Dusty Baker seeks better gauge to measure Nationals’ progress

Jayson Werth held his right arm in the air and celebrated almost immediately after exiting the batter’s box. There was no doubt his two-out hit in the bottom of the ninth inning was going to deliver a victory as Bryce Harper and Danny Espinosa scored, giving the Washington Nationals a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday at Nationals Park.

The Nationals swept the Phillies and exited the weekend 15 games over .500 with a 39-24 record — second-best in the National League and third-best overall.

Still, manager Dusty Baker paused when asked if he could get a strong gauge of how his team stacks up against the rest of the league. The reason wasn’t because of the Nationals’ performance on the field, but simply because they haven’t played enough teams for the manager to get a complete conclusion.

The Nationals still haven’t competed against a team from the NL West, which makes them the only team in baseball that has yet to play a game against an entire division in its respective league. Washington won’t play an NL West team until after their three-game home series against the Chicago Cubs — the best team in baseball — which begins on Monday. Then the Nationals head on the road for four games against the San Diego Padres, followed by three against the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

Washington has played only one series against the Cubs and the Nationals got swept, losing all four games on the road in May, which makes this next series an opportunity for Baker’s club to measure its progress.

“What Al Campanis told us when I was playing with the Dodgers is we really can’t compare and see if you have enough until you go around the league one time,” Baker said before Sunday’s game. “And we haven’t gone around the league one time. We’re the only team, I think, in baseball that hasn’t played every division yet. I look at it every day and we have nothing but zeros against the west. We haven’t played the Dodgers, Padres, Giants. I could give you a better idea once we play them, I’d rather play them at our park. You won’t know until you play them.”

The imbalance of home and road games has also made it difficult for Baker to get a good read on where his team is at. The Nationals entered Sunday with a 21-13 road record and a 17-11 home record. In June, Washington plays 17 road games to 10 home games, a pattern that will flip in July with 15 scheduled home games.

“We know it,” Baker said. “We’re only home six days and back out 11 days. We’re the only team that hasn’t played a 10-game homestand. Hopefully, it will be to our advantage and we can establish home field superiority like the other good teams do. They don’t lose at home.”

After a week filled with a share of lopsided victories — the Nationals outscored the Phillies 17-9 in the first two games and previously outscored the Chicago White Sox 21-9 last Tuesday and Wednesday — coupled with Sunday’s walk-off victory, there’s an air of confidence in the clubhouse.

When asked about Baker’s assessment about not having played as many other teams from other divisions, Werth and other Nationals’ players shifted the focus toward going out and playing their best, regardless of the schedule.

“It matters and you’ve got to put yourself in a position to win, but until coming off the all-star break the last couple months, that’s when you make your move,” Werth said. “We’ve given ourselves a chance, we’re putting ourselves in a good position so far and there’s a long way to go obviously. The meat of the season is still out there.”

Following Werth’s walk-off, his teammates chased him into right field for a raucous celebration, one that won’t last too long.

“We’ve got to put this one behind us,” Baker said. “We’ve got work to do tomorrow.”

With the Cubs in town, it’ll be a chance for the Nationals to measure themselves against the league’s best and come away with a better result than the last, when Chicago swept them in May.

“In chicago, we played good ball,” outfielder Ben Revere said. “It wasn’t like we got blown out, just last couple of innings they get a couple breaks, took advantage of us. Wasn’t like we were down. We held our heads high. Now, facing them again, here in D.C., it’s going to be a big series, a big three games. But, in my mind, we’re a really sound team no matter what.”