The Washington Nationals were formerly called the Montreal Expos, who moved in 2005. The Expos had been born in 1969 as a result of expansion, and it was there that Felipe Alou, who was their manager for ten years, took root.
Before this club, the Senators existed in Washington (1901 -1960), who played 59 seasons there and later became the Minnesota Twins.
The Nationals won their first crown in 2019 under manager Dave Martinez, a 57-year-old former outfielder. MartÃnez attends his 5th. consecutive season as manager.
ROTATION:Last year, the Nationals let Max Scherzer go to the Dodgers. The reason? Scherzer was in his last year, he would go to free agency and they did not want to pay the 40 million that the 37-year-old pitcher would collect and they received young personnel..
Now they have more or less the same as last year: right-hander Stephen Strasburgh, left-hander Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, and then Joe Ross, Josian Gray and Paolo Espino, not much. Strasburgh is vulnerable to injuries and in 2021 he only had 5 appearances, and Corbin loses more than he wins, with 9-16 and 5.82… The closer will be Will Harris.
OFFENSIVE: Juan Soto, of course, is the face of Washington, one of the best bats in baseball. He is coming off a super good campaign with a .313 average, 29 home runs, 95 RBIs, but a .465 OBP, the result of 145 walks (leader) and only 93 strikeouts received. Soto will receive a salary of US$17.1 million for this upcoming season.
Nelson Cruz also arrived, in a 1-year deal for US$13 million, and with the hope that he will cross 30 home runs again, even though he is 41 years old. Cruz has 449 career home runs (the same as Vladimir Guerrero Sr.). He is coming off a 32-homer, 86-RBI performance for Minnesota and Tampa Bay.
In the other positions things do not look strong: the projected catcher is the Venezuelan Keibert Ruiz, in first Josh Bell (27 home runs), in second the York-Dominican Luis GarcÃa, in the shot Alcides Escobar and in third Carter Kieboom. In the outfield, in addition to Soto, Yadiel Hernández, VÃctor Robles, Lane Thomas and Gerardo Parra are competing.
Outlook 2022? In 2021 the club’s record was 65-97, and I don’t see much improvement. There will be a lot of suffering.
A LITTLE MORE: In spring training, as guests, are the Dominicans Richard Ureña and Maikel Franco, looking for a hole. In the roster of 40 pitcher Jefry RodrÃguez… And where is Starlin Castro?.-… Among the team’s coaches there are many former players known by the Dominicans: Darnell Coles, Erick Young Jr., Henry Blanco, Gary Disarcina, Ricky Bones, Tim Bogar… This club came out of a lot of people last year, including shortstop Trea Turner, who will play that position with the Dodgers now…Nelson Cruz has 1,913 hits, and if he plays all-around this season he could get to 2,000. That’s a good sum for a player. who started the Major Leagues at 25 years of age….
NEW BOSS:Sign up Luis Rojas as general manager of the Chosen One, in addition to his duties as the Yankees’ third-base coach…That’s happened before here, especially with Manny Acta.-…Now it’s your turn to appoint a manager, which they could do soon. .Is that designation a surprise? You could say no…Rojas is from that family, just like José Gómez, who was left in the office for different functions.
CHANGE: Raimel Tapia will now play with Toronto, having been traded by Colorado yesterday for fellow outfielder Randal Grichuck… For Toronto it is an economic move because they want to lower their payroll. Randall will earn 10 million this and next year, while Raimel is a player of two million and something….
FOOTBALL: The report says that Italy is left out of the soccer world cup for the second year in a row. Is it true? Italian tragedy…