WASHINGTON — The longest season in professional sports wrapped up last weekend, but the Nationals are not quite done for 2016. Instead of last year’s soggy plate of nachos rotting on the September plate, the Nats are headed to the playoffs for the third time in five years.
A marathon of 162 potential twists and turns provides teams plenty of opportunities to play their way in — or out — of the postseason. Where did things go right for Manager Dusty Baker & company this year? Five turning points emerge …
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
5) Leading off at last: Ben Revere and Michael A. Taylor both failed to click as leadoff hitters during the first half of the season. But while Manager Dusty Baker saw the bat of Trea Turner in AAA Syracuse lighting things up with speed to match, he had no place to play him defensively. Daniel Murphy was off to his incredible start and Danny Espinosa was exceeding expectations while providing solid defense at shortstop. However, there was an offensive vacuum in center field with Revere and Taylor.
Turner began playing games in the outfield at Triple-A and Baker had his master chess move in place. Turner turned both the leadoff spot and center field positions from liabilities into strengths following his call-up, leading the majors in triples and steals after the All-Star break. The rookie’s defense — learned on the fly — has been solid for the most part.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
4) Moving on to Melancon … and releasing another reliever: After choking Bryce Harper in the Nats dugout last September, many thought that Jonathan Papelbon would be gone — and quickly. To the surprise of the fan base, he remained on the roster and was the team’s closer for the first half of the season (not including his trip to the disabled list). In late July, General Manager Mike Rizzo was looking for another closer. He found one in Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon, who quietly saved 17 of 18 opportunities while not attempting to strangle any of his teammates.
Melancon’s addition meant the Nationals no longer had to continue the awkward dance with Papelbon … and they released the potential ticking time bomb two weeks later. As bad as last year’s deal for Papelbon blew up the bullpen, this year’s deadline deal rescued the relief corps.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
3) Werth’s worth more hitting second: After hitting .211 in April while batting primarily 5th or 6th, it looked like the 37-year-old was reaching the sad final chapters of his stay in D.C. At the same time, nothing was working in the Nats’ No. 2 spot in the order. Anthony Rendon (. 236) was not the answer, and coupled with Ben Revere’s injury plus slow start, the table-setters were not providing Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy many RBI opportunities.
On Memorial Day, Werth was moved into the No. 2 spot and went 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. The veteran stayed there and solidified a lineup trying to find itself. And while his .259 average is only 8 points higher than everyone else hitting second this year, Werth’s run production dwarfs everybody else’s hitting in that spot (28 more RBI over 162 games played). The move also let Anthony Rendon bat deeper in the order and eventually find his groove — his 52 RBI since the All-Star break ranks fifth in the National League.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
2) Roark’s return to the rotation: Last season, Tanner Roark was buried in a bullpen role, going 4-7 with a 4.38 ERA. Jordan Zimmermann’s departure via free agency delivered an opportunity and Roark bettered his numbers from 2014 (15-10, 138 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.84) by going 16-10 while striking out 172 and posting an ERA of 2.83.
Roark’s importance was underscored in a rotation where Stephen Stasburg and Joe Ross were on the shelf for most of the second half of the season and Gio Gonzalez was consistently uneven throughout the year. While Max Scherzer (league-best 20 wins and 284 strikeouts) will probably get the Cy Young Award, Roark deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
AP Photo/Alan Diaz
1) Murph and the magic tones: When the Nats brought in NLCS MVP Daniel Murphy as their main free agent find in the offseason, it had the underwhelming taste of an average cake with so-so frosting. To get 15 homers and 80 RBI from the second baseman would be nice … but those were also numbers he’d yet to reach in his major league career.
When they started the season, the second baseman was batting 5th between Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth (perhaps to keep the righty-lefty-righty thing going). What followed was completely unforeseen, as Murphy went on a tear that would have him flirt with .400 as late as Memorial Day … while driving in a ton of runs as the rest of the Nats lineup fell off a collective cliff. He made his former team rue the day they let him go, hitting .413 with 9 HR and 21 RBI in 19 games against the Mets. Murphy set career highs, hitting .347 with 25 HR and 104 RBI before being sidelined in September with a gluteal strain. Just as his emergence helped lead to a playoff appearance, not being able to play and return to form against the Dodgers might lead to another early exit for the Nats.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
After coming up short in the wake of massive expectations last year, what was the difference in helping the Nationals win the NL East this year? Dave Preston highlights five key changes.
Dave has been in the D.C. area for 10 years and in addition to working at WTOP since 2002 has also been on the air at Westwood One/CBS Radio as well as Red Zebra Broadcasting (Redskins Network).
