25 in 25: Ryan Zimmerman (#1)

In 25 days, all the Nationals diehards will be preparing to head to Nationals Park on Opening Day. Until then, we're going to predict the 25 man roster. With one catch. We're going to do it one day at a time. This way, we can provide more in depth thoughts on who we think is going to make the roster, why we think so, and what to expect from them in 2011. On the morning of Opening Day, we'll post the real 25-man compared with what we predicted.

So we're going to start the series with the gamble to end all gambles: Ryan Zimmerman.

Why?: Zimmerman is clearly among the best third basemen in baseball, so it's no surprise that he makes the list early. We at Capitol Baseball have taken fondly to the moniker "The Franchise" to describe Zimm, and it's an apt name.

Outside of Washington, DC, the only 2 things anyone knows about the Nats are Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, and Bryce Harper. Considering 2 of those 3 people won't be on the Nats roster on March 31, Zimmerman still keeps the title.

What should you expect?: You should expect more of the same from Zimm in 2011: outstanding defense, line-drive hits, and almost no media recognition outside of the DC Metro area.

Unfortunately, without the insurance of Adam Dunn hitting in the 4 spot, his numbers might struggle a bit. Still, we expect Zimm's defense to be a little sharper with a better defensive first baseman in LaRoche.

Finally, we're going to actually predict that Zimmerman makes the All-Star Game this year after he was snubbed during a career offensive season on 2010.