The last 3 games have to be put behind us, and on to what we have now with Tanner Roark for the Nats, and the Dodgers will pitch lefty Scott Kazmir tonight. Yasiel Puig is set to come off of the DL tonight.
The Nationals have actually moved up to 6th in NL OPS putting the team on the top half of the league. The home runs have certainly helped, and Danny Espinosa and Michael Taylor are both trending up.
The Nats leaderboard looks much different now. Taylor doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify, but here is the Nats by OPS and Ryan Zimmerman has moved into the last spot once again on the team. What has happened to him? His doubleplays are up, his RISP BA is down to .172. Two weeks ago Ryan Zimmerman was in a red hot streak.
A follow-up to look how Ryan Zimmerman ranks in his peer group of 1st baseman, and he is 3rd to last, and even worse than that is that he is ranked as a negative WAR. 71 games completed in the season, can you remember a game you can say: Ryan Zimmerman won that game for the Washington Nationals.
Ryan Zimmerman was at a season’s best mark (.250/.316/.458/.775) on June 8th which was 2 games after he returned from paternity leave, and now he has spiraled back down 76 points on his OPS. Zimmerman’s Line Drive rate is his lowest in his career at 14.8% which is down 7% from just 2 years ago and his groundball rate is up to 51.1% with his Contact% down to 76.3% which is also the lowest of his career.
With Gio Gonzalez, Felipe Rivero, Oliver Perez, Jose Lobaton, and Ryan Zimmerman trending down, after tonight’s game we are only 9 games from the 1/2 way point in the season, and there are clear upgrade questions. Maybe each player can improve and be their own upgrade.
Back to tonight’s game, the Nats are facing another lefty.
Here is your Nats stats against Scott Kazmir:
Here is Tanner Roark’s stats against the Dodgers:
Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers
Stadium: Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
1st Pitch: 10:10pm EDT
TV: MASN2, SNLA-Dodgers, SportsNet LA, MLB.tv
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Ben Revere CF
- Jayson Werth LF
- Bryce Harper RF
- Daniel Murphy 2B
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Danny Espinosa SS
- Tanner Roark RHP
In other news, Mike Rizzo did it again. He has signed every Nats draft pick in rounds #1 to #11 except Dane Dunning who will sign after his college baseball career is finished as his Florida Gators are still going in the College World Series.
Today Nick Banks signed, and Banks one year ago was projected as a 1st rounder and the top college bat. Banks had a tough 2016 season at Texas A&M which dropped his draft status, but that didn’t scare off Mike Rizzo. We look for big upside for Banks.
Per @jimcallisMLB, @Nationals ink 4th-rounder Nick Banks for $500K (slot $473,300). Tracker: https://t.co/JoHhHMQWqt pic.twitter.com/O2OwhATidt
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 21, 2016
Jesus Luzardo was confirmed as signed yesterday but Robert Murray had this 10 days before anyone else. Luzardo will be part of the Nationals ‘Tommy John’ protocol as he recovers from his UCL surgery. Luzardo was also considered 1st round talent before his injury. He is a big lefty with a big fastball.
Source: #Nationals and No. 92 pick LHP Jesus Luzardo agree to terms at $1.4 million.
— Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayBBE) June 11, 2016
Per @jimcallisMLB, @Nationals sign 3rd-rounder Jesus Luzardo for $1.4m ($635,800).
Tracker: https://t.co/JoHhHMQWqt pic.twitter.com/vlKBzGRpXn— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 20, 2016
