Dusty giving Nats the edge they crave

Major League teams today have sabermetrics, analytics, projections of this and projections of that — not to mention devices in the dugout.

The Washington Nationals undoubtedly use those state-of-the-art tools, but they also have Dusty Baker in the dugout. Enough said.

When general manager Mike Rizzo tapped the 66-year-old Baker last November, skeptics questioned the decision. Baker had been away from baseball for two years. Many wondered if the game had passed the old-school manager by.

That was a typical knee-jerk reaction, but it was totally wrong. In the end, baseball experience will always overshadow any computer analysis or electronic report.

And Baker has brought that to the Nationals — a huge reason why they own the best record in Major League Baseball.

“I’ve had Davey Johnson and now Dusty Baker,” Rizzo said Thursday before the Nationals played Miami. “I can say from the bottom of my heart we don’t have enough Dusty Bakers and Davey Johnsons in the game today.”

What Baker, a three-time Manager of the Year Award winner, has done is bring together a mix of young and old talent, restore energy in the clubhouse and — in his words — create a family atmosphere. The Nationals are playing with more confidence and appear to be much more relaxed.

“It sounds corny, but it’s for real,” Baker says. “Like a family, you don’t get along all the time. But guess what? You’re still a family, and that’s what we are here.”

The Nationals were one of MLB’s biggest disappointments in 2015. They were loaded with talent, but didn’t reach the expectations heaped on them preseason. Neither the newly signed Max Scherzer ($210 million), who pitched two no-hitters, or unanimous National League MVP Award winner Bryce Harper could turn the tide.

Matt Williams, 2014’s NL Manager of the Year Award recipient, was dismissed after the season, opening the door for Baker.

Beginning in 2012, the Nationals became one of MLB’s prominent teams, giving Washington a legitimate contender for the first time since 1933. Twice they went to the playoffs, but lost in the NL Division Series. And twice they failed to make the postseason after high expectations.

Rizzo refused to accept status quo. He sent a group of …

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