At last, there's a cushion between the Nats and Mets. 1 1/2 games separate them...and who figured we have Atlanta to thank for this?
Keep it up, Atlanta...LMAO
Anyway, I think we can now say the NL agrees with Gio Gonzalez. All I wondered was, had he hit it out (instead of Justin Maxwell hauling it in on the warning track)...would the crowd have torn the joint down?
Funtime In Southeast D.C., I call it...although this probably says it better:
Natitude.
Enjoy it, America...it's for real!!
So now spring training is done for 2012. Good.
Come Thursday, the Nats launch an assault on the wildcard in the NL...which means it's time to give my prediction on how (and where) the Nats will finish.
Last year I said it would be 77-85...and it wound up 80-81. So I'll just reverse those numbers, and say 85-77 (and contend for the wildcard).
Oh, and 2nd or 3rd in the NL East, too. Meaning, ahead of the Mets and Marlins...again!! (Just like last year...lol)
This year I can honestly say the Nats are a playoff-caliber team...provided everything falls in place. And by that I mean Stephen Strasburg fully recovers from Tommy John surgery (just as Jordan Zimmermann did last year).
Now add Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson to this rotation, and there's no telling what'll go down. Plus, I can say I have no reservations about Henry Rodriguez sharing the closer duties w/ Brad Lidge (until Drew Storen comes off the DL) at the start of the season.
All this, and Bryce Harper, too...
What, you didn't think I was leaving him out of this piece? Personally, I'm holding out for seeing him up w/ the big club by the time my brother and me go to Boston on June 8 to watch the Nats take on the Red Sox.
(His "bucket list" deal...before he retires from the government...and truthfully my only chance to see Fenway Park. I may never get this chance again.)
So that's it. Have at me, people...lol
