The Hour That the Ship Comes In

“And they will know that it’s for real, the hour that their ship comes in…”  Washington Nationals fans may be pinching themselves to find out whether they are dreaming–as in the old Bob Dylan song–but after wandering in the dessert for many years, a championship caliber organization is arriving on the rising tide of the Potomac, one that this city has not seen since the 1920’s.

Watching the Nationals this spring some, the focus will be on what some want to call the best starting rotation in the Majors in recent years. Conversely, critics question whether there is any marginal advantage to having Max Scherzer over Tanner Roark, especially at such a huge cost. What a vastly different conundrum from worrying whether DC City Council had the courage to commit on a new stadium.

As someone who has taken it all in from day one in 2005, there is something very different about this Spring. It is not about this fine team that Mike Rizzo has cobbled together. Trades, first round draft picks and free agent signings have created a competitive roster that is ranked one of the strongest in the Majors going into 2015. But Washington is unlikely to merit first round draft picks in the near future and as been pointed out often, this year’s nine is filled with names that are playing in their final year of team control. Whatever decision the gods may render on Opening Day’s fine assemblage of Washington talent, the team that takes the field behind Max Scherzer in coming years will be of a similar quality only more of it will have risen through the ranks and been trained in the Nationals farm system.

Watching the team in the early days of 2015 Spring Training, you can begin to see the first crop of “Home Grown,” from DC: players who were drafted by the Nationals current front office and nurtured in the fertile soil of the team’s development system. Matt Skole (3B), Wilmer Difo (2B) and Raphael Bautista (OF) are three position players who have shined in their first exposure to the big league camp and the latter two are playing on one of the winningest teams in the minors in years. Last year they were at Hagerstown where they lost the Sally League Championship in a five-game series with ace Nicolas Giolitto sitting it out. Difo hit .429 for the series with 2 home runs. The year before that same roster won the Gulf Coast League with a 49-9 record, one of the highest winning percentages ever posted in the minors.

So as the many fine players taking the field for Washington in 2015 play out the string, the organization has a plethora of talent waiting to fill their shoes. Ian Desmond has said on numerous occasions that this is the last chance for this team to win it all, and that is certainly correct. But a different group of Washington Nationals will be knocking at the door for many years to come.

One hundred years ago Clark Griffith kept putting together new combinations of talent and chasing his first AL championship in Washington. He came close for 10 years, but it was not until Bucky Harris took over to begin the 1924 season that the same players who finished 4th in the AL in 1923 were able to win it all the following year. A winning combination can be a very subtle change, or just the ball bouncing over Freddy Linstrom’s shoulder at a key juncture. One year the ball bounces right for you and one year it doesn’t.

Whether the ball bounces in the direction of the 2015 Washington Nationals or not, the coming years will see exceptionally talented players taking the field for the home town faithful and whether there are back-to-back World Series appearances in the offing or not, the team is going to be competing at the highest levels for many years to come. The ace who finally delivers the goods could be Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Lucas Giolitto, Renaldo Lopez or Eric Fedde. Every name on that list has the talent to pitch Game Seven of the World Series.

The Cardinals, the Giants, the Red Sox and the Tigers have fielded quality teams that each year lights a fuse that runs with anticipation that something big will happen at the end of the run. The Nationals are trying to stake their claim to have arrived in that circle of success. Their ship has certainly arrived and there are others waiting off shore. If and when they can only get the ball to bounce the right way, Goliath’s men will be finally conquered.