In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
With pitchers and catchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates reporting in about a month, our wake up calls will focus on something a little different this week.
Every day, we will take a look at how the Pirates rotation, bullpen and position players compare to each of last year’s five postseason teams from the National League. We will also determine which team has the advantage in each area.
This morning, we take a look at how the Bucs compare to the Washington Nationals, the 2016 NL East division champions, who lost in last year’s National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rotation
Out of the three 2016 playoff squads that we’ve highlighted in the last three days, all three of them have one thing in common: They each have top notch starting rotations.
The Nationals rotation finished second in baseball with a 3.60 ERA last season, behind only the World Series champion Chicago Cubs. Led by Max Scherzer‘s MLB leading 284 strikeouts, the rotation also led all major league starting staffs with 987 strikeouts.
The Nationals projected rotation for 2017 has what it takes to repeat those stellar numbers. This year’s staff could likely consist of Scherzer, the 2016 NL Cy Young award winner, along with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Tanner Roark and Joe Ross.
With the 32-year old Scherzer as the oldest pitcher on the staff, the Nats still have a relatively young rotation that has already established themselves as being one of the most dangerous rotations in baseball. Because of this, I have to give the Nats the advantage over the Pirates rotation, which we already know has some question marks surrounding it.
Bullpen
The Nationals bullpen received a major boost when they acquired Mark Melancon from the Pirates for Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn at last year’s trade deadline. However, now Melancon has moved on to San Francisco and Rivero is still with Pittsburgh, leaving some big questions within their bullpen.
With the closer role still open, Shawn Kelley and Blake Treinen could have legitimate opportunities. However, neither of them have much experience closing games. The Nats bullpen did compile a 3.37 ERA last season, good for second in baseball, and it’s possible that they could repeat this feat.
The Pirates have solid late inning relief options in the form of Tony Watson, Daniel Hudson and Felipe Rivero, which in my mind gives them the advantage in this category. The Nationals just have too many questions surrounding their bullpen, while the Pirates seem to have more figured out with an abundance of relief options.
Position Players
When it comes to position players, the Nationals added a huge piece this offseason when they acquired Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox in a mega deal that involved top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito. Eaton will now join Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper in the Nats outfield. This trio may not be better than the Bucs trio of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, but they still make up a quality outfield unit.
Not many teams can top the Nationals group of infielders. With Anthony Rendon at third base, Trea Turner at shortstop, Daniel Murphy at second base, Ryan Zimmerman at first base and newly acquired Derek Norris at catcher, the Nationals, at least in my mind, have one of the best infields in baseball.
All five of these players have the talent, offensively and defensively, to make opposing teams cringe when going head to head. This is why I give the Nationals the nod in the battle of position players.
Baseball Talk on the Web
- Rob Manfred meets with Donald Trump.
- Bob Nightingale of USA Today Sports writes that Hunter Greene could be model as MLB aims to attract more african american pitchers.
- Spring Training report dates for all 30 MLB teams.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
