Dave Nichols: Division crown in sight, but still work to be done

Entering play Tuesday, the Nationals' magic number to clinch the National League East was two. All they have to do is win one of the next two games against the Braves and the Nats will take the division title with almost two weeks left in the season. After they sew up the division, it'll give manager Matt Williams time to rest some guys, sort out his bullpen and set his starting rotation for the playoffs.

The Nats won't be taking it easy, though, as they are a half-game ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the league and home field advantage throughout the Division Series and Championship series that comes with that. The Nationals certainly want to have as many home games as possible early in the series in front of what are sure to be raucous crowds at Nationals Park.

Anyone that attended the festivities in 2012, when the Nats clinched the division - and those exciting, excruciating playoff games - will never forget it and will certainly want to take part in that again.

But there are decisions to be made from Williams and general manager Mike Rizzo.

Perhaps the biggest, most public decision is what to do with Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman, the face of this franchise, has missed 50 games with a torn hamstring. According to reports, he went through a full workout at the team's training facility in Viera, Fla., on Monday while the rest of his teammates were beating the Braves.

Zimmerman is scheduled to play three innings at first base on Tuesday in a simulated instructional league game and ramp it up from there. If all goes well, he could rejoin the team by the weekend or the beginning of next week.

With the division in their back pockets, the Nats will have the luxury of Zimmerman going through a spring training in September, as long as his leg holds up. Once the playoffs start, it's still tough to see where he'll fit into the lineup, but that's for Rizzo and Williams to figure out. A few weeks ago we were pondering about if Zimmerman returned; now we wonder where he'll get playing time.

Barring injury, here's how I'd construct the playoff roster:

Starters (4): Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez
Bullpen (8): Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Matt Thornton, Craig Stammen, Ross Detwiler, Jerry Blevins, Rafael Soriano*, Tanner Roark
Lineup (8): Denard Span, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond, Bryce Harper, Wilson Ramos, Asdrubal Cabrera
Bench (5): Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa, Kevin Frandsen, Scott Hairston, Jose Lobaton

Notice the asterisk for Soriano. He has, obviously, been terrible most of the second half - and is getting worse. Since July 28, Soriano has pitched to a 7.27 ERA and opposing hitters have a .320/.373/.520 line against him. That's brutal. He has 13 games to get himself straightened out or risk being left off the playoff roster. He just can't be trusted to pitch in a meaningful situation right now.

If Soriano can't get back on track, they can replace him with Aaron Barrett.

It's fortunate that the Braves have tanked in September and given the Nats the luxury of resting some guys down the stretch, getting Zimmerman some much-needed at-bats against major league pitching, and time to try to get Soriano back on track.

Dave Nichols is editor-in-chief of District Sports Page and co-hosts the "Nats Nightly" Internet radio show. Read Nichols' Nationals observations as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.