Breakdown of the Washington Nationals Big 3

The Washington Nationals currently stand at 58-39 on the season and have a 4.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the N.L East. The Nationals have surprised everybody this season, and much of their success is due to the dominant pitching by Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, and Stephen Strasburg.  Lets break down Washington’s big 3 by the numbers.

Wins

•  Gio is currently tied for first in the N.L. in wins with a 13-5 record on the season.
• Strasburg has compiled a 11-4 record on the season.
• Zimmerman is currently 7-6 on the season

ERA

• Zimmerman is 4th in the N.L. with a 2.31 ERA on the season, which is nearly a whole run lower then last years 3.18 ERA
• Strasburg currently has a 2.76 ERA on the season. After being injured all last season he has come  back proving he is healthy.
• Gonzalez sits with a 3.13 ERA on the season which is just .01 higher than last years 3.12 ERA.

Strikeouts

• Strasburg currently leads the N.L. in strikeouts with 151 K’s on the season giving him a 11.38 K/9 on the year.
• Gio Gonzalez currently has 133 strikeouts on the year giving him a 10.14 K/9 on the season.
• Zimmerman has 90 strikeouts with a 6.34 K/9 on the year

Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched(WHIP)

• Zimmerman has a WHIP of 1.06 on the season. Zimmerman’s WHIP has improved every year in the majors.
• Gonzalez has a WHIP of 1.11 on the season which is a career high for him.
• Strasburg has a WHIP of 1.12 on the season which is .05 worse than his rookie year.

LOB%

Number of batters a pitcher leaves on base when pitching.

• Strasburg’s LOB% is 78.5% this season which is 2% higher than his career average of 76%. That means nearly 4 out of every 5 batters that reach based do not score.
• Gonzalez LOB% is a 72% on the season which is actually lower than his career average of 74%.
• Zimmerman has a LOB% of 83.6% which is a career high for Zimmerman. His career average is 75%

Overall the numbers can never lie and the Nationals big 3 are a big reason to why the Washington Nationals have the best pitching staff in baseball this season. The Nationals are ranked 1st is virtually every pitching category as a team, and that is why they are finally making a push to the playoffs in 2012.

Coach Tom

Look At Me Now!!!

Bryce Harper

      Yes, this is the photo of the youngest player in MLB. Lets meet the 19-year-old right fielder, Bryce Harper, from Las Vegas, Nevada. Harper was drafted 1st overall in the 1st round in the 2010 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals. Harper made his way through the minors in just his second year.

      Bryce Harper started his career for the Hagerstown Suns, the A team for the Washington Nationals. For the Suns, Harper played 72 games, where he hit .318, 82 hits, 17 doubles, 14 homers, 58 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. Later in 2011 Harper would be called up to AA to play for the Harrisburg Senators, where Harper hit .256 with 33 hits, 7 doubles, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, and 7 steals in just 37 games played. Harper then started the 2012 season in AAA, playing for the Syracuse Chiefs. Harper played in just 21 games batting .243 with 18 hits, 4 doubles, 1 homer, and 3 RBIs before being called up to the Washington Nationals on April 28th.

Now into his rookie year at just 19, Harper has started 67 games for the Washington Nationals this season. Harper has started at all three postions in the outfield although right field has been his primary postion starting 21 games at the position. Harper is batting .275 with 74 hits, 15 doubles, 8 homers, 5 triples, 26 RBIs, and 7 stolen bases on the season. Harper is a very well rounded batter, hitting .272 against left handed pitching and .277 against right handers. The Washington Nationals are currently 3.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for first in the division, and Harper and the other young players have a lot to do with the teams new found success.

Look for Harper tonight on ESPN as the Washington Nationals are taking on the New York Mets. Harper is batting .238 against the Mets this season.

Coach Tom

 

Mike Trout All-Star

Can’t get enough of Mike Trout’s epic catch. Happy to see the National League win 8-0 and happy to see a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old in the game.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

Joel Hanrahan-

The pirates closer got his 20th save of the year in a 5-4 victory vs. the Phillies Thursday night. Thursday’s save gave Hanrahan his 5th save in a row, and has blown just 2 saves all year, in which the Pirates still got the victories in both. Harahan is 3rd in the N.L in saves this year with 20. Hanrahan is   3-0 with 35 strikeouts in just 30 innings pitched, and has a 2.10 ERA on the season now.

Bryce Harper

The Nationals outfielder went 2-6 in Thursday’s loss over the Colorado Rockies. Harper had a single, a homer, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBIs improving his average to .282 on the season. Harper’s 8th homer of the season came in fashion of the game tying homer to lead off the 9th inning. Harper had 7 hits in the 4 game series and is on his way to a rookie of the year award at age of just 19.

Tyler Colvin

The Rockies center fielder improved his average to .307 on the year after a 4-6 game vs. the Washington Nationals in Thursday’s 11-10 victory. Colvin had 2 singles, a triple, a homer, leaving him just a double shy of the cycle, and 5 RBIs on the night. Colvin’s 5 RBI night was a career high  and the triple was just his 12th of his career.

Chris Young

The Diamondbacks center fielder only went 1-4 on the night, but his one hit got him on the good list for just one reason. Young’s homer came in the 9th inning with 1 out when the game was tied 3-3 at the time. Young’s 7th homer of the season ended up being the game winning run in Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Braves. Young’s homer gave the Braves closer, Craig Kimbrel his first blown save on the season.

Alexi Amarista

The Padres 2nd baseman went 1-1 in a pinch hit roll Thursday night in a 11-3 victory over the Houston Astros. Amarista had a career day in just one swing giving him his 1st career homer, grandslam, and most RBIs in a game at 4. Amarista is hitting just .233 on the season.

Andrew Cashner

The Padres starting pitcher got a no decision despite throwing a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Cashner went 6.1 innings while giving up 2 runs on just 2 hits and striking out 9. Thursday’s outing was Cashner’s first role in the starting spot on the season and he now has a 3.63 ERA on the year.

David Wright

The Mets 3rd basemen went 2-3 in the Mets 3-2 victory over the Dodgers. Wright had a single, a homer, 1 runs scored, and 2 RBIs Thursday. Wright is now batting .361 with with 9 homers and 49 RBIs on the year.

Madison Bumgarner

The Giants starter improved to 10-4 on the season in Thursday’s 5-0 victory over the Reds. Bumgarner went 9 innings giving up no runs off just 1 hit and striking out 9.  This was Bumgarner’s best start of the season and now has a 2.85 ERA with 92 strikeouts on the season.

The Bad

Todd Frazier

The Reds 3rd baseman went 0-3 in a 5-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Frazier dropped his average to .258 after a 3 strikeout game Thursday night. Frazier has just 5 hits over his last 10 games and has lowered his average by 20 points during that stand.

Clinton Barmes

Despite the victory for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Barmes average dropped to .196 on the season. The Pirates shortstop went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts Thursday vs. the Phillies. Barmes is just 7-32 over his last 10 games which has actually raised his average 8 points.

Nationals and Rockies pitching

In the Nationals and Rockies 11-10 game there were 34 totals hits and 22 runs. Lets start with the Nationals. Edwin Jackson went just 3 innings giving up 8 runs off 10 hits. Tom Gorzelanny went 2 innings giving up 2 runs off 3 hits. Now the Rockies pitching. Josh Outman went 3 innings giving up 5 runs off 5 hits. Josh Roenicke went 3 innings giving up 4 runs off 4 hits.

Dan Uggla

The Braves 2nd baseman went 0-3 with 3 strikeouts in the Braves 4-3 loss. Uggla is now 0-10 over the last 3 games dropping his average to .235 on the season.

The Ugly

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are now 43-34 on the season after dropping their 5th in a row and their 9th of their last 10th. The Dodgers were sitting in first place before their lossing ways and now sit 1 game behind the soaring Giants. The Dodgers have scored just 15 runs over their last 10 games while giving up 41 runs.

Coach Tom

A Night in the American League

Every night The Big Guy breaks down the action in the American League.

Biggest Win

Playing on the road against baseball’s best team, the Chicago White Sox eked out a 5-4 victory against the L.A. Dodgers. Now 35-30, the Sox had been on a bit of a recent skid. The Chicago bullpen worked 4 no-hit innings Saturday and rookie closer Addison Reed picked up his 8th save of the season. The Sox lead the AL Central by 1.5 games.

Best Pitcher

The Big Guy’s dark horse pick won again last night, this time on the arm of starter Jason Hammel. The 7-2 righty threw a complete game 1-hit shutout to fuel the Orioles past the Braves. Hammel walked 2 and struck out 8. Hammel lowered his ERA to 2.87 and Baltimore improved to 38-27 on the year.

Best Hitter

Mike Moustakas went 3-5, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R Saturday. The 23-year-old Kansas City third baseman accounted for 6 of his teams 7 runs Saturday as they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7.

Stat to know

Since his belated season debut on May 28, Hard Hittin’ Carlos Quentin has posted a .417/.541/.896 line. The 29-year-old left fielder could be used as a major trading chip for the 23-43 San Diego Padres.

Tomorrow’s Note

The Yankees start 8-2 Ivan Nova (4.64 ERA) against 3-3 National’s starter Edwin Jackson (3.02 ERA).

Harper Goes DEEEEEEP

450 feet off the sign to dead center…I guess he’s the real deal