Message #1169253

[PC]

Buster Olney, lineups:

5. Washington Nationals
Regardless of whether Adam LaRoche re-signs or if Mike Morse winds up playing a lot of first base, Washington will have a complete lineup, with on-base percentage (Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper), power (Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa), balance (possibly three left-handed hitters and one switch-hitter in the everyday lineup) and speed (Denard Span, Harper, Desmond, Werth).

A tangible difference: Manager Davey Johnson likes to play a lot of guys and rest his regulars, and that's good, because Washington looks as if it should have an incredibly deep bench. The Nationals have two regular catchers (Kurt Suzuki and Wilson Ramos), the versatile Steve Lombardozzi and Roger Bernadina, possibly Morse, Tyler Moore and Chad Tracy. Oh, and some of the Nationals' pitchers can hit, from Stephen Strasburg (.277 batting average) to Jordan Zimmermann.