Perspective: The Washington Nationals haven't played with whole projected lineup all season long

Coming out of Spring Training back at the end of March, Nationals fans were excited to see a projected lineup of:

Victor Robles - CF
Juan Soto - RF
Trea Turner - SS
Josh Bell - 1B
Kyle Schwarber - RF
Yan Gomes - C
Luis Garica - 2B
Starlin Castro - 3B
Pitcher TBD

Before the team even arrived in Washington D.C. for Opening Day against the New York Mets, the Nationals were down 11 players, and they were placed in quarantine due to four positive COVID tests and seven players due to contact tracing. If only we knew back then that this minor bump would lead to an "injury rat" going through the Nationals clubhouse right before the All-Star Break. Yes, maybe it was good that no Washington Nationals were in the starting lineup for the game in Colorado.

If you look at that projected Opening Day lineup, at least all of those players have been on the IL so far during this season.

Here is a list of ALL of the Washington Nationals players on the Injured List this season and the dates that they were placed on the list.

July

7/3/21 - Avila, Alex - C - bilateral calf strains - 10-day Injured List
7/3/21 - Schwarber, Kyle - LF - Right hamstring strain - 10-Day Injured List7/2/21 - Fuentes, Steven - P - Shoulder - 60-Day Injured List
7/1/21 - Mercer, Jordy - SS - Quad - 10-Day Injured List
7/1/21 - Soto, Juan - RF - Hamstring - Day-To-Day
7/1/21 - Turner, Trea - SS - Finger - Day-To-Day

June

6/29/21 - Rainey, Tanner - P - Shin - 10-Day Injured List
6/27/21 - Fedde, Erick P - Oblique - 10-Day Injured List
6/27/21 - Robles, Victor - CF - Knee - Day-To-Day
6/24/21 - Bell, Josh - 1B - Undisclosed - Day-To-Day
6/22/21 - Finnegan, Kyle - P - Hamstring - 10-Day Injured List
6/17/21 - Stevenson, Andrew - RF - Oblique - 10-Day Injured List
6/12/21 - Hudson, Daniel - P - Elbow - 10-Day Injured List
6/11/21 - Scherzer, Max- P - Groin - 10-Day Injured List
6/6/21 - Voth, Austin - P - Nose 10-Day Injured List
6/4/21 - Gomes, Yan - C - Hamstring - Day-To-Day
6/3/21 - Schwarber, Kyle - LF - Knee - Day-To-Day
6/1/21 - Strasburg, Stephen - P - Neck - 10-Day Injured List

May

5/29/21 - García, Luis - 2B - Hamstring - Day-To-Day
5/23/21 - Harris, Will - P - Hand - 60-Day Injured List
5/21/21 - Robles, Victor - CF - Ankle - 10-Day Injured List
5/19/21 - Fedde, Erick - P Undisclosed - 10-Day Injured List
5/19/21 - Rainey, Tanner - P - Undisclosed - 10-Day Injured List

April

4/25/21 - Turner, Trea - SS - Left forearm - Day-To-Day
4/20/21 - Soto, Juan - RF - Shoulder - 10-Day Injured List
4/17/21 - Harrison, Josh - 2B - Back - Day-To-Day
4/17/21 - Suero, Wander - P - Oblique - 10-Day Injured List
4/16/21- Avilán - Luis - P - Elbow - 60-Day Injured List
4/15/21 - Strasburg, Stephen - P - Right shoulder - 10-Day Injured List
4/6/21 - Harris, Will - P - Hand - 10-Day Injured List

Yeah, that list is pretty long… In total, the Washington Nationals have placed 33 players on the Injured List this season. Granted, some of those injuries were categorized as "Day-To-Day," but either way, that is incredible, and to think that we haven't seen Strasburg pitch a game for the whole month of June! Will Harris, who would have been a huge help to the bullpen, is out for 60 days, and it doesn't seem that he will even pitch one game during the 2021 season.

While injuries happen to each team, the Washington Nationals currently have ten players on the IL. According to SportTrac, the Nationals have spent over $9 million on players who are on the IL.

Additionally, if you add up all the days that those players have been on the list, you get a total of an incredible 229 days.

It is by pure luck, and on the back of some great hitting during June, that the Nationals are only two games out of first place in the NL East, just behind the Mets.

Hopefully, we will see more and more announcements of players coming off that IL list during the All-Star break. With some assistance by the baseball gods, the Nationals can field their team with their 2021 Opening Day projected lineup.

Until then, we hope and pray that the current team can hold on for reinforcements so the Nationals can make a push to win the NL East pennant.