Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Team Offense, Washington Nationals

The 2019 series on team offense continues with the Washington Nationals. The Nationals finished eighth in the majors and third in the National League in 2018 with 4.76 runs scored per game.

I am using RotoChamp as a source of default lineups. That Dave Martinez order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. The actual numbers from 2018 were used for the Washington pitchers. That information produces the following results (Runs per game):

  • Best lineup: 5.05
  • Probable lineup: 4.85
  • Worst lineup: 4.41
  • Regressed lineup: 4.50

The Nationals should have a lineup on par with 2018, thanks to youngsters Juan Soto and Victor Robles projecting to great seasons. Anthony Rendon played like an MVP the last two years, and now the he gets the spotlight to himself.

I like this lineup from a traditional point of view. The Nationals start with two good table setters, followed by two excellent over all hitters, Rendon and Soto both with projected high OBPs and slugging percentages. The LAT likes the split of players; Adam Eaton, Trea Turner, Rendon and Soto as one group. The LAT wants them in some order 9-1-2-3, however, not 1-2-3-4. The Nationals pitchers as group hit pretty well, so batting them eighth and Eaton ninth might work out well.

There is a large spread between the best and worst lineups for the Nationals, so plenty of mistakes are possible. Grouping those four in some order at the top should work just fine, however. It was thought for a while that the Nationals Championship window would close if Bryce Harper departed, but that’s clearly not the case. The Nationals did a nice job of preparing for Harper’s free agency.

You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet. If you like this series, consider a donation to the Baseball Musings Pledge Drive.

Previous posts in this series:



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