FanPost

Who in the world is Tanner Roark?

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This what many non-NL East and national pundits (sans MLB) will start saying by All-Star break when he cracks the roster.

Sounds bold? Well, Roark been on a tear since he was called up. Who would've thought the mid-level prospect from the Christian Guzman (remember him?) would be this good. Definitely not the Rangers. With a combination of solid pitching (Prediction: 3.50 ERA by the end of the season) and long term controllable contract ($506,100 this year and won't hit FA til 2019?), we may have found our 4th-5th starter who performs like a top of the rotation starter, stats-wise at least.

This is our starting now(according to ESPN):

-Zimmermann (3.17 ERA)

-Strasburg (2.99 ERA)

-Fister (3.19 ERA)

-Roark (2.91 ERA)

-Treinen (1.78 ERA)

What our rotation can look like after All-Star Break:

-Strasburg

-Gonzalez

-Zimmermann

-Fister

-Roark

.........Didn't we draft 5 pitchers with our top 10 picks this year KNOWING that we have Giolito, A.J Cole coming up and Taylor Hill banging at the door. Or is this Rizzo's elaborate scheme to corner the MLB in pitching. While the analysts flounder over Strasburg and to a lesser extent Zimmermann, Roark is just getting it done. That is really the motto of McCatty's pitching staff: less flair and more outs. Strikeouts are fine but ground outs and weak fly balls in what keeps you in the game.

All that side, it is very easy for Roark to get ignored by all the flamethrowers, strikeout champions that suffocates the National League, let alone his team. His 7.10 K/9 IP is not going to get him any love, neither will his 4-4 record (despite analysts saying wins are overrated) and 77.1 innings in 12 starts. Not Felix Hernandez numbers but it doesn't matter. Roark is another diamond the Nationals have dug from their productive yet underrated farm system. Maybe he will actually make a run for a CY Young or hopefully just regress to a serviceable back of the rotation starter. We already have the second best ERA in all of baseball, let's keep the ship afloat for another run at the NL East title.

Now for some offense...........

Random song post:

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