{"id":10540,"date":"2015-05-04T12:21:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=10540"},"modified":"2015-05-04T12:21:10","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:21:10","slug":"all-is-not-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=10540","title":{"rendered":"All is not lost"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nice<\/a>

Nice performance from Fister on sunday. Photo via wp.com<\/p><\/div>\n

So, after destroying the ball in Atlanta (30 runs in 3 games) and getting what feels like an early “turn around the ship” 13-12 epic come from behind win, the team goes to New York and takes 3 of 4 from the Mets (who were theretofore undefeated at home and had the best record in the game).\u00a0 Even if you don’t think the Mets are really that good, it was still a statement series to go to a divisional rival ahead of you in the standings and take 3 of 4.<\/p>\n

They couldn’t beat Matt Harvey <\/strong>(who can these days?), <\/strong>not even with Max Scherzer<\/strong> going, but beat Jacob DeGrom<\/strong> and got the kind of shut-down performances from their #4 and #5 starters (Gonzalez<\/strong> and Fister<\/strong>) that practically no other team in the league can depend on.\u00a0 It isn’t a good sign having to depend on untested rookies and fortunate bounces to get one-off runs that lead to 1-0 victories, but then again, its a great sign that you have a team that *can* win these kinds of games.<\/p>\n

Now Miami comes to town; they’ve been hot (8-2 in their last 10), but the pitching matchups favor the Nats.\u00a0 I’ll take Zimmermann, Strasburg, Scherzer<\/strong> (the best 1-2-3 in the majors) over what Miami’s bringing to the table this week (Phelps, Latos<\/strong> and Koehler<\/strong>).\u00a0 Anything less than a sweep of Miami will be a disappointment.\u00a0 The Nats have clear, inarguable pitching matchup advantages, and Latos\/Koehler sport ugly ERAs that should help the Nats offense get healthy again quick.<\/p>\n

Are we backed away from the ledge yet?\u00a0\u00a0 There’s still areas of improvement of course.\u00a0 Per Fangraphs<\/a> today, the team ranks:<\/p>\n