Turner Classics

It took a few months, but suddenly everything is clicking in Washington. Juan Soto's off to an insane start! Adam Eaton's healthy and hitting! Mark Reynolds and Matt Adams are surging filling in for Ryan Zimmerman! Max Scherzer has forgotten how to lose games! It's wonderful!

Now, granted, the Nats are still tangling with the red-hot Atlanta Braves, but unlike the Braves, whose come-up has happened this year, the Nationals' come-up has been building since roughly 2012, so they've had time to cultivate things, swap younger faces in and such. Trey Turner is the new young face of this roster, in a position fostered by Danny Espinosa and Ian Desmond (who are both currently hitting below the mendoza line for other teams). Turner is a speed demon on the base paths, in the outfield, and he's a great hitter. He's very versatile, and a change of pace for a team that's been occasionally thriving on home-run hitters (which Bryce Harper predominantly is this year).

And look, even if the infield is admittedly a weak point, with Anthony Rendon pulling surprisingly human numbers, Wilmer Difo doing an effete job covering for still-injured Daniel Murphy, and the Adams/Reynolds 1B platoon is better offensively, Turner is still the bright spot, and the Nats are trying to build the infield around him. Expect gradual callups, especially if Zim and Murph remain injured, of worthy middle infielders in the minors.

The pitching staff is still rock-solid, despite the injuries to Stephen Strasburg and Jeremy Hellickson. Scherzer-Roark-Gonzalez is still powerful as ever, with emphasis on the former, who will probably be getting another Cy Young come November. Yes, Erick Fedde is decent enough as a fill in, but if they want to stay afloat with more than a 4-man rotation, they might need to dig into AAA and grab someone from there.

These are minimal problems to have, and rely on the surprisingly decent farm system. Plus, the team's still winning games. They just won one the other day vs. the Yankees. They're still a threat for 1st, which should be scaring the Braves. So while the problems aren't season-deciding, they'd still help them get back to the top spot they figured was theirs when the season began.

Coming Tonight: The ace for a team that...to be honest, should be doing a lot better than they currently are.