Photo by BrianMKA

Even with the Bryce Harper drama all taken care of, the Nationals are about to be busy, busy bees. Starting tonight, the team will play games on 16 consecutive days before finally getting a day off on September 2. With the daily grind, extensive traveling (nine of the games are on the road), and manager Jim Riggleman’s love of musical chairs, let’s set the over/under for the number of different batting orders (minus the pitching spot) at 6.5. We’ll even give you a freebie on September 1st, when the roster expands to 40 players. (Note: Your prize will either be the pride that comes with being right or the humility that comes with being incorrect…your perceived equivalent monetary value may vary.)

The Nats are coming off a decent performance against Arizona, a team with the worst pitching staff in the majors (based on ERA and runs allowed). Recent games have shown either one of two mutually exclusive trends: 1) the Nats take an early lead in the first or second inning and sleep on the lead the rest of the game; or 2) the Nats get spanked around the park early, usually helped by a killer error or two, and fight in vain to advance the last guy who just singled around the basepaths. (Exhibit A of corollary 2: the entire Marlins series.) Last Friday’s series opener exemplified the former, with the offense getting to Arizona starter Joe Saunders for seven hits and four runs in the first two innings. However, the Nats only got three hits from the third inning on, squeaking out a 4-2 victory thanks to strong pitching by John Lannan and Sean Burnett. Saturday’s game showed the latter trend, with Jason Marquis getting ritually slapped around for five runs in four innings. The offense couldn’t get anything going to chip away at the early deficit, and Washington lost 9-2.