Best duos in Washington Nationals history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Washington Nationals history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 1987 Montreal Expos
- Tim Raines: 6.7 WAR (#6 position player in 1987)
- Tim Burke: 4.3 WAR (#18 pitcher in 1987)
- Total: 11 WAR
#9. 2002 Montreal Expos
- Vladimir Guerrero: 7.1 WAR (#5 position player in 2002)
- Tomo Ohka: 4 WAR (#28 pitcher in 2002)
- Total: 11.1 WAR
#8. 2014 Washington Nationals
- Anthony Rendon: 6.5 WAR (#6 position player in 2014)
- Tanner Roark: 4.7 WAR (#12 pitcher in 2014)
- Total: 11.2 WAR
#7. 1980 Montreal Expos
- Andre Dawson: 6.8 WAR (#8 position player in 1980)
- Steve Rogers: 5.9 WAR (#5 pitcher in 1980)
- Total: 12.7 WAR
#6. 2019 Washington Nationals
- Anthony Rendon: 7.1 WAR (#8 position player in 2019)
- Stephen Strasburg: 5.6 WAR (#9 pitcher in 2019)
- Total: 12.7 WAR
#5. 2018 Washington Nationals
- Anthony Rendon: 5.1 WAR (#19 position player in 2018)
- Max Scherzer: 7.9 WAR (#3 pitcher in 2018)
- Total: 13 WAR
#4. 2017 Washington Nationals
- Anthony Rendon: 6.1 WAR (#14 position player in 2017)
- Max Scherzer: 7.2 WAR (#2 pitcher in 2017)
- Total: 13.3 WAR
#3. 1997 Montreal Expos
- Rondell White: 4.8 WAR (#26 position player in 1997)
- Pedro Martinez: 9 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1997)
- Total: 13.8 WAR
#2. 1982 Montreal Expos
- Gary Carter: 8.6 WAR (#2 position player in 1982)
- Steve Rogers: 7.7 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1982)
- Total: 16.3 WAR
#1. 2015 Washington Nationals
- Bryce Harper: 9.7 WAR (#1 position player in 2015)
- Max Scherzer: 6.9 WAR (#4 pitcher in 2015)
- Total: 16.6 WAR
