Just having a think about the post season 25 and struggling. In theory this is part of the DL discussion but possibly deserves it's own thread as it's specifically about the 25 that will take the field in the NLDS... so long as we hold it together for the next 5 or so weeks.
Clearly, a rookie could run into some magnificent form and play their way in, in September...
The only person that I can think of that clearly is not going to be on the roster is Joe Ross. Every one else has a chance, even Eaton (though I wouldn't pick him). I'm also sceptical about Glover and worried about Madson. Harper is probably 75/25 but will clearly be in the squad.
Game 1 Position PlayersC Matt Wieters S
1B Ryan Zimmerman R
2B Daniel Murphy L
3B Anthony Rendon R
SS Trea Turner R*
RF Howie Kendrick R
CF Michael Taylor R
LF Bryce Harper L*
BenchC Jose Lobaton S
1B/RF Adam Lind L
IF Wilmer Difo S
LF Jayson Werth R*
OF Brian Goodwin L*
* Denotes currently on DL or rehabbing as of 25th August.I think those position players, barring further injury, or setbacks in rehabbing are a lock for the post season. The last spot was a choice between the DL stricken Goodwin and the DL stricken Stephen Drew. Assuming Goodwin is fit he probably gets the nod for me and though I do like Drew, the emergence of Wilmer Difo has rendered him less important that we could have imagined when he resigned in the winter. Goodwin offers competent cover at CF and LF that we would lack with Drew in the 25 and has batted better than Drew this year looking at the numbers.
Goodwin .251/.313/.498
Drew .253/.302/.358
Though I have used some numbers there, I am going to use the good old, infallible eye test to discard the rest of the players!
Bearing in mind just how abysmal Lobaton has been with the bat this year, an argument could be put forward for Severino to be backup catcher, but realistically, Sev's bat has not been particularly hot either and though his defence is probably better I can't see Rizzo and Baker going with the rookie ahead of the veteran (even though I picked Difo ahead of Drew
). The rest to miss out are callups or DL replacement signings that are unlikely to bother the scorebook between now and the rest of the season to break in ahead of the players above them. Adam Eaton is unlikely to play at all in the remainder of the season and the bench looks deep enough that we should cope without his bat, rushing him back is a clear way to impacting him the rest of his time with us as well.
Missing out - Pedro Severino, Adrian Sanchez, Stephen Drew, Andrew Stevenson, Raphael Bautista, Alejandro De Aza, Ryan Raburn Adam EatonGame 1 Pitching StaffSP1 Max Scherzer R*
SP2 Stephen Strasburg R
SP3 Gio Gonzalez L
SP4 Tanner Roark R
RP Sean Doolittle L
RP Ryan Madson R*
RP Brandon Kintzler R
RP Oliver Perez L
RP Matt Albers R
RP Matt Grace L
RP Joe Blanton R
RP Sammy Solis L
* Denotes currently on DL or rehabbing as of 25th August.As with the position players, I think it's likely that the first 5 of the relief pitchers will certainly be in the post season, assuming no further injuries. Clearly there is concern over Madson's likely fitness as well. However, this does leave spots available for 3 of the following 8 and frankly that is too hard.
Edwin Jackson R
Sammy Solis L
Joe Blanton R
Matt Grace L
Enny Romero L*
Koda Glover R*
Shawn Kelley L
AJ Cole R
Cole and Kelley, on the face of it, are a reasonable drop. Kelley has struggled all year and does not appear to be rounding any corners. Cole is a backup starter still and certainly wouldn't get in ahead of Jackson. In thoery you would make a decision about who would be your preferred long(ish) reliever and that would be Jackson or Grace. Both have been pitching reasonably well, however, Grace has been decent outta the pen where as Jackson, in relief this year (albeit not with the Nats) has not been particularly effective. As a result, even though it seems extremely harsh on Jackson, I'd take Grace at this point.
Koda won't be rushed back in, we don't really need him and unless the BP goes to absolute horse manure again. There may be pressure to get him back if he's close to return and Madson isn't looking like he's going to make it, but that seems unlikely at this point.
So I'm looking at 2 out of Blanton, Solis and Romero and to be honest, I really don't know. Let's go with Blanton and Solis. They're in the drivers seat at the moment and barring any horrible outings they probably won't get dropped.
TL;DR what?