Nationals & Orioles Positional Comparisons

Both teams are currently playing great baseball, but let's take a look at which team has the advantage at each roster spot:

Nats Epic Opening Day Song	O's Awesome Old Intro Song

=============How They Stack Up=============

Catcher: Matt Wieters.  Switch hitting, gold glove catcher who provides power at the plate and calls an excellent game from behind the it.

First Base: Adam LaRoche. Looks poised to have a big year.  Already twice as many home runs as he had for the team last year and his strike outs numbers and batting average are MUCH improved.

Second Base: Robert Andino. A guy I have wanted cut from the O's on multiple occasions, he is actually having a decent year at the plate, as well as being reliable solid in the field.  His numbers are slightly than Espinosa's right now, who is walking a lot but not producing much else on a consistent basis, though he could be poised to heat up any game now.

Short Stop: Ian Desmond.  This guy was the Nats offensive at the start of the year.  He has cooled off some, but is still a positive presence at the top of the lineup.  J.J. Hardy started off the season with a slump, but he is starting to heat up and, unlike Desmond, is a constant homerun threat.

Third Base:  Ryan Zimmerman.  People have said that Zimmerman is off to a bad start this season and when you look at his numbers that is hard to deny.  Then you look at Flaherty's numbers, who is in his first MLB season, or the other guys the O's are using to fill 3rd at it is clear the Nat's have the edge here.

Right Field:  Nick Markakis.  I know it is sacrilegious to go against "the chosen one", but Harper is a rookie and he has been slumping a bit lately.  Markakis is a vet, has been a solid presence in the O's lineup for years, and is off to a nice season so far after his gold glove season last year.

Center Field: Adam Jones.  Pretty easy choice.  Jones is in a contract year and he has been on fire, arguably the best player on the O's this season.  We could be witnessing his breakout year into superstar territory, but its still to early to tell.

Left Field: Blah.  Toss up.  Injuries make this spot impossible to give an edge either way.

Starting Pitching: Nationals.  The O's starting rotation has been pretty good for the first time in years.  That said, they aren't on the same level of the Nationals right now who have Strasburg and Gonzalez leading the charge.

Closer: Orioles.  Each guy here is getting their first real shot at closing.  Jim Johnson is 13/13 with saves, H-rod is 9/12.  When Johnson comes in I feel pretty confident, with H-rod I can't help but get nervous.

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On paper it looks like the O's have the edge.  However the Nat's have home field advantage and better starting pitching which should be able to carry this series for them.

Make sure to check back for on going coverage of this series and hopefully some at the park coverage if we make it out to the park!