(08-03-2018 08:20 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(08-02-2018 11:50 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(08-02-2018 09:03 AM)stever20 Wrote:  so don't look now, but Bryce Harper since the break is batting a cool .333 with a 1.056 OPS and 179 wRC+. 2 HR and 3 SB. His 179 is only 3rd on the team- behind Soto and Murphy. Scored at least 5 runs in 7 of the 11 games since the break.

Pitching for Nats gotten much better. #3 in MLB behind only Boston and Colorado since the break.

Wonder if it's too little too late for the Nats, but perfect timing for Harper and his agent. Nats are obviously not out of it, but time is not on their side and the Braves and Phillies made some good pickups at the deadline.

August will be huge for the Nats. Got the 4 with the Braves next week and 6 with the Phillies later in the month.

And with Harper now .359/.480/.692 3 HR, 13 RBI since the break- anything is possible. I mean would it with the talent the Nats have surprise you for the Nats to throw out a 40-17 type of finish? They're already 3-0 so it would now only be 37-17. Still have 8 with Miami and 7 with the Mets left. Nats this year had a period where they went 26-10. Maybe the pitching- but even there- Scherzer is still Scherzer, and the Nats are getting good stuff right now from Roark, Gio, and even Millone. And if you're scoring 5+ runs a night- you have a bit of a margin for error. (see LA last night as a good example- pen for LA gave up 3 runs in 3 innings, but when you're scoring 21 runs, it's not that big of a deal.)

I would not be surprised. The math isn't on their side, but a team with that much talent can break off a huge run. No doubt about it.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers put up 21 runs and the Dbacks put up 1. After watching the latter, I just don't see how they can beat the Dodgers.

Giants pen is all of a sudden lights out.
Smith: 34.1 IP / 1.31 ERA / 12.58 K/9, 1.83 BB/9 / 1.8 fWAR
Watson: 48 IP / 2.06 ERA / 9 K/9 / 1.88 BB/9, 1.1 fWAR
Moronta: 49 IP / 1.84 ERA / 10.47 K/9 / 4.96 BB/9 / 1.0 fWAR
Black (After that first horrible appearance): 9.1 IP / 0 runs / 13 K / 3 BB / 0 Hits
Strickland: 31 IP / 2.84 ERA / 8.24 K/9 / 3.69 BB/9 / .4 fWAR
Dyson: 52 IP / 2.92 ERA

They're not going anywhere, but it's crazy how good the pen has become. Strickland and Melancon are the 6th and 7th guys out of the pen. Too bad the lineup is mediocre and the rotation is pieced together with glue and duct tape (although Dereck Rodriguez has been a great pickup)