What A Difference A Year Makes for The Nationals

In last year’s National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Nats were defeated in five games as they could have used Strasburg’s arm on the mound. All was expected to be bright this season for the Nationals, but the season has not been rosey in D.C.

The Nationals have been without the services of Harper since May 26th as he has been on the disabled list with a knee injury. Since that time the Nationals are 11-14 and the lineup has been struggling. For the month of June, Washington has only scored five or more runs in 7 ball games.

Last season the Nationals hit 194 home runs which was second in the National League. Aside from missing Harper’s presence in the lineup, the Nationals are also missing former outfielder Mike Morse who was traded to the Seattle Mariners last off-season. The Nationals team batting average of .233 is 13th in the NL while they have hit 67 home runs which is 10th in the National League as this team has struggled without Harper.

Strasburg has missed time this season as well due to an oblique injury, but the Nationals starting pitching has been able to hang in there with a 3.60 team earned run average which is fifth in the National League. Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman is a candidate to start next month’s MLB All-Star Game for the National League and his 10 victories are tied for the NL lead while Nationals pitchers are only allowing a .248 batting average which is sixth in the NL.

Aside from being mediocre to this point of the season, the Nationals are learning a difficult lesson on how tough it is to win consistently in baseball. Since 1994, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants are the only teams to win multiple World Series Championships. The Nats have not won a title, but these teams have all made the postseason in consecutive seasons which isn’t as easy as advertised. By Rizzo shutting down Strasburg down last season he was banking on the future. When the New York Mets lost to the Cardinals in the 2006 National League Championship Series it was expected that they would bounce back and the rest is history.

My point is that you must strike while the iron is hot and Rizzo didn’t. This is Johnson’s last season as Nationals manager before he will move into the team’s front office. There isn’t a bat like Morse’s on the team as he is back in the Pacific Northwest. Harper is injured and now the Nationals lineup resembles what the team was for the first few seasons in D.C. and the last few seasons in Montreal; just another team playing baseball.