House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: Reassessing NL East contenders ahead of trade deadline

By Jonathan Magel

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 23: Johan Camargo #17 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Ozzie Albies #1 after hitting a two-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the tenth inning at Nationals Park on June 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 23: Johan Camargo #17 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Ozzie Albies #1 after hitting a two-run home run against the Washington Nationals during the tenth inning at Nationals Park on June 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 22: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals sits on the field after being hit by a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning at Nationals Park on June 22, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 22: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals sits on the field after being hit by a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning at Nationals Park on June 22, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are another team that made major additions in the offseason and looked to have a bounce-back year. They currently sit 8.5 games out of first place and were on a bit of a hot streak until they ran into the flaming hot Atlanta Braves.

The Nationals had a major subtraction by losing Bryce Harper, but as you can see in the previous page, that it might not have been a big loss after all.

They also replaced him with the 2018 number 4 overall prospect in baseball according to mlb.com, Victor Robles.

Now Robles hasn’t lived up to the hype yet batting .242 on the year, but it’s his rookie campaign so his struggles aren’t too surprising.

He shares the outfield with Juan Soto, another young and exciting prospect who made waves last year and almost won Rookie of the Year if it wasn’t for Ronald Acuña Jr. He has continued his success batting .305 with 12 home runs.

The Nationals also have one of the best left sides of the infield in baseball combining the speedy Trea Turner and talented Anthony Rendon.

However, the Nationals biggest strength is the rotation, headlined by one of the best pitchers in baseball in Max Scherzer. Followed by the uber-talented Stephen Strasburg and big free agent signing Patrick Corbin.

Corbin hasn’t been fantastic but he is pitching right around his career ERA of 3.91.

Another key free agent signing reliever Trevor Rosenthal was released this past weekend. And former Brave Anibal Sanchez has returned to his career norm with an ERA of 4.02.

Overall, they didn’t miss too big on their free agent signing but still didn’t get the results they were hoping.

Home/Braves News