Nats '08 season will be remembered for injuries, lack of offense
The 2008 season is in the history books and it's one that Manny Acta and the Nationals would like to forget.
The season started off with such promise as Ryan Zimmerman opened the year with a walk-off home run against the Braves to christen Washington's new home, Nationals Park.
After two more wins to begin the '08 campaign, the Nationals went on to lose nine straight games and fall to last place in the NL East, where they would spend the rest of the year.
Coming into the season, Acta thought he had a solid foundation on offense and the biggest question mark would be the pitching. It turns out it was the complete opposite, as the Nats bats never got on track while the arms were the pleasant surprise.
One reason the offense struggled was the injuries that decimated the lineup. Starters Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns, Zimmerman, Paul Lo Duca, to name a few, all missed significant time while on the disabled list.
Washington ended up with the worst record in the Majors at 59-102; and the organization decided someone had to accept the blame, so they fired the entire coaching staff except for Acta and pitching coach Randy St. Claire.
The Nationals didn't have a position player record 70 RBI and they were shutout 21 times, the most in the Majors. The pitching, which was supposed to be the weakness of the ballclub, was pretty good, but no starter had more than 10 wins.
Acta has said on numerous occasions that the Nationals will look to add a power-hitting bat to the line-up, and with a healthy roster, the 2009 team should compete in the NL East.
Team MVP
Cristian Guzman - He finished the season with a .316 average with nine home runs, 55 RBI, 77 runs scored and 183 hits (fourth in the National League) in 138 games. Guzman posted 57 multi-hit games, second most in the NL.
Team Cy Young
John Lannan. Yes he finished with a losing record, 9-15, but he established himself as a legitimate starter in his first full season. His ERA was a respectable 3.91 and if it wasn't for a lack of run support for most of the season, his record could easily have been 15-9. He had 21 quality starts in 31 outings.
Leave a comment