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| The 2016 Nationals should have one of the best hitting lineups in baseball | The 2016 Nationals should have one of the best hitting lineups in baseball |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| VIERA, Fla. — Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu pointed at a bruise on his face the size of a baseball. “Danny Espinosa hit me,” he said, pausing for effect, “with a line drive. Hey, he’s swingin’ better!” | VIERA, Fla. — Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu pointed at a bruise on his face the size of a baseball. “Danny Espinosa hit me,” he said, pausing for effect, “with a line drive. Hey, he’s swingin’ better!” |
| “I was scared to death,” Espinosa said after a ricochet off a pitching screen knocked Schu flat. | “I was scared to death,” Espinosa said after a ricochet off a pitching screen knocked Schu flat. |
| Nationals hitters will deal out lots of lumps and maybe even scare a few pitching staffs half to death this year. The Nats have their flaws, but this crew should be one of the best hitting teams in the National League in recent years. They’re 16-4-2 in spring training and scoring 7.3 runs in their last 13 games as regulars have played more. On Wednesday and Thursday they beat the Yankees’ and Cardinals’ best starters, Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Wainwright, 13-0 and 8-2. | Nationals hitters will deal out lots of lumps and maybe even scare a few pitching staffs half to death this year. The Nats have their flaws, but this crew should be one of the best hitting teams in the National League in recent years. They’re 16-4-2 in spring training and scoring 7.3 runs in their last 13 games as regulars have played more. On Wednesday and Thursday they beat the Yankees’ and Cardinals’ best starters, Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Wainwright, 13-0 and 8-2. |
| The games don’t count. Michael A. Taylor, Anthony Rendon, Ben Revere, Wilson Ramos and Bryce Harper won’t keep hitting .500, .379, .375, .370 and .344. Well, maybe Harper, who, according to Al Kaline, hit the longest home run ever seen in the Tigers’ revered Joker Marchant Stadium last weekend — over a 35-foot high batter’s eye 420 feet away in dead center field. All this rumbling is thunderous foreshadowing, not a March fakeout. The Nats’ bullpen may be aflame for months. The starting rotation better not get many injuries. And elite staffs, like the Mets’, can sometimes stifle even the best attacks. | |
| But as long as Harper remains upright as the center pole to this three-ring offensive circus, the Nats will rake many foes because all around him are proven professional hitters, speedsters, bench depth behind injury-prone vets and a balance of left-right bats, plus a mix of power and deft little-ball skills. | But as long as Harper remains upright as the center pole to this three-ring offensive circus, the Nats will rake many foes because all around him are proven professional hitters, speedsters, bench depth behind injury-prone vets and a balance of left-right bats, plus a mix of power and deft little-ball skills. |
| [Lucas Giolito looks like the future of the Nats’ rotation.] | [Lucas Giolito looks like the future of the Nats’ rotation.] |
| “We’re pretty stacked, one through eight. We’re going to be as good as anybody. It’s baseball, so you never know. But you can see what we can bring — speed, Harper with power, [Ryan] Zimmerman with RBI,” staff ace Max Scherzer said. “There are some really good things going here.” | “We’re pretty stacked, one through eight. We’re going to be as good as anybody. It’s baseball, so you never know. But you can see what we can bring — speed, Harper with power, [Ryan] Zimmerman with RBI,” staff ace Max Scherzer said. “There are some really good things going here.” |
| “The only time we’ve been healthy the last three years was from July ’13 to the end of that season,” Schu said. “We rolled the poles.” Excuse me, a new baseball phrase? “We really put up some runs.” | “The only time we’ve been healthy the last three years was from July ’13 to the end of that season,” Schu said. “We rolled the poles.” Excuse me, a new baseball phrase? “We really put up some runs.” |
| Since then, the optimal Nationals lineup has been reduced to an unsightly mish-M.A.S.H. “All of ’14 was a patched lineup. It was even worse last year. Offense looked great on paper, then rip that paper up,” Schu said. “We just didn’t have the bench to cover it all.” | Since then, the optimal Nationals lineup has been reduced to an unsightly mish-M.A.S.H. “All of ’14 was a patched lineup. It was even worse last year. Offense looked great on paper, then rip that paper up,” Schu said. “We just didn’t have the bench to cover it all.” |
| Last season, the Nats’ bench players had 1,969 plate appearances — more than Zimmerman, Rendon, Jayson Werth, Ramos and Denard Span combined (1,902). | Last season, the Nats’ bench players had 1,969 plate appearances — more than Zimmerman, Rendon, Jayson Werth, Ramos and Denard Span combined (1,902). |
| How optimistic are the Nats about their attack? In late 2013, they hit so many line drives — “cables” are the new “frozen ropes” — that players wore T-shirts that said, “The Cable Company.” Schu opened his uniform top. He had it on again. | How optimistic are the Nats about their attack? In late 2013, they hit so many line drives — “cables” are the new “frozen ropes” — that players wore T-shirts that said, “The Cable Company.” Schu opened his uniform top. He had it on again. |
| “I don’t think Rick ever took that T-shirt off,” Zimmerman said, grinning. “We’ve been third in the [National League] in runs in both of the last two years without really having ‘our team.’ I hate to think what we could do if we stayed anywhere close to being in one piece. | “I don’t think Rick ever took that T-shirt off,” Zimmerman said, grinning. “We’ve been third in the [National League] in runs in both of the last two years without really having ‘our team.’ I hate to think what we could do if we stayed anywhere close to being in one piece. |
| “But we stink,” added Zimmerman, bitterly, one more Nat lying in the weeds, waiting for payback. | “But we stink,” added Zimmerman, bitterly, one more Nat lying in the weeds, waiting for payback. |
| [Boswell: Get ready for a World Series run . . . in 2018] | [Boswell: Get ready for a World Series run . . . in 2018] |
| In 2014 and 2015 combined, the Nats were No. 2 in the National League in runs behind the Rockies. But, adjusted for Denver altitude, the Nats were the best — in a period when their one-through-five hitters missed 535 games. | |
| “Now we’ve really got some depth,” Schu said. Taylor, maybe a future star, is the team’s fourth outfielder. After destroying Class AAA for three years, backup first baseman Clint Robinson finally got a chance in 2015 to prove he is a polished-product big league hitter. Even utility infielder Stephen Drew, a solid player for years in Arizona, looks good again during spring training (.300) after a 17-homer, .201 slump in 2015. Drew “had some of his best years when we were together in Arizona,” Schu said. | “Now we’ve really got some depth,” Schu said. Taylor, maybe a future star, is the team’s fourth outfielder. After destroying Class AAA for three years, backup first baseman Clint Robinson finally got a chance in 2015 to prove he is a polished-product big league hitter. Even utility infielder Stephen Drew, a solid player for years in Arizona, looks good again during spring training (.300) after a 17-homer, .201 slump in 2015. Drew “had some of his best years when we were together in Arizona,” Schu said. |
| What else? “Our catcher can see,” Werth said sardonically. After Lasik surgery three weeks ago, Ramos has been reading the bar codes on bullets — in flight. Not really. But he is crushing. It kind of helps to identify the balls from the strikes and the curves from the fastballs. | |
| “The difference is amazing,” Ramos said after hitting two rockets off Wainwright. | “The difference is amazing,” Ramos said after hitting two rockets off Wainwright. |
| Two new, seldom-injured lefty hitters have altered the balance of the batting order. Revere and second baseman Daniel Murphy, who have hit .303 and .287, respectively, over the past four seasons, are two of the hardest men in MLB to strike out. Murphy in, Ian Desmond out, subtracts more than 100 strikeouts (really). Now, the Nats have more options for hit-and-runs and go-on-contact plays. | |
| A surprise improvement should come from moving Espinosa from second base to shortstop. At second, his .240/.311/.409 slash line — that’s batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage — was mediocre last season at a bat-heavy position. But at shortstop that same level — a .719 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) — would have ranked him sixth among all qualifying shortstops last year. | A surprise improvement should come from moving Espinosa from second base to shortstop. At second, his .240/.311/.409 slash line — that’s batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage — was mediocre last season at a bat-heavy position. But at shortstop that same level — a .719 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) — would have ranked him sixth among all qualifying shortstops last year. |
| “I’m home,” Espinosa said about finally playing shortstop, his original and favorite position. | “I’m home,” Espinosa said about finally playing shortstop, his original and favorite position. |
| There’s an industry of Espinosa haters. Chew this: His career OPS, including every bad thing ever said about his strikeouts, is .692. Study every current shortstop: That .692 puts him somewhere between 10th and 15th offensively. Add defense, and Zimmerman calls him “one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen at any position,” and he may crack the game’s top 10 shortstops. And that’s the Nats’ offensive “weak link.” | There’s an industry of Espinosa haters. Chew this: His career OPS, including every bad thing ever said about his strikeouts, is .692. Study every current shortstop: That .692 puts him somewhere between 10th and 15th offensively. Add defense, and Zimmerman calls him “one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen at any position,” and he may crack the game’s top 10 shortstops. And that’s the Nats’ offensive “weak link.” |
| “If Danny could hit like he fields, he’d make $200 million,” Zimmerman said. “Fans want perfect players at every position. You need good players, too. Are we supposed to have a $400 million payroll?” | “If Danny could hit like he fields, he’d make $200 million,” Zimmerman said. “Fans want perfect players at every position. You need good players, too. Are we supposed to have a $400 million payroll?” |
| Want more? If rookie Trea Turner is called up, even late-season, the Nats could add the man who clocked the fastest running speed in MLB last year (over 21 mph); he is 7 for 7 in steals in the Grapefruit League and has a .322 batting average in two years in the minors. The Nats are 28 for 30 in steals this spring. | Want more? If rookie Trea Turner is called up, even late-season, the Nats could add the man who clocked the fastest running speed in MLB last year (over 21 mph); he is 7 for 7 in steals in the Grapefruit League and has a .322 batting average in two years in the minors. The Nats are 28 for 30 in steals this spring. |
| Washington has flaws, including five everyday players who have had troubling injury histories in recent years. You can get hurt so often that no amount of depth can save you. But these Nats could also be the revived Cable Company. | Washington has flaws, including five everyday players who have had troubling injury histories in recent years. You can get hurt so often that no amount of depth can save you. But these Nats could also be the revived Cable Company. |
| In the belly of Space Coast Stadium, hundreds of boxes line the halls. “Means we’re going [north] in just a few days. It’s exciting,” right-hander Stephen Strasburg said. | In the belly of Space Coast Stadium, hundreds of boxes line the halls. “Means we’re going [north] in just a few days. It’s exciting,” right-hander Stephen Strasburg said. |
| It will be if they remember to pack the bats. | It will be if they remember to pack the bats. |