The Nats again tested as disabled list grows

The first day of the road trip, it was Ryan Madson. The second day of the road trip, it is Max Scherzer.

The disabled list has been the not-so-silent partner in the Nationals first place 2017 season. The 25-man roster has seen itself varied and the 40-man roster tested.

The minor league system has shown it has quality depth. President of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo has also done a nice job of adding three new bullpen arms and a quality hitting infielder/outfielder in Howie Kendrick.

Has all the changes and injuries rocked the confidence of the Nats veteran club? No way.

On Wednesday after the loss to the Angels and the news that Brian Goodwin had been placed on the disabled list, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said in a long 162-game season, injuries and player setbacks are going to happen, so no reason to panic.

"That's just part of it. You guys probably find out before I do," Zimmerman said. "But yeah, I think that's part of a season. I think Riz says it all the time, I think it takes more than 25 guys to complete a major league season and the depth that we have here is one of the reasons why we have been able to kind of move forward and we've had a good amount of injuries and that's kind of part of it and learn how to deal with it and we have plenty of young guys that are capable of filling in.

"Hopefully those guys will come back energized with however long they get a break and kind of give us a boost in this last month and a half and the playoff hopefully."

And that is part of what the Nats are hanging their hat on: that players like Trea Turner, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper will return refreshed and have had less wear on their tires because they have missed so many games. Of course, there is the danger they wont be able to recreate the magic they had when the season started. But with veterans like Werth and Harper, it really seems like they have enough experience that these last two months won't permanently derail their in-the-box timing.

"I think you always want, everyone wants to have, I don't want to say the guys that are supposed to be there because everyone in here deserves to be here, but yeah, I think you saw at the beginning of the year what this lineup was like when you saw everyone healthy and obviously (Adam) Eaton won't be back this year, but to get everyone back and kind of get going again I think it is important if we can to get those guys back a couple weeks or so before the end of the year so you can start to gel again and get those guys reps at this level, but obviously you can't rush it.

"Fortunately, we have played so well over the first half that I don't want to say we can take our time because you can't assume anything, but we can make sure those guys are good to go before they come back, but yeah it's important to get those guys back I think and get us all working together and going again," Zimmerman concluded. "I can't say enough about the guys that have filled in. They've done a great job."

And one other reason this club has done so well this season is their ability to win on the road. They have enjoyed long road trips of seven or more game with records of: 9-1, 7-2 and 7-2.

"I don't know. It is kind of interesting to see what we have done on the road," Zimmerman noticed. "We honestly look at it as road series and we just try to win each series, but yeah maybe we enjoy going, I don't know. I wish I had an answer for you. We have done pretty well on the road this year."

38-22 so far this season away from home is another major reason the Nats have such a big lead in their division. Plus, the ability to win on the road in the postseason will be a key to advancing. It will especially be helpful in their quest to win those games if they have Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Harper, Turner and Werth back in the lineup.