Stats of the Day

With spring training at an end, Opening Day has finally arrived. I'm looking at some stat lines from the Braves/Nats game last night, which was a great way to start the season in beautiful new Nationals Park (How long does that name last before the naming rights are sold? I'm setting the over/under at one year.) I don't think the ending of this game could've possibly been staged better...

According to Jim Bowden the new stadium will still be a slight pitcher's park. Mark Teixeira would agree after being robbed of a sure home run late in the game. Still, its dimensions point to a more neutral park and should be nowhere near as extreme as RFK Stadium, which ranked 27th overall in run scoring in 2007 and as the WORST home run park in the majors according to ESPN.

Washington	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Zimmerman, 3B	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.250

Ryan Zimmerman, last night's hero with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, has a very promising future. He was a top 3rd baseman in the National League in 2006 at only 21 years old. One only needs to look at other players who possessed the skills to be above-average at such a young age to see that Zimmerman has the potential to be a very special player. Some current players who were full-timers at 21 include Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Carl Crawford, and Miguel Cabrera.

Now at the age of 23 Zimmerman continues his growth into an All-Star third baseman and has the potential to post better power numbers in his new park. For an idea of how much his power numbers could improve, consider that his walk-off home run would not have left the park last year at RFK.

Taking a look at Zimmerman's hit chart from RFK in 2007 there are at least a dozen doubles and fly outs that could be home runs in the new park. With his park on his side, don't be surprised if Zimmerman hits 30 homers this year.