For the first time in the Nationals history since they moved their base of operations to Washington D.C., they are moving on to the fall classic—the World Series. In fact, this is their first time moving on to the World Series since their franchise started (formerly the Montreal Expos) in 1969. The last World series appearance to take place in the nation’s capital took place in 1933 when the Washington Senators lost to the New York Giants in five games.
They managed this feat after defeating the Brewers in the wild card matchup, upsetting the number one seed Dodgers in the divisional round and sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship series. The Nationals relied on pitching to get them past the Cardinals; Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin.
The Nationals have been hot this entire past month and they have not slowed down. Going back to the last month in the regular season they have won 16 of their last 18 games.
In the playoffs they can look at their core pitchers and Anthony Rendon for much of their success. Rendon, a potential MVP candidate, is batting .375 in the postseason with a .465 OBP, one home run and eight walks.
Each starting pitcher pitched excellent in these series to help them get this far. Max Scherzer has started three games this postseason and appeared in one game as a reliever against the Dodgers. In four postseason appearances Scherzer is 2-0 and has a 1.8 ERA with 27 strikeouts and eight walks. He also had a no hitter going against the Cardinals into the sixth inning, which for the second night in a row the Nationals pitchers accomplished.
The other pitcher to take the no hitter against the Cardinals past the sixth was Anibal Sanchez. This postseason Sanchez is 1-0 in two games started with a .71 ERA and 14 strikeouts.
Then we look at two of the most consistent pitchers for the Nationals this season, Strasburg and Corbin. Strasburg is 3-0 in 3 games started and one relief appearance and has a 1.57 ERA with 33 strikeouts. Corbin is not having a great postseason but put in his best performance against the Cardinals last night with 5.0 IP, four earned runs and 12 strikeouts.
All of these performances helped lead the Nationals onto their first World Series in franchise history. This came after an offseason where they lost Bryce Harper and many thought that the Nationals would not see the same success that they did while he was there.
Well, the Nationals found more success and other than pitching, it was in part to great defense and a balanced lineup and some unlikely heroes at the plate.
One of the more underrated players in the series was center fielder Michael A. Taylor. He had a defensive lapse, but it wasn’t enough to deter the Nationals from winning the game and the series. He didn’t have great statistics, only batting .250 in the series, but he put a big home run on the board and helped get the momentum on the Nationals side in game two of the series.
Another player who came up big in the series was backup catcher Yan Gomes. Gomes got the Nationals started early in game one, with a second inning double to give the Nationals an early 1-0 lead. He kept this momentum through the series, batting .429 in three games with three RBIs.
Everyone in the lineup was great in the series, but the best player and the NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick played great. Kendrick batted .333 with four doubles and four RBIs in the series, always coming through in the big moments.
With a mixture of all of these players they are moving onto the World Series where they will face off against either the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees. The Nationals showed that they have the pitching necessary to win it and they have the batting to be able to back up the pitching, now the challenge will be to do this against the American League winner.
Both the Astros and the Yankees have a strong pitching staff and a great lineup, making a World Series victory a little tougher for the Nationals, but they have overcome the odds so far this postseason and we will see if they can carry the momentum to a World Series victory.