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Dusty Baker talked early in his first season on the bench in the nation’s capital about the importance of all the players on Washington’s 40-Man Roster contributing to the franchise’s success.
"We're trying to get some depth in Triple-A," Baker explained last Spring, "because it's going to take... to win this thing, it takes the entire organization.
"It takes more than just the 25 guys that are here,” he added. “Very rarely have I been on a team where you go start to finish without anybody -- somebody, getting hurt or something and we've been hurt a lot and some key players."
A total of 43 players played a role in the success of the NL East Champions in 2016.
The season ended with a disappointing loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS, but it took a lot of hard work to even get there and the Nationals are preparing to do it all again.
As a number of Nationals noted in the hype video the team released earlier this week, it is going to take all the players assembled for 2017 and more to do it again...
The pursuit starts ... now. https://t.co/AP6FRr8exr pic.twitter.com/C1JSqnsT80
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 6, 2017
“We’re all chasing the same goal, we all want to be there, we all want to win the World Series,” starter Joe Ross says.
“The offense, the defense, the bullpen,” 2016 NL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer adds.
“Pulling on the same rope,” shortstop Trea Turner says.
“Not just the guys in the clubhouse here,” a still-bearded Stephen Strasburg notes, “it means the entire community, everybody being all in for 162 games out of the year.”
“There’s 25 guys, 40 on our roster, but I like to think we’re all together as one,” Baker says.
#OnePursu — wait, that was last year’s hashtag. Don’t we have a new one yet? Uh, anyone? Whatever, enjoy the hype: