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Posted at 11:45 AM EST.

We suppose it was only a matter of time before the Nationals warmed up and warm up they did with eight straight wins before losing the finale in Philadelphia on Sunday. A close look at their eight-game winning streak is actually not that impressive at all. The Nationals winning streak started with a sweep over the overrated Pirates followed by a sweep at home over these same Braves. The scores vs. the Braves were 3-1, 2-1 and 7-0 and so the first two games against Atlanta could have easily gone the other way. Washington’s final two victories came in Philadelphia over starters Aaron Harang and Kevin Correia by scores of 5-2 and 3-2. Washington’s eight-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday when they lost to rookie Severino Gonzalez and his 8.79 ERA. The Nationals now come into Atlanta as the walking wounded. Likely playing but with some serious nagging injuries will be Bryce Harper (hamstring), Yunel Escobar (hand) and Dernard Span (back issues). Out for sure are Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Jason Werth. An overpriced team will now send out an overpriced pitcher in Jordan Zimmerman.

Zimmermann has been one of the most reliable starters in the National League over the past four seasons, but his numbers are way off so far this year. Let's take a look. Zimmermann bumped up his strikeout rate in 2014, and the gains were supported by his swinging strike rate. He's given it all back and then some so far this year, as he's not getting many swings and misses (6%). He now has just 63 K’s in 92 innings. Zimmerman’s groundball rate this year of 40% is the lowest of his career. His 4.05 xERA is also the worst mark of his career and it’s by a wide margin. Zimmerman’s 1.32 WHIP is above the threshold of 1.30 that is crucial for success. We are now at the half way point in the season and Zimmerman’s numbers aren’t improving. The toll of pitching over 600 innings during the past three seasons and 92 more this year may be catching up to Zimmerman. Further proof of that is a decline in his velocity.  Zimmerman’s mound opponent, Shelby Miller, is trending the other way.

Shelby Miller is bringing 94.7 mph heat with late life. His groundball rate has remained solid at 51% but his line-drive rate of 18% puts him among the elite. Miller’s groundball rate/line-drive rate in his last start was off the charts at 67%/6%. Miller has 11 pure quality starts in 15 tries this year. His ERA at home is 1.94 in 40 innings.  Miller has a dominant start/disaster start split of 77%/5%, which equals to one disaster this entire year. How difficult has Miller been to hit? Well, consider this number of .236. That’s Miller’s current BABIP (batting average of balls in play). No qualified starter in the major leagues has a figure under .225. Combine Miller’s new devastating cutter, ditching his changeup, and his sinker becoming his most commonly utilized pitch, and you have a pitcher who has been as difficult to hit as any in the game. Now we get him at home as a pooch.     

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