District On Deck
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Why Washington Nationals offense is thriving in World Series

By Jake Mastroianni

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 23: Trea Turner #7 and Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals score runs on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera (not pictured) against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 23: Trea Turner #7 and Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals score runs on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera (not pictured) against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 23: Juan  Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals hits a double against the Houston Astros during the third inning in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 23: Juan  Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals hits a double against the Houston Astros during the third inning in Game Two of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

Clutch hitting

If you want to point to one stat in this World Series that shows why the Washington Nationals are on top, it’s average with runners in scoring position (RISP).

Nationals hitters have been clutch all postseason as they have an astounding .314 batting average with RISP and .465 slugging.

And they were very good at this during the regular season finishing with the fifth best average with RISP at .279 and a SLG percentage of .508.

Houston was top 10 in those categories during the regular season but have really struggled in the postseason with an average of just .175 with RISP.

And that trend has continued in the first two games of the World Series as the Nats are 7-for-21 (.333) with RISP compared to just 3-for-17 (.176) for the Astros.

And the Nats have gotten it done with two outs as well. Five of their RBI in this series have come with two outs.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Nationals offense has squandered its fair share of opportunities in this World Series as well, but they’ve definitely done a better job in big spots than the Astros hitters.

You can certainly credit the Nationals pitchers as well for getting those big outs, but there is another big reason why I believe the Nats hitters are coming through, and it goes back that aggressiveness at the plate.

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