The Washington Nationals are the 2016 NL East champions. This isn't all too shocking, especially given the injuries to the Mets' rotation. One aspect that is surprising, however, is how easily the Nats took the NL East in spite of a down season from the 2015 NL MVP, Bryce Harper.
In 2015, Harper hit .330 while leading the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs and home runs. He was only 22, so the phenom figured to hold serve in 2016, if not get better.
Instead, there are reports that he's been playing through an injury all season while hitting .243/.374/.440. That's still an above-average line, thanks to a big walk total and good power (23 doubles, 24 homers). He's also added 21 stolen bases. So by no means has Harper been bad.
It's just that he was worth 9.9 WAR last season and he's not even to 2.0 yet in 2016. That's a major shortfall from a superstar on a playoff team.
How did they absorb this? Obviously some others had to step up and, boy, did they ever.
Take Daniel Murphy. He wouldn't have even been signed by the Nationals if Brandon Phillips didn't veto a trade to Washington in the offseason. Murphy has morphed from a good everyday player to an MVP front-runner. Check out what he's doing compared to previous career highs:
AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | HR | RBI | WAR | |
Former best* | .291 | .332 | .449 | 40 | 14 | 78 | 3.0 |
2016 | .347 | .391 | .596 | 47 | 25 | 104 | 4.6 |
*Rate stats are only among qualified seasons
Even with Murphy's huge NLDS and NLCS performances last season, this is a pretty shocking performance across the board. That has certainly helped absorb the Harper shortfall, but Murphy isn't alone.
Take Wilson Ramos, too.
The All-Star catcher entered the season a career .258/.301/.411 hitter. In 475 at-bats in 2015, he had 16 doubles, 15 homers and 68 RBI. This year? Ramos is a .307/.354/.497 hitter with 25 doubles, 22 homers and 80 RBI. He's been a better hitting catcher than Buster Posey.
That helps, huh?
What else has helped?
- From 2012-15, Danny Espinosa hit 41 homers in 1,601 plate appearances. This season he's hit 23 in 574.
- Jayson Werth was held to just 88 games last season, hitting .221/.302/.384 when he did play. This season he's appeared in 137 games, hitting .249/.337/.422.
- Anthony Rendon was limited to 80 games last year and his power was lost, slugging just .363 with five homers. This year he's played 149 games, slugging .444 with 37 doubles, two triples and 18 homers.
- Since joining the lineup, rookie Trea Turner has been outstanding. In 65 games, he's hitting .336/.356/.561 with 13 doubles, seven triples (!), 12 homers and 27 steals.
Overall, the Nationals' offense has improved in average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage despite a major shortfall from their superstar hitter. That's a testament to the depth of the offense and how much better several players have performed than in their disappointing 2015 campaigns.