationals and the Astros are going back to the old days and will ride their starting pitchers as long as they can go.

And whichever team gets the most length out of their starters will have the upper hand.

Home/Nationals News