Wow! My 2009 Washington Nationals team surprised me...

[nymets55]

First... the pitching:

Zech Zinicola, who I THOUGHT was still in the process of converting into a SP, averaged 7IP/start, throwing 244.2IP in the season. Didn't get hurt, nor did he miss any start of the season. His stat line... 19-6, 2.76 ERA. He threw more innings than last season (his first full as a SP), so it was obvious that he'd lose power, having dropped from 8.88K/9 to 7.36K/9. Opponents hit better against him this season, but he they walked less. Awesome season for him, and the best part is... he's only 24 years old ^_^

Adam Carr, who has been my full time closer since I dealt Chad Cordero in mid-2007, appeared in 70 games, going 70.1 IP, with 54 saves in 59 opps. 0.98 WHIP, with a good (for a closer, not GREAT), 9.73K/9. Opponents hit .177 against him. Oh, and his ERA... 2.05. 25 years old.

Neville Rigg, drafted in 2008. Was a BEAST in AA and AAA in 2008, earned the Setup spot in the 2009 Spring Training. 75 appearances, 76.2 IP. Not much power at 8.22K/9, but pretty good control, 2.47BB/9. 1.37WHIP, could be better but then again, it's his first season. 3.87 ERA, due to a BAD 2nd half, it was sub-2.25 at the break. Came outta college, 22 years old.

There's a few other pitchers that surprised me but those are my 3 favorite. In my next post I'll put up some surprising hitters.

I love this game =)

[nymets55]

Ah... Ryan Zimmerman, my fantasy player. Got off to a REAL bad start in 2009 but he finished with a monster 2nd half. Didn't do much on the power part but, he did enough. First things first... he scored 84 runs, which seems to be his favorite runs scored number, as he's scored 84 in 4 consecutive seasons now. The first thing one would come to notice is his batting avg. Z-Man hit .342 in 2009, claiming the National League Batting Title. He still needs to work on his patience at the plate though. His OBP was .404, due to a low number of walks, 56, and high number of K's, 110. He managed to drive in 101 RBIs for the 4th consecutive season, which hitting 25 HRs. He seems to be a gap hitter though, as he drove in most of his runs on his 44 2Bs and 6 3Bs.

Justin Maxwell, came up in September of 2008. Nook Logan got badly injured, his contract expired. Maxwell remained, Logan was let go. Maxwell put up some pretty awesome numbers for a rookie. He hit below average at .256, but managed to hit 23 HRs and drive in 79 RBIs. He also stole 52 bases in 67 attempts, which made scoring some of those 99 runs, that much easier. Things to improve, contact and eye rating. He struck out 107 times, walking 53. I guess that's not TOO bad for a rookie.

Justin McBride. The Cleveland Indians offered McBride to me, their backup catcher, as they have the STUDLY awesome Victor Martinez, for one of my OFs. I looked at Brian Schneider's past, which has been plagued by trips to the DL every few months, and accepted in a hurry. McBride made a huge impact upon arriving in Washington. In his 62 games here, he hit .309, with a .392 OBP, hitting 7 HRs, but only drove in 28 RBIs. He did have a good K/BB ratio as he only struck out 30 times, while walking 29.

Well, I was gonna do more but yeah... I dont know. If you guys wanna see any of these players stat cards or anything, just let me know.

I'm having WAY too much fun with the Nationals. Being a Mets fan and all >_>

[nymets55]

I just looked and Zinicola and Maxwell won the Cy Young and RotY awards
:)