'05 flashback: Nats' first season leaders

January 7th, 2022

WASHINGTON – Which players stand out to you when you think about the 2005 Nationals in their first season in Washington, D.C.? Was it a heavy-hitter who paced the team at the plate or a pitcher who dominated on the mound? Take a look back at the statistical leaders of the inaugural Nats squad (and see if any surprise you).

Games played: José Guillén and Brad Wilkerson, 148
Guillén and Wilkerson tied for the team lead in the category, but Wilkerson edged out Guillén in starts, 143 to 139.

Hits: Guillén, 156
Guillén topped the Nationals by 16 hits, followed by Wilkerson (140) and Nick Johnson (131).

Doubles: Wilkerson, 42
Wilkerson’s career-high in doubles tied for seventh among all National League players in 2005.

Triples: Wilkerson, 7
One of Wilkerson’s team-leading triples came on April 6, 2005, when he became the first Nats player to hit for the cycle.

Home runs: Guillén, 24
Guillén, who hit half of his homers with two outs, led the team ahead of Johnson (15) and Vinny Castilla (12).

RBIs: Guillén, 76
Guillén recorded two more RBIs than Johnson (74) to pace the category.

Stolen bases: Wilkerson, 8
Wilkerson nabbed one more base than Cristian Guzmán (7) for the team lead.

Slash line: Nick Johnson, .289/.408/.479
Johnson led Washington in batting average, on-base percentage (sixth in the NL) and slugging percentage.

OPS: Johnson, .887
During the 2005 season, Johnson posted a .952 OPS before the All-Star break.

Wins: Liván Hernández, 15
Hernández went 15-10 in his second consecutive All-Star season.

Innings: Hernández, 246 1/3
Hernández paced all Major League players in frames pitched, topping Roy Oswalt and Chris Carpenter (tie, 241 2/3 innings).

ERA: Chad Cordero, 1.82
Reliever Cordero’s ERA was even lower on the road, dipping to 1.49 at opposing ballparks.

Strikeouts: John Patterson, 185
While leading the Nationals in strikeouts, Patterson also posted a team-best 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings and tossed two complete games.

Saves: Cordero, 47
Cordero won the 2005 NL Relief Man Award for his MLB-leading saves, ahead of second-ranked Francisco Rodríguez and Bob Wickman (tie, 45).