Does the Nats' red-hot start this season foreshadow anything?

As much as we've focused recently on some of the Nationals' most impressive individual performances so far this season, let's not forget about the bigger picture. This is a team sport, after all, so really nothing matters more than the team's record, no matter who is contributing to that and in what manner.

The Nationals, as a team, have been fantastic to date in 2016. They enter tonight's series opener against the Phillies with a 14-4 record, matching the 2012 Nats for the best 18-game start in franchise history. They currently own the best record in baseball.

The caveat, of course, to all of this is that they have played a ridiculously easy schedule. So far they have only played the Braves (4-15), Marlins (7-11), Phillies (9-10) and Twins (6-14). Not much challenge there.

And the fortuitous early season slate continues this week with three games against Philadelphia before the Nationals finally face their first true challenge of 2016: a 10-game road trip to face the Cardinals, Royals and Cubs.

Having said all that, 14-4 still is 14-4, no matter who you've played. This doesn't happen very often.

In fact, if the Nationals win tonight behind Max Scherzer, Bryce Harper and whoever else steps up, they would become only the 11th major league club in the last 25 years to open a season at least 15-4. And the list of other teams that have done it is impressive ...

TEAMS TO START 15-4 IN THE LAST 25 YEARS
2012 Rangers 93-69 AL wild card
2005 White Sox 99-63 World Series champs
2003 Yankees* 101-61 AL champs
2003 Royals* 83-79 Missed playoffs
2003 Giants 100-61 Division champs
2002 Mariners 93-69 Missed playoffs
2001 Mariners 116-46 Division champs
2001 Twins 85-77 Missed playoffs
1998 Padres 98-64 NL champs
1992 Blue Jays 96-66 World Series champs
*Started 16-3

That's a pretty strong group of ballclubs there. Seven of those 10 teams made the postseason, four of them reached the World Series and two of them won the whole shebang.

Even the teams that missed the playoffs were still pretty good, with no true stinkers in the bunch. The average season-ending record for these 10 teams: 96-66.

Which isn't to say the Nationals are guaranteed of anything right now. They're simply playing dominant baseball against clearly inferior competition. That .778 winning percentage could change in a hurry starting this weekend.

But given the alternative, you'd much rather be in this position than the opposite. No matter how they've done it, the Nationals are off to one of the best season-opening stretches in recent baseball history.

And if history is any indication of things to come, they should wind up pleased with the end result of all this.