Monday afternoon, Gio Gonzalez and the Washington Nationals shut out the Baltimore Orioles (WAS 6, BAL 0) to earn their fourth consecutive win. Gonzalez tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings and Anthony Rendon provided all the offense the team would need with a three-run home run.

Memorial Day is typically a good day to start paying attention to the standings -- last season nine of the 10 eventual postseason teams were in postseason position on Memorial Day -- and, following Monday's action, here's how the NL East looks:

Team W L Pct. GB RS RA Diff L10 Strk
Atlanta 31 22 .585 - 270 212 +58 5-5 L 1
Washington 30 22 .577 ½ 233 184 +49 6-4 W 4
Philadelphia 29 22 .569 1 228 191 +37 4-6 L 2
N.Y. Mets 26 25 .510 4 214 232 -18 4-6 W 1
Miami 20 33 .377 11 182 272 -90 4-6 W 1

The Nationals came into the 2018 season as NL East favorites -- at least according to our panel of experts -- though they started slow, at one point sitting five games below .500 at 11-16. Since then they've won 19 times in 25 games, baseball's best record during that stretch. That has brought them right back into the thick of the NL East race.

For Washington -- and every team, really -- it all starts with their starting pitching. Recent history suggests Jeremy Hellickson won't continue to pitch to a 2.13 ERA (188 ERA+) all season. Their other four starters though? Check it out:

None of those guys is doing something they haven't done before. Well, Gonzalez has never been this good, but he did have a 147 ERA+ in 201 innings last season. Roark threw 210 innings with a 151 ERA+ in 2016. Scherzer's a three-time Cy Young award winner and Strasburg has never not been excellent when healthy. 

Point is, the Nationals were expected to have a strong rotation, and they certainly have one now. During this 19-6 stretch the team's starters are pitching to a 2.18 ERA and they're averaging 6 1/3 innings per start. The Houston Astros have the best rotation in baseball and lead MLB in every significant pitching category. The Nationals are second in pretty much everything.

The rotation has had to lead the way for the Nationals because the offense has been roughly league average. They're averaging 4.45 runs per game compared to 4.39 for the rest of MLB. Their team 99 OPS+ screams average. Even during this 19-6 stretch, the Nationals are averaging 4.46 runs per game. Five National League teams have scored more runs during that span.

MLB: NLDS-Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals
Daniel Murphy is getting closer to rejoining one of the National League's hottest teams. USATSI

The Nationals do have offensive help on the way though. Daniel Murphy, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery, started a minor league rehab assignment with the team's Double-A affiliate over the weekend. He is 3 for 9 with a double and a homer in two rehab games, which is nice to see, but is ultimately meaningless. The most important thing is the health of his knee and how he feels after playing the field and running the bases, things like that.

Manager Dave Martinez gave reporters, including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, on update on Murphy on Monday: 

"The other day he went first to third, which was really nice," Martinez said. "He said he felt 'pretty good.' We just don't want him to feel 'pretty good.' We want him to feel 'really good.' So when he's ready and feels like he can run first to third every day and go second to home every day, then we'll know he's ready."

"He's progressing really well," Martinez added. "I'm hoping it'll be fairly soon."

The Nationals have gotten good production from second base during Murphy's absence -- their second basemen are hitting .283/.327/.434 (116 OPS+) this season -- though much of that is thanks to Howie Kendrick, who is now done for the season with an Achilles injury. Wilmer Difo has been handling second base duty in the meantime.

Murphy is an impact hitter who possesses a rare combination of contact ability and power. One-hundred-and-fifty-five players batted at least 900 times from 2016-17. Looks where Murphy ranked among those 155 players:

  • Batting average: .334 (2nd highest behind Jose Altuve)
  • On-base percentage: .387 (12th highest)
  • Slugging percentage: .569 (7th highest)
  • Strikeout rate: 11.4 percent (9th lowest)

Murphy has been, truly, an elite hitter during his time with the Nationals. The obvious question is will he continue to be an elite hitter after knee surgery? He had a microfracture procedure, which is very serious, plus he's at an age (33) where it's fair to begin worrying about age-related decline. Murphy's baseline is so high though that he should still be quite productive even with a little age and injury related decline.

The Nationals are expecting Ryan Zimmerman (back) and Adam Eaton (ankle) back fairly soon as well, though neither packs the same offensive punch as Murphy. He'll added left-right balance to the lineup, patience, power, and a contact element that is hard to find in today's game. With all due respect to Wilmer, going from Difo to Murphy at second base is a significant overall upgrade even when considering the defensive downgrade.

For now, the Nationals have climbed back into the NL East race without Murphy (and Zimmerman and Eaton and others), and they're within shouting distance of the first place Atlanta Braves with roughly two-thirds of the season to go. They've won 19 of their last 26 games, and once Murphy returns, they're going to be even more dangerous going forward.