Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!!! I've been a little busy lately, our finals and last week of classes are kicking into gear and so I've been trying to wrap up school for the year. While I was gone, Jered Weaver threw a no-hitter against the Twins, Junior Seau passed away, Mariano Rivera suffered a torn ACL, and the NFL passed down its judgement on the Saints' players involved in the bounty scandal.
My topic for today is the unexpected rise of the Washington Nationals. Before the season began they were seen as a team on the rise, but no one could have projected that they would be contending this year already. They have all the ingredients for a solid playoff run, mainly their rock-solid starting rotation, led by the phenom Stephen Strasburg. The rest of the rotation rounds out with Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmermann, and Ross Detwiler. While Detwiler is a serviceable 5th starter, the 4 ahead of him are absolutely one of the best lineups in the majors. Gio is finally having his breakout season after moving from the AL and Strasburg is already emerging as a league ace. The lineup also has solid bats, led by the young superstar Bryce Harper, who was called up this week. In 6 games he's batting .316 with 3 RBIs. Once Ryan Zimmerman returns from injury the lineup will be even more potent, and with their great depth on the bench the Nationals should be taken for real, they'll be in the playoff races until the end. As I write, they are engaged in a matchup with Vance Worley and the Phillies in an important NL East tussle.
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