2023 Nats media season predictions

It’s Opening Day, and you know what that means? Yes, it’s time for the 14th annual Nationals Beat Writer Season Predictions!

A few of the participants have remained constant through the years. A few have come and gone and come back. And a few are still relatively new to the festivities. All of us, however, will most certainly make fools of ourselves with some of our predictions.

There’s actually a decent range of guesses in most categories this year, with general consensus in only a few of them. (Josiah Gray, apparently, is a lock to win exactly 11 games this season. Who knew?)

Everlasting thanks to my colleagues for subjecting themselves to the humiliation again. Remember, we’ll be republishing these at the end of the season to find out who actually had a clue and who did not.

And if you’re brave enough to put your (screen) name on your own predictions, you are more than welcome to share those in the comments section below …

WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jesse Dougherty (Washington Post) – Hunter Harvey
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – Joey Meneses
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – Keibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – Keibert Ruiz
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – Joey Meneses

WHAT WILL TOTAL ATTENDANCE BE AT NATIONALS PARK?
Craig Heist – 2,100,000
Jessica Camerato – 2,025,000
Jesse Dougherty – 1,973,303
Bobby Blanco – 1,933,655
Andrew Golden – 1,859,248
Bill Ladson – 1,600,000
Mark Zuckerman – 1,457,283
Chelsea Janes – 1,340,073

WHO WILL LEAD THE TEAM IN HOME RUNS? HOW MANY?
Jessica Camerato – Joey Meneses, 25
Bill Ladson – Joey Meneses, 25
Jesse Dougherty – Joey Meneses, 24
Mark Zuckerman – Joey Meneses, 24
Chelsea Janes – Jeimer Candelario, 23
Craig Heist – Dominic Smith, 23
Andrew Golden – Joey Meneses, 21
Bobby Blanco – Joey Meneses, 20

WHAT WILL JOEY MENESES’ OPS BE?
Andrew Golden – .901
Bill Ladson – .875
Chelsea Janes – .836
Mark Zuckerman – .832
Bobby Blanco – .825
Jesse Dougherty – .802
Jessica Camerato – .772
Craig Heist – .755

WHAT WILL CJ ABRAMS’ BATTING AVERAGE BE?
Jessica Camerato – .275
Bobby Blanco – .273
Mark Zuckerman – .268
Jesse Dougherty – .267
Bill Ladson – .265
Andrew Golden – .264
Chelsea Janes – .264
Craig Heist – .257

RANK THESE PLAYERS FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST OPS: JEIMER CANDELARIO, COREY DICKERSON, LUIS GARCÍA, DOMINIC SMITH, LANE THOMAS
Bobby Blanco – Candelario, García, Smith, Thomas, Dickerson
Jessica Camerato – Candelario, García, Thomas, Smith, Dickerson
Andrew Golden – Candelario, Smith, Dickerson, García, Thomas
Chelsea Janes – Candelario, Smith, Thomas, Dickerson, García
Jesse Dougherty – Smith, Thomas, Dickerson, García, Candelario
Craig Heist – Smith, Candelario, García, Thomas, DIckerson
Bill Ladson – Smith, Dickerson, Candelario, Thomas, García
Mark Zuckerman – Smith, García, Candelario, Thomas, Dickerson

HOW MANY RUNNERS WILL KEIBERT RUIZ THROW OUT (CAUGHT STEALING+PICKOFFS)?
Jessica Camerato – 26
Mark Zuckerman – 25
Bobby Blanco – 24
Chelsea Janes – 24
Andrew Golden – 21
Jesse Dougherty – 19
Craig Heist – 15
Bill Ladson – 10

WHEN WILL ROBERT HASSELL III MAKE HIS NATIONALS DEBUT?
Craig Heist – July 27 at Mets
Bill Ladson – Aug. 25 at Marlins
Jessica Camerato – Sept. 1 vs. Marlins
Mark Zuckerman – Sept. 1 vs. Marlins
Chelsea Janes – Sept. 3 vs. Marlins
Bobby Blanco – Sept. 5 vs. Mets
Jesse Dougherty – 2024
Andrew Golden – 2024

WHO WILL LEAD THE PITCHING STAFF IN WINS? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Josiah Gray, 15
Jessica Camerato – Josiah Gray, 11
Jesse Dougherty – Josiah Gray, 11
Andrew Golden – Josiah Gray, 11
Craig Heist – Josiah Gray, 11
Chelsea Janes – Josiah Gray, 11
Bobby Blanco – Josiah Gray, 10
Mark Zuckerman – MacKenzie Gore, 10

RANK THESE PITCHERS FROM LOWEST TO HIGHEST ERA: PATRICK CORBIN, MACKENZIE GORE, JOSIAH GRAY, TREVOR WILLIAMS
Bobby Blanco – Gore, Gray, Williams, Corbin
Craig Heist – Gore, Gray, Williams, Corbin
Andrew Golden – Gore, Williams, Gray, Corbin
Chelsea Janes – Gore, Williams, Gray, Corbin
Jessica Camerato – Gray, Gore, Williams, Corbin
Mark Zuckerman – Gray, Gore, Williams, Corbin
Jesse Dougherty – Gray, Gore, Corbin, Williams
Bill Ladson – Gray, Williams, Corbin, Gore

BESIDES THOSE FOUR, WHAT PITCHER WILL START THE MOST GAMES THIS SEASON?
Bobby Blanco – Chad Kuhl
Jessica Camerato – Chad Kuhl
Jesse Dougherty – Chad Kuhl
Craig Heist – Chad Kuhl
Bill Ladson – Chad Kuhl
Andrew Golden – Cory Abbott
Chelsea Janes – Joan Adon
Mark Zuckerman – Joan Adon

WHO WILL LEAD THE STAFF IN SAVES? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Kyle Finnegan, 25
Chelsea Janes – Kyle Finnegan, 16
Jessica Camerato – Hunter Harvey, 15
Craig Heist – Hunter Harvey, 15
Andrew Golden – Hunter Harvey, 14
Jesse Dougherty – Kyle Finnegan, 13
Bobby Blanco – Hunter Harvey, 13
Mark Zuckerman – Hunter Harvey, 12

RANK THESE PITCHERS FROM MOST TO FEWEST RELIEF APPEARANCES FOR THE NATS: SEAN DOOLITTLE, CARL EDWARDS JR., KYLE FINNEGAN, HUNTER HARVEY, ERASMO RAMÍREZ
Bobby Blanco – Ramírez, Edwards, Finnegan, Harvey, Doolittle
Jesse Dougherty – Ramírez, Edwards, Finnegan, Harvey, Doolittle
Andrew Golden – Ramírez, Finnegan, Edwards, Harvey, Doolittle
Craig Heist – Edwards, Finnegan, Harvey, Ramírez, Doolittle
Bill Ladson – Edwards, Harvey, Finnegan, Ramírez, Doolittle
Jessica Camerato – Finnegan, Harvey, Edwards, Ramírez, Doolittle
Chelsea Janes – Finnegan, Edwards, Ramírez, Harvey, Doolittle
Mark Zuckerman – Finnegan, Ramírez, Harvey, Doolittle, Edwards

WHO WILL HIT THE MOST HOMERS AGAINST THE NATIONALS? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Pete Alonso, 10
Jessica Camerato – Kyle Schwarber, 8
Bobby Blanco – Kyle Schwarber, 7
Andrew Golden – Daniel Vogelbach, 6
Mark Zuckerman – Trea Turner, 6
Craig Heist – Trea Turner, 5
Chelsea Janes – Matt Olson, 5
Jesse Dougherty – Matt Olson, 4

WHO WILL TOTAL THE MOST STRIKEOUTS AGAINST THE NATIONALS? HOW MANY?
Bill Ladson – Max Scherzer, 39
Jessica Camerato – Sandy Alcantara, 35
Jesse Dougherty – Sandy Alcantara, 33
Andrew Golden – Spencer Strider, 32
Mark Zuckerman – Sandy Alcantara, 28
Craig Heist – Max Scherzer, 28
Chelsea Janes – Zack Wheeler, 24
Bobby Blanco – Max Scherzer, 15

HOW WILL THE NL EAST FINISH FROM TOP TO BOTTOM?
Bobby Blanco – Mets, Braves, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Jesse Dougherty – Mets, Braves, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Craig Heist – Mets, Braves, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins
Chelsea Janes – Phillies, Mets, Braves, Marlins, Nationals
Andrew Golden – Braves, Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Mark Zuckerman – Braves, Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Jessica Camerato – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Nationals
Bill Ladson – Braves, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Marlins

HOW MANY GAMES WILL THE NATIONALS WIN?
Bill Ladson – 77
Craig Heist – 74
Chelsea Janes – 68
Jessica Camerato – 64
Mark Zuckerman – 62
Andrew Golden – 61
Jesse Dougherty – 60
Bobby Blanco – 53