Hidden "weaknesses"

It can't be helped.  You are always looking for things to improve in a team.  You win 100 games, you want to find out how you can win 101. But it's tough to find weakness in the 2013 Nationals.  On a macro level : Starting Pitching?  Great.  Relief Pitching? Very Good.  Defense? Very Good.  Offense? Good.   On a micro-level, I suppose LH relief pitching is a weakness, but that was a choice that mostly makes sense for the Nats (how many times a year do you need to get out a LH who is terrible random against ok lefties but will crush the great righties the Nats have?).  And I guess... maybe catcher? I mean, it's not a strength right now.  It sure could be though.

Even expanding it out - manager, GM, owner... no complaints.  TV Announcers? Park and location? Batting practice ballcaps?

No team is good at everything, even the Nats. So where do these Supermen fail? What minor little quibbling things can you find if you get bored and pour over some stats?

They walk a few more guys than you'd like.  (10th in the NL last year)  Surprising on a team with control freaks like ZNN and Strasburg but it's true.  The Nats love "stuff" and when that's your default you'll rely on guys that can get a little wild sometimes.  Obviously this hasn't hurt performance, but I'd expect something similar this year. Even though most of the main offenders are gone, their best control relief guy (Burnett) is gone too, and the Nats really love the heat (look at how they are fawning over Karns and seem ready to give H-Rod a 3rd chance).

The left side of the infield makes a lot of silly errors.  Of qualifiers - Zimmerman is middle of the road in 3B Fielding Percentage, Desmond near the bottom.  This is something we've all noticed too. These guys sometimes have brain lock-ups and all of a sudden balls are flying every which way. The good news is that these don't show any pattern of repeating and frankly it's more important that they get to a ton of balls. Which they do.

They are kind of a slow starting team when it comes to hitting.  Every definite starter (with the exception of Bryce) tends over their career to start slowly in March/April.  That's usually the case for most batters in general, but the law of averages would say that someone on the Nats would be a guy whose March/April tend to be one of their better months. Nope.

They pick the wrong random old guys to lend a veteran presence.  Man, DeRosa and Lidge were bad last year.  The good news - No 35+ ers this year. Also no Nady, no Maldanado.  Even that ancient Wang is gone.  He'd have been 33 this year! Get outta here oldies! (everyday oldies excluded - watch out for Tracy to be bad! Oh no! Season over!)

and... you know that's really about it. I tried.  I lightly scoured, but this is all I could find.  And none of these things really matter.  The walks go hand in hand with the Nats Ks which are among the best in the league.  As long as their HRs remain down (also among the best in the league), and the relief pitching remains good (ditto) the walks are just a minor nuisance.  Zimm and Desi's brain locks are offset by the fact that they get a lot more guys out than your average left side. So even given the fact they give team's a few more extra outs on errors, they take away a bunch more on range.  They are a plus.  Who cares if the Nats are slow starters? It's not a one-month season.  And random old guys only matter on the fringiest of fringes. Maybe these guys will combine to cost you a game?

Nats are good.  Damn good. Best in the league good like everyone says. Watch out Nats fans, you are going to see a LOT of Washington Nationals as picks for WS winners this year, just you wait.


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