Opening Week is over for the Nationals, so we talk about the good and the not so good from the first week of the season. We evaluate the state of the team after some real baseball is under their belts, and we tease episode 50, coming your way next week. 

The Washington Nationals' season is one week old today, during which they played six games against two totally different ballclubs. They started the season with the hapless Miami Marlins, who've won just one of their first six games. In stark contrast, they traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds for the second series of the year, who won the NL Central last season and finished the 2012 season with the second-most wins in baseball, right behind the Nationals. Here below is the return of the Nationals Weekly Report Card for the 2013 season.

Grade: B

The pomp and circumstance surrounding Opening Day at Nationals Park was very special. The NL East Champions banner went up, James Brown was the emcee for the ceremonies, and more than 45,000 fans were raucous in the stands as the Nats went 1-0 on the season. Much of the first series went that way as the Nats swept the Marlins, but let's remember: the Nats swept the Marlins. That Marlins team has the potential to be just as bad as the Houston Astros with the talent on their 25 man roster. As they say, a win is a win, but the first real challenge didn't come for the Nats until they left the comforts of Nationals Park to the horrifying confines of Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Friday's game was a travesty and was the largest margin of defeat (15-0) in the team's DC history. Dan Haren's four inning start was an atrocity, giving up four home runs and six earned runs. Still, in those four innings, he didn't walk anyone and struck out five Reds batters. The Nats relievers didn't fare much batter. Each of the three relief pitchers, Zach Duke, Henry Rodriguez, and Ryan Mattheus, gave up at least one run, and all but Mattheus gave up a home run on the way to a six home run day by the Reds offense.

Saturday's game wasn't much prettier after Ross Detwiler, who pitched brilliantly, and Tyler Clippard, who did equally well, left the game. Drew Storen pitched reasonably well, despite the less than stellar result. Rafael Soriano had a total breakdown, giving up two runs, including a home run, in just one inning to earn his first blown save of the season. The Nats defense, which is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the team, had three errors, two on Ian Desmond and one on Bryce Harper. Desmond and Harper had an error each on the same play. The Nats snuck away with a win on the great pitching from Craig Stammen and some timely home runs by Desmond and Wilson Ramos in the 11th innings.

Sunday's game was a similarly disappointing game. Stephen Strasburg didn't have his best stuff, despite a few amazing changeups, at one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the country, and he give up six earned runs and four walks. Johnny Cueto didn't have the best game for the Reds, either, but he settled down to hand the Nats their first series loss of the season.

All in all, it was an above average week for the Nationals with a 4-2 record, but they beat up a really bad team and struggled against a really good one. There's nothing to be scared about long term. It's one week at the beginning of the season, after all. I just can't give higher than a B with how the team was dominated by the Reds.

Player of the Week: Bryce Harper

Harper had an insanely good start to the season. The two home runs in the first two at-bats of the season pretty much solidified his standing as the player of the week, but he never let up. he's still hitting .360 with a 1.120 OPS and a mind blowing 206 OPS+. I get the feeling Harper will appear here a few more times this season.

The Washington Nationals had a rough series opener against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night losing 15-0, which was the worst loss in team history since 2005. The Nats looked to come in to recover from that beating on Saturday afternoon behind Ross Detwiler, and they did just that, even if it did come off the rails a bit in the late innings.

Speaking of Detwiler, he had quite the first start of the season as he validated his "best fifth starter in baseball" moniker. He threw six innings of one run, six hit effective baseball. He threw just 82 pitches, most of which were fastballs, and he found ways to get out of a few minor jams throughout the game. Detwiler's performance seemed like a totally different game from what happened from the eighth inning on, though.

The Nats bullpen had a 5-1 lead when Detwiler left the game, and Tyler Clippard threw a dominant seventh inning to keep that going. The eighth and ninth inning with Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano, respectively, were less great. Storen was throwing pretty well, actually, but he couldn't have possibly had worse luck. Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper each had an error on the same play that allowed a run to score, which put the Reds within two runs of the Nats who, at one point, had a commanding four run lead.

As unlucky as Storen was, Soriano was just as bad. He missed spots, threw wild pitches, and allowed a home run. It was his first blown save of the season. Soriano looked incredible in his appearance on Opening Day, but none of that pinpoint precision showed up in today's game. It's certainly not a long term concern on April 6th, but he was incredibly ineffective against a very good Reds lineup.

Craig Stammen's performance was a different story. He came in in the 10th and 11th innings and totally dominated, mostly as a result of his slider. He did allow two hits and an earned run, but his performance was exactly what kept the Nats in the game. His slider has always been his best pitch, and he controlled it extremely well and confused batters all the way until the end of the game. Stammen has the unique ability to have dynamic secondary pitches and also throw well for several innings, if necessary. His value can sometimes be understated.

Outside of the pitching stories that evolved in today's game, the offense also made its appearance after a rough start to the series. They hit five home runs: Harper, Ramos, Werth, Desmond, and Ramos again. Desmond was able to recover from his two errors with his 11th inning blast, but it was Ramos' second home run of the game that gave the Nats the runs to put them over the top. According to FP Santangelo on the broadcast, the Nats hit 2,044 feet of home runs at a hitter friendly ballpark. Just about all of the Nats home runs would have left almost every ballpark in the country.

As an aside, I don't like to criticize umpires any more than necessary, but it appeared there were some very questionable calls by the men in blue today. Detwiler has two hit-by-pitches from today's game, and it didn't look like either of them actually hit the batter. The one on Joey Votto really wasn't close, and the one with Shin-Soo Choo seemed to barely (maybe?) graze his jersey. The third base ump blew a check swing on Votto in the 11th inning that almost came back to haunt the Nats, but it didn't end up mattering in the final result.

Nationals’ fans are understandably disappointed in Dan Haren’s poor performance last night. In his first start in a Washington uniform, the 32-year-old gave up four home runs, and six earned runs total over the course of four innings, earning the loss in what was ultimately a 15-0 blowout.

It’ safe to say Nats fans were hoping for more, to say the least. Haren was brought in to replace Edwin Jackson in the rotation, and was touted a former All-Star prepared to return to form after a 2012 season filled with nagging injuries. It’s easy for Washington Nationals fans to panic, but its important to remember that Haren had longer-than-usual rest prior to the start, and also, he was pitching against a really good team.

For what its worth, you may remember that Gio Gonzalez had a terrible Nationals debut last season as well. In his first start, he gave up seven hits and four earned runs in just 3.2 innings to the lowly Chicago Cubs. It may sound crazy to read now, but after that start there were dissenting Nats fans who touted the trade to acquire him as a mistake.

Let’s give this one some time. 

After sweeping the Miami Marlins in their opening series, the Washington Nationals will head to hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park to face a more formidable foe, the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds posted the second-best record in baseball last season – 97-65 to the Nationals’ MLB-best 98-64 – and are a favorite to win the National League Central. The Nationals were 5-2 against the Reds last year, and will play them seven times this season, all in the month of April.

This week in MLB’s first-ever Interleague Opening Series, the Reds topped the Los Angeles Angels, hitting three home runs in the series finale. Back in Ohio for their home opener, the Reds will look for revenge on the Nats, who walked off against the Reds in an exciting 10-inning victory in their own home opener last season.

The Nats went on to sweep that series, and will now attempt to get their brooms out again and extend their winning streak to six games.

Stacking Up The Stats

As the two best teams in baseball in 2012, the Nats and the Reds put up similarly successful stats. In the National League, the Reds were ninth in batting average (.251), 12^th in on-base percentage (.315), and sixth in slugging percentage (.411). The Nationals ranked slightly higher in all those categories with a team slash line of .261/.322/.428.

On the pitching side, their team stats were almost identical. Washington pitchers put together a 3.33 ERA with an average of 8.12 strikeouts per nine innings, with Cincinnati very close behind with a 3.34 ERA and 7.73 strikeouts per nine. According to James Wagner’s article in today’s Washington Post, when the stats are adjusted to the ballpark specifications, the Reds’ pitching stats actually surpassed the Nationals’ as best in the majors in 2012.

With the majority of last years’ Reds returning for the 2013 campaign, including All-Stars Jay Bruce and Joey Votto and all five of their starting pitchers, there is no reason why the Reds won’t be able to put together a repeat performance of last year’s success. The Nationals will just have to try to stay one game better.

Haren’s First Start

We’ll get to see Dan Haren in action today for the first time in a Nationals uniform, as he will get the ball in the series opener. In case you need a refresher on the history of the newest addition to the Nationals rotation, Haren posted a 4.33 ERA with the Angels last season, which was almost a full run higher than his career mark of 3.66 through 10 seasons. 

It was a fun series to start a 2013 season with a whole lot of expectations for the Washington Nationals. They start the season 3-0 behind remarkable pitching and a late offensive explosion. So, with all the excitement surrounding this team and this series, rather than doing a full game review, here are some awesome bullet points:

- It’s the little things - The Nationals were able to do all of the little things right, which makes it much easier to win games. Denard Span laid down a perfect drag bunt that caused Marlins pitcher Wade LeBlanc to make an ill-fated decision to flip the ball toward first unsuccessfully. Span scored on a Bryce Harper hit.

- Zimmermann has success without dominance - Jordan Zimmermann continued the success of the Nats pitchers. He did give up the first run of the Nats season in the second inning on a Justin Ruggiano home run in the second, but that was all. He threw 89 pitches through six innings, but he didn’t own the game. It appeared, at times, that he was throwing too many strikes, and the Marlins hitters knew what was coming. You can’t knock his performance, though, as the team walked away with the win.

- Bryce Harper is ridiculous - Harper had a 2-for-4 day driving in a run. He is unreasonably locked in at the plate, and he can seem to do no wrong. When he was caught stealing third base in the third inning, it was certainly a questionable decision. There was just one out with Ryan Zimmerman at the plate. He was already in scoring position. We’ll have to start taking the unbelievably great with the marginally poor decisions, though.

- Decent day for The Franchise - Ryan Zimmerman had a 3-for-3 game with a walk and 2 RBI in his best day of the young season. Zimmerman is clearly capable of hitting clean up in a roster so stacked with talent, and he’s getting locked in early after a three strikeout game on Opening Day.

- Oh, Henry - Despite the success in that he had a 1-2-3 inning, Henry Rodriguez had his usual control issues at times. He wildly missed on several pitches in the seventh inning. He threw seven of his 12 pitches for strikes, but when he missed, it wasn’t very close. It’s infuriating that such a talented pitcher can’t harness the talent with any regularity, but the results were good for today.

- Jayson Werth channels NLDS Game Four - Werth hit a major blast that blew the game wide open in the seventh inning to much the same place that he hit his infamous home run in Game Four of the NLDS last postseason. It was a three-run shot over the visiting bullpen in right center field that put the game at 6-1.

So, the first series is in the book, and the Nats have a 3-0 record with just 159 games to go. They will head to the friendly confines of Great American Ballpark to face the Cincinnati Reds this weekend, which should be a fun thing to watch, even if the temperatures aren’t all that warm. That ballpark is not big.

Earlier today, the Washington Nationals announced that they signed righty starter Chris Young to a minor-league deal, and he will report to Triple-A Syracuse after extended spring training. Young spent time in Nationals spring training before opting out of his spring contract. Signing a journeyman veteran pitcher to a minor league deal is usually not big news for a team like the Nats, who have the best pitching rotation in baseball. However, it is this time. While the Nats have some of the best five starters in the game, the sixth starter was a real problem without Young around.

The three leading candidates for the sixth starter spot inside the organization before the Young signing were, well, let’s just call them underwhelming: Yunesky Maya, Ross Ohlendorf, and Zach Duke.

Maya was signed to a four-year, $8 million deal in 2010, and I feel pretty confident in saying that it’s GM Mike Rizzo’s worst, and perhaps his only bad, signing to date. Maya has been pretty dreadful ever since signing with the team. In 2011, in 22 games started in Triple-A Syracuse, he posted a 5.00 ERA. In 2012, he spent the whole season with Syracuse and started 28 games posting a 3.88 ERA, but his 4.52 FIP tells the real story of his performance. He’s a low-velocity pitcher who has to be just about perfect to have success, and he’s very rarely perfect.

Ohlendorf actually had a cup of coffee with the Padres in 2012, and there wasn’t too much positive to draw from that, either. He had a 7.77 ERA and a better, but still not at all good, 4.90 FIP in nine starts and four relief appearances spanning 48.2 innings. He had even worse numbers in 2011 in nine starts with the Pirates: 8.15 ERA, 6.28 FIP.

Duke had some serious success after his call up in September last year, and it was good enough to earn himself a spot as the only lefty in the Nats bullpen for 2013. He will be the main long reliever, but it’s not usually the best idea to move guys around during the season without properly stretching them out. Not to mention, it would open a gap in the Nationals bullpen. Duke may be capable, but the Nats won’t want to remove him from his current role.

Young provides a veteran presence if a sixth starter is needed for a doubleheader or, in the worst case scenario, if one of the Nats’ starters get hurt. That’s not to say Young is the best pitcher in the world here, but he’s not too shabby for a number six starter who would slot into the five spot in case of an injury. In 20 starts with the Mets in 2012, he had a 4.15 ERA and 4.50 FIP. Great numbers? No, but his FIP at the major league level is marginally better than Maya posted in the minors last year, and it’s leagues better than Ohlendorf in the majors in each of the last two seasons.

Remember this: a sixth starter is never something for which you can truly plan. If the player is that good, he’s going to be on an MLB 25-man roster already. These are either veteran free agents who have nowhere else to go, like Young, or they’re prospects you don’t have room for on the big league club who are almost big league ready. Most teams aren’t lucky enough to have the latter available in their farm system, so they rely on guys like Chris Young. As far as sixth starters go, the Nationals have landed a pretty good option.

The temperature at Nats Park clearly had an impact on both the Washington Nationals bats and arms Wednesday night, but the April chill wasn’t enough to stop the club en route to their second win of the season, a 3-0 decision over the Miami Marlins.

Gio Gonzalez threw six scoreless innings in this, his first start of 2013, but he was far from regular season form. The lefty only spotted 55 of his 91 pitches for strikes on the night, and gave up two free passes, including one to the Marlins starter Kevin Slowey.

It was the kind of evening where you could tell Gonzalez was getting by on his craft, rather than his stuff. His fastball danced around 90 while his curveball was inconsistent in producing outs. While he did manage five strikeouts, he was often behind in the count and relied on some weakly hit balls to get out of jams. Gio has expressed in the past that he has difficulty locating pitches when it gets colder outside, but its certainly a trend we’d like to see bucked when October baseball comes around.

Gonzalez did boost the Nationals poor offensive showing early by taking matters into his own hands. His fifth inning solo home run off Slowey gave Washington a 1-0 lead, which was all they would need on the night.

Some Thoughts: 

This was a strong second win for the Nationals, as the team's bats slowly began to come alive. Still, it is really hard to gather much from these games, as the Marlins aren't really much of an opponent. That's not to put the Marlins down by any means, but their roster was completely gutted by their front office this offseason, leaving them with a starting lineup of journeymen and youngsters. So while it's great that Nationals opponents are scoreless against them through the first 18 innings of the years, those numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. 

A Few Nuggets:

- Bryce Harper was 2-4 with a single and a double, extending his hitting streak to 11 games dating back to last season. 

- Ian Desmond seemed to struggle a bit with his throws tonight, potentially due to the cold weather. He had a throwing error in the second after an outstanding play with the glove. Several other throws to first baseman Adam LaRoche seemed off but were snagged by the club’s Gold Glover at the bag.

- Drew Storen made his first appearance on the mound at Nats Park tonight since blowing a save in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cardinals last fall. The former Nationals closer retired the side on 14 pitches, tallying one strikeout.

- Ryan Zimmerman earned his first hit of the season with a triple to right. Giancarlo Stanton misplayed the ball of the wall.

- Marlins first basemen Kasey Kotchman left the game with a left-hamstring strain after attempting to leg-out a ball to first. He’s listed as day to day.