Washington Nationals Baseball

I attended the Nats-Mariners game today, where the Nats won their 10th straight game. The team is now 1.5 games ahead of Philadelphia in the division and has the best home record in baseball (24-9). Here's my question: can the Nats make the playoffs? I can see good arguments for both sides. On the pro: the team is generally solid defensively, has a good #1 starter in Livan Hernandez, may have the best bullpen combination in baseball with Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero (1.13 ERA; 19 saves), and have a good line-up with Vinny Castilla, Nick Johnson & Brad Wilkerson. On the con: not too much depth although getting Junior Spivey to replace the injured Vidro should help, I'm not sold on their starting pitching in big games and the line-up could use another power guy.

I'd be interested in seeing the opinions of folks inside and outside the DC area on whether or not you think the Nats can make the playoffs.