"What % do you give the Nationals for keeping this up al season and making the World Series. I say 20%."

Don't ask T-Mac or Jim Jackson. Both of them were very vocal early in the season that they were on a "fluky" run and would come back down to earth. Yup...

As were a ton of posters on this board, to be fair. Myself, I thought their injuries would have hit them harder than they have, but their depth and pitching has been impressive. The Nats are now a deep and very talented and very well run, team.

I would not be surprised this year if your NLCS was the Nats and the Giants.

I orginally had them in second place in the division and winning the WC on here. Outside my co-workers do a standings pool and I had the Nats winning the division, I didn't post that on here though because like you said murph a lot of people here were thinking they weren't going to be a threat, and I didn't want people to grill me, and if I was wrong, I didn't want people bumping the thread. LOL. Lucky, I'm looking good so far in my money pool.

i think the nats are for real. they have a good chance to win

The Nats are also the perfect team with their minor league depth and youth to trade for Dempster or Garza, which would allow them all sorts of options (including a 6-man rotation) with Strasburg.

Say they traded for one of them now and went to a 6-man rotation immediately. Does that get get Strasburg into October? I think it does.

Ill admit, I under-rated them and they have surprised me, but Ill still be surprised if they are in the NLCS..5% or less chance of making the WS..They have 100 games to go yet, thats a lot of baseball..Better teams than the Nats have withered down the stretch..We're not talking about a team thats been there, that can be a factor when the dog days set in..

ut, gimme your NLCS prediction. Pretty wide open field, huh??? Do you like the Reds' shot better than the Nats? The Dodgers? The problem that teams like the Braves and Mets have is that the teams in the Central and West divisions have whipping-boy teams (Cubs, Astros, Padres, Rockies) to beat up on, whereas in the NL East, if that team exists, it's the Phillies, and only the Phillies, and no matter how disappointing they've been, they're just not at the level of the Astros, Rockies, Padres and Cubs.

thats a tough one....you nailed it, an open field..and yes the Phils are a lot tougher than those teams, and hopefully will get tougher yet, if they ever get Ryan and Chase back, so NL East will beat up on each other..Id definitely eliminate the Mets, Marlins, and a chance to Braves..I still like the Braves, and thought a few weeks back they were poised to pass the Nats, but their streaks are inexplicable..win 6 lose 6..and they still have Freddie..

So I have to go with the Reds, would still keep a close eye on St Louis..Ill go LA Dodgers too, with close eye on Giants...a mystery team, a team that suddenly catches fire, like last 2 years could still surface, depending on trade deadline moves....would not surprise me..

The Giants are really playing some good baseball. They're a rebound by Lincecum (who has been awful) from being really really good. Lincecum is a stunning 2-7, with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP and the Giants are still 37-28. Only four teams in baseball have more wins than the Giants. And three of those have 38, just one more.

The Giants are doing EXACTLY what they did in 2010, which is play really good baseball completely under the radar screen of most baseball fans because they're not leading their division.

BTW, the Giants lost their Closer in mid-April (the 12th) and haven't missed a beat. Why? Because they have great bullpen depth.

yep, I was going to add, if they get Lincecum straightened out, watch out..I knew he was 2-7, and cant believe it...but Cliff Lee is winless, its been that kind of year..I expect Lincecum to get going, unless he's hiding something..
things can turn around fast for pitchers..wasnt that long ago, I heard Ryan Dempster mentioned in same sentence with Lee, with no wins, but a bunch of quality starts..then yesterday, I hear he has won 3 straight..

I live in the DC Area and have watched the Nationals on TV a lot. I also read about them in the Washington Post. They are an exciting team to watch and have been winning a lot of games lately despite having their best closer on the DL, better hitter on the DL, former Phil Jayson Werth, Michael Morse just coming back from the DL(he was their big bat last year.) On the down side, former Phil Brad Lidge just returned from the DL and did not do so well against the Yankees last night. They are in first place now and have been there for a while, having one of the best records in MLB. They have a star in Bryce Harper ( a guy who is a Pete Rose clone at 19 and can play several positions, runs and hits well), three good starters besides Strasburg--who may get shut down in August according to the GM, and reliever Tyler Clippard who was on last year's All-Star team. They hustle and are hungry (they are not millionaires except for Zimmerman and Werth). Nothing is certain in life but IF they keep hustling, stay healthy, their pitchers hold up and they can find ways to score runs(Zimmerman is still not hitting to his potential and neither is Morse), they they should make the playoffs. (A lot of IFs) They play as a TEAM (when one person goes down another person picks him up) they have a seasoned manager in Davey Johnson, and some good young players in their farm system too. Chances are good(50/50)

I think they are a long shot if they are true to their word about shutting down Strasburg.
The most telling stat to me is this one.

Record with Strasburg and Gonzales starting, 21-5
Record when the rest of the staff starts, 17-19

If they let him keep pitching, chances go up.

not sure if that should be surprising or not, but i dont think it is a positive thing for them if strasburg is not pitching in october.

That's why I like the acquisition of Dempster or Garza so much for them. They could go to a 6 man rotation and extend Strasburg well into October if they start managing his innings down.

There's lots they could do. I think they're in great shape to add talent and get very creative going forward. I think they need to pick up a catcher too.

Well, if the Nats truly are in the market for a starter, considering Rizzo's everlasting love for the Phils and in particular Hamels, seems like they'd be great trading partners.

Add to it that they always seem to be looking to upgrade CF and their collection of infield prospects and you've got the makings of one blockbuster deal.

I seriously doubt we'd trade within the division, but Tyler Moore would be hard to turn down.

As would Rendon...

I'd say 20% sounds about right and I'd give them about a 1% chance of beating a veteran team of superstars that is highly experienced in the post-season, like the New York Yankees. This weekend was a good example - the Nationals stay close for seven innings and then the Yankees pull away late or defeat them in extra innings.
This kind of matchup would produce the same results as the 1950 World Series where the perennial American League champion Yankees swept the young and inexperienced Whiz Kids (Phillies).

fwiw, anthony gargano yesterday stated he talked to mike rizzo over the weekend and they are still going to have an innings limit of strasburg. the idea is still that the limit is 160 and they will not go to a 6 man rotation to stretch him out longer and once he reaches 160, he's done, not to be restarted again for the year.

I think they just trade for Dempster or Garza with their surplus minor league talent that appears blocked from the MLB roster and if its Garza, they just slot him into Jackson's rotation spot next year.