The record books are going to show the Nationals as a very average 81-81 team with poor hitting in 2005. Their ballpark is very pitcher friendly so their pitchers seemed sensational and hitters seemed horrendous. A pitching friendly park allows them to stay in games. In their wins, they had an average margin of victory of 2.8 runs while in their losses had an average margin of loss as 3.2 runs. This is a key sign of a team that had trouble scoring (blowing their teams out of the water). At home, the Nationals averaged 3.56 runs. On the road, they averaged 4.32 runs. A difference of almost 1 full run. Since there is so much notoriety about the weak Nationals offense, taking their overs on the road has usually been money. In fact, the point differential between them and their opponents was less on the road than at home. They scored about the same amount of runs as their opponents on the road but got beaten badly at home. For the first 20 games of the 2006 season, we advise you to monitor the home and road dynamics of these Nationals as the best betting opportunities are going to be found focusing on their strengths and weaknesses next year. |
