"The Shark" attacks

The way Roger Bernadina has been playing the last couple months, it's a shame the Nationals have nowhere to put him in their starting lineup. With Michael Morse raking again and Jayson Werth back from a broken wrist, Bernadina has lost out on some playing time. But it doesn't seem to matter to the 28-year-old outfielder from Curacao, who is playing at the highest level of his major league career. Every time he's been given a chance to step into game action recently, it seems like he's delivered in some fashion. Bernadina woke up this morning batting .296 with a .377 on-base percentage, both season highs. He went 4-for-6 with a double and three RBIs last night, this after learning just prior to gametime that he was needed to step into the starting lineup to replace Werth, who was dealing with some ankle soreness. Over his last 14 starts, Bernadina is hitting .407 with seven runs scored and nine RBIs. Then factor in his defense (he's made multiple remarkable diving catches over the last couple weeks) and his speed (he has 13 steals on the season), and you've got a player who's performing as well as nearly anyone on the team of late. The issue with Bernadina has always been his consistency. He'll play incredibly well for a while, make it seem like he's turned a corner, and then struggle to maintain that play. But Bernadina's been keeping up this level of performance for some time now. The man they call "The Shark" is starting to round into form.