A little over two hundred and one years ago, the British set fire to Washington, DC, destroying much of the city's buildings, including the Capitol Building and the White House. The city took a while to recover, but eventually regained its prestige as the center of the free world.
It’s safe to say that DC will not be the center of the baseball world, or at least, not until the Nationals can get both offensive and defensive traction, simultaneously.
At the beginning of the 2015 season, the Washington Nationals were heavily in favor of making and winning the World Series. They had heavy hitters on offense with Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Ryan Zimmerman and potential MVP candidate Bryce Harper. And their defense wasn’t too shabby either: they still had Jordan Zimmerman and new addition Max Scherzer would add some depth to pitching cycle, along with veterans Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg.
Overall, there was a lot of hope for the team to go far -- definitely to make the playoffs. There was no question of that.
It was a rough start to the season: going 10 and 13 in April was a bit shocking for a team slated to win the Series at the end, but there remained adamant hope, with five of their losses being decided by two or less runs.
In May, the Nationals dominated. Going 18 and nine throughout, and averaging almost five runs a game. They also had four shutouts (including an 10-point shutout against the Padres). There were still some disappointing games, but those were few and book-ended by solid showings in the games after them. Jayson Werth would break his wrist in mid-May, and would be out until August, while the rest of the team would be hit with nagging injuries, in particular Denard Span, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman.
The month of June was just as up-and-down, with the team going fifteen and twelve, which included an eight game winning streak into the end of the month, including Max Scherzer’s no hitter against the Pirates. At the end of the month, the Nationals were forty-three and thirty-four: not exactly superstar numbers, but a definite improvement through the season. Bryce Harper would continue to churn out home runs, up to twenty-four by the end of June, ranking within the top three in home runs of the season.
July was another down month, with the Nationals only going 10 and 13, very similar to their start in April. Looking back, now, this can be seen as the beginning of the bell curve down of the season. In thirteen of those games, the Nationals only managed two or fewer runs; but conversely, had five games of seven or more runs.
August saw another negative average month, with the Nationals going 12 and 17; they were shut out three times, and allowed more than five runs 14 times, only winning one of those games. The return of Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, and others regained the original starting lineup that Nationals had intended to use at the beginning of the season, but the team had to adjust to each again. There were games when they clicked magnificently, like the 15-6 win over the Rockies, but there were too many games that they let get away at the end.
"See. You. Later!" Bob Carpenter.
At the end of July, the Washington Nationals traded for closer pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, who had gained a good amount of acclaim when he was in Philadelphia. It would seem that the Nationals had lucked out and struck an amazing deal by snagging this great talent and deepening their already pretty good closer unit of Drew Storen, Casey Janssen, Felipe Rivero, Doug Fister and Blake Treinen.
This was not so. Once Papelbon established himself as the closer, former closer Drew Storen moved to an eighth inning relief pitcher, and the drama unfolded from there. Whether Storen was upset about being shifted, or maybe deals better with the pressure of the ninth inning over the eighth, it is unclear; but what is clear, is that the chemistry and confidence of the relief pitchers has been shaken.
In the month of September, the Nationals are currently five and six, having lost five straight including a three game sweep against division-leading rivals the New York Mets. In only the last three innings of each game, the Nationals have allowed twenty-two total runs across the last ten games, including seven runs in a loss against the Mets. This is largely due to inconsistent play from the relief pitchers from the bullpen, which could come from a myriad of reasons. This frustration has gotten so bad, that relief pitcher Drew Storen broke his own thumb in anger and could be out the rest of the season.
Where they stand now, the Nationals are at 71 and 70, not a great position to be in as the leaves change color. They will have to win out, or at least 18 or 19 of the 21 games that remain in the season, and hope that the New York Mets lose a few along the way, or else they will not have a shot to make it to the postseason.
And if they don’t, the team will have to do a lot of internal investigating at to what needs to be done to fix this problem. Harper can hit solo home runs all day, and Ramos can hit Grand Slams and Michael A. Taylor can be a revelation and hit an infield Grand Slam, and Stephen Strasburg can throw a hundred pitches with seventy strikes, but if the bullpen is going to walk every batter they see at the end of the game, then it will not matter at all.
Going out and spending a lot of money on big talent like Max Scherzer and Jonathan Papelbon has helped in a few small cases, but overall, the players that were already on the roster from last year were the ones that played consistently (not always super great, but consistent.)
Overall, nagging injuries to a good majority of the starters, as well as truly awful games from a defensive standpoint, have made this season a frustrating one for fans, with the Nationals either being super hot or super cold, in terms of production.
As a fan, I have hope that my team will pull it off and impress me, but the up-and-down play of this year has genuinely frustrated me, enough to say that maybe this isn't our year. Maybe we rebuild and regroup and get healthy and come back next year.
I would love to be proven wrong, but we’ll have to see over these next few weeks as the season comes to a close.
What do you think? Will the Nationals be able to pull off an impressive comeback at the end of the season and fight their way into the postseason? Or are their dreams of October best set for 2016? Let me know in the comments, below!
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