The season is very young, of course, but it’s not too early to take note of the stellar pitching of the Washington Nationals, who at 9–3 are in first place in the NL East.

Through twelve games, the Nats’ team ERA is 1.91 — more than half a point lower than the second-best Phillies, and not much more than half the NL average. The five Nats starters — Stephen Strasburg (1.42 ERA), Gio Gonzalez (2.04, with zero runs in his last two starts), Jordan Zimmermann (1.29), Edwin Jackson (2.57, with a two-hit shutout last Saturday), and Ross Detwiler (0.90 in 10 innings) — have been dazzling.

Today’s Washington Post reports that the Nats may have the hardest-throwing rotation ever. But, as the article points out, more important to the team’s success is the fact that the five starters “provide five different looks,” as they “use varying off-speed pitches to complement their fastballs”:

Strasburg throws a 90-mph change-up and a wipeout slurve that are alien to most any hitter. Jackson throws a slider that darts straight down, while Zimmermann mixes in a slider that jets across the plate with a wicked curve. Gonzalez throws a sweeping curve with late break from a low angle. Detwiler throws a tight, biting curveball from a high release point that looks, out of his hand, like his fastball.

The bullpen, even in the absence of injured closer Drew Storen, has also been strong, with an aggregate ERA (by my quick calculation) of 2.35. Henry Rodriguez, Tom Gorzelanny, and Sean Burnett have combined for 13-2/3 scoreless innings, and Craig Stammen (1.17 ERA) in his last three appearances has struck out nine batters in four innings.

On the hitting side, the Nats are doing reasonably well in batting average (.253, fifth in the league) and on-base percentage (.335, third). But they’ve shown very little power: They’re twelfth in the league in slugging percentage, and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the outfielders have yet to hit a single home run. Yesterday’s 1-0 victory was the fourth time so far that the Nats have won while scoring three or fewer runs.