#Natstober?

Tramel Raggs:
Four and a half months ago, the Washington Nationals were a trendy pick to win the World Series. One year after going 98- 64 and winning the NL East, the Nats looked poised for a deep playoff run in which anything less than a championship would be viewed as a failure.

Fast forward four and a half months and the Nats face a totally different and unexpected reality. As of September 18th, Washington finds themselves eight games out of first place in the NL East with 11 games to play. By all accounts, the darling World Series pick has fallen short expectations.... Or have they?

On August 19th the Nationals had appeared to hit rock bottom. At 60-64 and in the midst of a seven game losing streak, everyone outside of Washington had written them off. But, in a season marked by injuries, the Nats found new life in often injured star outfielder Bryce Harper’s rally cry: “To the last minute. To the last second. To the last man. We fight!”

Since “the quote”, Washington has won 21 of their last 27 games and given themselves an outside chance at the playoffs.

While the Nats have no chance to win the NL East unless the Braves lose out, (which may not be as impossible as it seems) the Nationals do have a realistic shot at winning a wild card spot. They now find themselves only four and half games back of the plummeting Cincinnati Reds.

Unfortunately for the Nationals they don’t have any remaining games versus the Reds. Their playoff fate rests in the hands of the Mets, Astros and Pirates.

In order for the Nats to end up tied with the Reds and force a one game playoff tiebreaker they need to win five more games than the Reds. While Cincinnati’s opponents down the stretch make this a difficult projection to make, there is reason for optimism in Washington.

Since coming back from an injury that caused him to miss the entire month of May, Jayson Werth has been on an absolute tear. Ryan Zimmerman is playing like a man possessed, and the Nats appear to have a healthy Bryce Harper at last. These offensive forces, supported by top of the line starting pitching from Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmerman, are no joke. If any team is capable of pulling off this feat, it’s the Nationals.

And this alone should give every Washingtonian a glimmer of hope, and a reason to believe that #Natstober is more than just a dream, and remains within the reach of reality.