One week from today, the Washington Nationals season will be underway. After the best season in their history, the Nats will try to exceed expectations with a team that many expect to win the National League East, and the NL on the whole. How can you possibly exceed those expectations? I’m not sure, but this team sure seems poised to do so.

When the 98-win Nationals started their 2012 season, no one expected much from the team. Most expected them to achieve their first winning season since the 2005 Inaugural Season, but the final regular season result changed the dynamic of baseball in our Nation’s Capital. And it all happened with the unique dynamic created by Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo.

The pitching rotation is obviously the core of the team’s future success. With Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Dan Haren, and Ross Detwiler, the team is poised to, once again, have the best pitching rotation in all of baseball. Detwiler is poised to be the best number five pitcher in the game for the second straight season, and Stephen Strasburg will have a full season to show his worth and value to the best team in baseball.

The offensive and defensive lineup is nothing to be ashamed of either. The one through six of Denard Span, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche, and Ian Desmond is among the best top six in the game, and it improves the lineup of a team that was already the best in the NL last season.

So, on paper, there’s so much that should be better this season. The only thing that’s changed is the expectations. After such an incredible and unexpected 2012, the 2013 Nats have a whole lot of pressure surrounding them.

Jayson Werth is used to that sort of pressure, but there aren’t many others who are. Zimmerman, Desmond, Harper, and others have gotten the postseason experience from last year, but turning those expectations into results isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. People expect more of them this season.

Quite honestly, I do, too. And most others do, as well. It’s going to be an incredible season of baseball in Washington, DC, which starts in just a week, and it all starts with what we expect from this team. Let those expectations run high. After last season, you deserve the high expectations.

If you haven’t read Adam Kilgore’s article about Jayson Werth this past weekend, now’s the time to do so, because it really embodies the state of the Washington Nationals. In one week, we’ll be talking about the result of a true, meaningful baseball game. And then for six plus months after that.

If you’ve been around since 2005, the importance of these circumstances won’t be lost on you. We’re in the homestretch of an offseason that may prove to be the most important in team history. It’s finally about time for some baseball, and it’s time to expect greatness from a team that’s been set up to succeed. 

Dave Nichols of District Sports Page organized the 2013 Washington Nationals rountable this year, where a few Nats bloggers (including me) were asked to make predictions about the coming season. It's a seven-part series, and I'll be crossposting the links here as well as my answers to each of the questions.

In case you missed it, part one is available here. In part two, we talked about the expectations for Bryce Harper this upcoming season. You can check out the post and everyone's responses here, and here is what I wrote about on the subject:

"I fully expect Bryce Harper to have an outstanding season, and one in which he may even be in MVP contention.  Do I think he’ll win the NL MVP in 2013? No. But I do think he’ll get enough votes to crack the top 10, and maybe even the top five. Harper will hit in the three spot this year, ahead of both Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche. He’ll have opportunities drive in runs and be driven in, which is infinitely important to those that vote for the MVP.

Further, he has star power on a team that will be closely watched by national baseball writers all season long, so he’ll be acknowledged and not forgotten. Playing the corner outfield should allow him to stay more fresh throughout the year as well, so we can see the power that we’ve all come to expect from him."

Dave Nichols of District Sports Page organized the 2013 Washington Nationals rountable this year, where a few Nats bloggers (including me) were asked to make predictions about the coming season. It's a seven-part series, and I'll be crossposting the links here as well as my answers to each of the questions.

Here are a list of the participants along with their great websites:

Dave Nichols, Editor-in-Chief, District Sports Page
Alyssa Wolice, Staff Writer, District Sports Page
Ted Starkey, Contributor to DSP, author and Editor at SBNation.com
Ryan Kelley, DSP Prospects Writer and founder of BaseballNewshound.com
Tom Bridge, Editor, WeLoveDC.com
Patrick Reddington, Editor, Federal Baseball
Joe Drugan, Managing Editor, The Nats Blog

In this part, we each assigned a grade to the Nats offseason. You can check out the post and everyone's responses here, and here is what I wrote about on the subject:

"It’s hard to imagine giving much lower than an A, here. The team didn’t have many glaring holes after a 98-win season, and the few issues that they had were resolved in the offseason. The Nationals haven’t had a true leadoff hitter or centerfielder, well, ever. Mike Rizzo solved that all in one trade this offseason when the team acquired Denard Span. They also made their very good bullpen even better with the Rafael Soriano signing, they brought back Adam LaRoche, who was the team’s 2012 MVP, and the Dan Haren signing, if he’s even mostly healthy, would be a significant upgrade over Edwin Jackson from last year.

The Nats didn’t have to do much to earn this high grade, but the grade is well deserved, nonetheless. You can’t downgrade the team because they’re so good they didn’t have to make many moves, can you?"

It's World Baseball Classic season right now, so we talk about the affect the WBC has had on the US and other countries and the Nats players that played for the States. We talk even more about the breakdown of the Nationals starting pitchers with the realization that Ross Detwiler will be the fifth starter instead of the fourth. Finally, we talk about the FanGraphs in-depth look at the top teams by position. It's the majority of the episode, and we hope you find it as interesting as we did.

The Washington Nationals lost to the Detroit Tigers, 5-1, on Monday, but the two teams’ third face-off of Spring Training wasn’t without its highlights.

The Good

Jordan Zimmerman was lights-out against Tigers hitters. He allowed a leadoff hit in the top of the first inning, but retired all 18 of the following batters he faced. He cruised through six innings, throwing only 67 pitches, often getting all three outs before the Tigers’ pitcher, Max Scherzer, even had time to get comfortable in the dugout.

The offensive highlight of the game was Adam LaRoche, who was responsible for the Nats’ sole run of the game. LaRoche hit an opposite field home run in the fourth inning, despite the wind gusting over the outfield.

The Bad

Rafael Soriano relieved Zimmermann in the seventh inning, and quickly took the shine off his gem of an outing. Soriano allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, and managed to get only two outs before Fernando Abad came in to close out the inning. Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post tweeted that it appeared Soriano was still working on building arm strength, as his average pitch velocity stayed between 88 and 91 mph.

The Encouraging

Wilson Ramos caught seven innings, the most he has caught since his ACL/meniscus injury on May 12 of last season, as he continues his progression to full health. In addition to his progress behind the plate, Ramos also did well in the batter’s box, going 3-for-3 and accounting for nearly a third of the Nationals hits on the day.

For the first time, probably ever, I can say that this year’s Spring Training for the Washington Nationals is painfully, unquestionably, absolutely, boring. 

The team’s opening day roster is all but set. There are no serious injuries, no silly over-performing or underperforming overreactions, not even a last chancer or two sprinkled around camp. The starters are not being rushed, they’re getting ready in their own time to prepare for Opening Day, April 1. The pitchers are tinkering with pitches but there is no doubt who will be where in the rotation once the team heads north. 

Quite simply, this looks like a polished, ready to ship, get them on the truck pennant contender. This is what happens when a team returns from being the best in baseball the year before, with an even stronger and healthier roster than they brought to the postseason. This is what it looks like to have a front office that has dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s. This is what it looks like to have a manager who has instilled so much trust in his players, that they are not focusing on any lineup competition, merely their own readiness. 

This spring, the Nationals look like they are primed to be the best team in baseball, and its both amazing and maddening at the same time. Do not get me wrong, I’d much rather have the team that will compete in October than a team of wash ups competing for a spot in March. But I’m nostalgic. Spring Training, as a Washington Nationals fan, has always meant needing to bring your Who’s Who in Baseball to the stadium to figure out half of the lineup by the fifth inning. It meant having no idea who would make up three fifths of a rotation until about a week before the season, and watching 36-year-olds from all across baseball mosey over to Washington for one last chance. 

In years past, Spring Training gave you an opportunity to see and completely overrate the team’s young prospects. Last season you wondered if Bryce Harper would make the team out of camp. The year before that, you wondered what Stephen Strasburg would look like in a full season. Hell, I remember going to camp wishing I could catch a glimpse of Smiley Gonzalez, or even Michael Burgess. 

I’m just so unused to viewing Spring Training as what it actually is, a chance for teams to warm up for the regular season. For Nationals fans, it has been one of the main shows since 2005. This is where we were able to see change happen in real time. Decisions were made on small sample sizes, and we got to witness every moment of it. 

Now, the Nationals are showing us something different. This is how a top-level team prepares for the season, and its certainly going to be an interesting one here in Washington.

In perhaps the least surprising announcement of spring training, Davey Johnson has officially named Stephen Strasburg as the Nationals Opening Day starter. Even before the official announcement, it was a foregone conclusion that he would start the game on April 1 against Ricky Nolasco and the Miami Marlins at home. Marlins manager Mike Redmond already named Nolasco their Opening Day starter about a week ago in the middle of a pitching change. It will be the first time Strasburg starts an Opening Day game at home since last year’s season opener was at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Strasburg has always had plenty of confidence in his ability, and he showed the guys on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” yesterday just how confident he is. When asked who he’d like to face least with a runner at third and a one run lead, Strasburg came back, “That’s tough. I’m not really scared of anybody.” Well, then. He did give some kudos to an opponent he’ll be facing on Opening Day, though. He continued, "But I think a guy who would say he’s had pretty good success early on is probably Giancarlo Stanton. He’s got a lot of power, but, you know what? I throw it pretty hard too, so let’s see how far he could hit it.”

This is what we’d call “brimming with confidence,” wouldn’t you?

As most MLB players are caught up in spring training, some are representing their countries in the World Baseball Classic. There’s already been lots of excitement around this year’s WBC as the competition continues to grow, but Nationals star Bryce Harper is done missing out on the opportunity to represent his country. He said he won’t stay out of the next competition four years from now. In fact, he can’t wait for the opportunity, according to Ken Rosenthal from FoxSports.com.

Harper isn’t skipping this year’s WBC because he’s concerned about getting hurt as people often assume, Rosenthal wrote. He wants to spend his first full spring as a major leaguer with his team to make himself better and get to know his new outfield partner, Denard Span. Seeing his teammates, Ross Detwiler and Gio Gonzalez, represent the United States in the tournament couldn’t have made Harper’s abstention any easier to take.

In four years, when Harper promises he’ll play for Team USA, just think about where he’ll be in his career. He’ll likely be one of the best players in baseball if he continues on his current trajectory, perhaps with an MVP award under his belt. To have a player of that caliber excited about playing in the WBC would be huge for the future success of the tournament in the United States.

Inevitably, people are concerned about players getting injured in what some consider an exhibition prior to the MLB season. I only refer you to Jayson Stark’s great article on injuries sustained in previous WBCs. Stark himself admits it’s not a perfect study, but whether a player gets injured during the WBC or during spring training, what does it really matter?

Team USA has some great talent this year with David Wright, Ryan Braun, Joe Mauer, and Giancarlo Stanton, but none of those players are stars that far outreach their team or market. Wright is a great, but sometimes underrated player on the national stage. Braun has been bogged down in scandal for more than a season now. Mauer is extremely great, but hasn’t reached his peak since his MVP season. Stanton plays in Miami, so he’ll never get the type of appreciation he deserves. Bryce Harper is a national media sensation who could truly generate interest for the Classic in four years. Nationals fans, WBC fans, and baseball fans in general should be excited about the opportunity to see him play on the world stage.