Strasburg and Harper remind Nats of their solid base

This season certainly hasn't turned out like the Nationals wanted. Outfielder Jayson Werth said as much after hitting two homers, including a grand slam, in an 8-7 11-inning win Monday.

The team will look different with a lot of the free agents currently on the roster not returning in 2016. But two important players - arguably the most important pieces - will be there next season. Both displayed their value in Tuesday's 4-0 shutout of the Phillies.

Outfielder Bryce Harper clubbed two homers to get to 39 overall on the season. He is now second all-time on the Nationals' single-season home run list to Alfonso Soriano's 46.

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg tossed eight scoreless innings, matching his career-high with 14 strikeouts.

The pair were the No. 1 overall selections in back-to-back seasons, 2009 and 2010, and they represent the potential of a group that can still be a force in the National League East next season.

Harper is coming into his own as a hitter. His patience and ability to get the most out of each at-bat is Barry Bonds-like.

Strasburg has now had back-to-back starts on at least 7 1/3 innings. He also did a nice job of putting hitters away early in counts on Tuesday. Strasburg faced 26 batters and struck out 14 of them in using 105 pitches. He went 1-2 and 2-2 in the first inning on strikeouts. Strasburg went 0-2 and 2-2 in the third on the strikeouts. Counts of 0-2 and 1-2 were occurred in the next two frames before he got the punchouts.

His seventh and eighth innings, when most pitchers would tire out, were tremendous. He struck out the side in the seventh and got his final strikeout in his final inning, the eighth. In the seventh, Strasburg was still hitting 96 mph with his four-seam fastball.

If Strasburg can continue to induce outs on low counts, he will be able to last longer in games because he wont have to waste pitches going full count too many times. The Phillies did not foul off too many pitches.

Strasburg went after hitters, just like Max Scherzer. Scherzer and Strasburg back together again next season in the same rotation is a solid core to build around. Similar to Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw with the Dodgers.

Tuesday reminded us of what it will be like when Harper and Strasburg win games together. If they can repeat that kind of dominance, along with help from their teammates, they will be able to make the NL East a better battle for the top spot in 2016.