The 2023 series on team offense continues with the Washington Nationals. The Nationals finished twenty sixth in the majors and thirteenth in the National League in 2022 with 3.72 runs scored per game.
This season I am using FanGraphs Roster Resource Depth Charts* as the source of default lineups. That Phil Nevin batting order is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results (Runs per game):
- Best lineup: 4.34
- Probable lineup: 4.25
- Worst lineup: 4.15
- Regressed lineup: 4.11
The Nationals default lineup looks as much like the worst lineups as it does the best lineups. The spread between the two is so small that it’s tough to come up with anything that far off from the optimum.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, the spread is small because there is a lack of talent. Joey Meneses projects to the best numbers on the team, and really the only one with any power. Four of the starters project to slugging percentages under .400. It’s not like they have much young talent on the team for upside. This looks like another down season for the Nationals offense.
You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet.
Previous posts in this series:
- Introduction
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- New York Yankees
- Atlanta Braves
- Toronto Blue Jays
- New York Mets
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Houston Astros
- Boston Red Sox
- Milwaukee Brewers
- San Francisco Giants
- Texas Rangers
- San Diego Padres
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Cleveland Guardians
- Colorado Rockies
- Minnesota Twins
- Seattle Mariners
- Chicago White Sox
- Baltimore Orioles
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Chicago Cubs
- Cincinnati Reds
- Kansas City Royals
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
*This is the best version of this information I’ve seen, with everything you might want to know on one page.