Nationals on top thanks to largely mistake-free defense

The starting pitching and offense get most, if not all, of the headlines when talking about the Nationals and their 40-24 start.

But one team statistic that some might not have realized is how well the defense has played.

The Nationals lead the major leagues in fielding percentage at .990. The Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants are next at .988.

The 23 errors the Nationals have surrendered are by far the lowest in the majors. The next-closest are the White Sox (28) and Giants (29).

On average, this means the Nationals are charged with an error in the field in just 35.9 percent of the games they have played, or a just a smidge over an average of one miscue every three games.

Last season, the Nationals were middle of the pack in fielding percentage at .985. They committed 90 total errors in 2015, No. 18 on the list. Oakland made 126 errors last season while the Dodgers had only 75 errors for the season.

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been charged with one error in 423 chances at a position he just started playing on an everyday basis last season. His fielding percentage is .998.

Second baseman Daniel Murphy does have five errors, but the Nationals can live with that thanks to a major league-leading batting average of .367 and a slugging percentage of .603 that ranks second.

Third baseman Anthony Rendon has three errors and fielding percentage of .981.

Shortstop Danny Espinosa has a somewhat surprising six errors, but his defense has always been good and one would expect that number to hold steady for a while.

Left fielder Jayson Werth has no errors, Michael A. Taylor no errors in center field and right fielder Bryce Harper has no errors in 58 games. Ben Revere has two errors.

Catcher Wilson Ramos has two errors in 423 chances and has thrown out 35 percent of attempted base stealers, which is No. 5 in the National League. Ramos has also allowed only 11 stolen bases, second-best to Giants catcher Buster Posey (10) in the National League.

The only starting pitchers with errors are Joe Ross and Stephen Strasburg, with one each. The pitching staff has done a very good job of fielding their position.