Nationals @ Rockies, Game 1

[I can Throw]

Zimm is at .295 now!  Way to go Zimm!

Who are the other ROY candidates? Freddie Freeman has to be a near lock.

[BerkeleyNat]

Zimm is at .295 now!  Way to go Zimm!

Who are the other ROY candidates? Freddie Freeman has to be a near lock.

Atlanta's closer is a contender.

[EdStroud]

Nationals 3
(53-58, 21-35 away)
Rockies 6
(52-60, 27-29 home)  Final W: Rogers (5-1)   L: Detwiler (1-1) 


Phillies 3
(72-39, 31-21 away)
Giants 0
(62-50, 33-21 home)  Final  W: Lee (11-7)   L: Bumgarner (6-11) 

Cardinals 7
(59-53, 30-29 away)
Marlins 4
(55-56, 23-31 home)  Final  W: McClellan (9-6)   L: Hensley (1-4)   S: Salas (20)

National League
EAST             W   L    PCT    GB
Philadelphia   72  39  .649    ---
Atlanta          64  48  .571    8.5
NY Mets        55  55  .500   16.5
Florida          55  56  .495   17.0
Washington   53  58  .477   19.0 

[Coladar]

God, we are almost 20 games back, and 10.5 from the wild card. How insanely fast this season has evaporated. At least in 2005 we were in it for quite a while longer. We've just nosedived this year unbelievably quickly. What a team.

[houston-nat]

God, we are almost 20 games back, and 10.5 from the wild card. How insanely fast this season has evaporated. At least in 2005 we were in it for quite a while longer. We've just nosedived this year unbelievably quickly. What a team.

I wouldn't say we've "nosedived" at all. We were right at .500 for a couple months and now we're 5 games below .500. That's the product of a single losing streak. The reason we're 19 games out of the division is, simply, that the Phillies are way, way better than they were in 2005. The Mets are .500, like we were for a couple of months, and they're still 16 games out of .500.

[houston-nat]

I can't believe Morse is hitting .317, that's ridiculous. Plus all the power

He's having an unreal year

Just like to point out that in the preseason predictions thread I thought Morse would finish with the team lead in homers at 34. He's on pace for 29, but ... dude's a beast.

[MarquisDeSade]

He still has the most WAR of any rookie--i.e., he has provided the most value to his team of any rookie.  So yes, I think he is still a contender.  People on this forum have short memories.

When's the last time a ROY was decided by WAR only?

[Kevrock]

He still has the most WAR of any rookie--i.e., he has provided the most value to his team of any rookie.  So yes, I think he is still a contender.  People on this forum have short memories.

Agree with this. He needs to get hot again, and Freeman needs to cool off.

[Sharp]

When's the last time a ROY was decided by WAR only?

Never, but it at least puts him in contention for the award, does it not?

[OldChelsea]

You think he's still a contender at this point for ROY? There's no doubt that he can get hot and still take the award, but I think it's gonna be an uphill battle now. He's cooled off, which is not uncommon at this point in the season for a rookie.

Even at his best, his only hope lay in Kimbrel and Freeman taking votes from each other...unfortunately, playing for a contender (and for a 'glamour' team like the Braves at that) cuts a lot of ice with many of the voters.

[TylerDC]

Speaking of WAR, how does Morse only have a 2.5?

[houston-nat]

Speaking of WAR, how does Morse only have a 2.5?

Dave Cameron is sabotaging the stats page.

[TylerDC]

Dave Cameron is sabotaging the stats page.

I'm not saying 2.5 is bad or anything.. but according to FanGraphs, Morse is the 65th most valuable position player this year.

[tomterp]

I'm not saying 2.5 is bad or anything.. but according to FanGraphs, Morse is the 65th most valuable position player this year.

Since it's position relative, a player with his productivity is worth less at first base than the same player with the same numbers at just about any other position.