24-year old shortstop Ian Desmond set the bar very high for himself after finishing 2009 very strongly. In 2009, Desmond played in 21 games in which he was 23 of 82 (.280 avg, .879 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This year the pitchers had a book on him but he still has played pretty well. Desmond has played in 126 games for the Nationals this year and he is 115 of 416 (.276 avg, .722 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 9 homers, 54 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. It looks like the Nationals will be well set up on the left side of the infield for the forseeable future with Desmond at SS and Zimmerman at 3B.

25-year old righty swinging 3B Ryan Zimmerman is one of the best kept secrets in baseball as he keeps getting better. Zimmerman has played in 110 games for the Nationals this year and he is 120 of 397 (.302 avg, .937 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 24 homers, 68 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. If Zimmerman stays healthy he could possibly set career highs in batting average (.292), OPS (.888), runs scored (110), homers (33) or RBIs (106). If the Nationals ever get good Zimmerman will get his due as he is one of the best 3B in all of baseball.

Sure, Adam Dunn is a free agent at the end of this season. He seems to like playing for the Nationals and there is a solid chance that he will re-sign with them over the winter. So the Nationals were smart to keep Dunn because no team was willing to pay their price for him. Dunn has played in 108 games for the Nationals this year and he is 108 of 390 (.277 avg, .938 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 28 homers and 71 RBIs. He has been much more aggressive than usual at the plate as he has only walked 48 times this season (132 whiffs) but that has worked out to the Nationals’ benefit because of the power numbers he’s putting up this year.

28-year old righty swinging 1F/OF Mike Morse is swinging the stick so well that he’s pretty much forcing the Nationals to find more P.T. for him and that’s a good thing. Morse has played in 38 games for the Nationals so far this year and he is 26 of 77 (.338 avg, 1.022 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 6 homers and 16 RBIs. Morse has played in 177 games in his six years in the majors and he is 129 of 429 (.301 avg, .810 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 12 homers, 63 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. I know that he has had issues with steroids in the past but that’s no reason not to give him a chance to play as others have rebounded from it.

26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Roger Bernadina is making the most of his chance for P.T. this season for the Nationals. He has played in 52 games so far this season for the Nationals and he is 44 of 155 (.284 avg, .790 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 5 homers, 23 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Bernadina is pretty much the starting RF for the Nationals right now as Willie Harris has been awful this year. Coming into this season Bernadina played in 29 games in the majors in which he was 17 of 80 (.213 avg, .563 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.