“World Series or bust,” said former Nationals manager Davey Johnson. “That’s probably the slogan this year.”
That was a year ago. But there was no World Series for the Washington Nationals. The great hope of the District failed to produce in 2013, missing the postseason and leaving fans of District teams distraught as a hopeless football season began to spiral out of control.
With spring training for 2014 commencing, the 2013 World Series favorite Nats sport a similar roster, loaded with talent from top to bottom, but still looking to make a deep run into the postseason.
Last season saw the retention of “Gold Glove” first baseman Adam LaRoche and the trade of outfielder Michael Morse. The signings of outfielder Denard Span, starting pitcher Dan Haren, and closer Rafael Soriano also made headlines. Soriano, supposedly a big time acquisition from the Yankees, was supposed to fill the spot of Drew Storen, who blew a save in the deciding game of the 2012 National League Division Series. More so, Stephen Strasburg entered the season without an inning count.
Soriano, however, was not the flamethrower everybody expected, and the Nationals 2013 bullpen looked just as unreliable as its predecessor. Haren struggled to meet expectations, Strasburg again struggled with injuries, and even though Span lived up to the hype, Washington fell short of the sky-high expectations that were a new standard in the nation’s capital.
“I used to hate it when people said we had a young team. No knock on [Bryce] Harper and [Stephen] Strasburg, but they barely spent any time in the minors at all,” Nationals second baseman Ian Desmond told the Washington Post. “We weren’t just a young team; we were inexperienced. It takes years to learn the details of the pro game.”
The Nationals have not fallen out of the graces of sports pundits. They’re Vegas’ third favorite to take home a World Series title, but their season will center around their ability, or lack thereof, to turn talent into wins.
The Nats are an anomaly. Washington sports teams are not predicted to succeed, and they rarely find a way to do so. However, if this year’s iteration of the team fails to make a deep postseason run, it will surprise experts and fans alike.
Whether or not it is warranted, for the 2014 Nationals, the pressure is on.
