The Nats Craft Beer of the Week

This week's craft beer hails from DuClaw Brewing Company in Baltimore and it is their limited release Incognito Pilsner.  The tag line is "mysteriously familiar" and when you taste it you will know why.  It has that Miller Lite pilsner taste to it with a 5.4% ABV, but with a more bold flavor and crisp finish that makes it perfect for a hot summer day.  It is definitely worth a purchase if you are into subtle differences in beer taste, or if you're looking for an enhanced classic tasting beer at a barbecue that everyone can enjoy.  Incognito is a limited release so get it while you can, but DuClaw has an extensive selection which I highly encourage you to check out if you are over 21 and have the time.  Hopefully you enjoyed some of DuClaw's finest as you watched some mediocre baseball from the Washington Nationals this past week and a half.

Mysteriously familiar was the tagline that could be applied to the Nats' past nine games coming out of the All-Star break.  A split with Atlanta, one win against another division chasing team in Milwaukee, and just when you thought the Nats were going to sweep their old whipping post the Marlins hold the Nats to one run in the last two games of the series to force a split.  Luckily the Phillies and Braves could not get out of second gear either, and the Nats still find themselves only 5.5 games back in the NL East.  It was still disconcerting that the Nats squandered a stout outing from Gio Gonzalez this past Saturday (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) which has been rare over the past month and a half.  Gio still struggles with WHIP (1.42 since the break) and he issued 9 walks in 12.2 innings of work his last two starts, which indicates that he is asking to get shelled yet again, but here's hoping Gio can get out of jams and produce more one run games.  It was not just Gio that shined in the starting rotation.  Tanner Roark had his two best start of his career throwing 8 scorless innings in a 7-3 win in Miami and only giving up one run in 7 innings in the rout of the Mets last night.  Max Scherzer does what he does best pitching 14 total innings since the All-Star Break and giving up only 2 ER.  The bullpen had a little bit of a post All-Star hangover as they gave up two walk off wins in extra innings and amassed an ERA of 3.90 and a WHIP of 1.44 since the All-Star break.  They were not helped by Hellickson, Strasburg, and Tom Milone combining for only 19.1 innings over 4 starts, but they need to come up big in some of those close games.  But there may be some addition by subtraction as Brandon Kintzler was traded yesterday to the Cubs.  Have an Incognito for him as Rizzo added insult to injury as he alluded to  the idea that Kintzler may not have been the best locker room presence.  There was one person who was not traded yesterday, though, and maybe for good reason.

With all the trade hype surrounding Bryce Harper, the Nats decided to stand pat and ride or die with Harper for the rest of this season.  That may not look so good when taking in Harper's season stats, but a look at his stats since the All-Star break should give Nats fans hope that Harper can lead this team to the playoffs.  Since the All-Star Break Harper is hitting .312 with an OPS of 1.03 (that includes a SLG% of .593), he has 10 RBI (6 of which have come with 2 Outs), and he is 6 for 12 in RISP situations.   Granted it is a small sample size, and last night's offensive explosion enhanced some of those stats a tad, but Harper has come alive since the All-Star Break and he may vindicate Rizzo's choice to keep him on by keeping this kind of pace throughout the rest of the season. It was not just Harper that has turned it up since the All-Star Break.  His other struggling counterpart in Daniel Murphy may be rounding out into form at just the right time as well.  Murphy has a team leading 11 RBI since the break and is hitting .371 with an OPS of 1.10 and is 5 for 10 in RISP situations.  The whole argument was that once the Nats' big guns got going they could start making a run.  It looks as if both Murphy and Harper are doing just that, and it may be rubbing off on the other players.

The Nats have 9 hitters (Turner, Soto, Difo, Zimmerman, Adams, Rendon, Harper, Eaton, and Murphy) who have an OPS of .700 or higher since the break, and 6 of those nine hitters (Turner, Soto, Zimmerman, Rendon, Harper, and Murphy) are all hitting over .300 since the break as well.  The Mets game did buttress those stats somewhat, but the offense the Nats have been searching for this whole season may be arriving when the Nats are really are on their last chance to make it to the playoffs.  There were negatives over these last 10 games such as the mighty Juan Soto only going 1 for 11 in RISP situations, Harper striking out nearly every other time he comes to the plate (15 K's in 40 plate appearances), Daniel Murphy having three errors since the break, Matt Wieters hitting .178 since the break, and Trea Turner joining the "Oh shit, you found THOSE tweets?" club.  But despite all of this the Nats are still alive and it seems like they are coming to life to try and make a run.  With nine games left against the Phillies, and seven against the Braves, they will have more than enough opportunities to get backto the top of the NL East.  Lets just hope these trends since the All-Star Break continue.

It all continues with one more games against the Mets today, and then a four game series with the Reds to finish out the week.  Hopefully, the Nats can keep it going and get even closer to the NL East lead.