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When Cliff Lee busted out his magical whooping stick on Saturday, his batting average briefly eclipsed Jayson Werth's. That's right, Mr. $120 million pitcher had a higher batting average (.220) than $126 million hitter (.217)… if only for a moment. That's funny.

So, now that we've reached the midway point of the first half, let's take a look at the early success of Jayson Werth. Wait, what's that Scoob? There is no success? You such a good boy!

The Washington press is all over him: [Washington Post]

The most conspicuous offender is high-priced free agent signing Jayson Werth, who has four RBI since June 18 and is hitting .217 this season. In his two previous games before yesterday’s win, Werth grounded into a game-ending double play on Saturday, eliciting boos around the stadium, and struck out in the ninth on a pitch in the dirt on Friday.

“I think he’s right on the verge of busting out,” Manager Davey Johnson said of Werth, who hit two balls hard to left field in yesterday’s 2-0 victory over Colorado that ended a three-game slide. “He’s had some history of great second halves. I don’t worry about a guy like Jayson Werth.”

 

On the verge of busting out? What does that mean exactly? Busting out into 12 home run, 40 RBI second half? Because that would be a solid pace for him. Ya know, a little scouting would have told the Nationals that.

But it gets worse for them. They are the 27th most popular team in Major League Baseball: [Washington Post]


For the third year in a row, the Nats finished 27th in the poll, this time ahead only of the Marlins, Padres and Blue Jays, who were obviously penalized by it being a U.S. survey. Since finishing 22nd in their inaugural season, the Nats have gone 24th, 29th, 26th, 27th, 27th and 27th. Consistent, anyhow.

 

Where did the Phillies finish? 7th. Ouch. More on that – a lot more – soon.

H/T to (@DeliaDC11)