Can Nationals bounce back in 2016?
Can the Washington Nationals bounce back from a disappointing season in 2016 and make a run at the postseason?
The opening list of wins for the MLB teams had the Nationals listed with 87 wins, which is tied for the fifth-most of any team in MLB. The Giants have the highest total of 90.
The Nationals had a disappointing 2015 season where it went just 83-79 despite having a talented roster and being one of the World Series favorites entering the year. The struggles of missing the playoffs led to Matt Williams losing his job as manager. The team hired Dusty Baker to take over this season and he has a talented group to work with.
Washington made efforts to bolster the roster in the offseason but couldn’t quite land the big fish. The team made a strong bid at Yoenis Cespedes but couldn’t sign him. The team also lost pitcher Jordan Zimmerman to free agency and in an attempt to replace him, they signed Bronson Arroyo. The team will still rely heavily on Bryce Harper to lead the lineup. He had 42 home runs with 99 RBI and a .330 batting average last season.
The Nationals still have a decent pitching rotation without Zimmerman as Max Scherzer is coming off a 276-strikeout season. Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg both had sub 4.00 ERA and Strasburg had 155 Ks in just 127 innings. With the solid pitching rotation, the Nationals won’t need a ton of run production. Harper needs some help in the lineup, but that can come over the season as Baker finds some new contributors. With Washington in the NL East where it should be able to beat up on the bad teams, look for them to push for 88 wins and get to that mark this year.
2016 MLB WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WASHINTON NATIONALS OVER 88 WINS
Want More From TheSpread.com? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or Subscribe to Our News Feeds!