While a 12-14 record in the 2011 season’s opening month is certainly not cause for parades in the streets of the Nation’s Capitol, there were some positives for the Nats over the past four weeks.  With 12 wins in the month, the 2011 team fell one win short of tying the 2010 (13-10 in April) and 2005 (13-11) for the most wins by a Nationals team in a season’s opening month.  For the most part the team played competitive games in the month, relying on strong pitching to keep the team in games while the Nats’ struggled to score runs.

Here’s a look at some of the best and worst of April 2011.

APRIL 2011 MVP

1) Jason Marquis-  After suffering through an injury plagued 2-9 campaign in 2010, the veteran starter was determined to right his ship this season.  So far, he’s done that and way more.  Marquis is 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA on the season with 24 strikeouts and only five walks allowed. 

2) Wilson Ramos-  Last year’s trade of all-star Matt Capps to Minnesota for Ramos may be a deal that is remembered fondly by Nats fans for years to come.  The rookie catcher has hit the ground running in 2011, hitting .385 in the season’s first month and playing solid defense behind the plate.

3) Livan Hernandez-  The steady and unflappable pitcher has, with Marquis, given the Nats a surprisingly effective one-two punch at the top of the team’s pitching rotation.  Hernandez is 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA so far, and he’s shown no signs of losing the effectiveness he showed in 2010.

BEST GAMES

1) Sunday April 17- Doubleheader sweep of Milwaukee 8-4 and 5-1-  Both Marquis and Hernandez were tremendous on this beautiful day for baseball in DC, and Danny Espinosa had three RBI in each game to pace Washington’s attack.

2 ) Friday April 29- 3-0 over San Francisco-  Marquis outdueled San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum, throwing a complete game shutout and chipping in at the plate with a RBI single. Old-time baseball fans may have thought they’d gone back in time, as the Nats put a curly W in the books in a crisp two hours and nine minutes.

3) Tuesday April 12- 7-4 win over Philadelphia-  The win didn’t come against one of the Phils’ big four starters and Philly ended up winning the series 2-1, but getting a victory against the reigning division champion was a sweet way to start the 2011 18 game trek against the Phils. 

TOUGHEST LOSS

Saturday April 30-  2-1 loss to San Francisco-  Looking to extend its modest winning streak to three games, the Nats left 12 men on base and wasted opportunity against the Giants. 

MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE

Veteran outfielder Laynce Nix had a successful first month in DC, providing power (he hit three home runs in the month) and a take no prisoners approach to the game. 

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

1) Ryan Zimmerman’s injury-  Losing the team’s centerpiece for at least two months of the season is a sobering thought for a squad that was hoping to show dramatic improvement in 2011.  Zim’s absence from the lineup puts added pressure on the other middle of the order hitters, pressure that they’ve so far been unable to respond to.

2) The lack of production by the Nats’ outfielders-  Opening day starters Werth, Rick Ankiel and Michael Morse all struggled at the plate, with none of them hitting better than .227 in April.  

3) Jordan Zimmernan’s struggles-  Perhaps it was too much to expect a young pitcher coming off of Tommy John surgery to be great right away, but the Nats’ certainly have to be disappointed with Zimmerman’s 1-4, 4.55 ERA in April.  The numbers were somewhat deceiving as Zimmerman showed flashes of brilliance on the month, but he didn’t get off to the start many thought he would.