Washington Nationals: The Pitching Staff Will Finish in the Top-Five of MLB

The Washington Nationals are currently 7-3 and sit atop the very competitive NL East.

The offense has been decent thus far (39 runs scored; 16th in MLB), but it's been the pitching that has carried the team through the opening 10 games.

As a staff, the Nationals pitchers own a 1.99 ERA after 95 innings of work—that's tops in the majors.

Opponents are hitting just .186 against them, and they own a WHIP of 1.03.

Judging by their early performance, it's easy to see that they are the best staff in the league—for now, anyway.

They may not finish tops in the league come October—the Phillies, Giants, Rays and Angels will give them a run for their money—but there's no doubt that they will finish in the top five.

The Nationals staff is exceptionally deep. Gio Gonzalez, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler and, of course, Stephen Strasburg are all very young, powerful arms that are capable of striking people out.

Power pitchers, although sometimes erratic, are generally capable of limiting the damage by limiting the number of balls put in play. That should help to keep the runs allowed down for an offense that can't be relied on to score six or more runs a game.

Strasburg, even with his innings limit, makes the staff exponentially better. With him slated to start once every five games, the Nationals staff will be able to keep their ERA low.

The real question marks are Jackson and Detwiler, as Jackson is infamous for his inconsistencies and Detwiler is only in his second long-term stint in the rotation.

If they can pitch like they have so far, the Nationals will be tough to beat.

At the end of the season, look for the Nationals to be ranked third, fourth or fifth in the league in pitching. Their young, power arms will be able to limit the damage and keep the team in games.

With a staff that strong, the Nationals will most definitely be in contention for a playoff spot come October.