2020 Washington Nationals Preview – MLB Preview & Prediction
The Washington Nationals are going to be looking to improve on the year, if that is possible for the Nationals who won the World Series last year. Now, the Nationals will be looking to repeat on the year and that could be a stretch for the team, but it is something that is feasible for the Nationals well. On the downside the Nationals are one of those teams that tended to rely on the longer season to bring home the pennant last year.
Washington Nationals Starters
The starting pitching for the Nationals could definitely be one of the key factors if the Nationals will repeat or not. The Nationals have one of the best staffs in majors and the pitchers on the roster may only make it easier for the team to be seen as a threat. The Washington Nationals ace is projected to be Max Scherzer. The pitchers behind him are just as good with Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, and then the fifth starter is Joe Ross. Last year Scherzer started in only 27 games and threw 172.1 innings. He did manage to post an 11-7 record with a 2.92 ERA and struck out 243 batters on the year.
Washington Nationals Relievers
The pitching depth for the Nationals is not that bad either as the relievers are almost as good as the starters, but not that good. The relievers for the Nationals is Will Harris, Tanner Rainey, Wander Suero, Roenis Elias, Javy Guerra, but also Daniel Hudson. The projected closer for the Nationals is Sean Doolittle. Doolittle last year pitched in 63 games and completed 60 innings, but struck out 66 batters. Doolittle ended up getting 29 saves, while blowing 6 saves and posted a 6-5 record while getting a 4.05 ERA.
Washington Nationals Catchers
The Nationals may end up bringing 3 different catchers to the majors this year. The projected Nationals catchers are Yan Gomes at the starting position, Kurt Suzuki is projected to be the backup with Welington Castillo being in 3rd. Gomes last season played in 97 games and hit at a clip of .223 with 12 homers and brought home 43 runners. Playing defense Gomes was doing decent and ended up throwing out 30.5% of the runners.
Washington Nationals Corners
The corners for the Nationals will hold up fairly decent on the year. Eric Thames is projected to start at first base and Carter Kieboom is projected to start at third base. The backups for the Nationals are just as good with Ryan Zimmerman backing up at first and Asdrubal Cabrera backing up at third base. Eric Thames last season played in 149 games while hitting at a clip of .247 with 25 homers and brought home a total of 61 runners. Kieboom played in only 11 games last season and only hit at a clip of .128 with 2 homers and 2 RBIs.
Washington Nationals Middle Infield
This upcoming year the Nationals have a good shot at the middle infield with Starlin Castro at second and Trea Turner starting at short. Castro does backup at short. Howie Kendrick is the backup for the Nationals at second base. Castro last season played in a total of 162 games while hitting at a clip of .270 on the year while getting 22 homers and bringing home 86 runners on the season. Turner ended up playing in 122 games while hitting at a clip of .298 on the year while getting 19 homers and bringing home 57 runners this year.
Washington Nationals Outfield
The outfield is the position that the Nationals are running light at. The National have Juan Soto starting in left, Victor Robles starting in center and Adam Eaton projected to start in right field. The downside is Eaton is the backup for left field and Michael A. Taylor is the backup in center and right. Soto last season played in 150 games while hitting at a clip of .282 while getting 34 homers over the fence and bringing home 110 runners. Robles for his part ended up playing in 155 games while hitting at a clip of .255 with 17 homers and brought home 65 runners. Adam Eaton on the year played in 151 games while hitting at a clip of .279 while cranking out only 15 homers and bringing home 49 runners.
Washington Nationals Prediction
This year the Nationals are going to be looking to be looking to repeat as World Series Champions. The Nationals have quite a bit of talent that could help make the transition to the champions again. Look for the pitching staff of Washington help out in carrying the team quite a bit this year, but also the lineup to definitely make a difference as well. The one factor that could be an issue for the Nationals would be the health of the outfield, any injuries could cost the Nationals some wins, but the team should be able to play great this year and possibly win the NL East.
