2007 Washington Nationals Picks & Predictions
May 27, 2008
The Washington Nationals are conceding a bad season in 2007 making no moves to try to pick up some of the slack from losing Alfonso Soriano to the Cubs. If the Nationals are content to build from within, they’ll have to be content for who knows how many losing seasons. We’ll take advantage of the lumps the Nationals are going to take by going against them often this season.
The Nationals need everything, but I suppose the one thing that they could use the most is some quality starters. John Patterson is the Nats ace, and I’m saying ace here in the loosest sense of the word. He had a nice year in 2005, but he was riddled with injury in 2006. He is unproven to say the least. The other four guys who will round out the starting five are no-namers. In other words, the worst rotation in the National League in 2006 will once again be the worst in 2007. The Nationals’ bullpen is perhaps their only bright spot. If the starters can hand the ball over to the bullpen with a lead, the Nats do have a good chance of winning some games. We all know that’s a pretty big if. Closer Chad Cordero had 29 saves last season, but his 47-save performance in 2005 has proven him to be one of the game’s best stoppers. Put him on a team like the Cubs who need a dominant closer, and Chicago is probably World Series bound.
What’s worse than having the worst starting rotation in all of baseball? How about having the worst starting rotation and the worst defense in the majors which was the case for Washington in 2006. The Nationals won just 71 games last season, but that number could be looking pretty good at the end of this season from where this team could finish. I don’t think we’ll see a 10-game winner on this squad. A guy out of the pen may end up with more wins than the highest win totaling starter. But as bad as the pitching is, to their credit, run support will be an issue as well as Washington’s ability to pick ‘em up and throw ‘em out.
The Nationals, at least, have one prospect they can be excited about. Ryan Zimmerman, who had a stellar rookie year with 20 homeruns and 110 RBI’s, looks to be the future face of the franchise. A sophomore slump out of this guy, and the Nats could wind up the worst team in baseball. Nick Johnson will have to swing an even bigger bat in 2007. 23 homeruns and 77 RBI’s is solid, but it’s just doesn’t stack up with the other clean up hitters in the game and won’t be enough to pick up the slack left from losing Soriano. The Nats will likely be without this guy on opening day because of injury and this is one team which can’t afford to lose a stick. The Nationals are not going to put up big power numbers this season. That is a given. Small ball is there only chance to stay out of the gutter, but they may not have the speed to do it well.
Look to bet against the Nationals in 2007. Washington was just 30-51 on the road last season, and I don’t foresee any improvement with as poor as their starting pitching situation is. Washington was also just 41-40 at home. You’ll see their home record also dip below .500 which will give us plenty of chances to make some nice profits going against this team.
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