The Washington Nationals are in fourth place in the N.L. East with a 46-46 record which has them 11.5 games behind the Phillies. They are also 8 games behind the Braves in the N.L. Wild Card race. The Nationals don’t look like they are very interested in being sellers yet as they are trying to add a CF in a deal and they have their eyes on guys like B.J. Upton of the Rays and possibly Colby Rasmus of the Cardinals. Here is a look at the players that made the biggest impact for the Nationals in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: 29-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Mike Morse has been given his first real shot at playing everyday and he has been very solid with the bat. Morse has played in 81 games so far this year and he is 83 for 271 (.306 avg, .886 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 15 homers, 49 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Morse is showing that he belongs in the majors.

Biggest Surprise: 25-year old righty starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman should be pitching in tonight’s All-Star Game but he got stiffed. Zimmerman has started 18 games for the Nationals so far this year and he is 6-7 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has only given up 102 hits in his first 115 innings this year which is impressive. But, even more impressive than that is the fact that Zimmerman has whiffed 82 batters while only walked 21 so far this year.

Biggest Disappointment: The Nationals signed 31-year old lefty swinging 1B Adam LaRoche during the winter to add some pop to the lineup. But, he hurt himself and he will miss the rest of this season. He is a traditionally slow starter and it happened once again in 2011. LaRoche played in 43 games for the Nationals this year and he was 26 for 151 (.172 avg, .546 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers, 15 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

The Washington Nationals were 1-2 over the weekend against the Braves as they were outscored 16-8. The Nationals wasted some good starting pitching due to a bullpen that kept bringing in a gas can with them and a very inefficient offense. The Nationals only hit .209 with a .596 OPS and that’s nowhere near good enough to get the job done. I think the Nationals should feel fortunate that they won a game against the Braves who outplayed them pretty badly over the weekend. The Nationals better start hitting this week so they don’t dig a big hole to start the year.

The Washington Nationals are in last place in the N.L. East with a 39-50 record, which has them 13.5 games behind the Braves. The Nationals have had some surprises and big disappointments this year and here’s a closer look at them:

Pleasant Surprises: The Nationals kept saying all winter that they wanted to sign a “Livan Hernandez” type pitcher for the starting rotation. They couldn’t find one so they settled for the real deal. 35-year old righty Livan Hernandez has started 18 games for the Nationals this year and he is 6-5 with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. 26-year old righty closer Matt Capps has bounced back from a rough 2009 for the Pirates. Capps has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he is 3-3 with 23 saves, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. 26-year old lefty swinging RF Roger Bernadina started this year in the minors. But he is really playing well for the Nationals right now. Bernadina has played in 63 games for the Nationals this year and he is 51 of 181 (.282 avg, .781 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 5 homers, 24 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. 28-year old righty swinging utility man Mike Morse has been outstanding for the Nationals this year. Morse has played in 35 games for the Nationals this year and he is 22 of 71 (.310 avg, .885 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 homers and 9 RBIs.

Disappointments: The Nationals gave 31-year old righty starting pitcher Jason Marquis a lot of cash to serve at the top of the rotation. He only lasted 3 starts in which he was 0-3 with a 20.52 ERA and a 2.88 WHIP. He gave up 18 hits (2 homers) and he walked 6 batters in only 8 1/3 innings before undergoing the knife. 25-year old lefty John Lannan was a pitcher the Nationals thought they could depend on but he was pathetic earning a trip to AAA. Lannan has started 14 games for the Nationals this season and he is 2-5 with a 5.76 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. 32-year old lefty swinging Willie Harris came into this year as the starting RF for the Nationals. He quickly lost that job. Harris has played in 71 games for the Nationals this year and he is 22 of 122 (.180 avg, .618 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 4 homers, 19 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. 32-year old righty swinging Wil Nieves has really been awful this season as the Nationals’ backup catcher. Nieves has played in 38 games for the Nationals this year and he is 21 of 113 (.186 avg, .475 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs.

The Nationals are sitting at 6-6 on the season which has them in 4th place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Phillies. The Nationals have been outscored 77-60 this season so the pitching has been pretty awful. Timely hitting is the main reason that the Nationals are winning their fair share of games but for the winning to continue the pitching has to improve. The Nationals will host the Rockies (4 games) and Dodgers (3 games) this week.

The Nationals are now 3-3 on the season after winning their last two games over the Mets. The Nationals have been outscored 37-22 this season with most of that damage coming against the Phillies. The Nationals will get tested this week as they play three games in Philly and then they will host the Brewers for three games this coming weekend. We will find out what the Nationals are made of this week as both the Phillies & Brewers have good baseball teams.