Nationals: 3 players who must have rebound seasons
After a tumultuous 2020 season filled with injury and ill advised play, the Washington Nationals retooled their lineup for a run at the 2021 postseason. While publications far and wide have the Nationals finishing anywhere from 83-90 wins, and either second to third in the division, consensus is the Nationals 2020 finish was an anomaly.
With all the offseason moves the Nationals have made, they seem to have put the 26-34, last place finish in the National League East, squarely in the rear view mirror.
In order for this to happen collectively, individually some performances need to be better. The Nationals will need to have all hands on deck for the entirety of the season, in order to keep pace with the incumbant division winning Atlanta Braves, and the hard charging New York Mets. The division is one of the toughest in all of baseball this year.
3 players who need to have rebound performances in order for the Washington Nationals to compete in the NL East this season.
Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber were scooped up following poor seasons. For the sake of this article we are leaving them out and focusing on three players who played for the Nationals last year.
Max Scherzer
A team is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. If that pitcher is Max Scherzer, you’d expect to do pretty well. Unless it’s the 2020 season. Scherzer made twelve starts a year ago and finished with a 3.74 ERA (3.46 FIP). If this were most other pitchers, you’d be licking your chops at these numbers. However, this was the highest ERA Scherzer had posted since 2012. Coincidentally that was the last season Mad Max didn’t make the All-Star team (there was no AS game in 2020).
One reason for the inflated ERA is the number of baserunners Scherzer allowed. His WHIP of 1.38 was a career high, boosted by the 3.1 BB/9, highest he’s allowed in ten years. He also allowed 1.3 HR/9, matching a career high.
Coming off an extended 2019 season and battling some injuries along the way, Scherzer showed some signs of breaking down. For the Nationals to have a chance this year, they will need the 36 year old to get back to his normal self. Scherzer is in the final year of his contract, and players seem to pull it together when they are in a walk year.
Prior to last year Scherzer had a run of seven years collecting a Cy Young vote. We need him to find that form again.
Victor Robles
Lost in the shuffle of the Nationals run to the World Series was the regular season Victor Robles had. He was not a superstar on the team, though he quietly put together a good enough stat line to help the cause. Robles hit a modest .255 and jacked 17 home runs, while stealing 28 bases. He added 12 assists from his outfield position.
In the offseason prior to the 2020 season, Robles added 15 pounds of straight muscle, which seemed to mess with his movement and hitting technique. He was downright awful at the plate.
Robles batted a career low .220 with a putrid OPS of .608. He struck out a third of the time and looked lost at the plate. Even though he played error free baseball in the outfield, he had just one outfield assist. Maybe teams didn’t run on his arm as much, maybe he wasn’t as spot on with his throws as the year before.
Robles won’t have to look over his shoulder anymore at Michael A. Taylor, freeing his mind to focus on doing what the Nationals need him to do. Get on base. While Robles struggled in the Dominican Winter League recently, we believe he will right the ship and lead the team in stolen bases this season.
Daniel Hudson
He was on the mound when the final out was made during the 2019 World Series. For this, Daniel Hudson has earned a place in the hearts of Nats fans forever. Those with short memories have already forgotten and are disgruntled with the 6.10 ERA and five blown saves Hudson put up in 21 games in 2020.
He has a closer’s mentality and has already forgotten, so why don’t you as well? Although, Hudson has never felt comfortable as the closer, and now he does not have to be. With the addition of Brad Hand, the Nationals have a reliever who wants the ninth inning gig and was a perfect 16/16 in save opportunities a year ago.
With Tanner Rainey and Will Harris primed to handle the high leverage roles, Hudson can slide into a 6th or 7th inning, low stress gig. If he can regain his form, the one which saw him go 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA in the 24 regular season games after the Nationals acquired him in 2019, the Nationals will have one of the most vaunted bullpens in the league, after years of having one of the worst bullpens in the league.
Hudson is also in a walk year, and he has hinted it could be his last. In order to cap off his twelve year career the right way, he’ll have to fix a few flaws.