CJ Abrams and James Wood have been among the top offensive players in baseball this year. Their presence gives the Nationals a lineup capable of producing at an MVP level even though the rest of the offense is only average, with the exception of Nunez. Pitching has not been strong, but it has not been bad enough to offset the offense. Starters have all made 11 starts, and the relief core has five pitchers with 15 or more appearances. The bullpen has been leaky and worrisome, yet it has not broken. With pitching healthy and offense strong, the team maintains a balance that supports a .500 outcome.
"To be fair this all basically hinges on two players. CJ Abrams and James Wood have been two of the Top 10 offensive players in baseball this year. If the Nats have two MVP candidates in their lineup then .500 is possible because the rest of the lineup isn't great - but it's good enough. And the pitching isn't good - but it's not bad enough to make a team with a two-MVP offense a loser."
"And more importantly the pitching has been healthy. That may not seem like much but when the pitching is not good, the pitching behind it is usually pretty bad. The Nats starters have all made 11 starts this year. The carefully controlled Nats relief core has five guys with 15 or more appearances. The dam is leaky and worrisome but has not broken."
"While we dive deeper into all of this that's the basic truth. The Nats, who as a random chance thing should be lucky to have one, have two of the best players at the plate this season. The rest of the squad just has to be average ish and that's pretty much what they are (except for Nunez) for that offense to sing. The pitching just has to be not as bad as the offense is good to get to .500. That's the balance they are maintaining right now."
Read at natsbaseball.blogspot.com
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