The
Washington Nationals:
Annual History *

2011: Werth arrives, Strasburg heals, Harper prepares

The acquisition of Jayson Werth was a clear signal that the Lerner family was serious about fielding a competitive baseball team. Werth had a poor year, but it didn't matter. Aside from slumps in July and late August, the Nats remained close to .500 for most of the year. The team's pitching, batting, and fielding were all consistently solid for a change. A key factor was Michael Morse, who hit 31 home runs, with a .303 average. Meanwhile, a hot slugging prospect named Bryce Harper began playing in the Nationals' farm system. Late in the season, Stephen Strasburg returned to the mound after recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Nats won 14 of their last 18 games of the season, finishing in third place, amid soaring hopes for next year.

Usual starting positions, 2011

CF: Rick Ankiel * .239 Roger Bernadina

LF: Laynce Nix * .250 Michael Morse

RF: Jayson Werth * .232

SS: Ian Desmond .253

2B: Danny Espinosa * .236

3B: Ryan Zimmerman .289

PITCHING ROTATION John Lannan 3.70 Livan Hernandez 4.47 Jordan Zimmermann 3.18 Jason Marquis 3.95 Tom Gorzelanny * 4.03 Drew Storen (closer) 2.75

1B: Michael Morse .303 Adam LaRoche *

Batting average for position players, ERA for pitchers. Managers: Jim Riggleman / Davey Johnson

C: Wilson Ramos * .267

* (asterisk): new player;

Nationals, 2011: best batting and pitching records

Batting average		Home runs		RBIs		ERA		Wins		Strikeouts
Michael Morse	.303	Michael Morse	31	Michael Morse	95	J. Zimmermann	3.18	John Lannan	10	J. Zimmermann	124

Only qualifying players are included in this table.

Nationals' head-to-head matchups, 2011

Opponent	Wins	Losses
ARI	3	5
ATL	9	9
BAL	3	3
BOS	0	0
CHC	4	3
CHW	2	1
CIN	2	4
CLE	0	0
COL	3	4
DET	0	0
HOU	3	3
KC	0	0
LAA	0	3
LAD	2	4
FLA	7	11
MIL	3	3
MIN	0	0
NYM	10	8
NYY	0	0
OAK	0	0
PHI	10	8
PIT	4	4
SD	4	3
SEA	3	0
SF	4	3
STL	4	2
TB	0	0
TEX	0	0
TOR	0	0
Total	80	81

2011 memorable moments

• Apr. 10 -- Pudge Rodriguez RBI, L. Nix HR in 11th inn.; WSH 7, NYM 3. @
• Apr. 17 -- (dblhdr.) Pudge, Espinosa, Desmond HRs; WSH 8 & 5, MIL 4 & 1.
• Apr. 29 -- J. Marquis complete game shutout, Desmond 3/3; WSH 3, SF 0.
• May 11 -- Nats scored 2 in 9th, 4 in 11th inn.; WSH 7, ATL 3. @
• May 20 -- Jayson Werth 2 HRs, other Nats 3 HRs; WSH 17, BAL 5. @
• May 27 -- Espinosa HR, Morse GW HR in 9th inn.; WSH 2, SD 1. I was there!
• June 5 -- ARI 3 runs in 9th; M. Morse grand slam in 11th inn.; WSH 9, ARI 4. @
• June 15 -- Michael Morse two home runs; WSH 10, STL 0.
• June 21 -- Wilson Ramos game-winning grand slam in 9th inn.; WSH 6, SEA 5.
• June 23 -- Manager Jim Riggleman quits after 11 wins in 12 games; WSH 1, SEA 0.
• June 24 -- 14-inning marathon in Chicago (4:58); WSH 9, CHW 5. @
• July 4 -- C. Marmol wild pitch yields run in 11th inn.; WSH 5, CHC 4. I was there!
• Aug. 19 -- Ryan Zimmerman game-winning grand slam in 9th inn.; WSH 8, PHI 4.
• Aug. 23 -- Small earthquake postpones start of game; ARI 2, WSH 0.
• Aug. 30 -- Morse, Zimmerman, Espinosa, Nix HRs; WSH 9, ATL 2. @
• Sept. 3 -- Tom Milone (pitcher!) homers on first pitch in majors; WSH 8, NYM 7.
• Sept. 16 -- Marlins' Javier Vazquez complete-game shutout; FLA 3, WSH 0. I was there!
• Sept. 26 -- M. Morse 3-run homer (#30!) in 9th inn.; WSH 6, FLA 4. @
• Sept. 28 -- S. Strasburg 10 strikeouts, 1 hit in 6 inn.; WSH 3, FLA 1 in final game at Sun Life Stadium. @

"@" = away game

Nationals, 2011: month-by-month summary

Month	Wins	Losses	NL East place (at end)	Number of home games	Total attendance	Average attendance
April 2011	12	14	T 3rd	14	272,151	19,439
May 2011	11	17	5th	11	238,427	21,675
June 2011	17	10	4th	10	269,671	26,967
July 2011	11	15	5th	17	410,610	24,154
Aug. 2011	12	15	4th	13	324,285	24,945
Sept.* 2011	17	10	3rd	15	425,336	28,356
2011	80	81	3rd	80	1,940,480	24,256
SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.