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The
Washington Nationals:
Annual History *



hand point * This interactive Web page presents detailed year-by-year historical data that were formerly displayed altogether on the Washington Nationals page. That page now only shows detailed data for the current year, as well as historical annual summary data. Click on the years listed below to get the respective annual data.


2015: Injuries + managerial goofs = bitter disappointment

The acquisition of free agent pitcher Max Scherzer in January raised hopes for yet another baseball postseason in Washington, if not a World Series. (Bryce Harper: "Where's my ring?") The departure of Adam LaRoche and the shift of Ryan Zimmerman from third to first base were the most notable changes in the Nats lineup for 2015. The new third baseman Yunel Escobar was acquired from Oakland (in exchange for Tyler Clippard), while Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth switched places between right and left field. But pre-season injuries to Anthony Rendon and Denard Span, as well as surgery to Jayson Werth, seriously depleted the Nationals' lineup in the early weeks of the 2015 season. After a mediocre start, the Nats surged ahead, replacing the New York Mets as division leaders by the latter part of May. Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer both had spectacular success, and both were selected for the All-Star Game. Scherzer pitched no-hitters on June 20 and October 3, and Harper shared the National League home run title (42 total) and was a close second in the NL batting race (.330 average). In November Harper was chosen as National League MVP, the first Washington player to be so honored since 1925. But Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, and Jayson Werth suffered injuries that kept them out of the lineup until late July. Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg was plagued by ailments until late in the season, while the bullpen repeatedly let the team down. August was just awful, as the Nats fell out of first place, replaced by the New York Mets, and were officially eliminated from postseason contention on September 26. One day after the final game (October 4), Matt Williams was fired as manager.

Starting positions, 2015
CF: Michael Taylor * .229
Denard Span .301
LF: Jayson Werth .221
Tyler Moore .203
Michael Taylor RF: Bryce Harper .330
Jayson Werth Bryce Harper
SS: Ian Desmond .233 2B: Danny Espinosa .240
Anthony Rendon .264
Ian Desmond Danny Espinosa
3B: Yunel Escobar * .314
1B: Ryan Zimmerman .249
Clint Robinson * .272
Yunel Escobar Gio Gonzalez Ryan Zimmerman
  C: Wilson Ramos .224
Jose Lobaton .199
 
Batting average for position players, ERA for pitchers.
Manager: Matt Williams
Wilson Ramos * (asterisk): new player.  
Nationals, 2015: best batting and pitching records
Batting average Home runs RBIs ERA Wins Strikeouts
Bryce Harper .330 Bryce Harper 42 Bryce Harper 99 Max Scherzer 2.79 Max Scherzer 14 Max Scherzer 276

 
Nationals' head-to-head matchups,
2015
OpponentWinsLosses
ARI43
ATL145
BAL24
BOS12
CHC34
CHW00
CIN15
CLE00
COL33
DET00
HOU00
KC00
LAA00
LAD24
MIA109
MIL43
MIN00
NYM811
NYY31
OAK00
PHI127
PIT43
SD52
SEA00
SF34
STL24
TB13
TEX00
TOR12
Totals8379
Nationals, 2015: month-by-month summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)
Number of
home games
Total
attendance
Average
attendance
April 2015 10 13 4th 10 301,740 30,174
May 2015 18 9 1st 11 377,561 34,324
June 2015 15 12 1st 15 513,937 34,262
July 2015 11 13 1st 11 403,216 36,656
Aug. 2015 12 17 2nd 16 511,768 31,986
* Sept. 2015 17 15 2nd 18 511,621 28,423
2015 83 79 2nd 81 2,619,843 32,344

* Sept. data include four games in October.
SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.


Nats winning percentages

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